At the height of the swimbait craze here in Japan (approx 5 years ago), we offered seven different swimbait rods, all baitcasting models. The most popular models were about 7 1/2 feet, and handled lures that ranged from three to five oz. We took sold only a few of the heaviest swimbait rods per year.

Now that trend has completely reversed. This year we have taken more orders for our two heaviest swimbait rods than 'regular' big swimbait rods. This is mostly due to the recent trend in hand made huge wood baits. There are no production rods on the market the chuck these big wood ( 300 to 500 grams and up), so the two heavy rods we have had on the market for the past six years has been the natural choice of many here in Japan.

One rod is rated for casting lures 200 to 500 grams, and our 10X is rated for 500 to 1000 grams.
These are not saltwater rods; these are bass rods.
The most pronounced difference between the two is the wall diameter of the blank. Our heaviest swimbait rods have a blank wall diameter no thicker than the butt on a flipping stick. The rods are built for casting, rather than prolonged fights with big fish (as in a saltwater application). Also, we spine the rods for casting, rather that fighting fish, as most of the stress placed on the rod during the life of the rod will be from casting the heavy baits.

The pictured rod has yet to be clear coated (the epoxy coat over the threads) and is WIP.





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"Known as the person who introduced swimbait fishing to Japan"

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