Zed session with new rods

[Martopp]

hi guys, bought myself 3 new rods today, 2.5lb t.c shimano vengance rods , softish through action, and so far they seem pretty good. Due to the action of these rods i think now if i lose fish it will be down to poor hook hold and not bumped off due to stiffness of rod. Anyway back to the trip, got there in daylight 3 rods baited and cast out nearside , middle and far side. 10 minutes in first fish a pike about 4lbs, hour passes its now dark nearside alarm is off strike into a fish , zander about 4lb , 30 mins later farside alarm is off , again strike and i am in, another zed, 3lb this time, fished for another 3 hours couple of small bites (eels, judging by the state of the baits ) no more fish.
First impressions of the new rods they seem ok, the softer action is certainly noticable when playing the zeds, however if i hook into a good pike i think it will beat me up a bit at the start of the fight, will worry about that when the time comes,lol

[suffolkzander]

well done, some action on their first outing, looks like a good omen for plenty of bigguns to come, what reels do you match them with? I use the Fox zandermaster (which some dont like, but i do) and i cant get comfortable with a proper baitrunner as they are jus too big IMO, so i use the shimano Aero GTM 4500 which seem to balance them off...but that setup is not heavy enuff to activate my fox predator back alarms...doh !!

I think it takes a while / bit of trial and error to get all the parts to feel right, then you have confidence and can fish better..

And you softer rods will also be better if you use braid??

Tight lines

[Martopp]

I use shimano 6000 baitrunners little bit heavey but will double up as pike reels, i have 5 of the fox stratos 7000 baitrunners but the handle retaining nut keeps breaking, been through 9 of them in 18 months

[Martopp]

i use front alarms with very light bobbins when zedding , i find it alot more sensitive than rear alarms