TackleTour

I went through my rods and reels over the weekend as I haven’t used most of them in a long time. Due to work and being out of town for extended periods of time I haven’t had many opportunities to do any fishing. Last trip was in back in June for some mountain lake trout fishing. I made it to one of the lower desert lakes a month ago to try out one of my new JDM rod & reel setups on some bluegills. Anyways, went through all my stuff and cleaned them up, re-spooled the reels, etc. I have acquired some JDM gear over the past couple of months thanks to Chris at Finesse-Fishing. I still have my first UL rod & reel, a Wally World special. I’ve come a long way since then (about 15 yrs ago). Will be retiring in a couple of weeks and hope to go out a lot more to use this stuff. Thought I would list my UL and SUL setups. It’s been awhile since I’ve posted. What’s in your rack and what’s your goto rod and reel?

Quantum XtraLite XTS562ULW / Zebco Platinum 11PLT / 4# Yozuri Hybrid Ultrasoft (my first UL setup from Wally World)
Norseman Outdoors ESP XTS562ULW / Pflueger President 6920 / 2# DAM Tectan (Never used)
Norseman Outdoors ESP Ultralight E66ULS / Shimano Sahara 500FD / 3# DAM Tectan (Never Used)
Temple Fork Outfitters TFG, FWSF 601-2 / Quantum Kinetic 05 PTiB / 3# DAM Tectan (Really like this one)
TFO G.Loomis Signature TFGFWSF601-1 / Quantum Kinetic Micro 05 PTic / 4# Seagar InvisX
Falcon Graphite Rod Ultralight FES-UL-16 (6') / Shimano Stradic 1000FH / 6# Berkley Nanofil (Really like this one)
Fenwick Elite Tech RR / ERR662SL-MF-2 / Pflueger Patriarch 9525X / 2# Yozuri Hybrid Ultrasoft
St. Croix Panfish Series / PFS60ULF / TD Fuego 1000A / 2# Yozuri Hybrid Ultrasoft

Then I found Chris Stewart's site... What did I get myself into?

Custom Build TFO 1 Weight Fly/Spin Rod 4pc / Shimano Soare CI4+ 500s/ 3# Sunline Area Meister (A lot of fun)
Daiwa Native Stream / 50TUL (Telescoping)/ Daiwa Iprimi 2004 / 4# Varivas Bush Trail (Haven’t used yet)
Shimano Soare / BB S700SULS / Daiwa Iprimi 2004 / 3# Sunline Area Meister (A blast with bluegills!)
Shimano Trout One / NS S53SUL / Daiwa Luvias 2506H / 4# Sunline Troutist Wild (Haven’t used yet)
Tenryu Lunakia / LK6102S-MLT / Shimano Cardiff CI4+ 1000SHG / 4# Sunline Troutist Wild (Haven’t used yet)
Tenryu Rayz / Spectra RZS51LL / Shimano Cardiff CI4+ 1000SHG / 4# Varivas Bush Trail (Haven’t used yet)

That Spectra is a sweet rod. Currently have one rod I use and that is a Spectra paired with an Abu Revo MGXtreme 2000SH spooled with Sunline Small Game 0.6PE with Varivas 8lb TiCoated Flouro leader. I have another rod incoming a Jackson Trout Unlimited 4’5” one piece solid carbon rod. Excited to see what that rod can do and will move my Abu over to it. I test a lot of gear but in the end no reason to keep a ton of setups around. I have my eyes on one more rod from M&N Corp though it is a longer rod at 6’4” not sure I’ll make the jump due to amount of use it would receive.

