2012年02月10日
Guide to rod guides.
Currently there are many rod guide sizes and types out there. But my favorite brand of fishing rods, Breaden has long been using extra small guides on their rods for a very long time now. The thing is guide setting can make or break a great rod blank. On light game rods such as what we use this guide setting is key to having the perfect rod.
the GRF-TR 68 Strange guides next to a minimaru. Just shows how small in diameter these guides are.
There was a lot of resistance when these rods first came out. A lot of people resisted just by looking at the guide sizes of rods such as the GRF-TR 68 Strange that the use of micro sized guides would not let the main lines flow smoothly out. Or that it would kill the distance.
Let me tell you from my own experience, I have rods that are larger guides, or laydown guides, in similar length rods using the same line and I have never felt or seen any difference in distance. But a lot of the problem lies in the fact that most people are afraid to use thin 2lb fluro lines or extra thin PEs in the 0.3~0.6 range.
The SWG-BG74 Swinging. Although this isnt a casting rod it still benifits from the micro guides. I actually use this rod for Mebaru fishing all the time.
In reality because the use of micro guides the tip doesn’t vibrate unnecessarily so you get a more accurate and longer distance cast. Also, because the Breaden rods not only have micro guides they also have more guides than usual. So this makes full use of the blanks power.
Another benifit is that since the guides are small they don't weigh much. It only takes a tiny bit of force to move the tip because of the smaller weight and that can be felt very easily making the tip end of the rod much more sensitive than those with traditional guides.
This shows the difference in guides. In order from the top: GRF-TR 68, AJ 610, GRF-TX74MX, VLL-73T
As you can see above, the AJ and the VLL are huge in diameter compared to the GRF rods.
Recently this kind of guide theory has been used on UFM ueda rods, golden mean ajing rods, and many others. But the big thing this year was the introduction of Fuji guides KR concept guides.
http://www.fujitackle.com/krc/krc6.html
Basically a new version of the K guides. The new feature here is that they kept most of the guides from the belly to the tip the similar or same diameter. This differs from past common concepts where the butt guide was large diameter and gradually got smaller.
In this new guide theory it's get the line loops straight as soon as possible. But because this line is choked down quickly the line rubs against the guides and the sound makes people think that distance is being lost. In reality it's just an illusion and there is very little distance lost.
So the benefit here is that you lose a lot of the guide weight. What does that mean for you and I?
It means that the rod gets lighter, you can even use more guides and that means you can use the full potential power of the rod blank.
Major makers are finally starting to use the same concepts that breaden has been using for almost 6 years now. The choke guides on most breaden rods have always been very small in diameter.
So all that to say when choosing a rod it's important to not only look at the action, tip material, power and taper but also the guide set as this can change your fishing into a whole new realm of distance, accuracy and sensitivity.
the GRF-TR 68 Strange guides next to a minimaru. Just shows how small in diameter these guides are.
There was a lot of resistance when these rods first came out. A lot of people resisted just by looking at the guide sizes of rods such as the GRF-TR 68 Strange that the use of micro sized guides would not let the main lines flow smoothly out. Or that it would kill the distance.
Let me tell you from my own experience, I have rods that are larger guides, or laydown guides, in similar length rods using the same line and I have never felt or seen any difference in distance. But a lot of the problem lies in the fact that most people are afraid to use thin 2lb fluro lines or extra thin PEs in the 0.3~0.6 range.
The SWG-BG74 Swinging. Although this isnt a casting rod it still benifits from the micro guides. I actually use this rod for Mebaru fishing all the time.
In reality because the use of micro guides the tip doesn’t vibrate unnecessarily so you get a more accurate and longer distance cast. Also, because the Breaden rods not only have micro guides they also have more guides than usual. So this makes full use of the blanks power.
Another benifit is that since the guides are small they don't weigh much. It only takes a tiny bit of force to move the tip because of the smaller weight and that can be felt very easily making the tip end of the rod much more sensitive than those with traditional guides.
This shows the difference in guides. In order from the top: GRF-TR 68, AJ 610, GRF-TX74MX, VLL-73T
As you can see above, the AJ and the VLL are huge in diameter compared to the GRF rods.
Recently this kind of guide theory has been used on UFM ueda rods, golden mean ajing rods, and many others. But the big thing this year was the introduction of Fuji guides KR concept guides.
http://www.fujitackle.com/krc/krc6.html
Basically a new version of the K guides. The new feature here is that they kept most of the guides from the belly to the tip the similar or same diameter. This differs from past common concepts where the butt guide was large diameter and gradually got smaller.
