[Bellyup]

Hey dawg, I just bought a XXH a couple weeks ago but I am yet to fish with it. There seems to be significantly more backbone on the XXH. I have it paired with my new Shimano Ocea Jigger 4000P which is lined with 100 pound spectra. I think the rod will handle 50 pound AJs and YFT up to 100. It may even be better than that, which is what I am hoping. I want to make it my jigging setup for the overnight trips and hope it can handle 50+ AJs and 100+ YFT. However, I am yet to test it (the reel should handle that). I hope to test it during the Deep Sea Roundup. It should be plenty strong for inshore fishing. I have a trevala H, XH, and the XXH. They progressively get stronger.

I am new to hardcore jigging but I have become obcessed with jigging for big game fish.

 

[Bellyup]

One thing about these rods--they load better when stressed straight up and down. IME, and please think this over yourself before you take my word for it, the rod can load very heavy straight up and down. Bend that sucker to the handle. The problems seem to be when you get near the boat. I loss a 60-70 pounder just as mentioned above as the fish went under the big E. When the fish is near the boat and not straight up and down, you can' t load the rod as well. It will keep bending and you are left with a very short lever. The fish then takes you under the boat and goodbye YFT. Be careful when you get the tuna near the boat. I am going to try decreasing the drag when the fish is near the boat. That way, I hope I can steer the fish without it trying to go the opposite way of the resistance. If it takes off under the boat, the rod bends to the handle and there is not enough length to stick the tip into the water. This is just a thought, but something I am going to try. So far, I like the trevala rods, but the only real large fish I had I lost under the boat since I lacked several feet of backbone when he took off.