rod review: Yamaga Blanks Blucurrent III 53

[jawjatek]

I received this rod yesterday; only 3 days form ordering to my door from Japan. It was packed securely in a hard tube, and upon inspection, I could find no defects in this made-in-Japan rod. Fit and finish is top-quality, with the butt end finished in a deep cobalt blue color. It has a short split-grip handle, intended for single-hand casting, and a typical YB reel seat with ABS foam in lieu of cork. Guides appear to be the Fuji Sic-S, with titanium frames, and are not quite as small. or micro, as the guides on my A-G Eradicator RFS.

I paired the rod with a Daiwa Ballistic LT FW 1000s spooled with Varivas Twitch Master VLS nylon in 3 lb test. I took it to my usual lake, a 400-acre county water res near my house in N Ga, which has a good population of crappie, sunfish, and bass. I first tied on a 1g Daiwa gekkabijin jig head, with a sowbug trout magnet. I went to a spot where I found some crappie 2 days before, that were reluctant to bite. The short rod doesn't cast the jig quite as far as my usual longer rods, but I was able to cast 35-40 yards pretty easily.

After changing colors a few times, and not getting any bites on the TM, I settled on a gray ghost hand-tie on a 1/32 oz litewire jig head, tipped with a crappie nibble. I could see the fish an about 17-20 feet of 85F water (on my Garmin PLS), and this time I got a hard thump. First fish was an eating-size crappie of 11", followed by a few others. The rod, while feeling a little stiff in hand, yielded to the small fish with a nice parabolic bend. I moved to another spot, where the spotted bass were chasing the abundant bait, and a couple tried to yank the little 5'3" YB out of my hand! No problem detecting a bite from these fish - they hit with authority. Biggest was about a 2 lb fish, but most were around 1 lb. I caught a few, and they put a deep bend in the rod while giving me all the fight I wanted, stripping drag and running under the boat, bull-dogging for the bottom, and occasionally leaping to try and throw the jig. Fun!

I changed the jig to a 1g #10 hook Daiwa gekka-jig with a Mr Twister micro-crawfish, tipped with a nibble, and went in search of bluegills or redears, but the sun was starting to get high in the sky, and the wind was picking up. I managed one shellcracker, about 8 inches, before giving in to the heat and retreating to the ramp. A decent break in of this fine rod. I plan to try the rod some more next week, but I must say, the heat and humidity have been killer, and kinda takes the desire to go fishing right out of me. I am very happy with my purchase, and think it is a nice addition to my collection.