Travel Surf Rod

[Pferox]

I haven't fished it yet, but wanted to bore you with some initial impressions about this rod.

I was looking for a collapsible rod that I could leave in the truck.  I didn't want to break the bank, add a little cheap reel, some braid and I would be good to go.  I liked the idea of a telescopic rod, but most that I saw were around 5 to 6 feet and targeted more to freshwater panfish.

While perusing BangGood to purchase some more components for my light rigs, I came across a rod that was "Sea" rated, that is what they call gear for the salty side everywhere else but here.

I dunno what happened but my Metric to English converter in my head had a nasty brain fart and I ended up ordering a 3.6 meter rod thinking it will be around 9 feet.

I got it with part of my order and was surprised at how heavy it felt. After opening it, man was I surprised, it was over 11 feet long!  Most of the weight is in the aluminum reel seat which actually balances the rod out nicely when it is extended.

It reminds me of a B&M telescopic crappie rod (the modern cane pole) with guides on the end of each section, and a HUGE metal reel seat.  There is a clear plastic case that attaches with a button on strap that holds everything together when it is collapsed.  If you look closely the "Cap" looks like a fish head.  The butt section looked a little short, but I discovered that there is a section that unscrews from the back of the reel seat and extends allowing you a nice comfortable length for distance casting.  The shortened handle actually makes it nice for close in "pitching" kind of casts.  Before I actually got the rod I was figuring that I would use that 2000 CDM reel, but that was going to be a little small.  Instead I opted to put on a 400 series Wavespin spooled with 20lb Bull Buster braid.

If I leave the first section extended, the cover seems to fit better, and I can actually leave the line in the guides and rigged, almost ready to fish.  The only thing that will take some talent is to line up the guides on this rod, but it is possible.  It also comes with a cloth bag that if you remove the reel leave the "cap" off and collapse it fully will completely protect the rod.

Initial impressions are pretty positive, after the shock that I just bought a surf rod.  It seems well thought out, the reel seat does balance the rod nicely although it seems a little heavy at first. The rod when locked into place is pretty stout, probably a MH with a soft, thin tip, but that is common in a lot of newer European rods, from what I have seen.  The guides are attached to a metal ring that is attached around each section, acting as a strengthener at that point, which I would assume is the weakest link in each section.

The handle, reel seat, with a reel attached isn't for someone with small hands, it is definitely in the tree trunk category, although I actually like the feel of it so far.  There is a metal screw on cap on the bottom with a rubber end.  In it there is a hole which is probably so the rod can breath when being extended or collapsed, it is just the right size to double as a hook holder, don't know if they intended that or not.

I plan on testing it on the water tomorrow and hopefully can come back with some more insight on this rod.  I hope it works out, because if it does I plan on ordering one a tad bit shorter for the truck.

All my pictures turned out like poop, so here is the listing at BangGood in case you want to take a look at what I'm talking about. 

http://us.banggood.com/Wholesale-Warehouse-Superhard-Sea-Fishing-Rod-High-Carbon-for-Sea-Fishing-1_82_43_6m-wp-Usa-980314.html#

[Lipripper]

Jim it that chemo brain. Le t us know how it works out after you use it.

[Mike Cork]

Keep us posted on performance 

[Pferox]

Well, I got a chance to fish this new rod and man what an experience. 

Here is a picture of the rod fully compressed.



Here is what the handle looks like when extended.



First thing is that when you have the room, it is pretty easy to extend out and keep the guides relatively straight.  The weight of the reel keeps the handle in the correct direction, and then you just pull out the sections insuring the guides are pointing straight down.  There are a lot of sections, I'll tell you, I probably should have counted them, but didn't sorry.

The next thing I noticed is that this sucker is LONG.  It is longer than a CB whip antenna, and is affected by wind gusts, as I found out today.  I have a stiff neck from looking up so far watching the rod tip.  This thing makes my 7 foot rods look like Barbie poles.



I never realized how attuned to a 7 foot rod I am.  I can walk around with one and never hit anything with it, usually.  That isn't the case with an 11 footer.  I kept running into the top of the picnic bench shelter for the first few times I came back to rebait, but finally figured out a way to avoid than and all was well.  It takes a lot more room to cast, and like driving a tall truck, you need to check to make sure you have a safe unobstructed zone around you, almost as much as needed to land a helicopter, from the looks of it.

I'm a little rusty at casting long poles, but was still able to toss a 1 ounce weight about 2/3 to 3/4th the way across the bayou, which is quite impressive.  Another thing I noticed was that is felt very light and well balanced after it was extended.  Extending the handle also assisted in consistent casting.  I kept shortening the handle when I put it into the rod holder since I wasn't too sure about stressing out that connection, although in a surf spike the handle would be in a lot deeper, and I'm sure it would be OK to keep it extended then.

With the wind being so strong, and the gusts consistent it was difficult to see a subtle bite, but a few times when it had calmed down, I could see the tip just jump when being hit by small fish, by small I'm talking about those little 3 or 4 inch gafftops that are frequenting the bayou right now.

