World's Lightest for Class? Gamakatsu Yoihime Luxxe Hana S610UL L-solid 2018

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World's Lightest for Class? Gamakatsu Yoihime Luxxe Hana S610UL L-solid 2018

Post by ultralight » Sun Mar 24, 2019 11:28 pm

Some of you know that I've been picking up JDM Ul rods to measure to learn more about them, and then pass them on unfished to others who actually plan to fish with them. My goal is just to examine the build, measurements, flex and power so that I can learn what makes them tick.

Anyways, the Gamakatsu Yoihime Luxx Hana 6' 10" just arrived at my PO Box yesterday. I have been eyeing them for a while now as they are the absolute lightest UL production rods I've ever seen and I was wondering how they are built. I believe that among Gamakatsu's UL rods, this is the top of the line for them. It is at fellow board member fffishing's encouragement that I got the rod. I'm not sure if fffishing actually fished with one or not but he mentioned that the Yoihime Luxxe are incredibly sensitive, more so than some other well regarded UL JDM rods that have been discussed.

Anyways, a few quick comments:

1. Without question, by far, this is a production rod that is built to maximize sensitivity by paring weight. The best analogy I have is that this like a purpose built Formula 1 pure track car. Absolutely nothing extraneous - just pure rod essence. There's no bling in the build. The only bling is the case which has floral edging, and the two provided Velcro tie for the rod which has Luxxe embroidered or printed on it.

The 6' 10" has good Ul/L power and weighs only 1.77 ounces. That's 'crazy light'.

Up to this point, I do think that they are the lightest production rod in their class. I am not sure if they can reduce the rod much further in the future.

Weight matters. While weight is not the only factor to sensitivity, it is considered one of the key factors in sensitivity. That is why we see price rise significantly with both rods an reels that seek to reduce weight. It is not just a matter of less fatigue after a day's fishing.

2. These are proper UL rods and are not flippy soft noodles that you can't control fish with. Good substantive backbone, and yet rated down to 0.1 grams minimum casting lure weight. I was not expecting this with this kind of weight saving. It tells me that they are using high modulus carbon fiber.

3. Gamakatsu used a slightly shortened handle without any foam. That is one way they control for weight. I believe that the handle should contribute substantially to the sensitivity as it is just solid hard material. I have always believed that foam attenuates vibration. The handle is done in such a way that at least one finger should naturally touch the blank at all times.

4. They do use stock Fuji Titanium Torzites - including the smallest micro for the running guides. Interestingly, they use more guides than normal - 8 guides + 1 Tip Top - making 9 in all. Most rods of this length I've explored are 7 guides + 1 Tip Top. So though they are pursuing the leanest/lightest build possible, they are not sacrificing rod performance but instead are looking to have better rod loading than I anticipated. interesting.

5. I expected the balance to be tip heavy because the custom handle is lighter than most of the JDM handles. And yet when I compared the balance point, it is actually proportionally closer to the butt than the 9 inches shorter Olympic 2018 Corto in the 6' 1" length. Note that the 2018 Cortos are amongst the lighter Ajing UL rods that Olympic makes. So it is not just their custom grip that is lightweight, but also their blanks. They advertise it as 99.9% carbon fiber blank so there's very little resin. (To be fair - one of Abu Garcia advertise one of their UL rods as 100% carbon fiber but they do weigh more.)

All in all, an impressive technological effort. As to actualy fishing sensitivity, I'll defer to the likes of fffishing. Perhaps Alphahawk will get one one of these days and let us know.

One more note. They had an older model that has a foam handle but seem to have a similar name. Those are quite a bit heavier.

You can see the specs here for the entire line.

https://www.plat.co.jp/shop/catalog/pro ... 8-new.html
Last edited by ultralight on Tue Mar 26, 2019 7:36 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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Re: World's Lightest for Class? Gamakatsu Yoihime Luxxe Hana S610UL L-solid 2018

Post by Craigthor » Mon Mar 25, 2019 4:36 am

Wow, wonder how far the push for UL will go?

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Re: World's Lightest for Class? Gamakatsu Yoihime Luxxe Hana S610UL L-solid 2018

Post by hungry_cow » Mon Mar 25, 2019 6:26 am

I was interested in this series as well. I know you said it has good backbone and isn't a noodle but how would you rate the taper? Is it a true extra fast taper or is it moderate enough you could use it for Crappie as well?

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Re: World's Lightest for Class? Gamakatsu Yoihime Luxxe Hana S610UL L-solid 2018

Post by Alphahawk » Mon Mar 25, 2019 7:57 am

I’ve been looking at this rod for a while. Of course I seem to always be looking at rods....LOL. One thing I’ve learned about the high end JDM UL Ajing/Mebaru rods and sensitivity, is that all of them are sensitive. It seems to me the different manufactures accomplish this in different ways. Probably the only reason I have not acquired this rod is I’m wondering how fragile it is. Would really like to hear how this rod fishes. Is it a “Made in Japan “ rod? I don’t usually acquire rods this time of year.....I mostly buy in winter. Will be following this with interest.


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Re: World's Lightest for Class? Gamakatsu Yoihime Luxxe Hana S610UL L-solid 2018

Post by fffishing » Mon Mar 25, 2019 12:19 pm

Thank you,Mr Ultralight ;)
Yes I'm fishing with this rods,they're good for any panfish,also can handle a biggest...I don't get any big(yet :lol: ),but my buddy get luck to bring 5-6 pounds pike on shore ,using this rods. Also,all line is a bit different,but you can feel in your hand even a smallest touch of fish, the sencitivity is incredible. I hope, Mr Ultralight will tell us more after water test(and fish test,of cource! :D )

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Re: World's Lightest for Class? Gamakatsu Yoihime Luxxe Hana S610UL L-solid 2018

Post by ultralight » Mon Mar 25, 2019 12:23 pm

Hi Everyone,

Swamped but will get back to you all.... (Family surgeries, project deadlines etc)

fffishing. Great to hear that you have been fishing with it. you can comment. I am not planning to fish with mine, like most other JDM rods - but will give my observations.

