As of 5/25 I bought this rod about a month ago and had a lot of time using it as I live near the ocean. I wanted to wait before reviewing this to let things marinate in order to prevent buyer's bias/give an honest review. I currently paired this rod with my Tsunami SaltX 2 4000 reel that I had on another rod, a 20lb Daiwa J-Braid Grand 8x main line, running a simple high low rig containing a 40lb lead line and a 3oz sputnik sinker.
If you're a new, if and when you buy these 3rd Gen Japanese edition rods, when you receive it, the markings will be different from the pictures in other reviews of previous generations. The previous generations had the line rating "15-40lb" but now it's "15-20lb". I reached out to Brendon and the team to confirm, and this rod is still the same rated 15-40lbs, but 20lb is the "sweet spot". You can use any line but for me I switched my line from 30lb braid to the 20lb and I can see what Brendon means now: how much more yardage I can squeeze out after casting, and the absolute sensitivity of the fish biting my hooks. I use drag on my reels a lot even on my other rods, so I never worry about my line snapping even if I encounter another large stingray again.
The rod is superlight weight and easy to handle, yet not fragile that you have to baby it. I plan to buy another rod for my wife who just started her fishing journey. The one important thing (for me) about this rod is its compactness and portability. On one end you can take a minimalist approach, slap this rod disassembled onto your **** bag/cooler backpack and ride your ebike down the beach to go to hard to reach areas, to sticking it in your suitcase when flying out of country, to carrying it with you and ride with your fishing buddies with all their beach cart, gear etc. to go on a last minute fishing trip with them without taking up more space.
I've caught multiple species of fish with this rod, swam with it in at my local beach to reach a sand bar I then fished on. The only sad thing is that my "Made in japan" sticker label is finally wearing off and of course the usual wear and tear of EVA foam grips but it just adds character and if I need to years from now slap some grip tape on it. Besides that, it's a buy once, cry once ordeal but you will get a lot of fun and ROI with this rod.
I look forward to seeing what other rods Brendon releases in the future (in fact he has a 5 piece 11 foot heavy prototype he's testing).
