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Posted 11th July 2022

Daiwa Cast’Izm Surfcasting Rod Review - Sam Morrison

Daiwa Cast’Izm Surfcasting Rod Review - Sam Morrison
Daiwa Cast’Izm Surfcasting Rod Review - Sam Morrison

When the team at Daiwa mentioned they were bringing a new surf rod to the market here in New Zealand naturally I was interested. When I saw the spec’s on the Cast’IZM and that it was a continental style rod that interest turned into excitement!

Surf anglers that have made the transition to continental style rods will understand why I was itching to get this new rod out into the surf and onto some fish, they are just so enjoyable to fish with.

Typically I’m hitting sandy surf beaches and pretty clean shelving gravel beaches on both coasts of the North Island and find these newer styles of rods like the Cast’IZM to offer what I’m looking for in a surf rod and to be perfect in these locations. Many hours are spent in wetsuits wading out into the surf with good mates who are equally passionate about sending a bait (out the back) and into the nice deep water known to hold some good fish. 

Often when in chest-deep water your cast is compromised but with the blank design on this rod, a quick flick will load the rod getting a good distance and will send that bait flying.

Gone are the days of fishing with broomsticks to achieve some distance from the beach!

The first thing that caught my attention on the Cast’IZM was the build quality. Unpacking it from its protective bag the choice of Fuji reel seat used instantly caught my eye, having never seen this type of sleek design reel seat offered on a surf rod before it stood out and complimented the Fuji ‘K’ style guide train nicely. 

The protective bag the rod comes with is going to be handy if you don’t have dedicated rod storage like ski racks on your vehicle. You are going to want to protect your investment and the individual compartments in the bag prevent the sections of the rod from rubbing/impacting on each other during transport or storage.

Assembling the rod is aided by alignment ‘dots’ on each section of the rod with each joint fitting together perfectly with no adjustment required to achieve a nice solid fit up.

I’ve paired the Cast’IZM up with the Crosscast Surf 45 SCW reel. Ideally, you are going to want to have a long cast reel on this rod to help maximise the distance and the Crosscast 45 Surf has a nice spool shape and the slow cross wrap lays the line perfectly for a nice, clean release on the cast. For mainline I’m using the Shorecast in 7.2kg (16lb) and the Arrache Tapered Shock Leader to handle the stresses of both casting and landing fish.

 

95% of the time I’m using a pulley rig when surfcasting. This streamlined rig design helps increase your casting distance but also better flexibility with trace configurations, quicker bait changes, and makes releasing fish easier.

I was keen to see what this ‘Hybrid’ tip was all about and initially, I thought I would not like the softer action it seemed to have. But only a few casts in I saw how the first 500mm of the rod tip folded away nicely allowing the blank to ‘lock’ up and the power to come through on the cast. It's impressive how much power can be developed from such a small diameter rod blank! The rod recovers well allowing your line to cleanly travel through the guides and it's so satisfying to see your bait sail off into the distance! The softer action is the tip comes into its own when hooked up on a fish, it nicely absorbs the fish’s runs and makes the rod enjoyable to fish with.

 

Many surf rods in the past might achieve good distances but were terrible with a fish on, the design of this rod seems to find a perfect balance between power and fish-ability. The tip section offers excellent bite detection. Fish in the surf can be shy at times and not all hookups result in a big bend over and line peeling off! This sensitivity makes this rod a great all-rounder and even the most subtle of bites like those experienced with gurnard at times will be noticeable and result in greater chances of landing more fish.

Another advantage of the Hybrid tip section became apparent once I got fish into the surf zone. Nothing hurts more than losing a fish at your feet and during this critical time, it's easy to put just a little too much pressure on fish as you deal with waves, surges, and that last-ditch run from strong fish. The softer action helps keep even pressure on your fish, allowing you to back off your drag and get a look at how well your fish is hooked before sliding it up the beach on a well-timed wave. 

 

I’ve been stoked with the performance of the Cast’IZM and would recommend anglers who are looking for a high-end performance surf rod to check out the new offering from Daiwa. If the striking burnt orange metallic paint finish and the impeccable build quality doesn’t have you hooked straight away the performance in casting and when hooked up will.

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