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Swimbait Rod Wars Installment #5 : The Big Swimbait Special From Kistler
(continued)
 Power:
On one trip this past Fall in the California Delta, Zander and I were just
waking up on the water from our dark o'clock start time. I had spent the
majority of this morning using other rods from our Rod Wars to toss topwater
baits like the 3:16 Lure Company Baby Wake and the Black Dog Bait Company's
Lunker Punker. For whatever reason, it just wasn't happening, so I told Zander,
"Ok, if they're not going to come up for us, let's go down after them."
And
launches
Cal's
bait
(the
little
grey
dot
halfway
between
the
top
of
his
head
and
the
top
of
the
picture)
up
near
shore.
I
reached
for
the
KBSBS80
I
had
pre-tied
the
night
before
with
a
sinking,
hardbodied
swimbait.
On
about
the
third
cast
with
this
setup,
I
was
pulling
my
bait
out
of
the
water
when
this
big
ole
doghead,
as
Zander
referred
to
it,
came
out
of
the
water
to
swipe
at
my
bait.
It
missed,
but
its
tail
splashed
somewhere
towards
the
back
of
the
boat
where
Zander
was.
It
was
a
HUMONGOUS
STRIPER!
Zander
and
I
belted
out
the
requisite
expletives,
collected
ourselves,
and
returned
to
the
task
at
hand.
Checking
out
the
KBSBS80's
tip
A few casts later, Zander yells Fish On!, but just as I turned my head his line went slack and his spirits were deflated. It got off.. or did it? As if in slow motion, Zander's rod tip was still up when his line made a sudden jump to the side off towards the back of the boat! Just as we both realized this, and as his line was going taught again, but still with practically zero pressure, the unthinkable happened, *SNAP* his line broke just like that! There were serious fish about!
A closeup of the stainless steel framed hardloy insert guides
It got kind of quiet after that. Zander even got a phone call - one of the hazards of fishing on the California Delta - excellent cell phone reception! Unfortunately, it was one he could not ignore, so he leaned back on the rear pedestal seat and answered the phone - line still in the water. I continued to pound the bank and as I made this one cast up close to shore and cranked the handle of my reel about three or four turns, all heck broke loose!
Something non-too-common on a heavy duty rod - an exposed blank reel seat
More on the
rod's power
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