Funny....the first part of your list....I've owned each of them except for the Quantum XtraLite....LOL. I must have had 4 Fenwick RR rods at one time. Went with a couple of Phenix Elixirs along the way. Really lost count of JDM rods I have bought. I must have given 6 or more of the low end rods away. Yesterday I gave an UL Iprimi away to an 11 year old that I wanted to introduce to UL angling...along with a Stradic 1000. Today I am taking a Major Craft Volkey to his mom for him and that will be the last non high end rod I possess....well I still have a Palms Egeria XUL that I love for the fun factor and it is a nice looking rod also. I've also bought about a dozen medium end JDM rods and gave to my sons. Nothing wrong with the low end JDM but for me once one fishes the high end gear you just don't want to go back. I have only recently sold off a couple of JDM rods....Blue Current TZ and an X-Ride. Hard for me to get rid of the good ones but if I want to try more I have to. I have rods that I need to fish a lot more with...the Lunakia....the Graphiteleader rods. And for the past 6 weeks been pondering over a new area trout rod...which one to get. Same with the reels. I was perfectly happy with the Luvias reels I have...until I bought the Presso Limited....now I'm spoiled. For the past 6 weeks I have cleaned rods and reels so much it is unreal.....been recovering from a hip replacement. But yesterday the doc released me to go fish again! Hoping to go tomorrow. I need to try more JDM lines.....love the Varivas Ester and nylon lines. This past Saturday spooled up a reel with the Sunline Night Blue Ester. Need to get some high end JDM PE line. It truly can be a curse. Of course I haven't really responded to your post as to what is in my rod rack. Most of my rods are kept in their pouch and in a case. But I do have a rod rack in my garage and looking at it there is an 8' 3" Blue Current TZ....an Major Craft MSX L...and a Major Craft Speedstyle with a 2015 Luvias 2510 on it that has never been used. My wife bought that for me not quite understanding I'm all about UL angling....LOL. The rest of my line up, that I have in my possession still...at least to the best of my memory.........17 Finezza Prototype.....18 Corto....Tict Rockin Drift.....Tict Rockin Finesse....Major Craft Truzer 65H model......Major Craft Banshee 6 foot SUL and a Banshee 6' 7" L model....Lunakia 610......Egeria 64 XUL.....and a MegaBass Shoreluck Limited 68 UL model that is truly a thing of beauty and has only been fished with one time. One Daiwa Certate....5 Luvias in the 1003 and 2004H size....one Presso 1025 limited.....one Shimano Twin Power 2000HGS.....one Daiwa Ignis 2505 Type R. Curious as to how you find the build quality on the Revo MGXtreme. Congrats on your upcoming retirement.


Regards

Alphahawk, it was after reading some of your posts and watching some of your YouTube vids that got me interested in the Lunakia. Very nice rod. Hoping to try it out in a couple weeks when my retirement starts. Should be a lot of fun going after the bluegills. From the Quantum Xtralite to the Tenyru Rayz Spectra...my how times have changed!

Not counting my Lee Smith Custom built rods:

Dobyns Champion XP704
Dobyns Sierra 682,683, 684
Shimano Crucial 6'8 MH F
Powell Endurance 685
St Croix Mojo Bass Gen2 7'1 MH MF
Halo Daylite 7' MH F
Ark Sniper 7' MH F
13 Omen Black 7'3 MH F
Phenix M1 MH F
Hammer Tackle Trap Edition 7'3 H F

Im sure I might have got them all.

Nothing fancy I'm sure compared to some of these guys, but here it goes:

7'4" H DX Type LT Frog
7'9" MH Fury SB
7'2" MH OG Tatula
7'3" MH Zillion
7'3" MH Cronos
7'3" MH Veritas
7'0" MH Ardito
7'6" MH Ghost Cranking
6'6" MH Mojo Bass SCII
7'0" M Ardito
7'0" M Cronos
7'0" M Carbonlite

Hmm, I had more than I thought. Enjoy them all. Looking to try some Megabass at some point.

as far as UL rods and reels go i have only one true UL combo, but its a high end one.

I have a Loomis TSR 791 paired with a shimano Sustain 1000 FE. love the combo

Got to the point where I needed to create a spreadsheet.

Surprised to see the weights of some of the collections, considering this is in the Ultralight Fishing forum. Just wondering if you guys are using M and heavier rods even when tossing UL lures?

Where is the this thread is worthless without pics smiley?

Cabin in NC:
Daiwa Presso 5-6UL Tica Cetus SB800
Kuying Teton 5-6UL Tica Cetus SB500
Field and Steam IM7 5-0 UL Tica Cetus SB500

Major Craft BassPara 682CM Tsurinoya Hurricane
Kuying Tournament 702CMH Tsurinoya Hurricane

Home in Fl:
Fenwick River Runner 5-6UL Shimano Sahara 500FD
Fenwick River Runner 6-9UL Shimano Soare CI4 500S

Major Craft Volkey 642L Shimano Stradic CI4 1000 FML
Dobyn's Champion 681L SF Shimano Stradic CI4 1000
Major Craft Corzza 682L Shimano Stradic CI4 1000

Dobyn's Champion 702L SF Shimano Cardiff 2000S
Major Craft NanoAce 7-3ML Shimano Soare 1000S

BFS
Tsurinoya 6-0L Dragon Tsurinoya LF51
Major Craft Speedstyle 682CL Shimanno Aldabaran BFS XG
Major Craft Volkey VKC 682L Shimanno Aldabaran BFS XG Limited

