Navrik

Praying for your dad and you buddy!

My favourite would be my ALX Zolo 7'5" SpeedFury Medium Light + Fast Action. I spent a week at Loskop Dam in South Africa and every single fish I caught came out on this rod (not from a lack of trying other patterns and other rods). Also holds my Smallmouth personal best from Clanwilliam Dam as well (also hear in South Africa). I did once lose my favourite crank-bait rod a Powell Max 703 CB Medium Heavy Moderate Fast Glass and I replaced that in a heartbeat and now have 2.

Thanks for the offer but we as bass anglers in South Africa would like the bass to stay exactly where they are. Was fortunate enough to fish this amazing venue 3 years ago around the spawn. Crystal clear water. Amazing to see fish on beds protecting their nests. This dam has the possibility to soon produce a world record bass.

Have a look at the ALX Rods Zolo 7'2" Toadface. I think that would be a great fit.

I used to fish Powell Rods and Quantum PT Tour and KVD Tour reels but more recently have been adding ALX Rods to my rod arsenal. I find them light, crisp and ultra-sensitive. The added bonus is that if you cannot find the exact rod in the line-up you like for a specific application Alex can create a custom rod for you. Due to the fact that I have a big investment in the older Quantum PT and KVD reels and I could not find anything newer with the same feel I decided to send my reels in for professional service and bearing upgrades and that has given my older reels a new lease on life. I love the consistent feeling of the thumb bar on the PT Tour and KVD Tour. The only down side of using these older reels are that parts are becoming increasingly difficult to come by.

Here in South Africa we have a brand called called Victron. They make an excellent range of battery for charges both home and commercial use. (I even have 2 battery backup systems at work to power all our servers and network during power load shedding that we sometimes experience) I use a 15A model. Beauty of this unit is that you can use it standalone or mount inside your boat as it is waterproof. It also has Bluetooth built-in whereby you can monitor the charge of your battery from an app on your phone called Victron-Connect. The charger is even future proof in that you will even be able to charge Lithium Ion batteries when they become cost effective enough in the future. Charger has a 5 years warranty. The general rule of thumb is to take you Ah rating of you battery say 105Ah and divide that by 10. This will give your the charger you need to effectively charge and maintain (in case of full automatic chargers). Anything less will take a long time or not be able to fully charge. If you have a 24V system e.g. 2 x 12V batteries in series you can charge both at the same time with a 24V charger. I prefer having a single 12V charger per 12V battery. In case of battery charger failure you only have to replace the single charger and not the whole unit if it is a 2,3 or 4 bank charger.

I seem to recall from somewhere that Swindle is only using Lews Reels. Thought that looked a bit odd.

I have 2 x older Powell Max 703 Glass Rods and they beautiful for cranking. I find them perfect for throwing a Red Eye shad around. Reel of choice are the older Quantum KVD Tours especially the 5.3:1 but recently got my hands on some second hand Shimano Calcutta DC reels and I am very keen to give them a try.

Very interesting video. Thanks for doing the direct comparison Glen. I was waiting for someone to do a comparison between them since all the ICAST 2019 videos came out. As someone with and older cable steer MotorGuide 75lb on a 16ft boat I am watching all these units go head to head with keen interest. I would be interesting to see the comparison with the current Minn Kota Ultrex like previous posters both here and on YouTube mentioned.

Hi My name is Robert and I live in Cape Town, South Africa. I have been bass fishing from my young days mainly in farms ponds but started competitive bass fishing in 2010 after the purchase of my first small boat (13 ft with 60HP). I have since upgraded to a 16ft with 90HP. I used to fish the social team Money Trail events here in the Western Cape but but switched to the individual regional events and have twice represented Western Province at our annual interprovincial competition here in South Africa. I have a few top 5 finishes to show for the BFSA Money Trail events. I hope to learn and share.