Just spotted a planned addition to Daiwa's Morethan Branzino range of spinning reels on Japanese tackle site plat.co.jp - the Morethan Branzino 2508SH LBD.
I know what you're thinking, it's the current Morethan Branzino reel with an extra lever bolted on. Well I guess it is really. Yet another tackle innovation from Japan sees the Lever Brake Drag (LBD) form factor added to Morethan Branzino range. It's hard to see this being a popular reel outside of Japan, but I shouldn't knock what I haven't tried.
I've been aware of this type of reel from Daiwa for a few years after seeing some shots in a Japanese catalogue but quite where the origin of this design lies, I don't know. I'm sure your conclusions on the use will be similar to my own - clearly the lever offers more Read the rest of this entry »
48-hours after the Tackle & Guns Show and I'm left with the opinion that perhaps saltwater anglers have done best in terms of new tackle developments this year (maybe carp anglers last year). The sheer volume of new sea fishing gear, from budget to ultra high-end was noticeable and I've been trying to understand, why 2010/2011? First thoughts were towards a trend caused by the economy - but what? I guess sea angling stands out amongst other disciplines because it is perhaps the most accessible area of the sport where you can actually catch food for the table - that certainly seems plausible given the trend in home grown fruit and veg. Maybe all those celebrity chefs 
It's not all that often you discover a 'homegrown' angling product that you really want to get behind, but on discovering TKR's tremendous looking Fishing Ruler I knew I had to get hold of one. Consequently once I'd recieved both the standard TKR Fishing Ruler and the ingenious TKR Extendable Fishing Ruler I was delighted. You may be thinking, "yeah, but it's a measuring stick - I've seen them before", but check out these features for a start: 
A copy of Daiwa's UK 2010 fishing tackle catalogue arrived this morning, much to my delight. For the benefit of those who haven't received one yet I thought I'd walk you through it - starting with 2010 reels.
at the top of the tree, but with the likes of Zaion, Real Four, DIGIGEAR and the QD drag already in the lineup, we're already spoilt. A good example of existing technology filtering down through the range this year is the addition of the excellent High Impact Line Clip (HIP Clip) to smaller fixed spools and away from the exclusivity of the bigger carp reels. For those that don't know, this ingenious line clip on the spool features a braid and mono friendly collar behind the clip so it can be used safely as a distance control without the fear of damaging line. It finds its way from the top-flight BASIAIR onto the replacement for the ever popular TD-R Match & Feeder reels - the new TD-X range. This new addition should go down a storm. 
