Camp Halibut’s own rods
Our rod series was developed with American Tackle. The baitfish rod is built for one clear purpose: lifting extremely heavy fish and applying serious pressure. The jigging rod is far more versatile. If you want one rod for halibut, the Jigging XH is the obvious choice.
We believe we have produced the best halibut rods on the market. Every detail has been considered obsessively by guides who fish here every day. Many existing sea-fishing rods were developed for other species, other techniques or a predetermined price point. We spent five years testing and refining the characteristics a true halibut rod needs. Function dictated every decision, and we are extremely proud of the result.
Camp Halibut Baitfish Deep Power
Natural baitfish do most of the work themselves. You do not need to impart much action, and a committed halibut take is hard to miss. Circle hooks call for smooth, steady pressure as you wind the hook into place, making a slow-action blank ideal. Even with two single-hook rigs—or a treble-hook rig—you have time to wind down and load the rod deeply before setting the hooks. A fast blank is unnecessary for this style of fishing. What matters is lifting a heavy fish for a long time without exhausting your lower back.
A deeply working blank brings the load closer to your body. Think of lifting a ten-litre bucket: close to you it is manageable; at the far end of a broom handle it becomes far heavier. A faster rod requires more load before it bends down into the handle. It does recover more line with each lift. That is not an advantage in a long halibut fight. Short, controlled pumps become more efficient as the minutes pass. Like cycling up a long climb, you want a low gear, usable power and steady progress.
The Baitfish Deep Power bends deeply under a relatively modest load and works even further into the blank as pressure increases. We have lifted more than 20 kg with these blanks and do not feel that the action is anywhere near its limit. When a blank can bend no further, it is very close to its breaking point. Add more pressure and it will fail. Try lifting ten kilograms with a rod on land: that alone is far more pressure than most anglers can comfortably hold in a moving boat. There is no reason to fear loading our rods hard when the rod is held at the correct angle.
Camp Halibut Jigging XH
When jigging, you control the lure with the rod. You need speed and sensitivity to read tentative halibut contacts, provoke a proper take, wind down promptly and drive large, heavy-wire hooks into a tough mouth. You also need a rod that makes a long fight with a heavy fish manageable. The Jigging XH combines those characteristics better than any other rod we have fished.
The blank stays fast up to a certain load, then bends progressively deeper as pressure increases. It delivers a level of lure contact we have not found in other heavy sea-fishing rods. With spinner-tail lures, we can feel the swimming action change when a halibut draws water into its mouth, before the fish physically touches the lure.
The hook-setting power is immense. A hard strike can break unsuitable line, so our recommendation for this fishery is braid rated at no less than 100 lb. We use 0.28 mm Whiplash for its abrasion resistance. The Jigging XH is a dream to fish and our obvious choice when taking only one rod.
Its faster action makes prolonged fights more demanding than with the Baitfish Deep Power. At the same load it does not bend as deeply, and it straightens more readily when you ease off. Sustained pressure on a very heavy fish therefore takes more work. We have fought fish well above 100 kg with complete control. Above 200 kg the fight becomes brutal, and that is when you run on adrenaline.
Martin Lindeberg’s 248 cm halibut shows exactly what we mean. A fish like that is brutal to fight on any tackle. Of every rod on the market, we would choose the Jigging XH for this fight. The only rod we would rather hold when the fight becomes exceptionally long and the fish exceptionally heavy is the Baitfish Deep Power.
Handles, guides and balance
A good rod is more than its blank. The rear grip is slightly shorter than usual, allowing even tall anglers to fish comfortably with it tucked under the arm. When fighting with the butt at the hip, this encourages a more upright position and reduces strain on the lower back. The longer foregrip lets you move your hand forward for leverage. Light ribbing improves grip, and its greater diameter favours hand strength under sustained load. A thinner grip can feel more delicate; this one is built for power.
The first line guide is raised well above the blank and sits directly ahead of the foregrip. It keeps the line clear of the hand and handle when the rod bends deeply. The remaining guides spiral around to the underside of the blank: a spiral wrap, often called an acid wrap. This reduces the tendency of a conventional reel-up rod to twist under load, improving balance and easing the strain on the wrist and forearm. For vertical fishing, it is the layout we prefer.
The rods weigh just 345 g and 365 g. High-quality carbon fibre and very little glass keep them light. We have tested the blanks over thousands of fishing hours, on numerous halibut above two metres, in dead lifts and under heavy load. With an undamaged blank and the rod held at the correct fighting angle, we consider them extremely strong. High-sticking—holding the rod too steeply and concentrating load near the tip—can damage even a strong rod. Use a controlled rod angle.
The Jigging XH is listed at 6.6 feet and the Baitfish Deep Power at seven feet. We favour this slightly greater length for absorbing a large halibut’s headshakes, managing the line around the bow or outboards and landing fish on longer rigs. An experienced skipper also helps by positioning the boat. A longer rod that remains comfortable under heavy load is harder to design, but we believe the 6.6–7-foot range suits this fishery.
Both are one-piece rods, chosen for feel and strength. That is less convenient for travel, but we chose the construction for its fishing performance.
Two rods with different strengths
We believe we have built the world’s best halibut rods. The Baitfish Deep Power is the specialist for maximum pressure and the heaviest fights. The Jigging XH has the lure control, power and versatility that make it our obvious choice for jigging and for any angler who wants a single rod. You feel the difference as soon as you put a load through the blanks. Ask us about buying or hiring one for your trip.
The rods in detail
