割爱...

Decided to sell away my 2nd Ryoga 1016H.

First one will still be kept as a memento...

Posted on a popular local fishing forum.

Here's the link.

This reel has brought me many happy and exciting moments.

Accompanied me to many remote places...

Although I'm very reluctant to sell, it beats keeping it in my storeroom where it can't see another daylight...

Sad.........

Police & Thief, PUB & Angler

Supposed to go Goldie with Shawn and Kyle who is coming in from Johor this morning but woke up to a thunderstorm at 5am.
Cancelled.

Back to sleep but couldn't resist the fishing urge...
Went there at 2pm after dropping Ling at Kico's.
Rong decided to join me.

After some fruitless casting outside, we went deeper into the forest.

Was greeted with a fine fish at the tributary:

4lb Speckled Peacock Bass
Z-man MinnowZ

My second fish on rubber!

It's a must-have in my lure box from now onwards...

After some time of no action, I trekked back out while Rong stayed inside.
Spotted a yellow boat with roof approaching with 5 men onboard.

PUB...
They spotted me...
Too late...

I retreated back into the vegetation and watched them from behind cover.
They berthed their boat and started to alight.

I ran back to Rong and told him to run deeper inside.

We stopped after awhile and I told him to stay still while I listened for movements.

After some time, I heard leaves rustling.
Seems like someone was making effort to advance stealthily.

Soon, 2 men emerged and immediately, I ran full speed with Rong tagging along half-heartedly.
Don't know what Rong was thinking!

Perhaps he did not know how fucked-up those PUB bastards are since he is lucky not to have encountered any of them before.

One of the officers shouted in a kind tone: 'No need to run! No need to run!'

Rong then stopped. Yes, he stopped!
He was naive enough to be taken in by the officer's kindly tone thinking that it will be just a warning, nothing else!

They caught him...
Rong was sacrificed...

Me?
Fat chance of catching me!

I ran deeper into the forest at full speed without looking back.
Could hear someone was chasing me closely from behind.

He was shouting at the top of his lungs: 'Stop! Stop!'

Ignoring his command, I continued bulldozing through the vegetation until I ran out of breath and stopped.

I managed to lose my pursuer...

Took a couple of deep breaths with my ventolin and hid myself behind some thick vegetation.
Switched my phone to silent mode while I squatted down trying to hear movements.

Some time later, true to my prediction, my phone started vibrating.
It's Rong...

He told me that there's a total of 5 of them.
1 of them went after me and turned back after a short while.

He had his details and photograph taken.
One of the officers told him that the fine will be mailed to his registered residence.

I told Rong to watch them from far and call me back after their boat had left.

Meanwhile, I lay low motionless sweating like a pig with countless mosquitoes buzzing around.
Covered myself up with my arm sleeves and buff.

About 20 minutes later, Rong called me and inform me that they had left.
Seems like they gave up coming after me...

I slowly and tactically exited the forest...

Rejoined Rong and scolded him..
WTF was he thinking?!!
Stopping as told??





Anyway, as a first time offender, he will only be slapped with a $50 fine.
For me, let's just say it will be much much more complicated if I get caught again......

MARS Broke Virgin!

Went Roxy this morning, determined to break my LIN10 MARS' virginity.

Fitted it with the RCS SV1000 spool, RCS Eva knobs and Hedgehog Studio's AIR Micro Ceramic Bearings.

Casting performance was simply marvellous...
Line was flowing out fast and smooth with a 16 gram minnow with brake set at only the 2nd notch.

Thumb control feels different and easier thanks to the MARS' smaller thumb-bar which allows more contact with the spool.

Was casting close to the adjacent banks when I felt a fish at the end of my line.

Striked and fought the fish for awhile.
Landed successfully:

3lb Speckled Peacock Bass
Lure: Duel Hardcore Lipless Minnow 120F

After the fish was landed, I played around with a variety of lures ranging from 14 grams to 28 grams.

The MARS felt good in my palm...
Together with the SV1000 spool, it is able to cast a wide range of lures effortlessly.


Was trying a soft lure on a 1/2 ounce jighead when another fish came:

My first catch on rubber!

The bite felt very different from hard-bodied lures as the line is often slack.

Happy...

And this is how my MARS lost it's virginity...

##########################################

Before going home, I went to meet Shawn to collect a brand new Megabass FX68L.

Helped Shawn to sell it off to another friend of mine.

