Before you read this I purchased my first JM rod a couple of weeks ago and thought I would share my opinion and first impression on JM rods. Chris Wong has not asked me to do this and has not influenced anything I have written below. Please don’t see this as blatant advertising or spam as this is not what I have intended. I just thought I would share my opinion and first impression on my new rod.

 

I purchased my new JM Terminator 400 based on what I have read from several experienced jiggers (f.net members), pictures I have seen of the JM rods loaded up to the point where other rods would go POP, and a little bit of gut feel. I have never purchased a single rod before in the past without seeing one and/or playing with one first so for me it was a big call.

 

When the rod arrived, I took it out of the bag and immediately was impressed with the finish of the rod, the build quality is simply flawless. Looking at the rods components, again very impressed!. Dressed with top end guides, reel seat and an aluminium gimble nock not crappy nylon/plastic which some rods have which was also nicely anodized to match the colour of the rest of the components.

 

Loading up the rod, I was (and still am) amazed at how far the little sucker bends. I have seen several production rods go pop far before reaching this point. Gripping the foregrip at the top end and feeling the blank bend right down and into the foregrip is bloody impressive to say the least. The graphite used in the construction of these blanks is like nothing else, it really does give you confidence in knowing how much these little rods can take. With the rod having the ability to safely bend so far down the blank it really does help take the hurt off the angler with the major point of load being a lot closer to the angler (shortening the lever) and all that pressure it takes to load the rod is directly transferred to the fish. It is also good to see that the rod has no twist in it when loaded either as it has been correctly built on the spine of the blank, which many production rods I have seen are not.

 

Fishing with the rod, I had it paired up with an OJ5000P loaded with 80lb jigstar and was fishing 400gm jigs. I used only a mechanical style of jigging and found it very comfortable and balanced as a set. The fish caught on it were kings to 20kg which unfortunately got chomped a few metres below the boat and a bronzie of around 100-120kg. I was running max drag on the OJ which is around 15kg from factory. The rod when loaded up on the shark is the only jig rod I have had confidence in giving it heaps and short stroking the bugger while loaded up to the point where I would expect a lot of rods to become 2 piece rods.

 

Overall I am thoroughly impressed with the rod and can’t bloody wait to get out and give it another workout!.

 

Would I buy another one? Hell Yes!!

 

Who owns a Powerspell 400 or 500 and what are the main differences compared to the Terminator?

 

Cheers,

Josh

Excellent, well written report Josh. We all owe Chris a lot for making these incredible rods available to Kiwis.

Well said mate, more and more jiggers are now aware of this special brand of rod. It makes me proud that Chris and his company is based right here in Wellywood.

Accident Prone wrote: Before you read this I purchased my first JM rod a couple of weeks ago and thought I would share my opinion and first impression on JM rods. Chris Wong has not asked me to do this and has not influenced anything I have written below. Please don’t see this as blatant advertising or spam as this is not what I have intended. I just thought I would share my opinion and first impression on my new rod.   I purchased my new JM Terminator 400 based on what I have read from several experienced jiggers (f.net members), pictures I have seen of the JM rods loaded up to the point where other rods would go POP, and a little bit of gut feel. I have never purchased a single rod before in the past without seeing one and/or playing with one first so for me it was a big call.   When the rod arrived, I took it out of the bag and immediately was impressed with the finish of the rod, the build quality is simply flawless. Looking at the rods components, again very impressed!. Dressed with top end guides, reel seat and an aluminium gimble nock not crappy nylon/plastic which some rods have which was also nicely anodized to match the colour of the rest of the components.   Loading up the rod, I was (and still am) amazed at how far the little sucker bends. I have seen several production rods go pop far before reaching this point. Gripping the foregrip at the top end and feeling the blank bend right down and into the foregrip is bloody impressive to say the least. The graphite used in the construction of these blanks is like nothing else, it really does give you confidence in knowing how much these little rods can take. With the rod having the ability to safely bend so far down the blank it really does help take the hurt off the angler with the major point of load being a lot closer to the angler (shortening the lever) and all that pressure it takes to load the rod is directly transferred to the fish. It is also good to see that the rod has no twist in it when loaded either as it has been correctly built on the spine of the blank, which many production rods I have seen are not.   Fishing with the rod, I had it paired up with an OJ5000P loaded with 80lb jigstar and was fishing 400gm jigs. I used only a mechanical style of jigging and found it very comfortable and balanced as a set. The fish caught on it were kings to 20kg which unfortunately got chomped a few metres below the boat and a bronzie of around 100-120kg. I was running max drag on the OJ which is around 15kg from factory. The rod when loaded up on the shark is the only jig rod I have had confidence in giving it heaps and short stroking the bugger while loaded up to the point where I would expect a lot of rods to become 2 piece rods.   Overall I am thoroughly impressed with the rod and can’t bloody wait to get out and give it another workout!.   Would I buy another one? Hell Yes!!   Who owns a Powerspell 400 or 500 and what are the main differences compared to the Terminator?   Cheers, Josh

Well said Josh
                  JM are good rods! Keep in mind that all Asian rod manufactures list the lifting weights and specs for there rods and that is that! No guarantee's. No rod on earth is unbreakable when fished outside its specs or poorly. I have busted a top of the line Japa myself. Keep and eye on that butt to tip angle, there not ment to meet and complete a circle.
SS

mozz wrote: Well said Josh........I will soon have my 2nd JM rod from Kojak and it probably wont be the last

Thanks for the mighty comments guys.  I'm wrapt that we have presented a product to the NZ public that performs like we say and better than most.  I have to say that it was never easy getting Kiwi jiggers to transform into mechanical jiggers but once the technique is mastered, you know it....there's no going back.  

Well said Josh after seeing your new outfit and getting a chance to swing on it as well all I can say is man am I impressed !!

Yes Chris I had a try with Stellajiggers one a while ago, made the jigging job much more pleasant. One day I'll have my pennies saved up Chris

Hi there stella, agree the first break was marginal, and the reason i didn't look elsewhere immediately, the second breakage was definately not angler error, Rods and reels for that matter get a severe test of their character when employed for use on a commercial vessel and are put up to the test on hundreds of fish during their lifetime, as an operator myself the most frustrating outcome for me is to lose fish through gear failure, the gear failure we have the most control over is the terminal equipment, trace lines, knots , swivels , hooks ect.. minimising failures at this point will ensure when connected with fish these elements won't fail. proper maintenance on rods reels will minimise the risk of failure here. Selecting rods and reels for commercial use is based on feedback from customers and from seeing the equipment in use, or from contact from other charter operators or sales people. The conclusions i have come up with around the T-Curve sreies is they simply are not suitable for my type of operation, i was excited the first time I used one and still think with extra development they can still be a good rod, the reel seat failure as I stated before was the final nail for that series of rods for me. I think they are better suited to spin reels as opposed to overheads.

Hi guys, can I use these for general kingi livebaiting on a boat, along with jigging at times of course. This is because I now head to a future with a back problem & these rods look like the biz to me for less stress on my back. I will be currently getting a couple of Tiny's GT-R rods, but need to plan ahead if they end up being hard on me. I would generally only fish for kingies in the hauraki gulf so dont think a 4 - 500 would suit. sorry to all you purists but I will even be using them for bait fishing the strong kaipara graveyard area.