GraphiteLeader Bosco GLBS 602ML

[Raul]

Well, it ain 't a 350 bones GLX or Leyend Elite, yup it 's manufactured in China, which doesn 't necessarily mean it 's cheaply made, on the contrary, it 's quality made with good quality components.

Impressions:

6 ' 2 Piece spinning split handle, foam grips, ML power, Fast action ( got any idea how much it cost to have a 1 piece rod shipped from Japan to your door ? I do and ---->   )

The rod has two different finishes, the first half of the rod is dark blue mattè finish, the upper half is shiny black with spiral grooving all the way to the tip, it feels like a snake skin when you slide your finger from the tip to the bottom. So it looks groovy.  8-)

Fuji reel seat

Fuji guides

Foam split grip design, the foam is light, dense and smoothly finished.

Gold and silver accents and a nicely finished rear end cap.

Friction joints.

Wanna see these details ? CLICK HERE

So I 've fished with it a couple of times and I 'm very much pleased with the acquisition. For staters the rod comes with a rod wrap, it 's not made from silk, but none of my GLoomis rods regardles of the price has come with a rod wrap  :-/. The rod is extremely light and slightly tip heavy problem that gets solved immediately when you mount a reel on it. The friction joints work well and I seriously doubt that they can come appart easily on a cast. Being ML it 's noodly but not that noodly.

Paired to my Daiwa Revros 2004 and spooled with 6 lb test Trilene XT it makes a wonderful finesse setup. The road loads very nicely with baits 1/16 up to 3/16 oz baits and even though it 's rated for up to 3/8 oz I feel that tying a 1/4 - 3/8 oz bait is pushing the limits of the rod. It casts extremely well light offerings, I tied an Ecogear grass minnow weighted with a BB size split shot sinker and the rod could cast it with no effort and good distance, 1/16 oz shakey head with a 4 inch finesse grub ---> no problem !, sinkerless smallie beaver ---> no problem either !, small crankbaits ( like Rapala Shad Rap size 5, Megabass Griffon MRX and SRX, C 'ultiva Bug Eye Bait n 'such ) cast like a bullet so did BlueFox #1 & 2 in-line spinners and Stanley Wedge 1/8 oz spinnerbaits.

Now here comes the big questions:

So how sensitive the rod is ? let me tell you, it 's a 2 piece rod and I 'm surprised that a 2 piece rod can be that sensitive, better sensitivity than my GLoomis GL2s.

And what about power ? guranteed, if you are used to fish with pool cues the rod will feel pretty sissy and if used to cross their eyes hooksets you 'll break the rod, if that 's your fishing style then it 's not for you, you can find more power in the trigger models ( baitcast ) than you will in the spinning models, ML is the highest power rating you can get.

This rod is meant for finesse, razor sharp hooks and finesse rigging techniques. If you fish for panfish and apply panfishing techniques to bass fishing you have a winner with this rod.

Heck, it 's as fun as fishing with my CR721 but with spinning gear.  

Price: 13,000 yens

Shipping cost by EMS: 3,600 yens for 2 rods.

Drawbacks:

NO WARRANTY other than what Plat can offer you ( no problem there )

Shipping cost is the same for 2 rods than for 1

You have to e-mail plat BEFORE you order to check if it 's in stock, I had to wait since November in order to get my rod.

BaitMonkey approved rod !  

[bpm2000]

love my 692mh - probably will add a spinning rig in the future.

[The_Natural]

Sweet!  That took some huevos to order a Japanese stick.   Then again, I guess you are used to not having manufacturers back you there in mexico.  Anyway; my Powells are made in China, and they seem very well put together.  They must be crackin' the whip over there...

[Raul]

That took some huevos to order a Japanese stick.

The same huevos it took to purchase my first Lightning Rod back then during the age of the dinosaurs or to purchase my first GLoomis.  

Then again, I guess you are used to not having manufacturers back you there in Mexico.

That has something to do with it, for years before some of the manufacturers had authorized dealers you had to do what you had to do in order to get a good rod, in many brands you are still on your own.

Anyway; my Powells are made in China, and they seem very well put together.

I don 't think that a product manufactured by a reputable company has to be bad if it 's not made in X or Y country, even if Z country where the product is being made is known for producing lots of cheap bad quality stuff, not many years ago anything that said "made in Japan" or "made in Korea" was seen just like many see now "made in China". The workers manufacture the product with what the company gives them to do so, if the company supplies cheap components then that 's what you 'll get, a cheap product.