Sensitivity: So, ok, we've discussed the Mephisto's incredible lure rating specification and its ability to present baits throughout this rating, so a stick such as this must undoubtedly suffer in the sensitivity department, right? Yes. Where I could easily detect the turning blades of a half-ounce Persuader American Pro Assassinator Clacker Spinnerbait, and a three-quarter ounce Kanji tungsten spinnerbait, I had a harder time detecting the vibration of a Lucky Craft LV-500MAX lipless crank in the water. Actual strike detection did not seem to be a problem, but then again, perhaps I may have missed some fish I didn't even know were there? Hard to say. I will add, that until I fished this rod with a lipless crank, I found it to be surprisingly sensitive with jigs, grub-style swimbaits, spinnerbaits, and senkos - puzzling indeed, but keep in mind, this is an extra-heavy powered rod!

Power: We proved in the lab tests that the Mephisto has power to spare - especially if your only quarry is black bass. A point of important discussion here is the slant-bridge handle of the Mephisto. Megabass certainly opened some eyes and made many people scratch their heads when they debuted this handle design late in 2005. They claim this offset handle design makes the rod fish like it is much longer both in terms of casting and fighting a fish. They are right. While the benefit during a two handed cast is a little more subtle, where the slant bridge handle really comes into play is in fighting a good sized fish. With the rear portion of the rod offset the way it is, you can easily, and very comfortably, lock the rod under your forearm during a tough battle and gain quite a bit of leverage on your fish. It is a sensation that's difficult to describe until you are presented with the opportunity to leverage the design, and when you do, the benefit is undeniable.

Features: The big selling point of Megabass's Orochi line is the D.N.A. graphite which features graphite and titanium fibers wrapped around the blank in a double helix pattern. This pattern is easily discernable on the rod's surface and actually, is not the first rod we've seen with this design. Our November, 2005 article on the Shimano Scorpion G4 showed a rod with a similar blank construction. There's something to this design as both the Mephisto and Scorpion G4 are very powerful sticks and rather sensitive for their power ratings. Other features of the Mephisto include the previously discussed slant bridge handle design but the rod also makes use of double footed line guides through the entire length of the rod. Overkill perhaps for black bass, but it's quite obvious this rod was designed for so much more.

Ratings:

Pluses and Minuses:

Conclusion: How often have you come across a product that you simply had to acquire if for nothing else other than its name? Such was the case with me and the Megabass Mephisto. Sure, I backed into a justification for needing this stick for swimbaits, but really, I wanted to check out the rod because of its name. What I found is that it lives up to its moniker and then some. I've had the Mephisto for over a year now and I continue to be surprised at the variety of baits it can handle. Certainly it is not the best stick for each application I've asked it to perform, and its weight makes it cumbersome for many, but the fact it can handle the great majority of these tasks given its power is quite impressive. Were I able to truly pit it against some worthy species other than black bass and striper, it could very well win one of our coveted awards, but since I could have no first hand experience with its multi-species applicability, I'll just finish my impressions with the Mephisto by stating it is a stick any evil, self loathing Enthusiast must experience themselves to truly appreciate.