2 ultras and a light

That’s what I took with me for a quick trip to the river. Just having the new rig all put together and not having used it left too many questions unanswered. Plus my ocd was about to make me nuts. I only had about an hour and a half so I hit it hard. Up for trial today was my all new Presso 1000 reel and Daiwa trout X in 6’0”xul. I spooled it up with some Varivas .15 at 4.2 lb test and a clear 4lb mono leader. I tied on one of Deepfry’s one feather jigs that had a #6 hook instead of my normal #8. First thing is that this is my first high carbon content rods and they’re everything y’all say they are. They load and flex different on the cast and the guides work perfect helping me make casts of 50’ when I pitched it hard and had the room. It took a few casts but I got to feel the first take from a nice gill. Its first fish being a nice sized gill has to be an omen maybe?
Attachment 486851
All the head shakes or tail flips or whatever they are felt very different to my Fenwick I used this past weekend. Even my Phenix 1-5lb line Mirage doesn’t feel this good, doesn’t cast this well either but it’s close. All the little bumps seem amplified compared. Today I caught a lot of Warmouth and fliers (stumpknockers?) with some gills and one lone crappie. There was also a first for me today after many, many fish caught from this St Johns River system. It was a fish I’ve only heard of and never even seen before. I’ve heard them called a butter Catfish. Not super big at maybe 11” or so and hit like a good gill but I knew from the fight that it wasn’t. His facial features seemed kinda chunky and different from the other cats I’ve caught and his color was undeniably yellow, even the slime on the line. Once again, the net was home. But I did get a pic so tell me what y’all think.Attachment 486852
But in closing I’ll say that it’s about what I’ve been told to expect and I’m not disappointed in the least. Light in hand with both the reel and rod together, casting beyond my expectations and sensitivity like I’ve never experienced before. I even broke a cardinal rule and shot it up under a couple of cypress but not as enthusiastically as I do with the Fenwick. The guides are a bit bigger and I believe this helps with the smooth and seemingly unrestricted casts. Now I gotta learn to keep it out of the trees. It was a bullet that I thought about for a very long time before taking the bite and I’m glad I did. The reel and line behaved nicely with few loops and wind knots to deal with and it was breezy. I want to thank everyone for the information that you share and educating me in the process. Many thanks to Gillchaser on his patience and recommendations on this, it was a big help.Thanks for coming along and I guess you’ll have to make room in the rabbit hole. Pass the chips please……

Randy warned me before I punched the 1st button there is no going back. He was right. Scott

Congrats Tim , I’m glad you like your new toys :) .
I like catching and fighting catfish , but not crazy about the way they slim up your line .
I’m meeting up with my fishing buddy tomorrow morning. Got the car loaded already :)

Good post Skeet, I was curious as to the length of the new rod. Growing up we and the commercial cat fishermen around us caught many, many pounds of catfish. As well as Butter Cat. the yellow cats were also called Yellow-bellies and Poly Wads. Glad the first outing with the new rod was a success. Being it’s May already there might be a Striped Bass on that line anytime lol. Fantastic time of the year to be trying out new gear.

Great post Tim. You’ve had some nice trips out as of late

Looks like a beautiful combo. I keep buying stuff all the time and one would think I would stop at some point. :/ It really is fun fishing with JDM gear. Enjoy the ride!

Looks like fun times

Glad to hear you like the new rod. I can't wait to get mine, it still hasn't shipped. Now, after your first impressions I'm really itching to get it.

You're done fishing with domestic products! Good read and nice gill!!

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Originally Posted by redearhoosier

You're done fishing with domestic products! Good read and nice gill!!

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That is the gospel! I picked up one of my domestic rods, that I loved until the other day lol, and tried to fish it for a bit on a trip a couple of days ago. I made it about two casts and declared that rod crap :Rofland picked my Palms Pinwheel and went back to fishing.

Buckeye, yes I have and I have to say that only part of it is me. We all know who’s in charge and He’s smiled on me of late.

Hoosier, I have already had those thoughts but I have to say that there’s places I fish that demand a more heavy handed approach and I won’t be taking the good stuff in there. I’ve spent a few years getting a good stable of rods and reels together and my Fenwicks, for instance, are awful nice, light, and will take the punishment I dish out. But I do see more in the future. I’ve got another coming already but I have to lay down and keep my hands out of my pockets for a bit. Between the rods, reels and a stainless prop I just got today, I need to recover!

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Originally Posted by skeetbum

But in closing I’ll say that it’s about what I’ve been told to expect and I’m not disappointed in the least. Light in hand with both the reel and rod together, casting beyond my expectations and sensitivity like I’ve never experienced before.