Chatted for some time at his work place.

Found out that he's stuck with a LIN10 C due to a certain 'not steady buyer' backing out on a deal.

Decided to find a buyer to help him out of his predicament.

After I went home, I discovered this: 

Even with many perforations, the FX68's spool weighs a full 2 grams heavier than my SV1000!

What's even more shocking is that it even weighs more than a stock Ryoga 1016H's stock RCS 1016 spool (14.5 gram).

But at least the good thing is it's lighter and thinner inductor.

A signature of a long casting spool...

Megabass LIN10 MARS

Went crazy and bought it yesterday...
Serial numbered #250.

The LIN Series baitcasting round profile reels from Megabass are developed based on Daiwa's Ryoga 1016 and as such, they share similar shape and weight.

Left: Daiwa Ryoga 1016H
Rght: Megabass LIN10 MARS

Even so, Megabass's Yuki Ito took things to a whole new level with his MARS...

Holding it in my palm, it somehow feels slightly smaller compared to the Ryoga.
Might be MARS's improved ergonomics.
Might be my mind playing tricks?

Original spool from the MARS is very similar to the stock Ryoga's RCS1016 spool.
They even weigh the same at 14.5 grams based on readings from my digital scale.

But when compared to my RCS SV1000, that's where the difference shows.

Left: Lin 10 Mars original spool
Right: RCS SV1000 spool

Just take a look at the above photo.

MAR's inductor is way thicker (naturally heavier as well) than the SV1000's.
This translates to a slower start up inertia.

In addition, the SV1000 weighs a full gram lighter.
The difference in weight gets much wider once both are fully spooled with braided line since the SV1000 is a performance shallow spool which can only hold almost half of MARS's line capacity.

When it comes to baitcasting spools, every gram makes a hell lot of difference in it's accelerating rotation speed.
In a trained and experienced casting hand, a faster start up speed will produce significantly farther casting distance with today's super lines.

No prize for guessing which spool I'll use for MARS.

I decided to retain it's cork paddle knobs for a while.
Will swap it out with my RCS Eva knobs eventually.
The RCS provides better grip when wet but it's heavier weight is a trade-off.


Enough of the boring technical stuff...
Let's see how the real thing looks like:

Megabass LIN10 MARS

Designed by the man, Yuki Ito himself

90mm Carbon crank comes stock along with twin bearings cork paddle knobs.
One thing to note is that it's crank nut is a size smaller than Ryoga's.

Every single piece of LIN10 MARS has it's own unique serial number.
Mine is serial numbered #250.

Sideplate is a major head turner!

Top view

Bottom view

The entire reel is peppered with holes on it's main frame for further weight reduction as well as to enhance it's cosmetic appeal.
Even the reel's bottom is not spared.


When mounted on my G.Loomis NRX, the MARS's stock knobs compliments my rod's cork handle very well indeed:

G.Loomis NRX 804C JWR
Megabass LIN10 MARS

While snapping these photos last night, I finally realised why Megabass's reels cost so much apart from it's racy cosmetic appeal.

Holding the reel just by itself, I can feel that it weighs slightly lighter compared to my Ryoga 1016H.
Some improvements were made to the guts as the MARS's cranking feels 'tight'!
Even a brand new Ryoga 1016H will have at least a little bit of freeplay.

Nothing else.



However, when mounted on a rod and palmed, something else hits me.

Hard!


The feeling is totally different from Ryoga!
Even though both reels are based on the same platform with almost the same outer dimension.
It's hard to explain and I swear that my mind is not playing tricks on me.

Yuki Ito had somehow worked his dark magic on his LIN series.

It just..... feels...... right!


A friend who owns several Megabass reels had told me once before that there is something about the LINs that makes them feel very different from it's Daiwa counterpart.
'Higher rigidity with increased finesse factor' was what he was trying to convince me.

I dismissed his statement as total bullshit.


I was wrong...

But who can blame me when there is absolutely no logic that 2 objects very similar in dimensions can feel so differently in the same pair of hands?

Now, whoever is reading this post (if any) might argue that my above opinions are biased towards the newly acquired MARS.

People who know me personally witnessed that I love my Ryoga 1016H very much and have been using it faithfully for years.

Only anglers who own both Ryoga 1016 and LIN can attest to my statements.

Still doubting?
Go buy one and fish it.





Be enlightened.
Just as I did last evening...

I Almost Killed One!

