Shimano Rods

The range at a glance

• Light & Estuary Rods: Bream, whiting, flathead and Swan River mulloway, on spin and baitcast rods. The range starts with BF-R, Aerplus, Symetre+, Izalus and Raider, runs through Jewel, Staaten and the 24 TCurve, and tops out with Zodias, Expride, Artiesta, Ascenza, Poison Adrena and Instage.
• Egi & Squid Rods: Squirt Stick in 7'0", 7'6" and 8'3" for 1.8–4.0 size jigs. For a packable squid rod, see the Revolution Travel 764EGI below, and the Izalus 762SPML Squid Special sits in Light & Estuary.
• Surf & Beach Rods: Long rods for casting sinkers and baits past the break for tailor, salmon, mulloway and whiting. Exvance comes in 13' and 14'6", with Dynaflare, Speedmaster Surf, Salt Seeker, Aqua Tip and the long Izalus models alongside.
• Shore Casting Rods: Lure rods for the rocks, groynes and beaches. Dialuna is the light option for salmon, tailor and bonito. Hard Rocker BB covers light rock spinning. Reventus and Coltsniper SS step up for metals, shore jigging and plugging.
• Offshore Rods: Topwater and heavy spin rods for GT, tuna, kingfish and samsonfish, including Grappler Type C, Grappler BB Type C, Ocea Plugger, Anthem SW, Extraction, Terez, Hydra and Revolution.
• Jigging Rods: Rods rated by PE and jig weight, in spin and overhead: Grappler Type J, SJ and BB, Game Type J and Slow J, the Ocea Jigger rod, and value picks from Talavera, Descent and Trevala Type J.
• Game Rods: Trolling and stand-up rods from 8kg to 37kg: Backbone and Backbone Elite, Speedmaster Game (incl. LBG 24kg), Tag-Em, Tiagra Hyper, Ultra and Standup, the 26 Talica rod and Game Chaser.
• Electric Rods: Bent-butt and electric-jigging rods built for Beastmaster, Forcemaster and Plays reels: Status Deep Drop, Status Elite Deep Drop, Deep Chaser, Ocea EJ and the Revolution 541 Deep Drop.
• Travel Rods: Multi-piece and telescopic rods for the drive north or a flight to the reef: Raider Travel, Revolution Travel, Zodias Travel, Grappler Type C Travel, Maikuro and Spectrum Plus Telescopic.
• Kids Rods: Short, tough, easy-casting rods for first fish off the jetty: Kidstix and the Raider Junior and Dash models.

Choose the technique first, then the price

A rod built to flick 3g plastics at Swan River bream fishes nothing like one built to crank a 300g jig, even at the same price. Start with the job (lure or sinker weight, line class, where you'll stand), then pick the tier. A Zodias isn't a cheaper Expride, and a TCurve isn't a lighter Ocea Jigger rod. Past the entry level, Shimano builds separate series for separate techniques.

• Line rating: light and inshore rods are rated in kg or lb (a 2–4kg rod suits 2–4kg line). Jigging, topwater and deep-drop rods are rated in PE. PE is a standardised braid size, not a breaking strain, so match the rod's PE band to the braid on your reel.
• Lure or cast weight: this matters as much as line class. A rod will cast lures outside its rating badly, or not at all.
• Action: fast rods bend mostly in the tip for accurate casts and quick hook sets. Moderate rods bend deeper, which suits crankbaits and slow-pitch jigging.

Spin or baitcast?

Spin rods hang the reel under the blank and use a large first (stripper) guide to tame the loops coming off the bail. They're easier to learn, and they're the better choice for the lightest lures and for casting into wind. A 1000–2500 reel on a 2.1m / 7ft, 1–4kg rod is the standard Perth bream and whiting outfit.

Baitcast rods put the reel on top. The guides sit on top of the blank and are sized for line peeling straight off a revolving spool. A trigger under the reel seat gives your index finger something to hook around, while your thumb rests on the spool to control the cast. The payoff is accuracy: you can feather a lure into a snag, under a jetty or against a mangrove edge more precisely than with a spin reel. A spinning reel won't work properly on a baitcast rod (the line has to wrap around the blank to reach the guides), and a baitcaster won't work on a spin rod.

Most of Shimano's lure series come in both. Zodias, Expride, Staaten, Raider, Jewel and Zodias Travel all have spin and baitcast models. Catana (621HBC, 662XH) and the BF-R 561BCMH are the entry baitcasters. Raider's Native, Barra Baitcaster, Barra Mauler and Barra Magnum models handle barra and natives. Expride 166XH-SB and Poison Adrena 166H-SB are swimbait rods. For light work, BFS (bait finesse) rods let you cast lures from about 2–3g up to 10g on a baitcaster. The live options are Expride 163L-BFS and 1610MLBFS, Poison Adrena 164-BFS, Artiesta BFS 732UL and Ascenza BFS, paired with a BFS reel such as Curado BFS, SLX BFS or Calcutta Conquest BFS.

