Finezza Prototype VS 2018 Corto

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Alphahawk
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Finezza Prototype VS 2018 Corto

Post by Alphahawk » Wed Mar 20, 2019 6:32 pm

Today I had a chance to compare the sensitivity of the 2018 Corto to the Finezza Prototype. First let me say the Corto is a great rod and I highly recommend it. I fished for white bass today and then headed for the tailrace below Normandy Dam for trout. Both rods had a Daiwa Luvias reel spooled up with 2.1# test ester line. While the Corto is great the Finezza is simply phenomenal. It can be extremely difficult to compare sensitivity between two high end JDM UL rods. Something to keep in mind is the the Finezza has about a 150 dollar premium over the Corto. Of course they are different rods designed for different specie. While fishing for trout I would catch one then switch rods until I caught another. I was using a Trout Magnet on a 1 gram jig head. While I caught fish on both rods I caught more on the Finezza. I missed a lot of trout with the Corto. The feel when a trout would hit on the Finezza is far more pronounced than on the Corto. The feel of a hit on the Corto is very muted when compared to the Finezza. I have stated several times that when I have made higher steps up the ladder in terms of cost I have felt the difference. One wonders how much better can it get. Allsorts had mentioned the term steely....and the Finezza is most assuredly that. I do a lot of what I call “twitching”. It is a constant movement of the rod tip......almost like small tremors. When I first fished the Finezza I noticed the tinny sound the line made on the guides when I constantly twitched. Another big difference I felt fishing them side by side is the resistance of the jig head. You never lose feel of the jig head with the Finezza even though your line gets a slight bow in the current as the jig head drifts down stream. At times I would lose jig head feel on the Corto. So what does all this mean. To me it means they are both great rods....but it also means the Finezza is at another level. It also means somewhere in the future I may have to try a Super Finezza and a Super Corto. Before today that may have been a thought in my head but not something I would have followed through on. Now my curiosity has kicked in...can these two rods I mentioned be that much better? I had the same thought when I ordered the Finezza Prototype.

Regards

ultralight
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Re: Finezza Prototype VS 2018 Corto

Post by ultralight » Wed Mar 20, 2019 7:09 pm

Super! Been waiting on this. Helpful to hear.

A question: If you flex just the top 5-10 inches on both rods, will I be correct to guess that Finezza is softer/moreflexible/lower power? The corto is very high power in the 6' 10" that you have - even in the tip. It is a remarkably powerful tip for the diameter.

If correct, I'll make another comment on the Corto and sensitivity.

Thanks Alphahawk.

raychoi
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Re: Finezza Prototype VS 2018 Corto

Post by raychoi » Wed Mar 20, 2019 7:36 pm

8-) Hey, I just received the 2019 Finezza GLFS-752L-T to cast mini hard plugs. I will try to do a review later. :D

Alphahawk
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Re: Finezza Prototype VS 2018 Corto

Post by Alphahawk » Wed Mar 20, 2019 7:44 pm

ultralight wrote:Super! Been waiting on this. Helpful to hear.

A question: If you flex just the top 5-10 inches on both rods, will I be correct to guess that Finezza is softer/moreflexible/lower power? The corto is very high power in the 6' 10" that you have - even in the tip. It is a remarkably powerful tip for the diameter.

If correct, I'll make another comment on the Corto and sensitivity.

Thanks Alphahawk.
Yes very much so....extremely flexible...and of course the blank materials are very different.

Regards

ultralight
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Re: Finezza Prototype VS 2018 Corto

Post by ultralight » Wed Mar 20, 2019 8:22 pm

Super. This is good stuff. Indebted to you and all those here to review and comment, including offline.

Here are my comments.

The two rods you have different tapers and somewhat different material (meaning I think the material overlap - they use different types of carbon fiber in one rod, some of which overlaps.) At this point, I personally believe that the sensitivity increase comes more from the taper and power, than the material.

Assuming that both are the 6' 10" model, I noticed that:
1. The 18 Corto tip is extremely powerful for a rod of that rating. Its lure and line rating is 0.5-8 grams, max 4 lbs.
2. The Finezza Prototype has the lure and line rating of 0.5-5 grams, max 3 lbs.

Thus, I believe that the soft tip allows it to load while you are jigging a 1 gram jig in, and thus allowing you to stay in contact with the jig significantly better. (That's one reason why the Tict Drift is so sensitive.) The material should also make a difference but personally, I believe that the power/taper makes more difference than the material. When I tested the 6' 10" Corto, I thought that it had extremely high power to rate ratio - meaning high modulus carbon fiber. Given its solid tip, one can actually safely sand down the tip to match the taper and power of your Finezza. At that point, I think that the two should be similar in sensitivity - and possibly the Corto may be even better as it is a lighter rod by 11 grams, or almost 20% lighter! I note that the above is educated arm chair theorizing as only actual test can tell for sure.

Which leads me to one more observation that I've made to a couple of guys in private. I believe that for 1 gram jigs, the 18 Corto in the 6' 1" is actually the sweet spot.

That lure and line rating of that rod is 0.4-3 grams, max 3 lbs. So it has a lower lure rating than the Finezza Prototype. The tip is noticeably softer than the 6' 10" 18 Corto. (The hand feel is amazingly light due to the reduced mass and length of the tip.) Interestingly, that one casts every bit as far as the 6' 10" Nuovo Corto Prototype that I also own which is closer to your Finezza Prototype in cost and power (splits the difference between your two rods), but in an Ajing model.

Of course, if you go custom, there are other blanks that have tapers that are even more sensitivite.

Fun discussions. Thanks Alphahawk.

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Craigthor
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Re: Finezza Prototype VS 2018 Corto

Post by Craigthor » Thu Mar 21, 2019 4:02 am

Great write up, they make some amazing rods all around.

hungry_cow
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Re: Finezza Prototype VS 2018 Corto

Post by hungry_cow » Thu Mar 21, 2019 7:09 am

How does the Finezza compare to the TICT Ice Cube or Drift in terms of sensitivity?

ultralight
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Re: Finezza Prototype VS 2018 Corto

Post by ultralight » Thu Mar 21, 2019 12:59 pm

good question hungry_cow. Be interesting to hear what Alphahawk thinks. I also own the Drift and am planning to fish it in time. Just so limited in my time! :)

Alphahawk
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Re: Finezza Prototype VS 2018 Corto

Post by Alphahawk » Thu Mar 21, 2019 7:59 pm

hungry_cow wrote:How does the Finezza compare to the TICT Ice Cube or Drift in terms of sensitivity?
Tough to say right now. I’ve found when you want to compare you need to have both rods with you....hopefully catching same specie.....switching rods out after you catch one fish and then go back and forth until you’ve made the determination. It may only take a few fish to decide. It didn’t take long to determine the Finezza was more sensitive.


Regards

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Re: Finezza Prototype VS 2018 Corto

Post by Alphahawk » Thu Mar 21, 2019 8:01 pm

Video is up showing the Finezza in action. I use the Fine Tail Banshee Area Trout Rod on the first day most of the time. It is a lot of fun but felt under gunned with it on some of those fish.

Regards



https://youtu.be/9ilEiQalOXo

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