13 fishing.... Thoughts

[Alex Ball]

Hey guys. Just got a monster deal on a 13 fishing Obey Black HF 7'4" and a Concept A 7.3:1 reel. $100. Seemed too good to be true. It wasn't. Just got lucky. 

    Does anyone have any long term use with either of these? I test casted before dusk, it's a freaky good feeling setup. No OTW time yet. Just wondering what other people think about them. I'm only asking in this forum. This is the only place I trust. 

    I have a buyer if I don't like it, and he's willing to double my money. So, if it's not for me I end up with 2 new Kastking combos! LoL. But seriously, it feels refined. Just looking for other opinions. 

[Eric 26]

Holy crap!!!  That Is one heck of a deal, although I don’t own either the rod or reel I do have a 13 fishing fate black spinning rod paired with a 13 fishing  *** spinning reel I purchased on clearance a few years ago. Although the reel didn’t receive a lot of love (I looked after purchase) I’m extremely happy with the performance. I received the rod (Christmas present) after feeling the 13 fishing defy black rod in store and taking fellow member @bulldog1935 comments on his experience with his 13 fishing rod, albeit a different (higher priced point) model. I for one am interested to hearing what you personally think of the combo. 

[Phil77]

Fished the A's and one C for a couple seasons. Love the attached side plate and easy brake adjustment. Keep the brake ring oiled and they will cast a mile. Only reason I switched to lews was an externally adjustable centrifugal brake. Great reels for the money, never gave me any trouble.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

Ive seen a couple of their spinning reels have issues, wouldn't recommend them.  Havent owned any of the casting reels either, but there's a lot of positive feedback on several of them. 

I do have experience with some of the rods.  If you're looking to spend 100$ you shouldn't overlook 13.  Their customer service is excellent, and they stand behind their product.    

[Alex Ball]

1 hour ago, Eric 26 said:

Holy crap!!!  That Is one heck of a deal, although I don’t own either the rod or reel I do have a 13 fishing fate black spinning rod paired with a 13 fishing  *** spinning reel I purchased on clearance a few years ago. Although the reel didn’t receive a lot of love (I looked after purchase) I’m extremely happy with the performance. I received the rod (Christmas present) after feeling the 13 fishing defy black rod in store and taking fellow member @bulldog1935 comments on his experience with his 13 fishing rod, albeit a different (higher priced point) model. I for one am interested to hearing what you personally think of the combo. 

I've had a few defy rods. Very good quality but a little stiff for me. I've got the source x 1000. Line management is iffy, but it casts virtually weightless rigs a mile. Haven't tried any spinning rods yet.

   Thanks for responding brother. I'll post a test review in a bit. Spoiler alert: I am in love. 

    

1 hour ago, Phil77 said:

Fished the A's and one C for a couple seasons. Love the attached side plate and easy brake adjustment. Keep the brake ring oiled and they will cast a mile. Only reason I switched to lews was an externally adjustable centrifugal brake. Great reels for the money, never gave me any trouble.

     I like the Tournament MP a ton. That brake system is perfect. I was a bit iffy about the straight centrifugal system on the A, but just wow. I've never had a smoother cast on braid. The rod is ridiculous. It's fast, but it's very soft in a good way.

7 minutes ago, GetFishorDieTryin said:

Ive seen a couple of their spinning reels have issues, wouldn't recommend them.  Havent owned any of the casting reels either, but there's a lot of positive feedback on several of them. 

I do have experience with some of the rods.  If you're looking to spend 100$ you shouldn't overlook 13.  Their customer service is excellent, and they stand behind their product.    

     Ya, I've got the Source X. Not that happy with it. Definitely a backup reel. It does cast a mile. I've always heard the concept/inception reels were dope. They weren't lying. The rod is exactly what I expected. It's very soft for a fast action, but it's also crisp. 

[Alex Ball]

   Okay here's the preface:

 According to this forum I'm a "Boy Scout". Always prepared for any situation on a boat theoretically. Dozens of setups. Lost my ride, went back to banking. It really simplified things. Dumped most setups, and now I'm catching em. I forgot to have fun. Not anymore. 

   My initial impressions of the 13 fishing Concept A/Omen black HF.

     I've only tested this setup in a field with a 1oz. Plug. That's the halfway point for weight so I figured it was the fairest option. 20 lb Yozuri braid. 

     In hand- Concept A - feels light but sturdy. Very smooth reel. Needed an adjustment on the handle, just one of them was loose. Quarter turn, and it's all good. 

