Light Baitcasting

Today I was trying out my new light baitcasting outfit, which comprised of a Major Craft Volkey VKC-652ML rod with a casting range of 3/16-1/2oz in grams that is up to about 14g this is also paired up with an Okuma Komodo reel. I could have gone allot lighter than this but wanted to get something that would cast the light weights and also cast abit heavier so it would be more versatile.

First impressions of the rod was very good, it was really light and well crafted, it also felt very comfortable in the hand, the grip moulding just disappeared into the hand fitting like a glove.

With the recent snow melt and rain, I didn't really have a local venue that i thought I'd have a chance at catching on but chose a canal that I might have a slim chance at finding a perch or two. This would give me the chance to use the rod with the lighter end of its casting range as i wanted to fish 2.5" kopyto's on a 5g jighead. I also wanted to try out the little jerks I've been making recently, so whether the canal was fishing well or not I still wanted to try things out.

On arrival at the canal I was met with the most horrendous colour, near enough 3" visibility, I knew straight away that catching in this deep venue with this colour was highly unlikely. I set about trying so cast the kopyto's across the canal expecting to get over runs straight away with the light weight and the super fast spool of the Komodo. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to use and no sign of an over run to start with, I did however find that the casting was allot different to that of a bigger heavier baitcasting outfit or that of a fixed spool outfit. The angle was totally different, you have to kind of aim abit higher. To avoid the over runs I set the braking system at 6 and thought I'd work down from there as I went along.

 

With abit more time I was finding it much easier and I kept knocking the braking system down abit further each time. The first thing I noticed about the Volkey after using it for abit was just how light it was, as i was walking about I hardly noticed I was carrying it!

The rod was also very good at transmitting, I could feel so much more than I have done with any other rod Ive had before, even noticing when i was working the Kopyto over what felt like a gravel bar. Incidentally it was over these gravel bars that I was surprised to get my first take, and after a short fight I had christened my new outfit with a lovely perch.

 

 

I had come to realise that even with this very coloured water, the Volkey was giving me something extra, It enabled me to stay in contact with the bottom where i expected the perch to be, i could also feel for any difference in bottom structure and it was surprising just how much more I could feel. I was working my kopyto's very slowly over the bottom and on the next couple of occasions I noticed that when I felt a gravel bar this was met with a take. This trend didn't last unfortunately, but I was more than happy with the 3 perch I caught in very poor conditions and even happier to have caught on my new outfit. From the 3 modest perch I caught, I could also see that the rod had some power further down the blank that might stand me in good stead when I encounter something much bigger.