CALIFORNIA'S ONLY SPORTSMAN'S NEWS SINCE 1953
Most Recent
EQUIPMENT REPORT
Untitled Page
THE ULTIMATE SURF ROD?
'An Angler’s Need'
TACKLE ROOM BY BRANDON HAYWARDPublished: Nov 06, 2008
EQUIPMENT REPORT BY BRANDON HAYWARD
The next couple week’s worth of columns are going to look at a couple items that most 
every angler needs. This week it’s a killer surf rod.
Surf fishing is way different here in southern California than it is back east. We have surfperch, corbina and halibut, while to the east they have everything from tarpon, snook and redfish to stripers and bluefish. Even though we don’t have the big game at our, uh, feet, it still doesn’t hurt having a good surf rod in the quiver for those days fishing halibut from the beach or to bring down to Mexico.
I’ve been searching for a good surf rod for years. One that I can walk down the street with and toss plastics with for halibut. Or pack in the rod tube for trips to the East Cape and other southerly destinations that have surf fishing that rivals that of the Eastern Seaboard. In other words, a surf rod that is capable of taking on bigger stuff than the typical SoCal targets like surfperch, croakers and corbina.
So, before the last Mex trip, I went on a search for a surf rod that could do everything from cast plastics to tossing big poppers like Yo-Zuri’s Surface Bulls and Surface Cruisers. I found a great candidate in Shimano’s Tiralaja rods. There are 18 rods in the line, from 71⁄2 footers to 12-foot models (both spinning and conventional). All of which were designed with surf fishing in mind.
The rods have a counter balance system. There is an optional counter balance kit that has four weighted pegs that can be screwed into the bottom of the rod in lieu of a butt cap.
“The rods have been out for three years,” say Justin Poe, the man behind Shimano’s rod development. “We just wanted to build something different.”
Poe says the rods were designed with East and West coast anglers in mind.
As he pointed out, “…back East they fish in the surf with eight ounces of weight and bait.” The counter balance system uses the weighted pegs to help well, balance things out, and get longer casts.
The other unique feature of the rods is the sliding reel seat that is found on the thin diameter rods. Shimano calls it the Slide ‘n Grip reel seat. It’s a high quality Fuji reel seat than can be adjusted up or down the rods’ shrink tube handles.
I fished two of the rods in Mexico before writing this column. The surf fishing in Mazatlan wasn’t there do to recent rains mucking up the water. Still, I got to throw the big poppers and plastics with the Tiralaja rods and Shimano Saragosa reels loaded up with braid while fishing out of a panga. The combo threw the lures just fine, but by adding a bit of weight with the counter balance kit, and adjusting the reel a little bit, the distance went way up.
The rods are built with top-of-the line components. Fuji Alconite Concept guides are standard on the 100 percent graphite blanks that have Shimano’s TC4 construction. Like a lot of Shimano products, there’s nothing else out there quite like them.
Next week’s column will look at another Shimano product that is pretty unique.
WESTERN OUTDOORS NEWS
|
||||
|
EQUIPMENT REPORT BY BRANDON HAYWARD The next couple week’s worth of columns are going to look at a couple items that most every angler needs. This week it’s a killer surf rod. Surf fishing is way different here in southern California than it is back east. We have surfperch, corbina and halibut, while to the east they have everything from tarpon, snook and redfish to stripers and bluefish. Even though we don’t have the big game at our, uh, feet, it still doesn’t hurt having a good surf rod in the quiver for those days fishing halibut from the beach or to bring down to Mexico. I’ve been searching for a good surf rod for years. One that I can walk down the street with and toss plastics with for halibut. Or pack in the rod tube for trips to the East Cape and other southerly destinations that have surf fishing that rivals that of the Eastern Seaboard. In other words, a surf rod that is capable of taking on bigger stuff than the typical SoCal targets like surfperch, croakers and corbina. So, before the last Mex trip, I went on a search for a surf rod that could do everything from cast plastics to tossing big poppers like Yo-Zuri’s Surface Bulls and Surface Cruisers. I found a great candidate in Shimano’s Tiralaja rods. There are 18 rods in the line, from 71⁄2 footers to 12-foot models (both spinning and conventional). All of which were designed with surf fishing in mind. The rods have a counter balance system. There is an optional counter balance kit that has four weighted pegs that can be screwed into the bottom of the rod in lieu of a butt cap. “The rods have been out for three years,” say Justin Poe, the man behind Shimano’s rod development. “We just wanted to build something different.” Poe says the rods were designed with East and West coast anglers in mind. As he pointed out, “…back East they fish in the surf with eight ounces of weight and bait.” The counter balance system uses the weighted pegs to help well, balance things out, and get longer casts. The other unique feature of the rods is the sliding reel seat that is found on the thin diameter rods. Shimano calls it the Slide ‘n Grip reel seat. It’s a high quality Fuji reel seat than can be adjusted up or down the rods’ shrink tube handles. I fished two of the rods in Mexico before writing this column. The surf fishing in Mazatlan wasn’t there do to recent rains mucking up the water. Still, I got to throw the big poppers and plastics with the Tiralaja rods and Shimano Saragosa reels loaded up with braid while fishing out of a panga. The combo threw the lures just fine, but by adding a bit of weight with the counter balance kit, and adjusting the reel a little bit, the distance went way up. The rods are built with top-of-the line components. Fuji Alconite Concept guides are standard on the 100 percent graphite blanks that have Shimano’s TC4 construction. Like a lot of Shimano products, there’s nothing else out there quite like them. Next week’s column will look at another Shimano product that is pretty unique. WESTERN OUTDOORS NEWS |
||||
Digg This Article
