Daiwa Kenzaki Braid Special Boat rod (SKZ - B12)
May 25, 2008 14:10:47 GMT -1
Post by kickingk on May 25, 2008 14:10:47 GMT -1
As its still another week before I can get out paddling again I thought I'd put up some reviews of rods & reels, the first one is a rod that I got about 9 months ago - the Daiwa Kenzaki Braid Special 12 - 20lb boat rod. I wanted a rod that would be used on the North Wales charter boats for jellyworms over the wrecks and also (mainly) for general bottom fishing from the kayak and this is the one I settled on:-
Starting from the bottom is a rubber butt(on), the handle has an overall length of 29", the lower grip being 15" with an 8 1/2" foregrip, sandwiched in between is a Fuji reel seat positioned the right way up i.e. the threads are on the lower end, much easier on your hands if holding all day wrecking etc.
The lower grip has a diameter on approx 26mm, the foregrip is larger and is triangular in section, this is supposed to improve grip etc. but personally I'm still not convinced by this and would prefer a round grip.
The rod is 7'8" overall and comes in two equal sections, this for me was a major factor in picking the rod as it has two distinct advantages:-
i) It easily fits inside the hatches of my kayak , so I can leave it in there when launching & coming back in (obviously this would depend on the type of kayak you have)
ii) If there is a change of plan / venue say due to weather and I decide that I'm going to be spinning / plugging all day and don't need this rod, then due to it splitting down to a length of 3'11" then I can leave it in the boot of the car out of sight from thieving scumbags!! Something that you can't do with a traditional boat rod that splits at the handle.
The rod has 10 zirconium ceramic braid friendly 3 legged guides/eyes, one on the bottom section & 9 on the top. The bottom ring/section is whipped in black with a gold trim, strangely the top section is whipped in black only - although it isn't particularly noticeable as i hadn't until I did this review
. The final 2" of the rod is finished in fluorescent red.
In use the rod feels extremely light & is a delight to use all day, it has a very sensitive tip with great bite detection. Its currently teamed up with a SLOSH 30, a SLOSH 20 would be a better balance ( unfortunately my SLOSH 20 is in Davy Jones locker along with the Greys rod it was attached to at the time
), hopefully after my trip to USA it will be teamed up with a nice new Daiwa Saltist or Saltiga. : ;D ;D
Would I change anything? - For charter fishing no, for the kayak I might trim 1 1/2" from the lower grip but thats being picky.
Would I buy another? Yes definitely, infact I was planning to until I saw the Daiwa Saltist Interline rod
, but I can't say anymore as Paula sometimes reads these pages and I don't want her to find out until I find it on sale as a "bargain". Its amazing how many fishing items I seem to find at "Bargain" prices?? ;D ;D ;D
The RRP is £129.99 and if you shop around its about £90 or so, I can't remember the "bargain" price I got this one for!!
.
Unfortunately I've no picture of it in use but hopefully this will be rectified after next week and I'll add some 'action' shots at a later date.
Starting from the bottom is a rubber butt(on), the handle has an overall length of 29", the lower grip being 15" with an 8 1/2" foregrip, sandwiched in between is a Fuji reel seat positioned the right way up i.e. the threads are on the lower end, much easier on your hands if holding all day wrecking etc.
The lower grip has a diameter on approx 26mm, the foregrip is larger and is triangular in section, this is supposed to improve grip etc. but personally I'm still not convinced by this and would prefer a round grip.
The rod is 7'8" overall and comes in two equal sections, this for me was a major factor in picking the rod as it has two distinct advantages:-
i) It easily fits inside the hatches of my kayak , so I can leave it in there when launching & coming back in (obviously this would depend on the type of kayak you have)
ii) If there is a change of plan / venue say due to weather and I decide that I'm going to be spinning / plugging all day and don't need this rod, then due to it splitting down to a length of 3'11" then I can leave it in the boot of the car out of sight from thieving scumbags!! Something that you can't do with a traditional boat rod that splits at the handle.
The rod has 10 zirconium ceramic braid friendly 3 legged guides/eyes, one on the bottom section & 9 on the top. The bottom ring/section is whipped in black with a gold trim, strangely the top section is whipped in black only - although it isn't particularly noticeable as i hadn't until I did this review
. The final 2" of the rod is finished in fluorescent red.In use the rod feels extremely light & is a delight to use all day, it has a very sensitive tip with great bite detection. Its currently teamed up with a SLOSH 30, a SLOSH 20 would be a better balance ( unfortunately my SLOSH 20 is in Davy Jones locker along with the Greys rod it was attached to at the time
), hopefully after my trip to USA it will be teamed up with a nice new Daiwa Saltist or Saltiga. : ;D ;DWould I change anything? - For charter fishing no, for the kayak I might trim 1 1/2" from the lower grip but thats being picky.
Would I buy another? Yes definitely, infact I was planning to until I saw the Daiwa Saltist Interline rod
, but I can't say anymore as Paula sometimes reads these pages and I don't want her to find out until I find it on sale as a "bargain". Its amazing how many fishing items I seem to find at "Bargain" prices?? ;D ;D ;DThe RRP is £129.99 and if you shop around its about £90 or so, I can't remember the "bargain" price I got this one for!!
.Unfortunately I've no picture of it in use but hopefully this will be rectified after next week and I'll add some 'action' shots at a later date.