Okuma Tesoro Slow Pitch Jigging Rods

The new Tesoro slow jigging rods are a replacement of the Hawaiian Custom series, featuring some new ergonomic improvements and overall additions to the performance of the rods. The Hawaiian Customs were the first slow pitch rods we carried, they were relatively short and pretty stout in feel but offered great performance for beginners at an entry level price. The Tesoro rods have been lengthened to 6’8″ which helps a lot for beginners since you have more space to get around people, motors or anchors. Along with that you also have more versatility with the style of slow jigging you use, at that length you can get more of a long fall action which is great for staying vertical in heavier current. These rods are still pretty stout compared to other slow pitch rods but they do have lighter tips with enough recoil to work jigs well.

The most important addition is the spiral wrapped guide train that the conventional rods use, it helps a lot with avoiding tip wrap which is important for an entry level rod since the angler will have time to gradually learn proper technique without worrying about as many variables. The Seaguide XQG guides they use on these rods are very impressive and durable, they have a smaller foot profile which means they will have less of an effect on the action of the rod even though they use larger size 8 running guides. This helps a lot since you won’t have to baby the rods as much as ones with single foot micro running guides.

Going into more detail of the ratings of each rod I’d say the jig size is a bit light for how the rods feel and the braid ratings are not that useful for slow jigging. I would not go above 30lb or 40lb braid on any of these models, anything thicker than that and you’ll have a significantly worse experience trying to jig while staying vertical, certainly nothing close to the 50-80lb rating of the H model. The jig ratings are a bit under-estimated, the ML model feels a lot nicer in the 150-220g range since it has a good amount of recoil and certainly would not work a 60g jig well in a slow pitch style. The M feels closer to 200-250g and the other heavier models we have not gotten our hands on yet. There are scenarios where lighter jigs will work on these rods, just not in a slow pitch style. In Japan light jigging and super light jigging (LJ & SLJ) are very popular styles that require rods with a bit more recoil. For this style of fishing the lower jig ratings on these rods will work well and still be effective at luring more aggressive feeding fish.