Light and estuary: where each series sits

• Getting started: BF-R and BF-R Plus, Aerplus, Symetre+, Sienna, Tension 45 and Taipan are sensible first rods and backups. Izalus adds 18 models from 5'10" finesse to 10'6".
• The workhorses: Raider is Shimano's biggest Australian series (35 models on 30-ton graphite), covering bream, barra, snapper and juniors. Jewel (T45 graphite), Staaten, Limitless and Nazuke fill the middle.
• Finesse: the 24 TCurve is a light Armour 40-5 blank for bream, whiting and trout on 1000–2500 reels. Artiesta and Ascenza are Japanese ultralight finesse rods, and many models are 1–3kg and up to 8'0".
• Premium lure rods: Zodias is the step up most Perth bream anglers make. Expride and Poison Adrena go lighter and crisper again, and Instage (Spiral X Core with a Carbon Monocoque grip) is built for technical inshore work.

Shore, surf and offshore

From the beach, a surf rod (Exvance 13' or 14'6", Dynaflare, Speedmaster Surf, Salt Seeker) throws sinkers and baits past the break. A shore lure rod is a different tool. Dialuna (8'–10', up to 45g, PE0.8–2) is a light salmon, tailor and bonito rod. Reventus and Coltsniper SS (9'6", PE2.5–4) handle heavier metals, shore jigging and plugging.

Offshore, casting and jigging rods aren't interchangeable. Grappler Type C, Grappler BB Type C, Ocea Plugger and the Anthem SW stickbait model are topwater rods for stickbaits and poppers. Grappler Type J, Game Type J, Talavera, Descent and Trevala Type J are built for mechanical jigging. Grappler Type SJ, Grappler BB Slow J and Game Type Slow J have the slower, deeper-bending taper slow-pitch needs. Match the jigging rod to the reel you're using, whether that's a spin model or an overhead like Ocea Jigger or Torium Jigger.

Game and deep drop

Game rods are rated by line class, so match the rod to the reel and leader. Backbone and Backbone Elite are Australian-designed one-piece rods from 10kg to 37kg, with runner or roller tips. Tiagra Hyper, Tiagra Ultra and the Talica rod are rod ranges, separate from the reels of the same names. For deep dropping on demersals (dhufish, pink snapper, baldchin groper, breaksea cod), bent-butt rods such as Status Elite Deep Drop, Status Deep Drop, Deep Chaser and the Speedmaster Game Deep Drop pair with a Beastmaster or Forcemaster from our Shimano Reels range. Size the rod's PE rating to your depth, current and sinker weight.

Travel rods: pick for the trip

• Raider Travel: the value all-rounder, with 3- and 4-piece spin models plus baitcasters, including a barra model for Kimberley trips.
• Revolution Travel: all spin, from a 2–4kg finesse rod to a 9'0" shore rod, plus the 764EGI for squid.
• Zodias Travel: mostly 5-piece, spin and baitcast, and it still fishes like a premium lure rod. Buy it if it will be your main rod on the trip.
• Grappler Type C Travel: 3-piece topwater spin rods, PE5–PE10, for GT, tuna and queenfish at Exmouth and Ningaloo. Pair them with a saltwater spinning reel such as Twin Power SW, Stradic SW or Stella SW D sized to the rod's PE rating, not an overhead.
• Maikuro and Spectrum Plus Telescopic: pack smallest, suit the glovebox or a beginner, and give up the most action.

Wipe salt off the ferrules before packing down, fly with a hard rod tube, and ask us to measure the closed length against your case.

Blank technology in plain English

Spiral X builds the blank from a vertical carbon core between opposing diagonal carbon tapes, for strength without weight. Spiral X Core adds a nano-resin for extra twist and crush resistance. Hi-Power X is the visible X-pattern tape on the outside that cuts blank twist. Carbon Monocoque replaces the rear grip with a hollow carbon shell that transmits more vibration to your hand (on Zodias, Expride, Dialuna and Poison Adrena).

Why buy Shimano rods from Compleat Angler Nedlands

We're one of Perth's largest Shimano stockists and we've been fitting anglers with tackle since 1993. The team has more than 200 years' combined fishing experience, from Swan River bream to Exmouth GTs. We'll match the rod to your reel, line and fishing rather than sell you the dearest blank on the wall. We service most reels and repair most rods: all the major brands and some smaller brands. You also get free line spooling when you buy your line in-store for the reel, and we spool from bulk line too.

Visit us at Level 1, 154 Stirling Highway, Nedlands WA 6009 (above the Taylor Road IGA), or shop online with free shipping over $150* (under 3kg, exclusions apply). Plenty of our in-store stock isn't online yet, so call (08) 9389 1337 if you can't see the model you're after.