Dan5
12-02-2010, 09:04 AM
I recently bought two Kistler Helium LTA M/H 6'3'' 12-20lb 1/4-3/4 oz baitcaster's and have been waiting to give them a run on the barra up here.(thanks for the heads up on where to get them at the right price Nagg};D
So for the past 2 days i've been giving them a good workout on some barra up to 94cm down the Daly river....As a comparison i was swaping between my Gloomis Crankbait CBR756 M/HVY 12-25lb.....The same reel was used on both rods a Daiwa 100hsta st loaded with 30lb fins with a schnider 55lb leader tied with an albright knot.
Side by side the Kistler feels about 25% lighter and has a better balance than the loomis......The kistler has a much finer tip section especially the last 400-500mm which really helps the rod in the casting department....When you load up for a cast with say a 6'' barrabait on i reckon that it's would only be about 2/3rds the actual effort to cast it the same distance as the loomis.
When it loads up through the cast it just feels more balanced and effortless.
Fighting fish..........With a reasonable barra on the Loomis does feel marginally better....it feels a bit more even through the blank and a bit more forgiving when the fish is in close and goes for those boatside lunges , the Kistler feels a bit ridged and a bit unforgiving meaning that you need to be a bit quicker to react when the fish is in close so you don't pull the hooks,
The lure/strike feedback through both rods is very good but with the Kistler having no foregrip lets you put your finger tip right on the blank while palming the reel.....this makes it super sensitive especially when fishing sp's it really makes a huge difference feeling slight hit's and tap's letting you pause...dropback......inhale.....strike...
Build quality on the Kistler wins hands down over the loomis.....Both have blank through reelseats but thats where the similarity stops......I don't know why loomis use such crap hardware on even their higher end gear the guides and binding on the loomis are pretty much crap.....the guides arn't even alconite at least...the binding is ok and the cork handle is hard and the do break down fairly quickly.
On the other hand the Kistler has Sic's really good binding and a really different hook/lure keeper which is so much easier to use than any other i've used......the reelseat is fuji and the combination cork/eva type stuff handle is mega comfortable to use all day the general overall build quality is much better than the loomis.The Kistler even came with a rod cover that zip's up with 2 zips so you can leave your reel on the rod if you want to, even the rod bag is of exellent quality and proberbly worth about $30 but given free with the rod.Also don't be put off by the smallish guide size as the wind on albright leader knot with 55lb mono didn't even look like being an issue after 2 days solid casting.
Over all i'm really impressed with the Kistler.....i still like Loomis gear but i'd rather use the Helium now over the Crankbait for sure......Hopefully someone might start stocking them in Aust so we can have another highend quality rod to choose from.;D ;D Well there ya go thats my opinon....
Cheers Dan.
So for the past 2 days i've been giving them a good workout on some barra up to 94cm down the Daly river....As a comparison i was swaping between my Gloomis Crankbait CBR756 M/HVY 12-25lb.....The same reel was used on both rods a Daiwa 100hsta st loaded with 30lb fins with a schnider 55lb leader tied with an albright knot.
Side by side the Kistler feels about 25% lighter and has a better balance than the loomis......The kistler has a much finer tip section especially the last 400-500mm which really helps the rod in the casting department....When you load up for a cast with say a 6'' barrabait on i reckon that it's would only be about 2/3rds the actual effort to cast it the same distance as the loomis.
When it loads up through the cast it just feels more balanced and effortless.
Fighting fish..........With a reasonable barra on the Loomis does feel marginally better....it feels a bit more even through the blank and a bit more forgiving when the fish is in close and goes for those boatside lunges , the Kistler feels a bit ridged and a bit unforgiving meaning that you need to be a bit quicker to react when the fish is in close so you don't pull the hooks,
The lure/strike feedback through both rods is very good but with the Kistler having no foregrip lets you put your finger tip right on the blank while palming the reel.....this makes it super sensitive especially when fishing sp's it really makes a huge difference feeling slight hit's and tap's letting you pause...dropback......inhale.....strike...
Build quality on the Kistler wins hands down over the loomis.....Both have blank through reelseats but thats where the similarity stops......I don't know why loomis use such crap hardware on even their higher end gear the guides and binding on the loomis are pretty much crap.....the guides arn't even alconite at least...the binding is ok and the cork handle is hard and the do break down fairly quickly.
On the other hand the Kistler has Sic's really good binding and a really different hook/lure keeper which is so much easier to use than any other i've used......the reelseat is fuji and the combination cork/eva type stuff handle is mega comfortable to use all day the general overall build quality is much better than the loomis.The Kistler even came with a rod cover that zip's up with 2 zips so you can leave your reel on the rod if you want to, even the rod bag is of exellent quality and proberbly worth about $30 but given free with the rod.Also don't be put off by the smallish guide size as the wind on albright leader knot with 55lb mono didn't even look like being an issue after 2 days solid casting.
Over all i'm really impressed with the Kistler.....i still like Loomis gear but i'd rather use the Helium now over the Crankbait for sure......Hopefully someone might start stocking them in Aust so we can have another highend quality rod to choose from.;D ;D Well there ya go thats my opinon....
Cheers Dan.