Shimano's Tescata rods work Lucanus Jigs with finesse
(continued)
Retrieving
cont'd: The extremely flexible tip on the Tescata rod provides
plenty of give, even when you make upward movements, allowing ample time to
apply subtle pressure on the fish so that they actually set themselves. When we
detected bites we found that there really is no need to swing on the fish, in
fact the harder we set the more fish I lost. Let the Tescata do the work and
simply lift when the fish nibbles on the bait.
It is possible to cast smaller
jigs overhand but I found underhand lob casts were good enough for this
technique
Power:
The TSC80L is the second lightest rod in the Tescata lineup and when I first
started bending over the tip I was concerned with how well the rod would
actually handle bigger rockfish like Cabazon and Lingcod. The tip on the rod is
a lot lighter than what most rockfish anglers are used to when targeting these
fish.
The hook hanger doesn't get in the
way
While fishing the Tescata I found it delivered an overall
nimble feel all the way through the light tip, but never felt stressed when
hauling rockcod up to 8lbs in weight. Any fish greater than 8lbs would arch the
tip downwards but the top portion of the rod would transition amazingly smoothly
to the surprisingly brawny butt section.
The Tescata comes with Fuji
Alconite guides
Sensitivity:
While fishing with the Calcutta LJV is an added benefit the Tescata is a must
for the optimal Lucanus experience. The Tescata feels light yet has an extremely
forgiving yet sensitive tip that allows anglers to basically feed the jig to
fish then load them up without shaking the small hooks loose.
Fishing the Tescata and Lucanus
jigs doesn't require aggressive jigging action, and the technique is more about
subtle retrieves
Anglers lose a bit of sensitivity with the leader but I
strongly recommend the use of the leader as it provides a more subtle
presentation for this slow moving bait, improves casting distance as the initial
startup creates less friction in the Tescata’s Alconite guides, and most
importantly acts as a shock leader helping keep fish buttoned on. Shimano sells
a Wind-On leader but I found it easy and quick enough to tie my own leaders.
Shimano’s leaders are a whopping 24 feet in length, and I found 15 feet was more
than enough in our tests.
That's more like it!
Next Section: On to Ergonomics
and Durability
