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Thread: Ultralight Rods Relating to Panfish #2

  1. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by Alphahawk View Post
    The Diplomat Extreme arrived today. It does not have the Carbon Micro Guides that I mentioned in the original post. Going back and looking at their website the Fuji CMG guides only come on the 6’ 3” UL model. The rod is listed as a regular action. For Japanese area trout rods regular usually means slow....but not in this case. The solid tip is the softest solid tip I have purchased. I now own 6 area trout rods....would be 7 but I gave the Iprimi to a young 12 year old gentleman to fish with. We all worry about duplicating rods and so far I have been lucky. Out of all the area trout rods I have bought out of Japan they are all different. I don’t know what to make of the action on this rod....of course I’m chomping at the bit to get it out and fish it. The build is great and the cork grip is a nice change....Not a lot of area trout rods have cork....unlike their stream trout rods which all seem to have cork and or wood grips. The rod weighs in at 47 grams on my scale....just what their website says. In the hand it feels like you’re holding nothing but air. The butt of the rod.....7.4mm, is slightly larger than the Slow Taper Special. The tip is solid at .83mm. It has 8 guides, all Fuji Torzite. Next week is looking great weather-wise to get out and try it out. This should make an excellent bluegill and trout rod. Not sure I would want to tangle too much with Smallies like the one I caught on the Slow Taper. After I fish it I will give a good review. Here are a few pics.


    Regards

    Attachment 385068Attachment 385069Attachment 385070Attachment 385071Attachment 385072
    Here is a first impression of this rod. I was able to get into one crappie.....12 inch fish.....and several 7 inch bluegill. This rod is odd...in a good way. It is certainly about the tip.....as Abu Garcia mentioned how delicate it is on their website. Abu Garcia talks about “automation hooking” with this rod. For those of you who have seen my videos you know I don’t ever set the hook.....the fish hook themselves....but that is on all the JDM rods I use. The tip is so soft it is a very different feel when hooking a fish. The fun factor is a solid 10 with this rod. The test of the so called “automation hooking” will really come when I start trout fishing in the next month or so....after all it was designed for trout. I have 5 other area trout rods.....this one is totally different. Once again it is all in the tip. I pulled out every rod I have with a solid tip to compare the stiffness of them.....trout.....Mebaru...and Ajing rods. The tip on this rod is the softest I have seen. I can already tell this will be a great bluegill and crappie rod. I’m very much hoping it will give me an edge when I am using it to twitch a TM for trout and the trout are doing what the Japanese call the “kiss bite”. With rod and reel total weight at 207 grams it feels like your holding air. Casting is superb with a 1 gram jig.....I didn’t use anything heavier yet. You can get some idea of the bending curve catching these 7 inch Gills in the attached pics. Just need to get out and really test it...see how it will handle those 13-14 inch Spots.

    Regards

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  2. #22
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    Bending curve in the last rod pic does remind me of the Finetail bending curve, another area trout rod. When you say the tip, you are referring to the last 6-12 inches of the rod, and from these pics it is difficult to see that tip bend and softness you speak of. I am assuming a video is forthcoming about this rod and a closer examination of the tip bending. Your channel and this website is where I go took look for and glean that kind of information. As for the trout you fish for with this rod, they should be more hungry and aggressive as say the hemmed up lip pierced fish of a pay area, hook sets should be automatic with sharp hooks and current flow of the river. Fun factor aside will there be any control with such a soft tip on the 14 inch KY Bass or Stocker Bow in a heavy flow? You also did not mention or compare the sensitivity of the tip, soft tip, to the Slow Taper or the other Trout rods. Again, just curious and while this rod and the Slow Taper do not exactly fit my style of fishing, I do enjoy research, knowledge and always keep an open mind when it comes to new equipment, technologies and techniques.

