Squid Rods

What’s the difference between a normal rod and a squid rod you ask?

Let’s face it squid aren’t the hardest fighters around although they do tend to get off the jigs quite often. They have very soft tentacles which can tear if too much pressure is put on them during a retrieve. As they use a jet of water to propel themselves they fight in a pulsing fashion which is a strong pull but over a short distance.

So firstly I want to make it clear that you don’t need to have a squid rod but there are certain traits to them that help you both in casting to squid and also fighting them.

What makes a rod a dedicated squid rod? Firstly I will talk a little about action. The “action” of a rod is determined by where a rod flexes along the blank. Faster action rods flex mostly near the tip. Moderate action rods flex more near the middle of the blank. Slower action rods flex down into the butt section. All squid rods are slow action this means they bend over the whole blank and let the rod absorb the whole of the pulse from the squid when you are fighting them. As a result of this they don’t tend to have the same amount of power as a normal rod but as I have said above you don’t need it when fighting squid. They also have a stiffer tip that that allows the angler to impart more action to the jig this is helpful as squid often react and get excited to a more viperous action.



The other factor is length, squid rods are long generally between 8 to 9 foot. The reason for this is both a longer rod can absorb bigger pulses from the squid and it helps with casting distance and accuracy.

Hopefully this information helps you to make a decision on investing in a squid rod. And as always please feel free to ask away below (or for corrections or other points of views!)

Just thought I would throw a bit into this, my squid rods are not slow tapered, none of them. I have 18 dedicated egi outfits and none of the rods have a slow action, if they do they are not a squid rod. All of mine are multi tapered rods that share various speed tapers. I fish with 3kg of drag and if you set your jig into a squid properly you will never tear out of the squid, there is no reason why you can not lift a 3kg squid out of the water by the jig if you set the hooks properly. If you are catching them on tentacles you are not setting hooks. The action of a squid rod is not to absorb lunges from squid, rather it is designed to both cast and work jigs correctly, as far as them not having as much power as other rods I can tell you that if you play with a Gan Craft Violence Jerk you will soon learn that they are simply a long PE3 jigging rod and have more power than most rods of the same weight. Mine with the exception of 4 are all under 8 foot long.

Interesting comments guys I like a light rod for small jigs and a medium when searching with larger jigs biggest is 2.5.This season i intend to use a light rod with a Bait cast setup for something different.
Tax time The new addition will be a ML Emma to cover both the lighter and heavier jigs.

Eco
I'd like to see anyone lift a 3kg tiger squid out by the jig.....up here in qld we fish for northern calamari and not the southern calamari as you would down in vic....dont get me wrong as your obviously an egi nut the same as us up here and each to thier own devices and I'm sure yours work a treat down there.
I dont think there are 2 guys running the same gear here in bris and everybody gets thier share of squid....it's all good mate.
mug

Paul I have fished for hundreds of varieties of squid all around the world and they are all the same in the make up of their crown-head. It is the hardest part of the squid and the membrane supporting the head can support 2 times their own weight.

When a squid grabs the egi, 9 times out of 10 they do not grabs the nice shiny sharp bit on the end, they grab the egi closer to the back of the head so they can incapacitate the prey as quick as possible. When a squid embraces an egi they do so with lots of pressure, if at this stage you set the hooks as though you would on any other fish you will pull the barbs into the side of the head thus resulting in a solid hook up on the hardest and strongest part of the squid, if you do not you will find that you will be hooking up on tentacles or other soft tissue causing the jig to tear out. I can tell you that I have not lifted a 3kg tiger out of the water by the jig as the biggest I have caught tipped the scales at 2.3kg and yes like every squid I catch it was lifted out of the water by the jig. I am aware of the many species of squid in QLD and have targeted most of them at one stage or another, the northern Calamari does not differ much from the southern calamari with the only real difference the shape of the hood.

If I am a beginner, what's a good egi rod around the $150 mark? I'd be mainly land based but I also go kayaking so there would be a good chance I'd take it out in the kayak as well. Does length play an important part compared to land based and fishing out of a yak?

I've seen the Shimano Sephia AU range which are moderately priced...

Cheers!

In short for land based a longer rod is better. It lets you cast longer and helps you reach over rockwalls and snags. For Kayaking however longer rods are a pain! you cant reach the tip to untangle things and it makes you highstick the rod when you get a squid near the yak.

I havn't heard good things about the sephia AU which is a little sad because I have herd great things about the Japan edition.

Have a look at Gladiator Egi rods or see if you can find a daiwa emeraldas infeet interline but not sure if it will fit the price bracket.


Robbie