Earlier in the year, i sourced a Loomis and Franklin Archipelago 11ft 1,5 ounce to 4 ounce rod from Moosa's angling store Heidelberg.
The rod was purchased to expand my existing spinning rod range.
I still have my Daiwa Exceller 962 which is a great all round light spinning rod.
The reason for the "upgrade, was to see if i could get that extra 30 odd meter range when spinning long range for a possible snoek "queen mackerel".
So the 11ft had done 3x trips to St Lucia already.
The rod was paired with a Penn Clash 4000 spinning reel.
I must admit that this combo is very light and it allows you to fish with it the whole day without getting tired.
The Penn clash is loaded with 20 boss braid and distance is of utmost importance.
I must say, the combo did work well for me, the only problem i found, was that the Penn clash did not keep up with the high line demand on long distance casting.
Around the 140 meter mark, one can see that the empty spool starts to impede the distance reached.
At altitude (Heidelberg G 1200meter) we did reach around the 160 meter mark with 1,5 to 2 ounce plugs on the 11ft.
The Daiwa Exceller was in the 145 meter range
The Loomis Archipelago 11ft is not much longer rod compared to the Daiwa Exceller 962. "not much of a muchness".
The rod managed to stand through the harsh shad angling season at St Lucia.
The 11ft Archipelago rod has also caught a nice sand shark and came through with flying colors.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Y8isJi67jA
So i have decided to upgrade to the 12ft Loomis Archipelago which is paired with a Daiwa BG 4000 spinning reel.
The reel is currently filled with gator 4x 26lb braid.
I will in future see where this combo get me.
We will do some field tests and see what difference we find at altitude.
This might give us some info for the coast.
For angling equipment fresh or salt water, contact Moosas angling Heidelberg on 082 080 0885.
The rod was purchased to expand my existing spinning rod range.
I still have my Daiwa Exceller 962 which is a great all round light spinning rod.
The reason for the "upgrade, was to see if i could get that extra 30 odd meter range when spinning long range for a possible snoek "queen mackerel".
So the 11ft had done 3x trips to St Lucia already.
The rod was paired with a Penn Clash 4000 spinning reel.
I must admit that this combo is very light and it allows you to fish with it the whole day without getting tired.
The Penn clash is loaded with 20 boss braid and distance is of utmost importance.
I must say, the combo did work well for me, the only problem i found, was that the Penn clash did not keep up with the high line demand on long distance casting.
Around the 140 meter mark, one can see that the empty spool starts to impede the distance reached.
At altitude (Heidelberg G 1200meter) we did reach around the 160 meter mark with 1,5 to 2 ounce plugs on the 11ft.
The Daiwa Exceller was in the 145 meter range
The Loomis Archipelago 11ft is not much longer rod compared to the Daiwa Exceller 962. "not much of a muchness".
The rod managed to stand through the harsh shad angling season at St Lucia.
The 11ft Archipelago rod has also caught a nice sand shark and came through with flying colors.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Y8isJi67jA
So i have decided to upgrade to the 12ft Loomis Archipelago which is paired with a Daiwa BG 4000 spinning reel.
The reel is currently filled with gator 4x 26lb braid.
I will in future see where this combo get me.
We will do some field tests and see what difference we find at altitude.
This might give us some info for the coast.
For angling equipment fresh or salt water, contact Moosas angling Heidelberg on 082 080 0885.