Ripple Fisher Rods

The range at a glance

• Light & Estuary Rods: Real Crescent: Ripple Fisher's light-game rod for jighead finesse on bream, herring and rockfish.
• Shore Casting Rods: Runner Exceed and Monster Impact for kingfish, samsonfish and GTs off the rocks, plus Avarice and Silver Stream seabass rods.
• Offshore Rods: Ultimo, Aquila, Ocean Ridge and Big Tuna Japan Special boat-casting rods for GTs, kingfish and tuna.
• Jigging Rods: Selfish for operability and Ocean Arrow for power, for samsonfish, amberjack, dogtooth and tuna.
• Travel Rods: Ocean Voyager GTXpedition: a 3-piece, 887mm-closed GT and kingfish rod that fits a travel tube.

How the Ripple Fisher Range Is Built

Ripple Fisher splits into offshore game and shore game. Offshore game covers boat casting (Ultimo, Aquila, Ocean Ridge, Big Tuna and GTXpedition) and jigging (Selfish and Ocean Arrow). Shore game covers rock casting (Runner Exceed and Monster Impact), seabass (Avarice and Silver Stream) and light game (Real Crescent). Pick the half first, then the series, then the model's PE rating and lure weight. The bend-curve charts help here. Ripple Fisher loads its GT rods at 6kg and its light-game rods at 250g, so you can compare stiffness and bending point between models objectively.

A few Japanese terms help when you read Ripple Fisher's own descriptions:

• Hirasuzuki is blackfin seabass.
• Akame is the Japanese barramundi.
• "Blue runner" means yellowtail kingfish and amberjack.

Boat Casting: GTs, Kingfish and Tuna

Ultimo is the core boat-casting series. The 2023 Ultimo has four models: 82ML (PE6), 83M (PE7) and 710MH (PE8) in spin, roughly 70–160g lures, plus the 86M/B, Ripple Fisher's first boat-casting baitcaster. The five-model Ultimo 2019 is also stocked. Both are built for diving pencils and diving poppers, from Exmouth and the Montebellos to the Abrolhos and Rowley Shoals.

Aquila has four sub-series:

• ST is the balanced standard rod, from 78-3 for bonito and small tuna up to 85-6 for kingfish and yellowfin.
• MLT has a light tip on a stiff butt. The "2/4" means a PE2 tip and a PE4 butt, for long casts when tuna are feeding on whitebait.
• MST (PE7–9) is built for big kingfish on large lures.
• EX is a 3-piece travel version.

Ocean Ridge is the expert GT popping series for big cup-faced poppers. It's considerably stiffer than Ultimo, and Ripple Fisher lists a suggested angler body weight per model.

Big Tuna Japan Special is the tuna series. Parry models flex deeper for a comfortable fight, and lift models bend shallower for a faster one. The 85 and 86 suit southern bluefin and yellowfin.

Ocean Voyager GTXpedition (81M PE6, 81MH) is a 3-piece travel GT rod, stiffer than the Aquila EX and better suited to poppers.

Jigging

Selfish is built for operability. The S models are for vertical jigging, the NS models for natural-swim diagonal jigging, and the SEB models are baitcast, all with a slim, light blank and a strong butt. Ocean Arrow (PE6–8) is the power jigging series for dogtooth, bluefin and big amberjack, with long-butt, gimbal-ended models for the heaviest fish. Ripple Fisher's own rule: for power choose Ocean Arrow, for operability choose Selfish. In WA, that means samsonfish and amberjack jigging off the shelf and dogtooth up north.

Shore Game: Rocks and Seabass

Runner Exceed (102M, 104H, 110H) is the land-based casting series for kingfish, amberjack and GTs off the rocks. Runner Exceed Final Stand Up (100SXH, 83HH) and the 100SHH Limited are the heaviest shore options. Monster Impact 110HH is built for monster fish from a bad position on the rocks.

Avarice (PE2–2.5, 10'4"–11') and Silver Stream Red Eye (PE2–2.5, max 40–45g) are blackfin seabass rods, with Silver Stream also rated for akame. Silver Stream Stiletto MX is the crisp, high-modulus option. In WA, that translates to tailor, salmon and mulloway on minnows and metals from the rocks and beaches.

Light Game

Real Crescent is Ripple Fisher's light-game series. The RC-67B, RC-75, RC-81 and 611JH models cover jigheads, Carolina rigs and small metals, on NANOALLOY blanks with Torzite guides. It's a finesse rod for bream, herring and rockfish-style fishing in the Swan and along the metro rock walls.

Matching a Reel

Match reel size to the rod's PE rating and maximum drag, not to a blanket size:

• Real Crescent: a 1000–2500 size spinning reel.
• Silver Stream and Avarice (PE1.5–2.5): roughly 4000 in Shimano sizing, or 3000–4000 LT in Daiwa sizing.
• Aquila ST 78-3: 5000–6000 in Shimano sizing, or 3500–4000 in Daiwa sizing.
• PE6–8 GT rods such as Ultimo: a heavy saltwater spinning reel whose drag and capacity suit that PE class. Ultimo 82ML, for example, is rated to PE6 and 12kg drag.

We'll help you balance the outfit in store.

Buy Ripple Fisher at Compleat Angler Nedlands

We carry the biggest range of Ripple Fisher in Australia, along with Yamaga Blanks, MC Works and Xesta. Visit us at Level 1, 154 Stirling Highway, Nedlands WA 6009 (above the Taylor Road IGA) to put a rod under load, or shop online with free shipping over $150* (under 3kg, exclusions apply).