   Omen- Feels weightless. For a Heavy rod, it's super light. Perfectly balanced. I've had some high end Lew's rods that don't keep up.

    Setup - Took about 30 seconds. That's a welcome first. Felt good immediately. 

    Casting - Just remarkable so far. Extremely quiet for having braid on it. Had the brakes at 4 and was blasting it 50 yards no problem. Brakes are the best I've ever tried. Just perfect feeling. 

    Retrieve - When the plug landed, it was the most pronounced feeling thump I've ever felt. Don't know if I'm describing that right. You can almost feel the wind. Reeling in, I felt every blade of grass I hit. Every level change, etc ... It was almost religious. 

   Thoughts - I've gotta give it to 13 here. It's a company I never really dove into because of my loyalty to other brands. Definitely found my favorite caster reel ever, so far. Same with the rod. I'd put both up against anything 2x the price and be confident with the test results favoring the 13.

    Again, I've only tested it in a field. I'm getting up at first light tomorrow and I'm going to run it ragged. We'll know tomorrow what I have. I'm very confident my feelings won't change. 

   Extremely impressed. I can totally see why Zaldain, my favorite angler, switched. This is the finest setup I've experienced on testing.

      Love you all, blessings.

Al

     

[bulldog1935]

My 13Fish Omen Green ML - it's the least expensive rod I fish, very fast, and I feel every blade of grass through it. 

 

[KP Duty]

I have a couple gen 1 concept a's....been very happy with them.  

[new2BC4bass]

I have an older 7' MF Omen Black.  Think it's a first gen.  End cap fell off after a few trips (2-3?).  Like it well enough otherwise.  Have a gen 1 Concept A.  I rarely notice little things.  First time I put it on a rod I immediately noticed how great it felt.  It did take some time to dial in.  Used as it came out of the box.  I was told cleaning it first would have made it easier to dial in.  Get good distance with it.  Good for me, but I can't spool any of my reels. 

[Alex Ball]

14 hours ago, bulldog1935 said:

My 13Fish Omen Green ML - it's the least expensive rod I fish, very fast, and I feel every blade of grass through it. 

 

After today on the water, my Omen Black is probably going to be the baseline for any casting rod I test. Just fantastic. No grass in my cove, just rocks. But I felt everything. Even the slightest composition changes. Denali loses my business because of this rod as far as casters go. This feels better than the Lithium or Covert by miles and it's cheaper. 

    Oh BTW, got me a Cetus now. Such a fine reel. Can't believe it is under $75. Thanks for suggesting that. It's my go to UL reel. And it's Gold!

10 hours ago, KP Duty said:

I have a couple gen 1 concept a's....been very happy with them.  

It's just fantastic. Had 2 backlashes and 1 nest all day. That's 300 casts. All were minor. I've never gotten better casts. A gem for sure.

[Alex Ball]

1 hour ago, new2BC4bass said:

I have an older 7' MF Omen Black.  Think it's a first gen.  End cap fell off after a few trips (2-3?).  Like it well enough otherwise.  Have a gen 1 Concept A.  I rarely notice little things.  First time I put it on a rod I immediately noticed how great it felt.  It did take some time to dial in.  Used as it came out of the box.  I was told cleaning it first would have made it easier to dial in.  Get good distance with it.  Good for me, but I can't spool any of my reels. 

      I watched a video with the lead rod and reel devs at 13 last night. They admitted the OB1 was basically a test rod they put on shelves. No explanation to why. I gotta say, those 2 are almost too honest. Some of the things they admit are jarring. Refreshing, but definitely jarring.

  With you on feel. Can't explain it, but it felt like an extension of me, not a tool. The whole setup feels natural. It feels custom. 

    With you on distance, it will bomb. The rod is an everything machine. I threw everything I had in my bag. Nothing felt wrong. Not even my cranks, which I'm religious about. 

    Dumb question, why can't you spool the reels? Don't answer if it's not convenient. Just wondering cuz it's my nightmare. I have tremors. The meticulous stuff is very difficult.

 

    

[DogBone_384]

22 hours ago, Phil77 said:

Great reels for the money, never gave me any trouble.

Same here. I have first generation A’s, C’s, one E, and a couple Z’s.  They’ve held up very well.
 

The A’s & C’s are close to Shimno & Diawa, and the E is equal to anything in its price point. The Z’s are good, require more maintenance than the others, and cast a mile.

 

My Shimano and Daiwas are a little smoother, but bang for the buck, 13’s a good brand.

