Thread: JDM rods relating to Panfish

Originally Posted by jawjatek

I would like to do a quick first-impressions report on the Yamaga Blanks Blue Current JH-Special 71/TZ NANO I bought last month or so. It is a great rod so far, and I have mostly fished for trout in the river with it, using small trout plugs, Trout Magnets, or hand-tied jigs (1.5 g head). I have hauled in (and released) many a fine rainbow and a ton of stockers, but I have yet to hook a real big brown on the rod. Hence an early report.

The 7 foot length casts a mile, yet the rod is so light, and you can feel the rocks thru the jig. It feels kinda stiff in the hands but really bends when you get a fish on. I am losing a lot less fish with this rod.

What is very notable is the Blue Current is TOUGH. I have rammed this thing into rocks to a u-bend in a moment of dumb-assery in river rapids in my kayak, and it survived without a scratch. This rod is tough for a JDM rod. My Ice Cube Rockin' Power stays at home - it would have been destroyed. Oh, yeah, I caught a 6 lb green pickle on the BC, and she wished she had not bit my jig. Easy fight with 3 lb Sniper flouro-loaded Luvias and Daiwa gekkabijin jig. No escape from that, no!

This is an ultimate "finesse" technique rod for anything I fish for. I love it. To be critical, I'd say its a tad heavy for typical bream only (not Sonny's bream, no), but top-notch for crappie, trout and bass (with the right tackle). Very happy with this purchase so far.

I agree with your assessment. It is a tough rod. I had a similar incident when I took it in a creek that was flooded. Big mistake. I ended up ramming it into a tree that was fallen across the creek. I though it was a goner. But after struggling a little while to free it, no damage was done. It is very sensitive and like you said, cast a jig a mile. I have caught Spotted Bass up to about two pounds on it and caught a Channel Cat bugger than that. It is definitely a keeper.


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Hi Yodie. Thank you for your reply and caution. Your caution is one reason that I want to buy the rod domestically so I will have a warranty if I need one. As I mentioned above I am not hard on equipment, but for the $ being spent and a first time buyer it is nice to deal with a dealer with a good reputation and fast service. While on the subject of warranties, has anyone considered or tried to hook up with the language department of a college or university to see if they have someone proficient or even a working knowledge of Japanese? Maybe even a consulate if you live near a good size city. I guess my thought is kind of out there, but it is possible that someone could be found that for a small fee for 10 minutes worth of work you would then be able to exercise your one time return. It would be a nice savings.
Thanks again for your information.
Bob
PS As an example I just did a quick lookup on the Univ of Tennessee and saw that the language dept offers a minor in Japanese studies. Got to have someone fluent there. A decent size city may well have a Japanese community, not that anyone wants to have to use a warranty :-(
B

Regardless of where you buy the rod, unless from Chris at Finesse Fishing (which I highly recommend, he is an excellent vendor to deal with and just a nice guy too!), you will be dealing with shipping to Japan, that's the big issue with the warranty.

So far I have had no language barrier when dealing with JDM rods. Plat, Digitaka, Asian Fishing Portal, Even sellers on Rakuten, all communicate very well in English language. I have also contacted Tenryu, Pure Fishing (Abu Garcia), Graphiteleader (Olympic) as well and MajorCraft customer service departments via email/chat, always was able to discuss my questions with someone at the very least "decent" with English, well enough effective communication was possible.

The shipping issue is where the warranty gets sticky... you could easily rack up $40 each way in shipping a rod or rod section back.

My cautionary note on "high-sticking" is just that, a caution, I haven't broken a rod this way, but can just see it as a possibility if someone were to not be paying close enough attention. I would not let that dissuade you from this rod or any JDM rod for that matter.

Originally Posted by BobC

Hi Yodie. Thank you for your reply and caution. Your caution is one reason that I want to buy the rod domestically so I will have a warranty if I need one. As I mentioned above I am not hard on equipment, but for the $ being spent and a first time buyer it is nice to deal with a dealer with a good reputation and fast service. While on the subject of warranties, has anyone considered or tried to hook up with the language department of a college or university to see if they have someone proficient or even a working knowledge of Japanese? Maybe even a consulate if you live near a good size city. I guess my thought is kind of out there, but it is possible that someone could be found that for a small fee for 10 minutes worth of work you would then be able to exercise your one time return. It would be a nice savings.
Thanks again for your information.
Bob
PS As an example I just did a quick lookup on the Univ of Tennessee and saw that the language dept offers a minor in Japanese studies. Got to have someone fluent there. A decent size city may well have a Japanese community, not that anyone wants to have to use a warranty :-(
B

I'm probably in the minority in this, but I don't care about warranties on most things, fishing rods included. Most rod breaks are "user errors" and are not the responsibility of the manufacturer.

My big complaint about modern fly rods is that you are forced to pay for the warranty. Most of the big fly rod companies have very good warranties on their rods, but you pay for them indirectly. That's why premium fly rods cost $800-$1,000.

My

Originally Posted by deathb4disco

I'm probably in the minority in this, but I don't care about warranties on most things, fishing rods included. Most rod breaks are "user errors" and are not the responsibility of the manufacturer.

My big complaint about modern fly rods is that you are forced to pay for the warranty. Most of the big fly rod companies have very good warranties on their rods, but you pay for them indirectly. That's why premium fly rods cost $800-$1,000.

My

X2
If it's not broken or defective when I get it, from then on it's all on me.

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I’ve had several people ask me about the new St Croix Legend Elite Panfish Series.....about a 400 dollar rod. When I tell them I think a high end JDM rod that is not only a better rod...but cheaper....they bring up “What about the 15 year warranty “. Here is how that warranty works on that rod. You send them the rod you broke and pay shipping.....you include a 120 dollar check and they either fix your rod or send you a new one. Doesn’t sound like a great warranty to me...cheaper than a new one sure but is that really a warranty? The warranty you get when buying a high end JDM from Chris is a pretty good deal. I went through a warranty deal with Fenwick a few years back. I broke the rod but at the time the warranty said they would determine replacement cost when I returned the rod. On the phone they told me it would be 89 dollars....plus about 20 for me to ship. I only paid 129 dollars for the rod. I’m with Disco on the warranty issue..not much value in it. About 10 years ago I owned an Shimano Compre UL. It had a Lieftime Warranty...return to store and get a new one. I broke 2 of those rods and returned both to Bass Pro and walked out with new rod each time...no questions.....but those days are gone.

Regards


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A ten minute battle using a 6’ 10” Finezza Prototype UL with 3# test Sunline BMS line. The rod is the real deal....so is the line.

Regards


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Holy smokes that’s the biggest crappie I’ve ever seen.....lol

I bet that was a very fun fight on UL gear. Congrats