rod review: Yamaga Blanks Blucurrent III 53

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.

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Thanks for the info

Thanks for the thorough review, Jawjatek. Sounds like a capable stick that can handle decent sized fish. How would you rate the sensitivity compared to your Eradicator? Is this an Ajing taper or more of a hybrid? Is it tubular or solid tipped? The 6'9" model sounds like it might be a poor man's Eradicator.

It is very sensitive. These crappie were nipping short sometimes, and I would yank the jig past my head at high speed, the jolt was so sharp. I can't wait to trout fish with this rod on the local stockers (I have to order some spoons like Randy/Alphahawk uses).
Definitely a hybrid mebaru/ajing feel here to the action, but the bend is deep and fully tapered, which IMO does 2 things I need: 1 handles soft crappie mouths and 2. has a very forgiving bend when fighting a fish that keeps them on the hook. IMO a characteristic of YB rods maybe... My other Yamaga Blanks rod I've had a couple years, is the 71TZ/Nano JH Special, which has that same unique combination of stiffness and noodle bend that is vastly different than the tip-focused bend of a Tict ajing rod like my Rockin' Power or SRAM, for instance. The SRAM is so stiff and fast, it absolutely excels as a dock-shooter, btw. I hate it as a panfish rod. The YB is perfect for jigging crappie off brush or suspended, and you feel a thump, even at little one at 25 feet. Sometimes the 7 feet is too long, under low bridges or fishing the "Hooch for stocker trout.

Pretty sure these are tubular tip rods, but I'll have to go look online to be sure. It doesn't say on the rod or any of the hang tags. At least, not in English!

PS: When you are used to 6'5" or longer rods, the shorty 5'3" takes a little getting used to. I had the AG ERFS slow taper special 6'7" SUL in the boat as well, as it is my go-to panfish rod, and when the wind got up around 10AM to around 8-10 mph, the short rod suffered on castability, as would be expected. However, when you are trying to flip a micro craw, jig, or wiggler under close overhanging brush for bg/shellcrackers, it excels at the short cast accuracy. I didn't put a jig into the branches all morning, like I sometimes do with the 6'7" STS or my 6'10" Limber Tip.

Fuji stainless Sic-S guides, not titanium.

Great review. Thanks for the information.
Bob

Great write up.


Regards


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