[Ben Field]

With a little too much swell coming in at the moment and a northerly wind blowing straight in to any of the sheltered bays, tonight was going to be tough - and it was. I only went out for about an hour, but the wind made presenting any bait that was likely to catch very difficult.

High tide was at 8.45 - not a particularly high one either but I headed for one of the best high tide marks around here. To be honest, had there been more fish around I think I would have caught, but it wasn't to be. The wind really was the biggest problem. The swell was manageable, just. It was probably perfect in fact, had the wind been different.

Anyway, the main aim was to chuck some bigger lures in to the wind with the Daiwa Tournament Spinning rod I bought after Nantes. This is exactly what what it was designed for, and I love it even more now than I did on previous trips. It casts a miiiiiile and the action is perfect. After smashing lures to 30g out in to the wind, it actually had a decent amount of feel on a 5g jighead and an Xlayer as well. Super impressed. I didn't think it'd go that light, but the tip is definitely softer than my Shukan was, but it still has more power lower down. Ideal.

Anyway, may have to see what the swell does for the rest of this week now. The Northerly winds are set to continue, so I may have to head south later in the week i think.

 

[Gary A]

Sounds like a cracking rod Ben, What is the length and casting weight? It could be the do it all rod we're searching for. I'm still tempted by the lucky craft 3-23gm at 8'7".

 

[Tim Murphy]

Tough conditions Ben! But at least you got to play with yer rod..... :wink:

I had a look at that Lucky Craft rod on Monstertackle and it's a good looker but, erm... what does "Enjoy sea bass gamming tackles" mean???

 

[Ben Field]

Sounds like a cracking rod Ben, What is the length and casting weight? It could be the do it all rod we're searching for. I'm still tempted by the lucky craft 3-23gm at 8'7".

Its actually quite a heavy rated rod Gary. 9 foot, 14-56g. The only thing that would put some people off is the handle length. A bit like the 9'6" Shukan etc, its what I suppose is a 'normal' length handle - rather than being a short plugging style (this does make casting biggger lures a lot more fun though!). Saying that, its still designed as an allround lure rod and it does seem to do pretty much everything brilliantly. Its obviously not as perfect on the light stuff as a dedicated rod is, but I was happy just to see that it could do the job if I only wanted to take one rod out and step things down a bit. I took my Argento with m as well just in case the Daiwa couldn't cope (and the difference in weight is very obvious), but it still just about did the job down to 5g.

 

[Keith White]

Just catching up Ben.

Glad you like the rod and reports on gear like that are pretty useful. Nice one.