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£59.99

Daiwa has added five Light Lure rods to its predator portfolio. The Japanese firm, who can also boast one of the most sought-after light lure rod ranges around in the form of their prestigious Orient-inspired Gekkabijin models, has obviously studied our own lure market carfully before releasing its latest offerings. These rods not only fit the bill perfectly with regard to our drop shot, jig and spin tactics, but they are also sensibly priced at a penny under £60.

The rods offer plenty of scope for the avid lure enthusiast and can be used with light spoons, plugs and shads, as well as the smallest of soft imitations in the case of the two Dropshot models.

These are sure to prove hugely popular, and come in 6ft 6ins or 7ft lengths. Interestingly, they have been designed by Daiwa with identical casting weights from 1g-9g.

If you enjoy working small lures, the Small Plugger rod (3g-14g) should be ideal. The slightly heavier actioned Shad-Caster rod has a 5g-21g rating, while the all-round 8ft Crazy Cranker rod will handle casting weights of between 7g and 28g to cope with larger lures when pike are the main quarry in your sights.

It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that Daiwa has introduced a small but concise range of rods for our fast-developing lure market.

After all, the global tackle manufacturing giant has acquired and applied more knowledge about developing and constructing short rods for predatory fish than any other company on the planet.

This is a fact that becomes evident within moments of assembling one of the latest Specialist Light Lure Dropshot models.

The ultra-thin two-piece blanks, made frompremium grade carbon, have lightweight single-leg ceramic braid-friendly guides and pleasing cosmetics on a comfy cork split handle.

There’s a tough plastic screw-down hooded reel seat, and a hook-keeper is thrown in for good measure.

However, it isn’t just its stunning build quality that helps this rod to earn a big thumbs-up from me. It also has a very impressive transmission that enables the user to feel every little knock and tremble on the lure, especially, when using a thin braided mainline.

I must also admit that this is the first drop shot rod with a white tip section that I thought was anything more than a needless added extra, and I’ll tell you why. It’s nothing to do with its reflective white colour – something I still don’t see as being necessary.

However, the end of this rod has a seamless flat spot-free 14ins of solid graphite or similar spliced-in tip which has just enough spring, tension and action to help with casting and hook-setting, tempered with exactly the right degree of softness.

This enables you to work a lure with precision and dexterity.

During the live test I was able to tighten up the mainline to a tiny 4g weight without dragging it along the bottom. This, in turn, allowed me to drop the lure on to the bed of the marina while keeping the weight static – a presentation that worked really well for small perch in the cold and dirty water conditions I was faced with.

Like most drop shot rods this one has a progressive fish-playing action, but without the backbone to handle really big critters.

This is not meant as a criticism – let’s face it, 99 per cent of the time it’s perch that fall to drop shot tactics, with anything over 3lb considered a proper specimen.

The rod’s tactile transmission, lightness in the hand and ability to twitch tiny imitations to resemble a tempting snack for a passing stripey are far more important than having enough backbone to bank a big esox. Superb little rods!

VERDICT

These new Daiwa Dropshot rods both come with exactly the same fittings and weight casting ratings of 1g-9g. So the only decision you have to make if you fancy owning one is, which length to go for?

Even then, with only 6ins between them at 6ft 6ins and 7ft, it isn’t really going to affect performance much.

If you do fish water over 6ft deep, though, I would advise the longer model. The action of both is perfect for small lures, giving lots of ‘feel’. They are light and easy to hold for long periods. Pound for pound I would say these are the best bespoke drop shot rods on the market right now.