As expected, the level 7 build once again impresses, as the blank excels in multiple areas, such as sensitivity, power, and rebound. Nice fast taper that loads up beautifully on the cast. I’ve been married to tossing a Tokyo and Gika rig on this rod. Needless to say, it’s been a blast with a tuned/slightly modded 24 Steez on board. 

I’ve taken many, many fish on this stick/combo, but last weekend (my 2nd outing of the year) was a bit of a highlight. Towards the end of the day, shoulder starting to ache a good bit, I was tossing the Gika/Reins Ring Craw up onto a saddle. Couple of hops into my 4th cast, I get hammered and it was a good one. A few big head shakes and minutes later, I put hands on her. Coming in right at 24” and full of fire, it was a fun battle to say the least. 

The Designo handled that fish beautifully, and I was confidently able to keep her out of the nearby brush, etc. A great workout for the rod and yet another testament to the quality of Kamiya’s builds. 

man it’s been so long I forgot I ordered a raven 

1.  RAID Japan Baltoro "Heat" - 7'2", MH+C 

Length:7.2ft
Power:MH+
Taper:Fast
LureWt:MAX1,1/4oz
Line: MAX20

Probably will keep.  Great versatility 

2.  RAID Japan "Engrave" - 7' M glass

Rod Length: 7'0"
Number of Pieces: 1
Rod Power: Medium
Action/Taper: Regular Fast
Lure Weight: 1/4-1.1/2oz
Line Weight: 12-20lb

Will be leaving the roster.  If it were a MH, it probably would have made the cut.

3.  Daiwa JDM "Real Control", C73H-SV/ST

Rod Type: Baitcasting Rod
Item Length: 2.21 m 
Number of Pieces: 1 and Grip 
Folded Length: 190 cm 
Item Weight: 107 g 
Rod Power: Heavy 
Rod Action: Extra Fast 
Lure Weight: 3/8-1.1/2 oz 11-42 g 
Line Weight: 12-25 lb PE MAX #4 

Still undecided, limited oppotunities in my locale for pitchin'/flipping/punching

4.  Daiwa JDM "Real Control", C70MH-LM (Low Modulus Carbon)

Rod Type: Baitcasting Rod
Item Length: 2.13 m 
Number of Pieces: 1 and Grip 
Folded Length: 183 cm 
Item Weight: 95 g 
Rod Power: Medium Heavy
Rod Action: Fast 
Lure Weight: 1/4-1 oz 7-28 g 
Line Weight: 10-20 lb PE MAX #4

Undecided BUT likely keep, Casts well for accuracy and distance, excellent action performs under pressure.  Crankbaits, Jack Hammer, spinnerbaits

5.  Daiwa JDM "Real Control" C611MH-SV, 6'11" 

Rod Type: Baitcasting Rod
Item Length: 2.11 m 
Number of Pieces: 1 and Grip 
Folded Length: 181 cm 
Item Weight: 91 g 
Rod Power: MH
Rod Action: F
Lure Weight: 7-28g(1/4-1oz)
Line Weight: 10-20 lb PE:MAX4

6.  Daiwa JDM Steez "Top Gun" 7'4"

Rod Length: 2.24m
Number of Pieces: 1 and Grip
Folded Length: 190cm
Rod Weight: 123g
Rod Power: MH+
Action/Taper: RF
Lure Weight: 5/16-1.1/4oz
Line Weight: 10-20lb,PE Max 4

Has great distance casting, performs well on fight, very good hookset BUT doesn't pin fish as well as I would prefer, one barb of 2 treble hook set.  Will see for spinnerbaits, Jack Hammers 

So, a few years back, I decided to try wrapping electrical tape on my rods to see how well it would protect the blank from structural damage, as well as to test how good it was at keeping scratches from marring the graphics:

The concept was effective. However, there are two main drawbacks: the electrical tape's adhesive tends to work its way around and makes things feel a bit tacky, and it also covers up the rod's graphics.

So I got to thinking, what if there was such a thing as clear electrical tape?

Well, I searched online and there is no such product. Not quite. But, to my delight, I came across a comparable product made by 3M. They market it as paint protection tape, and sure enough, it has the same flexibility as electrical tape, but comes in clear vinyl just as I had hoped for.

I decided to give my Steez rod a cleaning to prepare it for the upgrades. Here is a look at the process...

Masking tape helped measure out the portion of the rod to be covered, and also kept the locknut out of the way...

With the blank protection achieved, the only problem left to solve was the need for a better hook keeper. Thankfully, I learned of the Pro-X zip tie hook keepers, and these did it for me. They cinch down really tight on the rod blank, and do not have to be flipped into the open/closed position constantly. I was finally able to achieve the functionality I needed on my JDM sticks.

It is critical that these be cinched super tight. I also have a pair of cutters made specifically to cut zip ties without leaving a sharp edge:

Here is the end result...

I went ahead and did this upgrade to my White Python II as well...

Here are links to the 3M paint protection tape, I used 1/2":

3M Paint Protection Tape (Clear)

3M Paint Protection Tape (Carbon)

Note: wrap from the bottom up.

Any questions, please hit me up. I will post more photos as I do this to more rods...

TIA.

I have the Zenaq Blackart S66 Skippin’ Frog coming too which I’m very excited for. Thoughts on that one as well?

Gonna get some time on the water with this rod...in hand it's impressive and definitely a fast action and heavy powered backbone.  It feels like it should easily handle 1.5 oz on the high end with underhand casts.