  3. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by StantheMan2567 View Post
    Bending curve in the last rod pic does remind me of the Finetail bending curve, another area trout rod. When you say the tip, you are referring to the last 6-12 inches of the rod, and from these pics it is difficult to see that tip bend and softness you speak of. I am assuming a video is forthcoming about this rod and a closer examination of the tip bending. Your channel and this website is where I go took look for and glean that kind of information. As for the trout you fish for with this rod, they should be more hungry and aggressive as say the hemmed up lip pierced fish of a pay area, hook sets should be automatic with sharp hooks and current flow of the river. Fun factor aside will there be any control with such a soft tip on the 14 inch KY Bass or Stocker Bow in a heavy flow? You also did not mention or compare the sensitivity of the tip, soft tip, to the Slow Taper or the other Trout rods. Again, just curious and while this rod and the Slow Taper do not exactly fit my style of fishing, I do enjoy research, knowledge and always keep an open mind when it comes to new equipment, technologies and techniques.
    Thanks Stan. The Slow Taper Special is a much more crisp...steely rod. The only way to convey the softness of the tip is to get a 1 ounce weight and do some bending curve pics...which I will eventually get around to. Of course comparing the tip on this rod to the 4 Major Craft Area rods may be a mute point..as all of their rods are rated as fast or even extra fast. The Palms XUL trout rod has no action rating but the Diplomat Extreme is much softer than it also. The knock for years on area trout rods were they were soft and dull. The Iprimi I had was very soft...and very dull...but it was an extremely fun rod to fish. The Palms is far more sensitive than the Iprimi but nowhere near to the current crop of area rods I own. You can see how Major Craft gets the sensitivity with the very rigid blanks on the Banshee line and the new Fine Tail Area Stage line. Abu Garcia has certainly developed an worthy area trout rod with the Diplomat Extreme. Can't answer how it will handle the larger fish until I hang some...but I think it will hold its own. I always keep in mind we are using these rods to do things they are not designed for. When fishing the tailrace at Normandy the flow is not that great..but there is some. I have caught a lot of trout there using the area trout rods.....and while it is always fun when you hook say a 12-14 inch bow in some current you realize it is not really the best rod for that. When I hit the Little Red out in Arkansas these rods do just fine if you are fishing low flow....but an ajing rod is much better when they increase the flow. And if I go to the White River no area rods will be making the trip with me. I am a huge fan of area trout rods but I really do need a stream trout rod for when I go to to the White River. More info will be forthcoming as I fish this rod.

    Regards
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  4. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by jawjatek View Post
    Just luck of the draw - I had both in the kayak with me. The Limber Tip has rapidly become my favorite panfish rod, but I've yet to hook a big red ear on it - they are hard to find when not on the bed. I've no desire for an Eradicator Slow Taper Special; the LT has the "soft yet sensitive" thing in spades. Both the Tict and the Evergreen have excellent sensitivity, with the nod to the Evergreen. When I spot crappie on a pile on the Livescope, I reach for the LT. Like this 14", 1.6 lb slab I caught Friday.
    GATech:

    What is the comfortable lower lure weight for the limber tip in your opinion? Looking for rod to handle 1 g jig heads. I have Rockin' Finesse and it is certainly quite good, just not my favorite...

  5. #25
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    Lowest I've used so far is 1/32 oz. I rarely go lower, unless I am using a Renosky minnow or Mr. Tw. Micro Craw on bedding bream, then I use a 0.5 g #10 hook Daiwa jig head. It will be April/May 2021 before I do that again.

    Today I was on some stacked-up crappie in 15-20 FOW using a TM on a 1.5 g head to good effect. The wind was driving me nuts, so I could not go lighter, plus it seemed like it was taking forever to get down to the fish. The fish were biting very light - if I felt anything, I set the hook.
    "Alive without breath, as cold as death; never thirsty, ever drinking, all in mail never clinking."
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  6. #26
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    Thanks. With 1/32 oz and 0.5 g jig heads, can you feel or see at the tip when the lure touches bottom? What lines did you use with 1/32 oz and 0.5 g?

    I was thinking the Fine Sensor would work better for me, but it seems way too short...

  7. #27
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    Line is the 2.3 lb Varivas ester with a 4 lb flouro leader. I try not to hit bottom because the lake I fish most has a lot of grass and weeds yet, and it will foul my jig. I use Livescope every trip, I even have it on my kayak, and I watch the jig sink, and try to keep it just over the fish. The exception is when fishing with wigglers for shellcrackers - I use a 1/32 oz plain jig head, instead of a hook and sinker. I confess I am more of a line watcher when it is sinking to the bottom, rather than keeping the line taut and feeling bottom. I have actually not tried a 0.5 g jig on the limber tip yet - the spawn was over when I got it.

    I am of the opinion that - in general - stiffer rods transmit bites better than soft ones. Whether or not the limber tip provides more sensitivity than the Tict RF is unknown - I do not have an RF. I do have a RP which is much stiffer, and yet, the Evergreen has better sensitivity IN MY OPINION. $300 more sensitivity? No. I think the returns diminish once you get into the high end.

    I confess I was drinking when I ordered it - but I'm glad I did.
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  8. #28
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    Came across some interesting info about official importers of Graphiteleader, Tict, Yamaga Blanks, Evergreen rods in Russia. It turns out they all provide one-year warranty on those rods, and the idea is it gives owners enough time to identify potential production defects. Then came across the review of St Croix Legend Elite Panfish by "i_fish" on Youtube and the comments on the 15-year warranty. Reminded me that JDM rods, particularly high end ones, will probably never find an official channel to our market...

  9. #29
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    That would be nice if we could get a 1 year warranty here in the US. Thanks for sharing.
    Matt Schroeder - AGFC - (877)470-3309 - [email protected]

  10. #30
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    I think the one-year limited warranty by the dealer is a genius solution. As for the Legend Elite Panfish, I know that the 15-year warranty isn't free, and I'd prefer those costs to go into the product itself, not the excessive support. I am not saying it is not nice to have one, but I certainly don't care much for it. Let alone the fact that it prioritizes robustness over everything else in the rod design, and I would much prefer the maker to focus on other qualities more relevant to actual fishing.

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