Went Spot Goldie this morning.
It's been quite some time I came here.

Was casting topwater pencils and trying out soft bodied lures on jigheads for the entire session.

After a short while, an extremely acrobatic temensis got hooked.

It leaped above the water for 5 times!
None of which were able to throw off my solid hookset.

Lure: Evergreen Showerblows Shorty

2lb Cichla Temensis

I almost killed this fish!
Exhausted it too much and it was still stunned after I disengaged my boga.




Luckily, it swam slowly away after a few gentle knocks to it's head...

Next, I proceeded deeper into the forest to another hole and lost 2 fishes there.

First one didn't manage to connect with my topwater pencil.
Second one shook itself loose in the middle of the fight.

No action at all on the 3" rubber Z-man MinnowZ on 1/2 ounce jighead.

Days ago, I received news that some anglers' cars were trapped inside the recently very known spot beside BKE expressway.

The easy way to reach that spot is to park one's vehicle at a rear gate of an SAF camp, right beside the expressway.

While leaving for home, I decided to make a detour there to check out the situation.

The authorities have placed these yellow/black solid cement barriers to prevent anglers from parking their cars there.

If park beside the barrier, offence will be under jurisdiction of the Expressway Maintenance Service which will give them the right to tow away said car and slap the owner with a fine plus demerit points for parking on road shoulder. 

Since I don't frequent this spot, not a big loss to me.

Anyway, this spot has been spoiled by those big mouthed kids who brought everyone they know there.

There's still another venue to park if I decide to go there one day...

There's still another more productive hole to fish there if I decide to go there one day...

sssshhhhhhh..........

Deepavali Fishing

It's been awhile since my last visit to Mozzy.

Went there at first light this morning.

Weather is good.
Water is still murky due to some excavation works further upstream.

A few hours later, the Thais came and started their usual antics.

At least they have the decency not to lay their nets within my casting range.

2 strikes but no hookups...

None landed today.

Come to think of it, it's been a long time since I landed any snakeheads here...

Good thing is, I've discovered a more effective way to work my Surface Cruiser here.

Even so, successful hookup or not is another thing...

Sneak Peek?

Megabass LIN10 MARS...

Very high likelihood to be the successor for my Ryoga 1016H.
Not a sure thing but there is this possibility that I might go crazy one day and go buy it.

A premium limited reel from Megabass Japan.
Developed based on the Ryoga platform.

Here are it's specs:

■ Bearings: 12BB, 1RB
■ Gear Ratio: 5.5:1
■ Line / Handle Turn: 58cm
■ Line Cap: 14lb./114m, 16lb./100m
■ Weight: 242g
■ Max Drag: 6.0kg


Compared to my Ryoga 1016H, it has a more powerful gear but the trade-off for such power is a slower speed per crank turn (9cm lesser).
A kilogram more drag which I suspected is due to a larger diameter main gear which also serves as the drag housing.
13 grams lighter in overall weight compared to the Ryoga 1016H.

This stunning reel was only released in June this year.
Just about the time when I have been contemplating to replace my reel.

Not that the Ryoga is not good.
I have been using it for quite awhile now, natural to seek something better.

And it's very rare that I will set my eyes on new reel or rod.

There was once when my previous Ryoga 1016H gave up on me.
I went and purchased a new reel.
A new Ryoga 1016H. Again.

Just feel that it's time for a change but nothing seems suitable as I prefer round profile reels.
Shitmano is out of the question.

Until I met this red reel by Megabass...
It's basically a super-tuned Ryoga 1016 with weight reduction, cosmetic enhancement and god knows what other tweaks inside.

Every single piece has it's own unique serial number in it's limited run.

Hefty 4 digits price tag...

Coincidentally, the LIN10 MARS is only produced in right hand crank models.

Most anglers out there are right handed, using left hand crank baitcasting reels.
I'm one of those rare oddballs out there who has a right master-hand but using a right hand crank reel.

This factor put it out of the window for 95% of baitcasting reel anglers out there.

As for me, it's a match made in heaven...

Megabass's founder Mr Yuki Ito in action with the LIN10 MARS.

The fact that the LIN10 MARS is based on the Ryoga 1016's platform and is only exclusively available for right-handed cranking baitcasting anglers means that I fit the bill perfectly.

Seems like Mr Yuki Ito tailored the LIN10 MARS for yours truly...




Will I answer the call?

But there are other priorities in my life.

In time to come, we shall see...