[new2BC4bass]

10 minutes ago, Alex Ball said:

 

    Dumb question, why can't you spool the reels? Don't answer if it's not convenient. Just wondering cuz it's my nightmare. I have tremors. The meticulous stuff is very difficult.

 

    

I'm thinking this a communication problem on my end.  I'm thinking your thinking (confused yet?) I can't put line on my spools.  What I meant was I can't cast all the line off my reel's spool like many here can.  My Gen1 STXL is listed as having a line capacity of 140 yards of 12 pound (mono) line.  I don't know if this takes into account the 1/16-1/8 inch below the bevel that the pamphlet suggests where to fill the spool to.

 

I fill to the bevel.  It was spooled with 40# Sufix Performance Braid which measures .013 inch.  This is the same size as some 12# mono lines.  I was casting a 3/4 oz. spoon on a 7' MHF Daiwa Jupiter (made for Walmart) that I keep in Florida.  I was able to cast a little more than half the line off.  This would be around 75 yards or so (that pesky thing called math...circumference in this case).  Many here can cast all the line off their reel's spool.  I can't even come close. 

 

Sorry to hear about your tremors.  Had a couple health problems of my own lately resulting in poor balance and loss of leg strength.  Physical therapy could most likely cure both, but I have a couple legitimate reasons for not taking it.  Luckily I can still get line through a lure's eye.

[Alex Ball]

38 minutes ago, new2BC4bass said:

I'm thinking this a communication problem on my end.  I'm thinking your thinking (confused yet?) I can't put line on my spools.  What I meant was I can't cast all the line off my reel's spool like many here can.  My Gen1 STXL is listed as having a line capacity of 140 yards of 12 pound (mono) line.  I don't know if this takes into account the 1/16-1/8 inch below the bevel that the pamphlet suggests where to fill the spool to.

 

I fill to the bevel.  It was spooled with 40# Sufix Performance Braid which measures .013 inch.  This is the same size as some 12# mono lines.  I was casting a 3/4 oz. spoon on a 7' MHF Daiwa Jupiter (made for Walmart) that I keep in Florida.  I was able to cast a little more than half the line off.  This would be around 75 yards or so (that pesky thing called math...circumference in this case).  Many here can cast all the line off their reel's spool.  I can't even come close. 

 

Sorry to hear about your tremors.  Had a couple health problems of my own lately resulting in poor balance and loss of leg strength.  Physical therapy could most likely cure both, but I have a couple legitimate reasons for not taking it.  Luckily I can still get line through a lure's eye.

Ohhhh. Gotcha. Me neither. I'm a stick, but I can send it 60+ yards with the right bait and a soft rod. I use 15 lb braid on everything, 20 at most. Calamus Bastion or Yozuri Superline. 6-8 lb mono diameter.

    Thanks. I was wondering if I was the only one not getting those 100 yd casts. Id love to know what size line they use to spool it. If it's above 14lb mono on a size 100, it's likely they spool at about 75 yds. That's a mile, but it's also not 100+ yds. I watch Zaldain, Ike, and Christie videos religiously. I've never once seen any of them spool a reel. For me, it's about accuracy over distance. 

[bulldog1935]

8 hours ago, Alex Ball said:

    Oh BTW, got me a Cetus now. Such a fine reel. Can't believe it is under $75. Thanks for suggesting that. It's my go to UL reel. And it's Gold!

Cetus stands alone in that niche. 

No one else makes a reel that picks up where Alecdo Micron left off,.  Cetus took it to the next level in modern computer design and balancing.  It's choice for under 4-lb mono and PE#0.5 and smaller. 

 

The Cetus above got dressed up with a Daiwa SLP Works double handle and Avail knobs. 

My first one fished 7 hard years in salt XUL.  Landed too many nite-lite fish to count, and seatrout to 23" on 4-lb Kamikaze salt copolymer. 

Tica reels in general are a great buy and built to fish hard - they build a fair portion of Daiwa's reels, and have built offshore reels since 1960. 

[Alex Ball]

56 minutes ago, new2BC4bass said:

 

 

Sorry to hear about your tremors.  Had a couple health problems of my own lately resulting in poor balance and loss of leg strength.  Physical therapy could most likely cure both, but I have a couple legitimate reasons for not taking it.  Luckily I can still get line through a lure's eye.

I was born with brain damage to my frontal left lobe. Not the kind that makes you slow, but it affects my motor skills(tremors) and my emotional response. In person, most people think of me as a robot. Very digital. There's no gray to me only black and white. 

   It's actually a huge advantage to fishing. I don't get mad when things go sideways. I also don't get excited when I get bit. A buddy says I'm the easiest partner he rides with. I feel the emotions, I just don't process them in an outward manner. Makes me a good buddy I guess. 

