The Essence of Fishing

Introduction 
Not long ago I have posted two parts article about surf casting techniques in which described the Pendulum surf casting technique. So, it felt like a good karma when a friend brought me one of the new Hookset Global surf rods series called Pendulum Surf for a brief testing.

The one I got to test was a telescopic rod, 4.5 meters length with 4 sub-parts with quite impressive casting weight, 100g - 250g. There are 6 high quality guides which two of them float on the last part and one, rather uniquely, on the third part. This rod, I have to admit, is beautiful, with very thin body and you can notice the quality carbon patterns all over.

Real world test 
I paired the rod with my Tica Spinfocus 4500 reel. Although functions to my satisfaction, it felt a bit small and under qualify for this rod. A perfect match would be a long casting reels such as Okuma Axeon or Shimano Ultegra. These kind of reels would definitely help you reach 200 meters casting distance. The rig included 120g weight with a single size 4 hook attached under it. The bait was strips of fresh calamari which leveled up my expectation for serious fish fights.

Casting
Casting with the this rod is easy and rather enjoyable. Actually, as far as my experience go, this is the best rod to practice surf casting techniques and especially the Pendulum surf casting. Although far from being expert, I was able to reach 100 meters casting distance quite easy. The length of the rod together with its low weight help significantly doing the job both for distance casting and accurate targeting. Expert surf anglers can, without much effort, cast beyond 200 meters distance.
One thing though, should you consider to hook the rod with heavy long distance reel and along with 150g weight, expect to have your arms and shoulders to work quite a bit. So practice your Pendulum surf casting technique to reduce unnecessary stress.

Sensitivity
This rod was not designed for small fish. During the 2 hours test the wind was strong with aggressive currents so I reeled my rig back often to check whether the bait is still on. However, while doing so, I have managed to land 3 nice size Sea-Bream and it felt like I am pooling back nothing but the weight with only slight vibration on the rod tip. The fish were released back to gain some weight until the next time, hopefully to put better fight to this rod.

Summary
Many people believe top surf rods should have 2 or 3 pieces however, the Pendulum Tele-Surf proves this theory wrong. This rod offers both the advantages of telescopic rods (easy transportation, low weight and sensitivity) and ”pieces” rods (powerful and high casting weights). Hookset Global has aimed quite high with this rod and I believe this series will deliver its promise.
So, if you are a surf fishing freak and fighting big fish is what makes your adrenaline rush, this rod is for you. You can find Hookset Global tackle products at www.thebesttackle.com .

[gallery=6]

Trackback URI | Comments RSS