Monday, March 9, 2015

DAIWA EMERALDAS MX2508PE-H-DH - MAG SEAL Double Handle EGI Spinning Reel - Winter Gear, 2015


DAIWA EMERALDAS MX2508 PE-H-DH

Daiwa's Squid jigging or EGI reel.  Light, Smooth, Capable. 
EGI.  Egging.  Jerk, twitch, draw, pitch.  All you need to remember is to hit bottom. 
Daiwa is doing something alike mad-marketing or following the crazy brain-child in the way they roll out their new fishing reels.  Spinning and bait casting/conventional, the technology for MAG-SEAL is being shared throughout the scope of their line-ups now that they have perfected it. 
Unlike their rival, Shimano, they are doing more them simply adding a bearing here and there to their reels and calling them X-SHIP.  Think of Shimano X-SHIP “technology” as a marketed improvement to design.  Think of it like a minor significant update to a schematic that could have used more outright engineering inspiration.  This is what Daiwa isn’t doing.  They are improving the technology, engineering design, and at the same time lowering the price.
Being that Daiwa holds the rights to MAG-SEAL technology; they introduced it into their spinning reels a few years back.  The trickle-down effect of MAG-SEAL has benefitted even the lower level priced reels. 
Daiwa Emeraldas exhibits the second generation of their MAG-SEAL seals & bearings. 
There is an undeniable fluid feeling when friction is negligible in a spinning reel.  So many moving parts with that effortless feeling makes me feel the direct connection with the gear rotation in the main cavity as well as the spinning of the rotor.  It’s a pretty great feel.  A feeling only one company gives its audience right now.  

Double Handle = Awesome for Egi, that rhythm in sync makes sense afterall. 
Air Bail = More confidence then comparable size Shimano reels (their wire thin bail doesn't instill confidence, broke off too many from 2500 size models).

So, MX means their newer lineup, and lower prices, along with trickle down technology. 
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Thursday, January 29, 2015

Daiwa Saltiga 2015 Star Drag Reel MAGSEAL - May Debut


It's Coming!

New 2015 Daiwa Saltiga Star Drag



















2015 Saltiga with MagSeal Bearing, Spool lock, DigiGear, Easy-Spool change, & Eva knob.

Two sizes.
Three speeds.
10、10H=2015.05 DEBUT
15、15H=2015.06 DEBUT
10HL、15HL=2015.07 DEBUT


You can always check Daiwa's Official Japanese Site:all.daiwa21.com

According to the Japanese site they mentioned that there was a definite need to produce more than 7kg of drag and the aim was to produce a reel more capable of the 2025 model Bay Jigger also including the MAGSEAL technology already proven.

The reel will be able to handle the yellowtail winter run in the Sea of Japan.




 




 







Thursday, January 15, 2015

Cultiva Owner STX-58 Treble Hook - Starting up with the Evolution !! - Winter Gear, 2015


NEW TREBLE HOOKS, COOL !!!!!!!!!!!!

Owner Cultiva for many many seasons has been the solid performing treble that have seen the lips of hundreds of fish. I'm pretty confident the only downfall for them is the start of "rusting" after a few trips rendering them useless.

My buddy Aki from Japan suggested giving them a try back in the mid 2000's and I haven't really found a need for replacement unless in a specific scenario.

Anyhow, the new STX version has released in 2014 and I was curious to the differences. Aki says: give them a try, but you know the older version works just fine, right?

They are ¥100 yen higher in price and seem to have a different coated surface. Let's hope they are up to par AND better than the previous.

Model used: STX-58
Size: 2
Purchased at Proshop Gil - Tokyo


Give them a try if you like...





Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Seven Islands Pro-Shop (Sheung Wan) Hong Kong - Winter Fishing, 2015


I've now visited a majority of the tackle shops in Hong Kong and have found most comfortable with Seven Islands Pro-Shop.  This was my second outing to check out the shop and I finally was able to enter this time.  The first time I had missed their opening hours by exactly 30 minutes. 
My enjoyment & affinity with their products is perhaps the reason for it.  Patriot Designs (PD), & FISHERMAN headline their tidy rod rack.

This shop has a decent catering of BIG game pelagic gear and dedicated jigging & popping tackle.  I haven't seen big stickbaits, poppers, and the like within range of what this shop has in all of Kowloon or the Island side, or even outside of Japan.  Nature Boy's jigs, Carpenter Gamma, and abalone Patriot Design's is a lovely sight.  It truly felt great to see a stocked inshore seabass arsenal as well.  My quest of catching the TAIRIKU seabass in Hong Kong waters remains and finding the shop is one stop closer for me to succeed graciously in my goal.

Whats new to me is the shop's own Hong Kong based fishing brand.  Seeing the brand Sea Venturex (SVX) made me acknowledge that these guys know their stuff.  From what I saw, there was a 8'1" tuna popping rod (which reminded me of Daiko), several models of long (amberjack style) and short jigs (tuna & CBONE style), a 2-piece land based casting rod range, and a telescopic bait rod (like a Kurodai rod) which seemed popular for the local game.

A quite surprising event happened.  While looking at the many photos shown around the shop I noticed what looked to be a popular lady angler from Japan.  Indeed it was not a personal acquaintance's spouse but nonetheless a pro-angler with television and print popularity in Japan (for over 20 years),  Kojima Reiko. 

FTW, I'm happy to have found such a dedicated tackle shop with true Japanese inventory accessible to me.  I picked up the October 2014 issue of SALT WORLD, that I left in Japan (showcasing my first season for Fall Sagami Bay yellowfin tuna), and enjoyed the rest of the evening.

If you ever make it to Hong Kong and need a suggestion for a tackle shop, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Seven Islands ISO & All Game Lure Pro-Shop.

Voila!





SHIMANO Ocea Jigger 1500P Reel (circa 2006) - Unearthing a historic gem from Japan

 PE3 Species Beware !!

Welcome the Original that did it all on the East Coast.  Envy and evergreen of party boat sharpies that had the edge of best tackle offered at the time.  Finally got my hands on one.

Brought myself to Seven Islands in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong today to share.  I was pleasantly greeted by a nice lady who is the mother of owner Simon.  We chatted it up about fishing and gear for over an hour.  She gladly helped me unearth this gem of a reel in the perfect PE3 size. (thanks for the help!)

Hopefully I can fit the fisherman knob on this older generation jigger as well  =D