Conventional casting gear
Major Craft Corzza CRZ692M Shimano Curado 201HG
Major Craft Benyro 682MH Shimano Curado 51e7
Major Craft Go Emotion 692M Shimano Curado 201HG

Damiki Dark Angel 69MH Shimano Curado 201e7
Kistler Helium custom Rainshadow He73HC Curado 201e7
Dobyns Sierra 765flip Curado 201e7
Lews Mach II 76MH Curado 201HG

Inshore
Kuying Tournament Spin 7ft MH/H Shimano Saros 3000
Shimano Calcutta 6-8MH Shimano Stella 3000
Kuying Topcaster 7ft MLS Shimano Sahara 2000S
Kuying Topcaster 7ft MLC Shimano Curado 51e7
Field and Stream Tec Spec 7ft MH S Shimano Saros 2500
Berkley Shock Lightning rod 7ft MH custom wrapped Alconite guides Shimano Saros 2500

Please try and not judge me!!! Have a love affair with ultra light gear......

Ultra-Light Crappie / Panfish

1. G. Loomis SR720-2 GL3 Daiwa JDM Presso 1003
2. G. Loomis SR781-1 IMX Buccaneer Custom Daiwa JDM Exist 1003
3. G. Loomis SR781-1 IMX Daiwa JDM Certate 1003
4. G. Loomis SR781-1 IMX Daiwa JDM Certate 1003
5. G. Loomis SR841-2 IMX Daiwa JDM Exist 1025
6. G. Loomis TSR740-2 Daiwa JDM Exist native custom 1003H
7. G. Loomis TSR790-1 Daiwa JDM Exist native custom 1003H
8. G. Loomis TSR791-1 Daiwa JDM Exist native custom 1003H
9. G. Loomis TSR801-2 GLX Daiwa JDM Exist FC 1000S
10. G. Loomis TSR801-2 Daiwa JDM Exist 1025
11. G. Loomis TSR801-2 Daiwa JDM Exist 1025




Light Trout / Bass


1. G. Loomis SR782-1 IMX Daiwa JDM Certate 1003
2. G. Loomis SR782-2 GL3 Daiwa JDM Certate 1003
3. G. Loomis SR783-2 GL3 Daiwa JDM Certate 1003
4. G. Loomis SR842-2 GL3 Daiwa JDM Exist 1025
5. G. Loomis SR842-2 GLX Daiwa JDM Exist 1025
6. G. Loomis TJR782-2 GL2 Daiwa JDM Luvias 1003
7. G. Loomis TJR782-2 GL2 Daiwa JDM Luvias 1003
8. G. Loomis TSR802-2 Daiwa JDM Presso 1025
9. G. Loomis TSR862-2 Daiwa JDM Presso 1025
10. G. Loomis TSR862-2 GLX Daiwa JDM Exist FC 1000S

Good to hear again from you Brian! I see that you have a slight bias towards G.Loomis... You really need to do yourself a favour and try a JDM UL rod...I spent many years using UL/L Loomis rods and after my first mid-range Japanese rod there was no going back, especially for fishing SPs. The SR / TSR taper is great for spoons, plugs and spinners but for SPs not so much...

On the other hand, if your finances are in anything less than large surplus, ignore me completely!

Allsorts wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 01, 2019 1:26 am

On the other hand, if your finances are in anything less than large surplus, ignore me completely!

Best advice ever regarding JDM rods!

Allsorts wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 01, 2019 1:26 am

Good to hear again from you Brian! I see that you have a slight bias towards G.Loomis... You really need to do yourself a favour and try a JDM UL rod...I spent many years using UL/L Loomis rods and after my first mid-range Japanese rod there was no going back, especially for fishing SPs. The SR / TSR taper is great for spoons, plugs and spinners but for SPs not so much...

On the other hand, if your finances are in anything less than large surplus, ignore me completely!

Hello my friend! Yes it has been a long time. My budget allows for quite a bit as you can tell be me reels! LOL I have a Tict Rockin Power, and two Daiwa Heartland Z midge direction ultra lights from Japan. All three are great, the Midge are a softer more parabolic ultra light. I love my TSR and SR G. Loomis rods for jigs, I slow roll and swim my baits 99% of the time. I do agree the guide spacing leaves a little to be desired.....Either that of I don't know what a GREAT JDM ultras light jig rod for swimming plastics would be. I considered getting one built by a friend in England a 6'8 JDM Blank.......Great to hear from you! Hope you and the family are well.

Brian