    I also have a near eidetic memory. Almost perfect recall. I can remember what bait YOU(metaphorically) threw in a certain place 3 years ago. I remember the time and conditions. A robot. LoL.

[Alex Ball]

10 minutes ago, bulldog1935 said:

Cetus stands alone in that niche. 

No one else makes a reel that picks up where Alecdo Micron left off,.  Cetus took it to the next level in modern computer design and balancing. 

 

The Cetus above got dressed up with a Daiwa SLP Works double handle and Avail knobs. 

My first one fished 7 hard years in salt XUL. 

I'd never really spent more than $35 on a pan reel before. Glad I did. The drag is phenomenal. Line management is too. It's a beast. Got the SB800 and it's my A1 pan reel. I catch bluegill for fun, and it handles even the little ones perfectly. 

    What would be a rod you'd suggest for that reel? You've never, ever steered me wrong. I wish I'd asked about 13 sooner. Feel like I finally found what I was looking for in a casting combo. 

[bulldog1935]

That's a niche I don't fish - freshwater UL spinning.  Instead, my rods are 7'6" and 7'9" Japanese rockfish rods rated from 0.5 g to 5 g, 0.6 to 6 g. 

NS Black Hole is a really good Korean rod maker - they target Japan market, and their rod quality is higher than their price level.  The Seoul vendor on ebay only lists their highest-grade UL rods. 

Valleyhill is another rod maker that fits that niche (based in China and targeting Japan market - they also make Whiplash Factory).  They offer Accustream in 5' and 5'6"

(FishingShop.kiwi seems to have the lead on Valleyhill rods in Japan, and note they charge $40 shipping)

13Fishing Defy Silver could be a great choice, also. 

[Alex Ball]

Okay, Day 1 OTW review of the 13 Fishing Concept A/Omen Black HF combo.

     I should say that I honestly had kind of given up on casters. Not for any other reason than they just felt off. Not natural. I have/had several different brands, but mostly KK and Lew's. 

    That being said, I now realize I don't like mag brakes. It has to be dual or a CBS. The TMP by Lew's is great, but it's super specific. Mine is the 5 speed. Crank reel. 

    Review - This combo is absolutely perfect for me. I was extremely impressed with the testing phase, and now it's even more impressive. I threw everything I had in my bag, jigs, TX/CA rig, Spinner baits, Frogs, and, of course, my cranks. 

    Every single bait felt "good". Particularly the Frogs and Cranks. I've never been great at walking baits, but this combo makes Frogging easy. That frog booty was moving like the girls at my band's shows. I do okay on frogs, but now I feel like it can be a primary bait when needed. All walkers really. 

    On cranks, it's just perfect. You feel everything with this rod. Everything. I felt my Flatside move a pebble. No joke. It's soft for a Fast Action, but not limp. Very crisp. 

    Casting is effortless, and even when I backlashed or nested it was minor. 304 casts, 2lashes, 2 nests. All four were on me. Still getting used to the brake. 

    It's almost disturbing how quiet it is with braid. Much less noise than I'm used to. Feels like air. Such a light setup. 

    Only got one in today, but it was decent size and a breeze to reel in. The drag is excellent. Bulldog indeed. It bullied that fish. Had it at maybe 25 percent. Felt good. 

     Distance and accuracy were both above what I'm used to. So was the fatigue factor, meaning there wasn't any. I could've thrown it all night and still felt fresh. Extremely sturdy reel as well. Very rugged.

   I thought I didn't like casters. Turns out I just don't like Kastking's BC reels. I'm a KK fanboy so that says it all. 

   In closing, I give it a 10 so far. I've never scored anything higher than 8.7.  7 is good in my system and anything above 8 is a keeper. A perfect 10. Never thought I'd say that. 

     Time will tell, but 13 just blew me away.

11 minutes ago, bulldog1935 said:

 

13Fishing Defy Silver could be a great choice, also. 

Definitely going to get a Defy silver or maybe the new Zephyr rod from KK. Their rods and spinning reels are choice(KK) but the casters are meh at best. Needed a $200 reel to show me that but still. 

     Thanks so much Bulldog, you were really my first friend on here along with Ranger Jockey. I don't know if this becomes a lifestyle without y'all. I needed a community to belong to. I found it here. Best fishing forum period. Best people too. 

[new2BC4bass]

Yup.  Lot of good people here.  More than willing to offer advice.  More than willing to spend your money for you, too.  ?