In this new guide theory it's get the line loops straight as soon as possible. But because this line is choked down quickly the line rubs against the guides and the sound makes people think that distance is being lost. In reality it's just an illusion and there is very little distance lost.
So the benefit here is that you lose a lot of the guide weight. What does that mean for you and I?
It means that the rod gets lighter, you can even use more guides and that means you can use the full potential power of the rod blank.
Major makers are finally starting to use the same concepts that breaden has been using for almost 6 years now. The choke guides on most breaden rods have always been very small in diameter.
So all that to say when choosing a rod it's important to not only look at the action, tip material, power and taper but also the guide set as this can change your fishing into a whole new realm of distance, accuracy and sensitivity.
タグ ：83 deep
2009年10月21日
New (kind of) tackle.
So I have been a bit negligent in my posts. Been busy testing out new reels, lines, rods, lures etc.
First off a rod from gamakatsu that is fast becoming one of my favorite light game rods.
I use it now to catch jack mackerel. For their size Jack Mackerel (Japanese name: Aji) are amazing fighters. Fighting them on 2.28lb carbon fluro carbon line is spectacularly thrilling! The fun thing about Jack Mackerels is that they are very difficult to catch on lures but when you learn the method properly you can catch alot of big fish easily. They are well dispersed throughout Japan.
Not only are they fun to fish, they are probably the tastiest fish out there. Sashimi, sushi, tataki, grilled, and dried, they are absolutely fantastic with some sake or shochu.
I will explain how to fish for these guys in a later post.
For now more about the rod:
It’s a two piece solid tip 6ft10in rod. Extra fast action. Lure weight 0.4g to 4g. It's a medium light power rod so you can pull out most fish up to 30cm without a net. Its an amazing 67g rod. This thing is so light you have to make sure it doesn’t fly away with strong winds.
I have been using this for a couple of months now and I cant tell you enough how good this thing is. Jack mackerels don’t usually have strong bites. Usually the fish suck food in so you need a rod that is soft tipped so that the line tension goes out when the fish sucks in the worm. This thing has amazing cast feel. Very solid and sturdy from the butt to the belly. Only the last 10cm of tip is soft.
Because of this its very easy to know when your rig (usually under 3g) hits the sea floor. The rod feels lighter when this happens. This is absolutely necessary when fishing in this style.
I can easily use this rod for smaller Mebaru game as well. I even thing I can use it for small trout game. Will let you know how these turn out.
Recently I bought two new reels from Shimano.
An amazing reel. This reel uses Shimano's CI4 technology. To sum it up it’s a carbon fiber that is stiffer and stronger than even magnesium. It's very light mine is the single handle version above which is 190g. I can cast using this reel all night and never get tired. Of course this is using Shimano's famous ARC spool technology which extends cast distance by around 5% as well as a drastic decrease in line trouble.
This reel is fantastic for seabass fishing as well as light shore jigging. It has an amazing drag capability max drag is 8kg. this reel can handle almost all mid to large size fish in Japan that can be fished close to shore.
I also got a Rarenium 5000
This is also CI4 technology.
I got this for medium shore jigging. Some areas that I go to you can catch well sized yellowtail and greater amber jack. So I needed something with a lot of line capacity and strong drag. The maximum drag on this is set at 11kg. The weight is a minimal 315g. Doesn’t seem too light but in this class its easily 50g lighter than competitors. This too has the ARC spool technology.
Both reels are superb in cast feel. Very solid, very light, and reliable beyond belief. Reeling is so smooth on both that you can feel the when you hit a faster or slower current. Since it's so sensitive it’s a breeze to be able to hook those large fish that only nibble on lures.
For all my multifilament line I am testing out the new Power Pro line. Designed and manufactured in the US. Imported by shimano.
For my light tackle I got 5lbs line. They don’t carry this weight in Japan. They don’t have anything smaller than 18lbs here but hopefully they start soon.
For my seabass tackle I got 20lbs but this was way too thick for my reel so I am going to switch back to another line. This is the closest I found in Japan.
For my shore jigging I got 30lbs.
I was flabbergasted by this line. Its super easy to tie friction knots like FG or HG knots. The first few casts the line is stiff but after maybe 5 casts the line becomes ultrasoft and is easy to handle. Water resistance is tremendous. I always have problems with a lot of braided lines absorbing water, harder to clean, cast distance suffers and easier to break the line. Tensile strength by thickness on this brand is fantastic. By the way shimano always under labels their lines so that’s probably got a lot to do with it
The most amazing part of this line lies in its abrasion resistance. I don’t know what they put in it but a fish scraped the braid down to a 3rd of its original thickness and still no problems. I landed that fish with relative ease.
