[Ben Field]

Yesterday was the joyous day that my 2 new light rods turned up from Japan, and blimey are they nice?!!!

Both are the Graphiteleader Finezza. One 7'6" solid tip and one 7'9" hollow. I can only mention again the need for having some proper luggage to carry these in, or to store them in. The tips are so fine, they're going to be absolutely brilliant to fish with, but difficult not to keep bashing them on things - especially when I can't stop going out to the garage and swinging them round!

Each one is paired with a Daiwa Feugo 2000A and with the reels in place, each rod is perfectly balanced in the hand. I honestly can't imagine how these could be better. :wackit:

I'll be going out, probably on thursday to give them a proper outing. :-D

 

[Nick Phillips]

They look utterly stunning,LRF is going to be huge me thinks.

 

[Ben Field]

Pretty sure I agree Nick! Proof will be in the pudding and whether the rest of us in more boring UK locations can start catching a few! Fingers crossed for Thursday (weather permitting!).

Here are a few more bits and bobs that arrived to accompany them.

...a mixture of LRF and HRF stuff.

 

[Mark Sleep]

They look lovely Ben, looking forward to hearing back. Now get yourself out fishing!

 

[Ben Field]

Relieved they've finally arrived Mark! Now I can actually fish, rather than just talking about it as if I already do! lol

 

[Jeremy Hayden]

Mr Field, you are a very, very bad man!
you've made me dribble in the office & the preachers wife is looking at me all funny now!!
the rods, the reels & the toys all look very good.
I'll get on the phone & see if i can schedule some cornish meetings very soon

 

[Ben Field]

Do it Jez!! Although there are one or 2 places that I want to try up your way as well. I think Ilfracombe may be perfect for this stuff with the number of mini species around there!!!

 

[Keith White]

Very nice rods indeed Ben.
Well thought of amongst Japanese LRF'ers quite a few in magazine pictures etc too.
As to the 'boring part', I don't agree. It'll be different yes, but it will be what you make it.
We've had our tough times too and my 2 fish last night were very, very hard come by indeed.
It's not always a bed of roses.

 

[Tim Murphy]

They look fabulous Ben. So many toys!!! Did you manage any sleep last night?!

 

[Ben Field]

lol, I know really mate. I'm unnecessarily playing it down. I'm looking forward to the fact that it'll be a bit different all over the country. People will be pushed to find ways of fishing that best suit their venues and there fish. There will be much more variety in this than there is in bass fishing at present. I love the fact also that there is a bit of a coarse crossover. When it comes to using smaller hooks etc and smaller weight, takes on the drop etc etc, having previous experience is going to be a great thing. Hopefully I'll start catching a few soon and I'll be able to pass over some proper info for anybody thinking of getting in to it.

 

[Ben Field]

They look fabulous Ben. So many toys!!! Did you manage any sleep last night?!

lol Tim. There are more as well, but this is enough for one day.

Weather forecast isn't looking great for Thursday, but I'll see what can be done.

 

[Gary A]

It all looks brilliant Ben. I'm sure you'll have many hours of fun with them.

 

[Sam Roche]

Hi Ben,What lovely rods, what shop did you buy them from in japan & how much did they cost?

 

[Ben Field]

Got them from Plat, Sam. Price wise, silly money, but I was lucky enough to inherit some money recently, so just thought I'd go for it. About £180 each I think. Silly really, but the result of a mad 5 minutes. lol.

Did Rolfe tell me that you have an Argento?

 

[Keith White]

How long have they taken in transit Ben ?

Are you using them tomorrow ?

 

[Ben Field]

I reckon about 3 weeks mate.

Unfortunately its looking unlikely that I'm going to get out tomorrow. Work is HEAVY!! I'll be able to get a lot of stuff shifted this week though so hopefully I can pretty much take next week off to go out and play properly. Whenever I go, I want a full day (and night) at it.

 

[Keith White]

3 weeks or just over seems the norm eh.
Kev is STILL waiting on his Zaltz and Daiwa HRF Infeet. Not Plats fault, just OUR postal service. It sucks.

If and when you do go out Ben. Fish in the dark or deadstick and twitch tiny plastics and I mean 'tiny' around structure.
Best of luck and watch those tips.

 

[Ben Field]

Cool, will do mate. That's the plan. I still need to find some tiny, tiny baits, but I'm fully good to go down to about 1.5".

I didn't realise when I put up the thread suggesting people carried rod cases just HOW important they'd really be. I'm obviously used to handling fine quivertips, but these things are probably even one step finer!!

 

[Keith White]

You, like myself and Kev come from coarse backgrounds and I've tried explaining to others that no coarse guy carries made up rods from the car, to the peg, and back again. At least not with any frequency. Coarse anglers don't suffer mass rod breakages and they deal with cows, tree's, fences, floods, flying golf balls etc..
The Japanese and Australians obviously have a longer heritage of using this stuff around the sea but our guys will adapt. Cases for me all the way.

 

[kevin white]

nice looking outfits there Ben, if all goes wrong with the weather, spend some extra money and grab yourself a ready to go aquarium.

kev