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Re: World's Lightest for Class? Gamakatsu Yoihime Luxxe Hana S610UL L-solid 2018

Post by ultralight » Tue Mar 26, 2019 7:33 pm

OK, finally found some time to get the answer to hungry_cow's query.

First a correction - the handle/grip section is made by Fuji. So I made that correction in my first post.

OK, as to whether it is appropriate for Crappie, I don't know for sure as I do not chase Crappie - but I think it should.

However, here is the action.

1. I believe that all JDM UL rods that we have talked about here recently, including the Olympic Mebaru rods that Alphahawk has are very fast action due to the solid tip. However, the JDM ul rods body does flex substantially with pressure applied so that even a very fast tip can have a moderate bend once a fish is on. Key idea is that action is not the same as power. These solid tip JDM rods often have what I call 'stages' of power - the soft solid tip is short and soft - and thus the rod can be classified as 'very fast'. However, the next section of the body is low powered so that they flex easily - and is more moderate. This is different from most American UL rods as they do not have solid tips (outside of the Phenix Iron Feather).

2 .I have a Olympic Corto Nuovo Prototype 6' 9" that Craigthor set me up with. (A million thanks! Already caught some nice trout in my one outing with that.) It is an Ajing rod. However, compared to the Olympic 18 Corto 6' 9", it has a slightly softer tip and slightly lower power. So it is more suited to Crappie fishing than the 6' 10" Olympic 18.

In comparison to the Olympic Corto Nuovo Prototype:

a. The Gamakatsu handle is a bit closer to the butt - making the effective fishing portion longer than the 6' 9" Olympics. In effect, It would be more like a 7' Olympic rod if they built one. I like shorter butt end myself so I like this. This is subjective but I thought this is worth nothing. I wonder how this will cast - probably a long ways.

b. In terms of power and flex, the initial very soft pull feels a touch more powerful than the Nuovo Prototype. However, with 8 oz of drag (1/4 of 2 lbs test), it flexes a touch more than the Nuovo which is already a touch more flex than the 18 Corto. It is also slightly more gradual to the mids section than the Nuovo. In short, it is quite similar to the Nuovo but with slightly more flex and slightly more moderate action under drag. By no means a noodle.

This I think may make it more suited for Crappie? I don't know - perhaps Alphahawk can comment based on my description.

Hungry_cow, hope this helps. I'm done checking this rod out but please ask any more questions before I move it.

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Re: World's Lightest for Class? Gamakatsu Yoihime Luxxe Hana S610UL L-solid 2018

Post by ultralight » Wed Mar 27, 2019 12:38 am

Alphahawk - forgot to reply to you. Yes, Made in Japan.

Everyone else, I am done with measurements - just posted it in the TT FS forum as with every other new JDM UL rod I've purchased. Wonder what I should get and measure next....:)

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Re: World's Lightest for Class? Gamakatsu Yoihime Luxxe Hana S610UL L-solid 2018

Post by ultralight » Thu Apr 04, 2019 11:16 pm

I got this rod using some points that I had accumulated so I had a great deal. I'm dropping my price significantly so you get solid savings savings. I can post it in the FS but feel that would dilute the value of this rod. It is well worth what they ask for it. It really is extreme engineering to reduce all unessentials into a pure rod. If you are interested, I'll PM you the price and if you get it, I don't dilute the value.

Thanks.

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Re: World's Lightest for Class? Gamakatsu Yoihime Luxxe Hana S610UL L-solid 2018

Post by Craigthor » Fri Apr 05, 2019 4:34 am

ultralight wrote:I got this rod using some points that I had accumulated so I had a great deal. I'm dropping my price significantly so you get solid savings savings. I can post it in the FS but feel that would dilute the value of this rod. It is well worth what they ask for it. It really is extreme engineering to reduce all unessentials into a pure rod. If you are interested, I'll PM you the price and if you get it, I don't dilute the value.

Thanks.
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Re: World's Lightest for Class? Gamakatsu Yoihime Luxxe Hana S610UL L-solid 2018

Post by Alphahawk » Fri Apr 05, 2019 1:20 pm

ultralight wrote:I got this rod using some points that I had accumulated so I had a great deal. I'm dropping my price significantly so you get solid savings savings. I can post it in the FS but feel that would dilute the value of this rod. It is well worth what they ask for it. It really is extreme engineering to reduce all unessentials into a pure rod. If you are interested, I'll PM you the price and if you get it, I don't dilute the value.

Thanks.
Believe me....I’d like to have it. But I’m spending money like a drunken sailor on shore leave....LOL.


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Re: World's Lightest for Class? Gamakatsu Yoihime Luxxe Hana S610UL L-solid 2018

Post by ultralight » Fri Apr 05, 2019 4:48 pm

LOL Craigthor and Alphahawk.....Thanks.

Alphahawk, I was not even thinking about you. You have more rods than you know what to do with...... I figure lots of people come through this forum and its for them. :)

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Re: World's Lightest for Class? Gamakatsu Yoihime Luxxe Hana S610UL L-solid 2018

Post by Cal » Sun Apr 07, 2019 8:01 am

ultralight wrote:I got this rod using some points that I had accumulated so I had a great deal. I'm dropping my price significantly so you get solid savings savings. I can post it in the FS but feel that would dilute the value of this rod. It is well worth what they ask for it. It really is extreme engineering to reduce all unessentials into a pure rod. If you are interested, I'll PM you the price and if you get it, I don't dilute the value.

Thanks.
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