Trevala Spinning Rod TVS66M: Spin ‘N Jig
You prefer spinning gear over conventional, and you want to try speed-jigging? Shimano made the Trevala Spinning Rods just for you. But, can a spinner really produce the same motion and action that conventional gear does? After all, the Butterfly system was designed for use with conventional rigs, not spinning tackle. To find out, we tried out a Trevala TVS66M, a 6’6” long medium-action rod intended for spinning speed-jiggers.
First off, we noted that the TVS66M has the same basic characteristics as a Trevala conventional rod: it’s very light but seems incredibly strong and has no problem horsing around 30 pound fish; guides are Fuji Hardloys, which can handle braid; and the tip has a very fast recovery which helps impart motion to jigs as you’re reeling. A big reason for the similar feel is the similar construction—like other Trevalas, the spinning versions are manufactured with the TC4 construction technique, fusing a high-carbon butt with a TC4 tip. As a result you get the action up top, and the pulling power down at the rear end of the rod. But, in practical application does this have the same effect as conventional Butterfly jigging? Mostly, but not 100-percent. We felt a little more action needed to be imparted into the rod in order to get the jig darting like it should. Call it about 20-percent more lift, as you crank. No big deal—we’re certainly used to moving the rod to get a lure active, and this need may actually be more a function of the reel then the rod itself—but you’ll want to bear it in mind when using the Trevala spinning version for speed-jigging.
The butt has plenty of length to add support while jigging, and we felt this rig balanced out excellently with a Saragosa 1800F reel. Even though the TVS66M is rated for jigs up to about five ounces, we tried using some twice that size and found the rod perfectly capable (though the tip remains loaded at pretty much all times.) Rigged up with 60-pound line (it’s rated for 30 to 65-pound braid,) you’ll be able to use this rig to go for just about any inshore gamefish and pelagics like tunas or mahi up into the 40 pound class or so. Speed jigs on the spin? You betcha.
Price: All Trevalas in the spinning line go for $100 to $125.
The Highs: Attain speed-jigging action with a spinner. Pricing is very reasonable.
The Lows: The action may be close, but the end result is not identical to conventional versions and you’ll need to give it some additional motion to accurately mimic the effect.
Who Wants It: Anglers who enjoy using spinning gear and want to speed jig for big fish.
Contact: http://fish.shimano.com.
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