Finally the price is great. It's so cheap that I don’t have to worry about cutting away line that is worn out or anything.
Going to be testing these lines again this weekend. Will let you readers know more as soon as I can.
That’s it for today. As always wish you the best fishing.
First off a rod from gamakatsu that is fast becoming one of my favorite light game rods.
I use it now to catch jack mackerel. For their size Jack Mackerel (Japanese name: Aji) are amazing fighters. Fighting them on 2.28lb carbon fluro carbon line is spectacularly thrilling! The fun thing about Jack Mackerels is that they are very difficult to catch on lures but when you learn the method properly you can catch alot of big fish easily. They are well dispersed throughout Japan.
Not only are they fun to fish, they are probably the tastiest fish out there. Sashimi, sushi, tataki, grilled, and dried, they are absolutely fantastic with some sake or shochu.
I will explain how to fish for these guys in a later post.
For now more about the rod:
It’s a two piece solid tip 6ft10in rod. Extra fast action. Lure weight 0.4g to 4g. It's a medium light power rod so you can pull out most fish up to 30cm without a net. Its an amazing 67g rod. This thing is so light you have to make sure it doesn’t fly away with strong winds.
I have been using this for a couple of months now and I cant tell you enough how good this thing is. Jack mackerels don’t usually have strong bites. Usually the fish suck food in so you need a rod that is soft tipped so that the line tension goes out when the fish sucks in the worm. This thing has amazing cast feel. Very solid and sturdy from the butt to the belly. Only the last 10cm of tip is soft.
Because of this its very easy to know when your rig (usually under 3g) hits the sea floor. The rod feels lighter when this happens. This is absolutely necessary when fishing in this style.
I can easily use this rod for smaller Mebaru game as well. I even thing I can use it for small trout game. Will let you know how these turn out.
Recently I bought two new reels from Shimano.
An amazing reel. This reel uses Shimano's CI4 technology. To sum it up it’s a carbon fiber that is stiffer and stronger than even magnesium. It's very light mine is the single handle version above which is 190g. I can cast using this reel all night and never get tired. Of course this is using Shimano's famous ARC spool technology which extends cast distance by around 5% as well as a drastic decrease in line trouble.
This reel is fantastic for seabass fishing as well as light shore jigging. It has an amazing drag capability max drag is 8kg. this reel can handle almost all mid to large size fish in Japan that can be fished close to shore.
I also got a Rarenium 5000
This is also CI4 technology.
I got this for medium shore jigging. Some areas that I go to you can catch well sized yellowtail and greater amber jack. So I needed something with a lot of line capacity and strong drag. The maximum drag on this is set at 11kg. The weight is a minimal 315g. Doesn’t seem too light but in this class its easily 50g lighter than competitors. This too has the ARC spool technology.
Both reels are superb in cast feel. Very solid, very light, and reliable beyond belief. Reeling is so smooth on both that you can feel the when you hit a faster or slower current. Since it's so sensitive it’s a breeze to be able to hook those large fish that only nibble on lures.
For all my multifilament line I am testing out the new Power Pro line. Designed and manufactured in the US. Imported by shimano.
For my light tackle I got 5lbs line. They don’t carry this weight in Japan. They don’t have anything smaller than 18lbs here but hopefully they start soon.
For my seabass tackle I got 20lbs but this was way too thick for my reel so I am going to switch back to another line. This is the closest I found in Japan.
For my shore jigging I got 30lbs.
I was flabbergasted by this line. Its super easy to tie friction knots like FG or HG knots. The first few casts the line is stiff but after maybe 5 casts the line becomes ultrasoft and is easy to handle. Water resistance is tremendous. I always have problems with a lot of braided lines absorbing water, harder to clean, cast distance suffers and easier to break the line. Tensile strength by thickness on this brand is fantastic. By the way shimano always under labels their lines so that’s probably got a lot to do with it
The most amazing part of this line lies in its abrasion resistance. I don’t know what they put in it but a fish scraped the braid down to a 3rd of its original thickness and still no problems. I landed that fish with relative ease.
Finally the price is great. It's so cheap that I don’t have to worry about cutting away line that is worn out or anything.
Going to be testing these lines again this weekend. Will let you readers know more as soon as I can.
That’s it for today. As always wish you the best fishing.
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