I was wanting to ask for your expertise in selecting a stickbait rod. I see that there are a variety of different brands to choose from, all using their own specialized blanks, and it's all a bit confusing for me. I was wondering if I could ask for your help in selecting one. 

So far, I've looked at:

1. Carpenter

2. Yamaga

3. Maven

4. Daiwa

5. Shimano

I'm looking to spend a good bit of money (up to $1.6k), and am wanting to use it predominantly for shorecasting, with a little use on the boat. Could anyone share their experiences with these rods? Has anyone used the Maven rods? 

Cheers, 

Dan

With a 5000, I take it you're going for the lighter end of the spectrum. 

Troutzilla was selling a sweet Yamaga rod a little while ago which would be ideal. Maybe PM him and see if it's still for sale?

http://www.fishing.net.nz/forum/fs-yamaga-stickbait-rod-price-drop_topic121568.html

there was also a Palms rod on the forum and then on TradeMe which was a lighter stick bait rod.

For lighter lure stuff off upper harbour shorelines (normally sandstone, not volcanic or granite), I've got a Shimano Jungle Stix 10-15kg rod (I think it's 8'6") which again - was more entry level than you're probably looking at. But it casts lighter poppers and lures really nicely. 

I'd recommend chatting to the guys at Go Fish in Takapuna if you are looking at a shoreline lure rod to match with a 5000 size reel. They know that market really well.

It's the 8'4" Jungle Stix 'Rock Rod'. I am running a Penn Spinfisher SSV on it with 30lb braid. I've been using StrikePro Laser 40g skittering poppers, and 50g Williamson Jet poppers, and similar weighted Waxwings. It casts those weights a fair way. 

I think you could go up to 80g, but the kind of fishing I'm using it for the lures are lighter than that. I'm just walking the upper harbour flats, papa rock ledges and estuaries on an incoming tide, targeting keeper kingies. 

This summer, I'm going to try stick baits and big soft baits with integrated weights or 1-2oz sinkers/jigheads.

I think for the price (I paid $150 on clearance at H&F, but you can get it for $200-odd at Marine Deals etc) it's a pretty good rod - high modulus with decent guides.

it's a combination of things really...drag, capacity and retrieve rate. The smaller reels have shorter retrieve rates, where as the bigger spooled / high ratio reels have alot larger retrieve rates, which makes it alot easier working a lure, and less fatigue for prolonged periods of casting / retreiving. Capacity isn't such a major concern off the bricks, as you'll get dusted pretty quick if you can't stop it, but that's where the extra drag comes in. Alot of rod drag ratings are very conservative, and remember reel max drag ratings are when spool is close to empty, so you won't get that sort of drag out of them with a full spool. I was using a 6000 Biomaster the other day on kings around the 650 - 800 mm size, which was perfect really. If they were bigger, or closer to structure I would have opted for my heavier reels. 5000 is fine off a boat, but pretty small for off the bricks IMO, that's purely based on drag, as you're less likely to be casting all day off the bricks, as you have to wait for the fish to come to you.

http://www.fishing.net.nz/forum/synit-bay-caster-pe3_topic121907.html

Oh right I see. Retrieve rates plus greater capacity = more capability to tackle bigger fish and swim baits better. Thanks a lot for that info. It didn't occur to me to think about retrieve rates in terms of stickbaits for some reason. I run a trinidad and one of the reasons why i got that was because of the retrieve rate and the amount of line I could store on it, so I completely understand where you're coming from. I'm going to be fishing primarily from sandy beaches and the like so I'm hoping that I might be able to squeeze through.