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Rod Review


Rising from the Depths, Megabass's Leviathan

 

Date: 12/30/15
Tackle Type: Rod
Manufacturer: Megabass
Reviewer: Cal






Total Score: 7.51 - GOOD

Introduction:
One stick has been sorely lacking in JDM rod companies' lineups - a big, beefy rod made to launch big, beefy swimbaits and that's built in a manner to where the stick is still very fishable. Oh we've handled big, beefy sticks from other JDM companies (DEPS, Roman Made, among others) but all these sticks were too big and beefy to be comfortable using all day long. Thanks to their STW program and input from their pros like Chris Zaldain and Luke Clausen, Megabass may have answered the call. Their new, F10-80XX Leviathan is a big, beefy, eight foot long, extra-extra heavy powered rod weighing in at only 5.7 ounces. Is this stick beefy enough to handle REAL big baits? Lets find out!

 


Introducing Megabass's F10-80XX Leviathan.

 

Megabass F10-80XX Leviathan Specifications

Material Proprietary Graphite
Length 8'-0"
Line Wt. 16-40lb
Lure Wt. 1/2-8oz
Pieces Two
Guides 9+Tip, SS/Alconite KSeries Fuji
Rear Handle Length 11.5"
Power Rating Extra-Extra-Heavy
Taper Mod-Fast
Rod Weight 5.7oz
Origin Made in China
MSRP $325

 

Quality/Construction: Megbass's Orochi Double X Leviathan is a two-piece rod separating at the handle. Fully assembled, it is eight feet long, with an unfinished blank, and full rear grip made of cork. The cork itself is the same we found on the F3-611XXS - good consistent color, but with a high degree of fill. Epoxy work on the guides is good, and the guides themselves are good quality stainless steel frames with Alconite inserts from Fuji.

 

Quality Ratings for Megabass F10-80XX Leviathan

Finish (1-5)
Grip (1-5)
Epoxy (1-5)
Blank (1-2)
Guides (1-2)
Total
Possible
Rating (= Tot/Pos * 10)
5
3
5
2
2
17
19
8.95

 


Putting the pieces together on Megabass's latest big bait stick.

Performance: I matched the Leviathan up with several reels but finally settled up on Daiwa Japan's Ryoga Shrapnel - a reel designed for battling snakehead with topwater baits. I spooled the Shrapnel up with 25lb Sunline Supernatural nylon monofilament.


Rigged up and ready to go with the 10 inch MagDraft.

Casting: The Leviathan is rated on the low end of its lure rating at half an ounce and eight ounces at the top end. As with most sticks, its sweet spot is somewhere in between. I fished this stick with a variety of hard and soft bodied big baits from Megabass's own MagDraft (six and eight inch sizes) and iSlide 262T to Roman Made's Negotiator and GanCraft's Jointed Claw. This stick is quite the capable caster and loads surprisingly well given its beefy rating.


The Leviathan loads very well for such a stout stick.

The heaviest bait I recall throwing on this stick is that iSlide 262T rated at six ounces and the Leviathan handled it with no issues whatsoever. It can likely go up to eight ounces with little issue and I didn't get a chance to try out the 10.5 ounce Roman Made Mother since mine is still in hiding in case Zander is seeking retribution for the Autopsy of his. The six inch MagDraft is rated at just over an ounce in weight and I'm not sure I'd go much lower than that with this stick unless using a less beefy reel and lighter line.


Sensitivity is a strong suit of the Double X lineup.

Sensitivity: One characteristic I really enjoy with these Double X rods from Megabass is the sensitivity of the blanks. The Leviathan isn't as hyper sensitive as the F3-611XXS, but a lot of that is probably due to the difference in the two sticks' power rating. Nonetheless, I found the big, beefy Leviathan to be very good in this department despite the fact I only fished it with nylon monofilament.


The Leviathan loads really well on a cast, yet has ample backbone when pressed into duty fighting a fish.

Power: I was really hoping to get into some striped bass action on the California Delta with this stick to test its power curve out in the real world, but timing of the annual run continues to allude us. In the lab, we can see the Leviathan charts out on the light side of our big bait stick averages, but I suspect that's due in large part to the rod's overall length - longer rods deflect more than shorter sticks of similar power ratings.


Fig 1 : The chart above illustrates the deflection characteristics of our Megabass F10-80XX Leviathan against
the averages fro our Swimbait Rod Wars of 2008.

The Leviathan certainly held its own against the largemouth bass I managed to coax into biting with this stick though the largest of those fish probably went only six or seven pounds.

Performance Ratings for Megabass F10-80XX Leviathan

Pitch (1-5)
Cast (1-5)
Sensitivity (1-5)
Hook Set (1-5)
Control (1-5)
Total
Possible
Rating (= Tot/Pos * 10)
3
4
5
5
5
22
25
8.8

Next Section: Two Piece Design 

 

   

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