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Congrats on good first trip, glad you were able to make it out if even for a short time to try out the new stuff. I know it drives me crazy to have new stuff just sitting waiting. I'm lucky enough to have a pond at my place, so they normally make a short trip there as soon as I get them.

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Originally Posted by skeetbum

Once again, the net was home.

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Unsolicited advice. Leave a net in the boat, even if it's just a cheap one. The pain of breaking a rod tip is real. I admit I don't use a net all that often but it's always on the boat. Most of the time I'm catching smaller fish, and just grab the line to lift them in the boat. I do think most JDM rods are able to handle more than it looks like they should, I watched some video's of AJI fishing from piers in Japan and the people are slinging them up from the water, I don't know how big those fish are though.



I as almost sick when I heard the tip snap on my slow taper special. Ironically I broke the tip taking it out of the protective case I was using. I had a double case that you could leave the rod rigged up in, the jig snagged on something while I was taking it out, it happened so quick I'm not even sure what happened exactly I just heard a snap and felt like I got punched in the stomach.

I now carry all my JDM rods inside a hard tube in the cloth package they come in. The Abu Garcia Carabus rods came in a hard tube, the diameter of a fly rod tube, for the last 2 rods I bought the 5'11 Banshee and the 5'8 Lunakia I bought the White river fly rod tubes WR-48C, it's for a 9' 3piece fly rod but the rods fit just fine. The other tubes I use are the Plano rod tubes they have a larger diameter and you can fit 2 rods in them with no problem. I just wait till I'm on the water to set the rods up for fishing.

Welcome to the Rabbit hole :welcome

Thanks for the welcome Zeke. My rods lay on a flat section I built in and they’re fully supported and tied with a rod saver to keep ‘em from bouncing around. Plus I’m only five minutes from two ramps. I’m hoping my record stands for a good while longer.

And the net usually stays in the boat but when I took her to the doc I stripped her pretty bare. Just one of the things I forgot to put back. The freshwater net is also smaller than the salt water net and so on. I seldom hit the water without one.

And if you haven’t lost too much from the broken tip I may be able to get a tip for it and get it back in play. Let me know if I can help.

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Originally Posted by skeetbum

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And if you haven’t lost too much from the broken tip I may be able to get a tip for it and get it back in play. Let me know if I can help.

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I appreciate the offer, I redneck patched it up with a couple of needles. It's not pretty but is usable. If top sections ever come back in stock I'll get one then. I managed to break it in two spots.

Haven't used it much sense the repair.Attachment 486944Attachment 486945

Broke it above and below the eye below the tip.

Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

You do good work. Looks like a break I would do. Sorry for your loss.

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Originally Posted by zekepa

Haven't used it much sense the repair.Attachment 486944Attachment 486945

Broke it above and below the eye below the tip.

Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

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Skeets right. That is real nice work.
Bob

I’ve thought about this some since posting and just want to add something for the future. Any repair on gear you hate to lose is a valued effort and I throw no stones at anyone for their attempts. I only say that you have to realize what you’re trying to accomplish, and in this case it’s a workable flexing rod. In recent years I’ve come across several attempts of repairs using super glue as an adhesive. It’s sticky when it’s wet but when it’s dry it’s hard and doesn’t flex. The hardest thing to find is the point or splice used to keep them in line. I have no suggestions as to what to use for that, but the adhesive is some easier. Epoxy of different kinds has different qualities. 5 minute epoxy sometimes works well. What went through my mind was the coating I use building rods is built for flexing over the years and might be better for the task. I’ve fixed several rods in the past and wound up with a hard spot in the bow of the rod. Sometimes it matters and sometimes not. A fly rod I broke when I had no cash was a dog when I got it and worse after it broke, but it was all I could afford and the gills still hated it so mission accomplished. If anyone finds a suitable, flexible splint for such repairs close to the tip please clue me in.

Don't know that it is the right stuff to use but I used G Flex 650 toughened epoxy. Mainly because I had some left over from working on my boat.

I would think that rod building epoxy would have been a better choice, but that's not what I had on hand.

I gotcha. I have a PHD in run whatcha brung.��

I have been fixing broken rods, tips and parts with the epoxy stik that came with the tip kit you get from BPS or walmart and it has worked well so far. Did find a place to order lots o tips tho most of them are bigger than I can use but oh well, it was still reasonable.

I like the needle idea for fixing thin rod parts, since I bought a bunch o needles to sew up some ripped pockets.