Taufik's Eging Writeup

In a part 2 to my basic eging techniques, Taufik has written an eging writeup which has extra information and crucial writeups on understanding eging rods and uses. Here's the writeup which i copied and pasted. His full writeup can be found here.

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I had earlier wanted to write a little something about eging techniques and the fundalmentals behind having such a long rod just to egi but after seeing such a detailed report on Nigel's blog, I've decided against it and in turn will be writing some additional informations and insights that were not touched on in his post.

Equipment requirement

I guess most of you guys would still be wondering why exactly are eging rods built so long and whippy. And one of the very 1st questions that would pop up in your head would be, "Do I really need such a long rod?".

Basically, the answer can be either yes and no. No you don't really need such a long rod for eging, but that depends on your preferred method of eging... be it vertical jigging or shoreline jigging. It all depends on your own preferences, terrains and situations. Lets touch on the different jigging methods that are often used for eging and the prefferred rod lenghts.

Vertical Jigging

Vertical jigging is best used in deep waters. Places where you don't need to cast out that far to target the squids at certain water levels and especially so, when the squids are just lingering around the area near the bottom directly beneath you. These places are usually on top of kelongs, water breakers, jettys, boats etc... basically any structures or platforms that are erected by the sea or above it. Usually, these structures are built at the shores or in the middle of the sea in deeper waters. And more often than none, the squids are just metres away from the vacinity, near the bottom. One good reason why the squids would choose to stick close by to these structures would be, for protection against strong currents, larger predators, natural covers and also as an effective source for food.

For these situations, a normal 6'0" rod would suffice. Cos a normal 7'9" eging rod would lack the maneuvaribility and finess needed for small enclosed spaces... a much better choice when the squids are directly below you.

Shoreline Jigging

Shoreline jigging on the other hand is best used in shallower waters. Along the beaches, breakwaters, or basically any structures or platforms thats erected by the sea. The main focal point of doing this is to "search" for the squids which may be lurking around the vacinity. Rocky clustered areas are usually the best places to look for squids. But, since these rocky clusters can stretch out for quite a distance along our shores, the need for a "search and destroy" tactic is required. For this, we need a longer rod for distance to cover as much ground as possible... while making use of the rod's height clearance as a leverage to minimise snagging.

For these situations, a 7'9" and above eging rod is much needed... where its considerable difference in height can be made used as an important leverage, increasing your chances for hookups while decreasing your chances of snags.

So its safe to say, that even though it is still quite ok not to own an eging rod but its also not a bad thing to have... depending on the situation. Next I will be touching on the blank characteristics of eging rods and its reasons for being so.

Eging rod characteristics

I bet a lot of you will find that eging rods tend to be whippy and somewhat flimsy. But given their considerable height, most of the eging rods in the market are quite light. Eging rods, given their height, are usually 2 pieced rods, with each pieces of equal lenghts. Their ferrules, or joints, are usually located in the mid sections... but there are some cases where the rod is designed with a butt joint, like jigging rods. The placements of these ferrules will ultimately affect the rod's action and characteristics but I won't be touching on that. I will however touch on their basic characteristics like blanks, handles and lenght.

Blanks

As many of you would have noticed, eging rods tend to be quite whippy and somewhat flimsy. Especially so for their tips, all the way down to the mid section. The top half of the rod is designed to be a "flicker" while the other half is its backbone which also aids in casting. The flicker half is designed as so, so as to aid in the jigging action... too stiff and it'll affect the squid jig's action... too flimsy and you'll need a more powerful stroke to get the desired "darting" effect. It also acts as a cushioning buffer against hard knocks and snags that the squid jig might encounter. The whippy characteristics of the blank softens the "blows" which in turn causes less damage due to hard knocks and prevents the squid jig from snagging hard onto something, be it corals, rock formations etc... prolonging your squid jig's active life. Not only that, it also softens the sudden jerk from having a squid taking your jigs while on the upward swing... dampening just enough pressure to prevent the barbs from ripping apart its delicate tentacles yet, giving a sound grip on them resulting in firm hookups, everytime.

Once the hookup is sound and firm, the lower part of the blank will take over the fight... while the top half absorbs any sudden jerks from the squid, preventing it from freeing itself from the barbs.

Handles

The handles are usually crafted out with EVA grips and are often just slightly shorter than the normal jigging rod handles to aid in the jigging motion while acting as a balancer. The EVA grips are usually thicker near the front end of the rod, when in some situations, the angler would prefer gripping the front end and not the reel seat to better balance out the weight of his setup which in turn minimizes his effort. A long and slightly heavy handle also helps to balance out the weight evenly, which is quite important when handling long rods... where comfort, weight distribution and lightness plays an important role.

Length

The usual lenghts for eging rods ranges from between 7'9" to even 10'0". The usual choices for our asian counterparts, ranges between 7'9" to 8'6". Any shorter will make it redundant, and longer will make it too much of a hassle to use. The usual guidelines for lenghts is "shorter rods; stiffer blanks and longer rods; softer blanks"... given that the line and lure rating stays the same. But the calculations and end results are always dependant on the end user... us.