NOW that Shimano is distributing G Loomis rods in Australia, I’ve been fortunate to test a few different rods that are relatively new to the G-Loomis line up.
The Pro Green range were primarily designed for saltwater and inshore use for a range of lure styles including soft plastics, poppers and crankbaits. Pro Green rods come in four different power ratings and four different lengths to cover a variety of applications from 6’ 10” up to 7’ 10”.
Over the past three months I’ve been putting the PG823S through its paces. The rod is rated to 8-15lb lines and has a power rating of medium/heavy with a fast taper. The interesting thing about this rod is the unique 6’ 10” length, which on face value might seem neither here nor there, especially as 6’ 6” or 7’ rods are the standard lengths most lure fishermen are probably accustomed to using. The mid length profile was exactly what I was looking for.
The reason I went with this particular stick was for a barra trip. Over the years I have enjoyed flicking plastics for barra in the small creeks in Kakadu. Seven-foot rods in this environment can be a little cumbersome and not as agile in casting, which the situation sometimes requires. Short baitcast rods are preferred as often casts of a few metres are made to snags. In this scenario seven-foot rods can’t be wielded with casting accuracy and I found myself high and dry in the trees far too often, even with underhand casts. Rods in the 6’ 6” class are too short and cast poor distances, meaning long casts to the other side of the river bank are unachievable. For this reason I preferred to persist with a seven-footer for the creeks.
While a reduction of two inches mightn’t sound a great deal in fact it was the perfect length for the job. I found the rod to be beautifully light and sensitive in the hand and short enough to fish in tight quarters. The short butt allows you to fish this rod as a one-handed flick stick more the domain of lighter 2-4kg rods. The light tip can also cast and fish light jigheads with ease and also support heavy heads in the 20g range. It is quite a versatile plastics rod that will work well on most species around the country. I think snapper fishermen in particular would find this rod, especially the 10-17lb version, extremely interesting. The slightly shorter rod will have less impact on wrist fatigue after a full day of jigging heavy heads.
Back home in Sydney the Pro Green has been my favourite on the pelagic fish inhabiting our area, including: bonito, Aussie salmon, mack tuna and spotted mackerel. The crisp nature of the blank allows me to make long casts using metal slugs up to 20gms but the powerful butt section has the capacity to stop rampaging fish trying to empty your spool. The rod loads up into a great working curve with the lock up point around mid rod.
As is typical of G Loomis, the components are Fuji product designed to last in our harsh environments. The rod is finished in a classy gun metal grey colour with green highlights and cork grips.
The Pro Green has a RRP of around $450. While at the high end of the investment scale, this actually represents good value if you’re looking for a rod to cover multiple applications and for a variety of species. This saves you having to buy and carry two rods when one will do the job. Check it out. You won’t be disappointed.
