b'Both 14ft rodsI then swapped rods and tried the Kotare Cannon; felt good tothis light rod has a whippy cast with, they havetip and I wondered how it would cast.I baited this hook stiff blanks and offerwith tuatua, to see if either sensitive tips fora snapper or trevally would take the offering.Casting feeling subtle bites.out and I was past 90m and you felt you could really hold CASTING & FISHING TEST this big 14ft rod all day, its so We needed to put both rodslight.The shellfish bait was to the test in the field, sosuddenly hit hard, and weight we took them on a weekendcame on instantly as the fishing off the North Kaipara. recurve hook hit home, this The snapper had been runningfish fought differently with no in late spring, so I was hopinghead shakes as snapper give.we would land some good fishI was sure it was a trevally, on the new rods. not long and I was correct as I tried the CD XD Surf Prothe trev put up a stubborn first up with a 5oz sinker andfight through the waves and trevally for bait. The reel waswashed up onto the beach at an Okuma Surf 8000 with amy feet.large spool and 4.7:1 retrieve,Both 14ft rods felt good it looked a good match for theto cast with, they have stiff rod.I put my cast cannon onblanks and offer sensitive the rod and walked throughtips for feeling subtle bites.the first couple of waves andThe CD XD Surf offers a liked the butt weave/grips,larger cast weight range and The new CD XD Surf Pro looksthe red and black rod felt solidis slightly more expensive, good in red and black, matchedin hand. but both rods would be on with the Okuma Surf 8000. It offers a stiff blank, whichthe list of serious or more I prefer in my surfcastersexperienced surfcasters and the first cast was goodlooking for a new 14ft A nice double of solid fishsailing out past 90m.I heldrod.The surf rod market is was landed when testing thethe rod and waited eagerly forgetting seriously competitive new surfcasters. that first bite, as the sun wasas better rods such as these just rising over the easternhit the Godzone market, and side of the mighty Kaipara. it is only a good thing for us About four minutes later and Ikeen surfcasters and long received the tell tale tug tugmay it continue. FIGZtug of a snapper.I waited for the weight to come on, but nothing happened.I gave it a couple more minutes thenKey Specswound in to check the bait, it was well munched and the fishCD XD SURF PROhad missed the recurve hook. +Length:4.2m(14ft)Rebaiting and casting again,+Pieces: 3-piece blankthis time the cast was out+CastRating:100-250gmpast 100m.It felt good and I+RRP:$599.99soon hooked and landed a fat pannie snapper, the tip wasOKUMA KOTARE CANNON sensitive for feeling the bites. +Length:4.2m(14ft)I passed the rod to mate Josh+Pieces: 3-piece blankHyland who was along for the+CastRating:90-225gm+RRP:$499.99day and he was going to fish with it for a while. /FISHINGINGODZONE87'