New rod - Generation Black?

[MY92SURF]

Hi Guys,

Of late, I've fallen in love with the Generation Black 2 piece rods.... they fit the budget well, and they're a great rod.

Anyway I'm looking to add another one to the stable of rods after having a great month at work, and getting a big commission. Time to treat myself.

I can't decide between the following-

Pinster II
Itchy Twitchy II
Two Drunk Monkeys

It's primarily going to be used for walking the banks of Raby Bay flicking lures around pontoons and so on. As well as possibly out on hire boats or a kayak if I decide to go that way later in the year.

It'll also be my go-to rod for a quick afternoon session down the canals or even before work, so it kinda needs to be a bit of a do everything type of rod really.

I currently already have the following rods & reels-

Wicked Weasel with a Stradic 2500 & 10lb Bite Motion PowerPro on it
Shimano Raider Mexican Fire 7'6" 2-4kg with a Symetre 1000 and spooled with 3lb Sniper fluro
Samaki Zing 6'10" 4-8lb with a Daiwa Advantage 1500 with 6lb Super PE braid on it.

So... I'm really torn between the Pinster or the Itchy Twitchy. The other thing is reels.

I'm thinking of either a Ballistic or a Caldia 14 in a 2000 size for either one, and spooling it with braid.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Advice? Go...

[purple5ive]

I have both the wicked weasel and a itchy twitchy.
I pick the itchy twitchy almost everytime I'm out fishing.
It's a great rod and I have landed salmon to 50cm, flathead to 60cm, pinkies and bream to 40cm. So it's no slouch. I have a luvias 2004 on it and that's whats landed all this fish too. So you can easily use a 2004 o a 2000. .

In saying that you have a 2-4kg rod that covers the same specs as the itchy twitchy so maybe the drunken
monkey might be the go.

Another alternative is to get one of the gen black travel version and leave in the car.
Cheers

[mazman]

I have an itchy twitchy and it is probably my most used rod. I use it for bream, trout, salmon (in ppb), pinkies, flathead and just about everything in between. Awesome rod and has some real balls to it I have landed pinkies to 50cm on it and a friend of mine even got a 3 foot gummy shark up on his.
Drunk monkeys will be too light for near structure and i found the pinster to be too close to the WW to warrant having it as a separate rod

[monstaf1sh]

I had the two drunknmonkies teamed up with a caldia 2000. Was an awesome combo, balanced well and don't underestimate the 1-2kg rating it has plenty of balls.

[FTP]

Go the 2 Drunk monkies option, they are a great light rod. Definitely check out the travel rods as well, I have the lunkerhunter baitcast travel rod and use it as my go-to kayak rod.

[Sloth]

I have a pinster II with a caldia 2506H. It's my structure rod so used on, around and under wharves. It's strengths are its short and it has plenty of backbone to pull fish from structure quickly as well as make accurate short casts and pitches to structure.

It's not a great rod for walking banks and flicking longer casts. ... I always garb my 7' 1-3kg rod for that. If you're not fishing heavy structure like docks and wharves I'd be looking to the DM or IT

[MY92SURF]

I went and had a look at a few of the rods last night. I was able to have a look at a Pinster II, a Drunk Money, and also had a feel of a few of the Tournament Bream specials as well...

Anyone here used any of the Tournament Specialist Bream rods?

I was thinking that for the money, it could be an option to go up to something like the next level rod.

The one I was thinking was the TNSB 672ULFSOH 6'7" 2-4lb, cast weight between .5g and 3.5g.

At the same time, I was looking at reels and have crossed off the Ballistic, and the Caldia SHA off as they're too fast retrieve rate. I like the Freams 2015, loved the Luvius, and absolutely loved the Certate. Certate is probably out of the budget, and I don't know if putting a Freams on it is worthy of the next level rod like that.

[Sloth]

There's a tnsb in the classifieds at the moment.

Go the luvias too

[MY92SURF]

It looks like that may be sold pending payment.

The Certate is $469, Luvias is $449.... at that pricing the $20 is negligable to go up to the Certate.

The other one that price wise and spec wise was really nice was the Caldia.

It's all too confusing....

[Sloth]

Buy a JDM luvias from Japan 260 - 280 and at your door in 3 to 4 days. I got mine from digitaka but there are other places.

The gen blacks are a good rod for the price - I waa thinking of getting another but ended up picking up a second hand tnsb instead (haven't collected it yet as I'm on Hols at the moment so can't give you direct experience on that rod). The luvias I love though - will be getting another one soon. I run the 2004h though as a quicker retrieve rate suits my fishing better

[Pies1010]

I've got 2 TNSB (6'7 and 7') and I just love them so much I'm considering a third (7' 6-10lb). They are the perfect bream rods and are fine for using plastics, hards and surface lures. They're paired up with 2004 certate and Luvias.

[MY92SURF]

I dunno about overseas purchase stuff, I'm a little gunshy on it after being bitten previously. I'm a bit oldskool like that where I prefer to walk out of a shop with it, plus it supports the local tackle stores too which I'm big on.

I really like the Gen Black's and for the money I can't think of anything that's as nice. Even the Samaki isn't as nice.

It'll probably come down to TNSB 672 or an Itchy Twitchy II with either a Caldia or a Certate.

[MY92SURF]

Decision has been made... Two Drunk Monkeys it is...

Paired up with a Sol 2004. I figured it's the best of both worlds... they're a tough reel, not quite Certate pricing, but a better reel than an Aegis or Caldia. Plus they look cool too.

Question is... 3lb fluro straight through, or should I spool it with braid?

[BloodWorm]

Braid

[monstaf1sh]

+1