kevin B

I have often wondered how these spiral wraps work in conjuction with the theory that rods work best when built on the backbone. How is this so?

im a daiwa person myself, and use a saltiga z4500 and saltiga dorado 80tn rod, for kings mainly. I can't say enough good things about the rod. An absolute powerhouse, and have seen photos of saltiga rods under so much load high sticking, the top grip has a visible bend in it! Worth every cent and more. But with the reel, each time i use it i wonder where the $945 went. Its a great reel yeah, but where does the money go? If i was to buy another reel, it would probaly be a Shimano Twin power. Its a big jump from a Spheros to stella. I don't think there is much in it between the Twin power and stella. Twin power has my vote for you. Regarding the 30 kg max drag, shwartznegger might be able to fish with it, but who else? Ive had my setup dead lifting 8kg off the ground, and there is no way i could fish with that all day.

Saga, seriously mate its none of my business really, but when you work out the price of the components, blank and then your labour, how do you make a decent living by doing this?

Easy on jewman fellas. I think he meant 'i don't have the ability to learn anything i don't already know'

awesome pic mate!

Im lucky there mate, bought the reel first a month or so ago!

Thanks buddy, will give it a go in the next week or two. Ill post how it goes

I gave the dealer $600, and he gave me $1 back still happy though

In the moment i forgot to ask for an opinion on here, especially from shearwater. No doubt the opinion will be something like "yeah, those things are the most overpriced.........". Oh well,

What a happy chappy i am! Bought this one for chasing kings off the rocks and from the boat. The max line weight is 37kg braid, but it feels like a light weight, weighs 300grams or so. Had to express my joy with people who know what buying a new rod feels like.

hi fisherpeople. Don't know how but i ended up with a 7' Saltiga. Had to order it sight unseen, so not sure what to expect. Will give a laymans opinion once its used. Cheers

http://www.campbellsprotackle.com/store/cats/rods.asp#cat145 these guys have a great range of different rods. good for a bit of research

sure does mate, and it is $120 or so more than a ugly platinum of similar size. Money well spent id say

thanks for your time allen, im going to pay extra attention now when winding in large fish, and take it a bit slower on the down stroke. The rod i have in mind says 'handcrafted in Australia', has the fluro XHD fuji guides etc. Thats an original one, im quite sure. I do heaps of rock fishing, and no matter how careful you are, sooner or later your gear gets dropped, hit, banged etc. Ill buy an composite for that reason alone i reckon (and to put the brakes on a groper with heavy line) thanks fellas

many thanks for the input gents, great feedback. Since the rod will be used for hard hitters using mainly dead and live baits, i think ill go the original ugly. Sensitivity shouldn't really be an issue i spose. I have a few originals already, one which is 15 years old and my old man dead lifts 2kg tailor off the rocks with it (without even a groan from the blank!) Since i know no better really, what are the pros and cons of the original ugly? with the slow recovery mentioned, is that regarding the down stroke when working the rod on a big fish?