With trout season finally open, I was able to wade fish a river with it twice this week. A Stradic Ci4+ 1000 reel perfectly balances the rod. For line I used hiviz Seaguar Yellow Hunter 4# flouro (from Japan) with a 6X tippet flouro leader. Rated at .6-2.5 g for lures and 1.5-3 # for lines, it casts light spoons with ease and has no problems with my beloved Trout Magnets, which, as many know, are actually 1 g or 1/32 oz with the plastic.
The question was how would this area rod handle native stream fishing? The stretch I fished was mostly slow moving but three trout, including the largest, were pulled from faster moving areas full of snags.
I entered the water expecting most of the trout to have been taken on opening weekend but much to my surprise I could see them rising to feast on the caddis hatch. Not a lot of them but at least they were there. Of course, there I am with spinning gear when dry flies are the name of the game. I keep a few heavier flies in my spin box, so I tied on a bead headed soft plastic grub with a minimal hackle and started drifting it past the nearest rising trout that was holding to the shallow bottom. No takes or movement until I got right in front of him. Saw it disappear and then set the hook. This was mid stream and the trout was small, so no problems landing it with the rod. The next trout would come from casting downstream into the turbulence caused by a large tree across the river with other downed trees creating a channel. Again the rod had no issues but again a small trout.
Switching to a small craft fur jig, I worked upstream. The water was crystal clear with no grasses growing yet. The only place I caught sight of other fish was along the banks amid the snags. Despite the challenges, good sized perch and bluegill and a moderate pickerel were pulled out and landed w/o a break off. The last fish of the day was the biggest trout, picked up near a bank, close to snags. The Presso AGS 54XUL-S had proven itself.
Two days later I returned. Three trout again, including the largest yet, but only one yellow perch from the river. Leaving the river and hiking over to some small ponds, I caught many small gills, perch and crappie. Being able to effortlessly flick a Trout Magnet underhand from locations surrounded by brush was a real joy. Even on the stream I found that underhand casts were usually the most accurate.
Some thoughts on the Daiwa. Because of it's low lure rating, it can cast things like trout magnets with ease and accuracy. It doesn't cast them far but plenty far enough for stream fishing. The sensitivity is amazing but not in the way I expected, it's hard to explain. It's not that I feel things that much more but I feel them "faster". The way the rod communicates with my hand is more immediate and in a way that makes me react faster. Sometimes you're almost startled or shocked by the feel. Since most of my stream fishing isn't in particularly fast water and the fish are usually small, I'm happy that I got this area rod but I'm sure a JDM native stream rod will be my next acquisition.
I suspect that the Kuyings will also fish well but won't have the something extra the Daiwa has. I'm starting to see why many who go down the JDM road never look back.