The first fish was discovered after reeling in to check the bait, and it was a 3 inch gafftop.  I didn't catch much on that rod for quite a while.  Then while I was looking at the tip wondering to myself how that tip would react to a decent sized croaker, it happened.  That first section doubled over, and the second and third section followed.  I knew I had a nice fish on the rod, but I was surprised that I didn't feel disadvantaged.  The wave spin reel is a strong one, and helped that a lot I bet.  So the first real fish was a nice foot long or so croaker that fought his heart out.



I rebaited and casted out again and as the bait was falling I felt the next hook up, it was a good fight, but not as strong as the croaker.  To my surprise, it was a sand trout, my first one this year, and it was a good specimen.



We finished off later in the day with a nice sized hardhead, which are strong tugging fighters, people around here call them snot rockets.



After a while I was able to feel when the weight hit bottom, even on a loose line.  One time I had just tightened up the line and was putting it into the rod holder when a strange feeling came upon my hand, almost like a little machine gun tapping through the rod.  I was actually feeling the little fish attacking the bait.  THAT impressed me, because I never expected to have any sensitivity on this rod at all.



Aesthetically the rod looks pretty good.  The reel seat is quite impressive, and the aluminium trim gives off the air of wanting to do business.  Even the guide inserts are rainbow colored, I think that is titanium inserts that causes that.  I wish the top section was a brighter color, seeing the tip in certain situations will be difficult with the black coloring.  Sadly, I won't be able to do a bright wrap like I usually do because it will make the section too thick to retract then.



I was able to side arm cast this rod, but I think I knocked a couple of people in down the way.  It has a killer swing cast, and Jungle casts like a dream. 

I'm confident it will cast up to 2 ounces, maybe three, but I haven't tried yet.  With more weight I bet I could fish the other side of the Bayou, although the barges might disagree with me.  I see this as a great meat getter of a rod, croaker, sand trout, whiting, and even slot reds and spotted sea trout will be a nice little match for this rod.  Although you could bring just about anything in with it with patience and skill, I'm pretty sure it will bring fish up to 50lbs to the net.  You just have to make sure you use a net and don't allow the tip to get over bent, which is a common problem with anglers who get excited and reel in too much line.  For me, I see it as a perfect pompano rod, to be used in a couple of hard to reach places along the seawall in Galveston.

Just for the record, it definitely isn't a crappie rod with guides, it is much stiffer than that, although there is give in the rod.  It is kind of interesting, each section is like a different power that progresses down the rod towards the handle.  The tip will be practically doubled over and a couple of sections are flexing, but the rest of the rod is rigid, waiting to the proper amount of pull to flex them.

I have a few other comments to make, but they are more my feelings about the rod, and not really relate to the performance of the rod. per sei.

It is a very nice light to medium duty surf rod that is quite compact and easy to transport, I am impressed enough with it that I am going to order the shorter version in a few weeks too.

[Pferox]

Although casting distance was impressive, and I am a little rusty on the timing in swinging the weight, I do believe that there is room for improvement.

Based on the size and location of the stripper guide this rod is meant to have a smaller reel installed, although I'm still not sure.  I have looked at some of the European surf rods and the stripper guide for either conventional or spinning rod is about the same size, although it is farther away from the reel face.  It still is applying pressure to the lip of the reel spool.  Whether or not this is an asset I'm not sure, the amount of line slap it is cutting down might be compensating for the resistance on the reel lip.  It is noticeable in the bottom of this picture.



I did notice that it forced the line to have to move over and around the teeth of the wave spin, and suspect that it is causing some kind of slow down of line belayment in this instance.  The wavespin reel is a good casting reel when max filled, but I think I'm going to try a different reel, just not sure which one.  I don't think a 2000 size would have enough line capacity, so I might try a 3000 with braid if I have one handy around here.  The other aspect that the smaller reel might be light enough to effect balance, but I might give it a try.

Another option is a 5000 Captiva, it is a long cast spool so is much narrower, which may be the ticket, it is also a bait runner which I feel would be a good addition to this setup.  It likes braid, and is about the about same weight of the reel on it now.

The reason I am thinking about this is because I have a Tournament Choice Roughneck 7ft M rod with a 2000 Penn Fierce mounted on it, spooled with 8lb CXX, the same weight on the end, and it comes up about 10 feet short of hitting where the 11 footer landed.  I would think that there would be a greater difference, but then there are so many variables involved, now it is just getting the right reel combined on it to get the perfect balance, then everything will fall into place.

I should note that the Fierce has a lot less line left on the spool after a cast as compared to the wave-spin, which can become an issue if you get a running fish.

Overall though it was a great session today, and an impressive first showing of the new rod, now comes the fine tuning to get the most out of it.

[Lipripper]

Thanks for both reports Jim on the fish you caught oh you left out that Crab. Looks you your first trip with your new rod went well with still a little learning left to do.

[Pferox]

Thanks Lip, yea there is a little fine tuning left to be done, I'm getting ready to post the full report now.

[Lipripper]

Just got back from radiation now let me go find that report.

[Pferox]

How did radiation go?

Ya know that rod would make a nice crappie stick.   

[Lipripper]

How did radiation go?

Ya know that rod would make a nice crappie stick.   

Not ot bad yet Jim but as you well know the more you get the worse it gets as time goes on.
I think I will stick with my 12' 2 piece Sam Hetien or my B& M sensitive jigging rods. Sine I only fish with them when I go down to Johns from his boat they don't need to go down.