Smith Tokara

[Kevin Li]

Hi,
How much of realistic drag can this rod be fished with?
 
Is 130g popper too light for casting with this rod?

Kev.

[Mick Cunningham]

    hi kevin .

    the tokora can be fish with 13kg max of drag .
    - but i have fished with 15kg of drag no problem .
    130g popper is just fine . as this is built up to 250g .
    - as i have fished with 110g popper no problem .
    the tokora is the strongest rod in the smith rod .

[Brock Arifovic]

Steve,

This one is for you mate.

But 130g popper is very light, try throwing 190g poppers to load the rod up to it's potential & get the most out of it.

[AustralianAngling]

TOKARA is rated at 13kg at 45 deg, can handle more at less an angle by rating.
They have been tested way past the rating but I am not at liberty to advise what the breaking angle and drag was, but you could sustain a serious injury when and if it happened.

Brock is on the right track the same with any rod you need to match the lure weight to to rod or you will be using alot of extra energy casting the lure or the opposite that the rod could be to light to cast the lure.

This is why you find most anglers here have numerous rods all for specific applications. You should find much information in previous threads on this subject and what rods people are using for specific lure weights.

I would be using lures from around 200g to 300g with TOKARA get a lighter rod for your smaller lures you will find that you can cast them much further and you can work the lure properly.

[Wong Kai Zhee]

i am considering the tokara or komodo dragon.

i'd assume both are built to uncompromising standards. but there is quite a price diff between the 2 models (at least in Singapore), w the KD costing more.

anyone w any insights on this?

[Mick Cunningham]

TOKARA is rated at 13kg at 45 deg, can handle more at less an angle by rating.
They have been tested way past the rating but I am not at liberty to advise what the breaking angle and drag was, but you could sustain a serious injury when and if it happened.

Brock is on the right track the same with any rod you need to match the lure weight to to rod or you will be using alot of extra energy casting the lure or the opposite that the rod could be to light to cast the lure.

This is why you find most anglers here have numerous rods all for specific applications. You should find much information in previous threads on this subject and what rods people are using for specific lure weights.

I would be using lures from around 200g to 300g with TOKARA get a lighter rod for your smaller lures you will find that you can cast them much further and you can work the lure properly.

200g popper is petty heavy . i know it will cast a long way .
i was using 130g popper with two st-76 5/0 treble which it will come down to about 150g . so i find the casting just fine to me .

that is why i though he is talking about the 130g popper with out hook . 

[Collin Tong]

i am considering the tokara or komodo dragon.

i'd assume both are built to uncompromising standards. but there is quite a price diff between the 2 models (at least in Singapore), w the KD costing more.

anyone w any insights on this?

According to what i heard and read. The KD is more forgiving on the angler as it is slightly more parabolic thou still with plenty of butt power. The tokara is a stiffer rod and it has all the power to stop a big GT provided the angler is willing take that kind of punishment! 

[Kevin Li]

Hi,
Thanks for the feedback. I got a wrc 80p and I could throw the 80g better than a 130g popper ( williamson+ St66). However it will throw the 150 stickbait better than the williamson. I'm looking for a rod for the big stuff.

Wongkz: Where can I find a Tokara in Singapore?

I'm desperately looking for a SP78 UHL as well in Sg as I have a cousin travelling next week. Any shops have them there?

[Wong Kai Zhee]

angler's outfitter stock the tokara, the weaved KD, and the cheaper (sticker version) KD.

as for carpenter, they seem to be out-of-stock most of the time.

[Brandon Khoo]

if you're looking for a UHL, you'll be looking for a while!! 

[Kevin Li]

angler's outfitter stock the tokara, the weaved KD, and the cheaper (sticker version) KD.

as for carpenter, they seem to be out-of-stock most of the time.

Thank you. Do you kow any shops which have the PD Fire vortex in Sg?
 

[Andy Rowe]

Hong Guan Pro Fishing Pte Ltd
275 Beach Road, #01-01
Singapore 199549
Tel: 6296 9676
E-mail: [email protected]

or this link http://www.pelagicanglers.net/distributors.html Kenny has helped me before with Patriot gear.

I was looking at the Patriot rods in a Jakarta shop to day, great looking rods, all the casting rods i looked at have small bottom guide eyes on them!!!, they look like conventional overhead guides, another new concept from Matsutani San, the jig rods i looked at have the usual larger bottom guides.

Real Boutique gear.

PS, as stated above good luck with the SP78UHL, I don't think you will find one in shops for a while.

[Kevin Li]

Thanks very much Andy.


I've seen part of the rod on a picture and they look like Fuji low riders, also called the new concept guides. The new Surfcasting rods are using this concept now and the reports I've read about them are not satisfactory. Line tend to snake through these rings but in surfcasting we use longer leaders to 100lb sometimes, most common being 70-80lb. How would that behave on a shorter rod with 200lb leader?!? The good thing is that the New SW series spool does a favour to Low riders as it reduces the peak line out thrust from the spool making the spiral shallower. I've just handle the New Twipoer 8000FE, it look very very smooth and well built and comes with a spare spool and the spool features the new arc spool like on the Stella SW series.


The fire vortex price looks affordable. I'll look into the matter and take a decision soon either to go for a Tokara, A gipang 77 xxxH or a Fire vortex.

Any of you have tried the fire vortex? I've heard they are as strong (if not stronger than) as the UHL.


Cheers,

Kevin.

[Andy Rowe]

Interesting points Kevin.

I was looking at the 08 stellas today JDM and the 'US'/Euro version, the 10k versions in particular, trying to figure out the 5 gram weight difference. The spools look different.

It looks like the JDM spool on this size is narrower in diameter and deeper in spool arbor, the US version looks wider and more squat in the spool!!! these were just visual observations.

I like to use a longer leader at the moment so this would be an issue perhaps on the Patriot, but I have enough rods so i won't be testing this model out soon that I know of.

By the way if you're not urgent on your rod, I have a near new Tokara (1 - 20kg GT only) that I will be bringing to Aussie in early May among other sale items, not using anymore...FYI

Regards

[Kevin Li]

Hi,

Unfortunately, I'm not in Australia. To be Honest the Fire vortex has caught me and I'll look into it.


As far as new SW is concerned what did surprised me was the size of the 18000as I owned the previous 10000FA version. Having read a U.S forum, there are mixed views saying that the U.S version and the Japanese version are different. The JDM has a serial number on the reel foot and when I saw the 20000SW JDM in a local shop it came in 2 box. There was like an external carton box which wrapped the original box. The reel handle had the impression of being shorter on the 20000sw than on the 18000sw.


I've tried casting a 10000FA and the new 18000SW on a field using 125-150g lead and 80lb Sunline PE and I haven't seen much distance gained from the New ARC spool. I did cast them on a proper 13.6ft surfcasting rod with a full OTG and a Pendulum cast just to see how much difference there was. I don't think with an overhead cast you would see a significant distance gained but bare in mind that I used 80lb braid. I've just checked on my Zziplex that the butt ring is a taped fuji 30 striper guide and the rod has taped rings rung for multiplier use, there were no issues of line snaking with the ARC spool. Just to have an idea my smith WRC 80p has a 40 size fuji striper guide.

On the other hand, I've a C3000 with the new ARC spool loaded it with 0.13mm braid and tried a 2500FB with the same line. There was a difference with the arc spool when using thin line, I tried it with both a 6ft and an 8ft with a single handed pendulum cast. It was interesting to see that on thinner line the arc spool did a difference. The propulsion of the line sounded different on the ARC spool.