Xzoga Rods???http://www.australianfishing.com.au/com

[SJS]

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hey afoers

was wondering if many of you have had experience with the Xzoga rods -a Japanese brand-

have been offered a Tapo model 7'5" long and am considering buying it. however info about them on the net is hard to come by.

any opinions on them would be great thanks

[kiara_poltegerist]

correction, it's a malaysian company's product. i personally would steer clear.

[SJS]

Yeah from what I can gather the new range thats out is made in Malaysia but apparently the previous models including the tapo model were Japanese???? Not 100% on this ...but as I said -info is hard to find

Any idea if the earlier Japanese ones were any better?

Thanks heaps for your reply

[kiara_poltegerist]

er. put it this way, i lived in malaysia for 6 years, and I was working in the fishing industry in malaysia when that brand was first launched. i personally knew some of the brand ambassadors in malaysia for that brand as well.

i would take that information about the first few models with a large pinch of salt, the first few batches were very prone to carbon fatigue. I did have some first hand experience with this as some customers were bringing in product that progressively became softer in action after every trip.

I'm sure that with some research, you will find that almost all of the cheap/relatively new entrants to the market (all claiming to be made in japan, japanese engineering, japanese product), are all made in china, and sold at a horrific amount of mark up, especially in Australia. Some of the higher end stuff is still manufactured in Taiwan, but I have yet to see any of those marketed here. This of course excludes the niche market products being released from Japan - Yamaga, Hots, KS-Labo etc.

Just out of curiosity, why Xzoga?

[Do$tylz]

Wow ^^ back from the dead where have you been?

[kiara_poltegerist]

Wow ^^ back from the dead where have you been?

hello henry ^^. just cruisin and deciding whether i want to do my MBA. been down in syd quite alot as well. . we ought to wet a line sometime, it's been a while

[SJS]

Thanks for your feedback

think i'll keep on looking based on what you've told me.

As to why I was looking at it to start with - well I was offered it [friend of a friend ]

price seemed cheap enough at $65 but based on what you've said I'll look for something of better quality.

thanks again for your input

[dhess]

From what I have read same Xzoga has the same owner as Lemax but supposed to be a higher end brand. Looking at prices their rods are hardly cheap.

Hey Kiara,

Any experiences with FCL Labo? Looking at a popping rod.

[kiara_poltegerist]

From what I have read same Xzoga has the same owner as Lemax but supposed to be a higher end brand. Looking at prices their rods are hardly cheap.

Hey Kiara,

Any experiences with FCL Labo? Looking at a popping rod.

Lemax is owned by TCE Tackles Sdn Bhd,a malaysian company. Xzoga i'm not too sure, they might have tried selling it as a standalone brand to increase it "JDM-ness", but it's definitely a Malaysian company's product as well. Lemax did pretty well in the first few years up till maybe 04, but from then their blanks quality went downhill. no comments on the VFM of their gear tho...

FCL is pretty good. I've fished the 81EXT, and I have to say, the backbone is amazing. very good lifting power.. Not as light as the new range from Carpenter, but still very good. You might want to take a look at the range from Yamaga blanks as well, they've got a really good range to choose from. I've got a 87/6 Blue Sniper arriving in about a week, i'll let you know how that goes. Bring on summer!! hehe

[kiara_poltegerist]

by the way, you got to that saltiga s-extreme before i did!! grrrr

[dhess]

Thanks for the input and sorry to pip you on the saltiga.

I was looking at FCL Labo UCB80 to be exact. As nice as the Carpenter rods look, they are beyond my budget for a first popping rod. Are there any other rods you recommend I look at. e.g. smith?

[kiara_poltegerist]

Thanks for the input and sorry to pip you on the saltiga.

I was looking at FCL Labo UCB80 to be exact. As nice as the Carpenter rods look, they are beyond my budget for a first popping rod. Are there any other rods you recommend I look at. e.g. smith?

erm, i assume that you're buying the UCB for convenience sake? I'm not sold on mid-joint heavy rods as I think they have a higher chance of failing under extreme conditions. I find the UCB too stiff for my liking though. For that amount of money I dont think you should be paying for something that has a weak point unless the rod is designed for a different purpose like the shore popping rods.

Carpenter are a world apart mate, I own a wild violence and a long reef (08) model, and they are fantastic rods to fish. one of my mates just bought an Endless Passion, and he reckons it feels better than his Ripple Infinity. definitely something you should own at least one of. hehe

erm.. i reckon you should have a feel of a few ripple fishers and yamaga blanks rods. They feel quite light without any loss of confidence in the rod. very pricy locally but you can get them landed quite cheap from overseas. I got my yamaga blue sniper and a ripple shinichiri custom for $1400 delivered .I've tried and quite liked the HOTS Gipang 83. havent tried a smith popping rod before, but happywally is quite happy with his smith GTK. if you can get your hands on an old Tenryu Grand Marshal, they are pretty awesome rods. reasonably light but an awesome backbone and lifting power. it's a pity they stopped making them.

forgot to mention, happywally fishes a Gipang as well, apparently it's overkill ^^.

if you're working on a budget, maybe you can look at getting a Calstar GF700XH or a 800M? slightly heavier, but still alot of stick for the $$