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(Monday-Friday). You are not billed until we actually send you your final invoice.
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(Within the USA we ship via UPS ground. International,
and oversize/weight items will be billed for
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without you having had a chance to review the
invoice).
Ahi Assassin
- Dedicated Jigging Rods from CharkBait
We're proud to
introduce you to Ahi Assassin Jigging Rods. I'll say out front, I am a
Calstar and Seeker sort of guy, I prefer USA made rods, no question
about that bias. It took a lot to get me to accept that a quality
rod could come from overseas. But, I'm also a realist, and when it comes to
jigging quite honestly the USA firms were slow to produce a high
quality piece that fit the new technology of Spectra lines and
 deep
drop lures, in my estimation. That category of rod does indeed
demand some different action than we use for bait or lure fishing.
As a result, we took off the blinders and did some homework, talked
to folks both in the USA and clients from other countries. I did
some traveling, too. As a consequence of jumping on the learning
curve we were introduced to some folks that offered a fresh approach
to jigging synthesizing technology with technique. We are now working with a New Zealand owned firm
which has their own plant in
China. They are the producers of our Ahi Assassin jigging rods. The same firm
produces high end rods for the Australian and New Zealand market,
and the feedback we've received about them has been very positive, our
confidence high in this new source of quality rod building. They do
not make inexpensive rods, understand that in the Australian market
it's not at all uncommon to buy a rod for $1K. High end has a
market, and junk is not accepted well. The firm we are tied to does
not make cheap Chinese rods, they are not made to hit a price point,
they don't build the type
of rod that many reel companies have brought to market here. They
build world class rods, and we are indeed fortunate to have
made contact with the owners of this firm to bring us the best
dedicated jigging rods on the market. Big statement, but once you
feel the rods you'll understand that it's not an idle boast.
Conventional Guides (overhead) |
Spinning Series |
A bit of background, several
years ago a few fellows from New Zealand set up a manufacturing
facility in an economic development zone in China, nothing unusual
about that, several large firms have done the same, including
Mustad, Penn, ZeeBaas, Shimano... But, two of the partners live
there and run the factory. They know what they are doing, also they
well know our local West Coast rods. I spent a long time with one of
'em going over the history of the old Sabre firm, Calstar, Truline...
They know our history well, and know the actions we've grown up
using. They build their rods for their own market, but have the
ability to produce to our specs, too. They are a much more expensive
firm to do business with than the more typical Chinese producer of
rods. Their technology is better, too. I've been to their plant twice now, and it's impressive, more impressive than anything I've
seen here to date. Their plant is located well off the beaten path,
simply because they did not want others to have easy access to
knowledge about what they were doing and their techniques.
Let me provide some background
on the Ahi Assassin rods, all the rods we offer are made from Carbon
and Fiberglass, but unlike Seeker and Calstar's design, these rods
use both carbon and 'glass all the way through the rod's length, but
the amount of carbon at the tip is less than the butt. The carbon is
reduced consistently from butt to tip, and the glass increases
consistently from butt to tip. The Ahi Assassin rod blanks do not
stop laying carbon fibre on at a certain point, so there is no
strength concentration on the blanks, consistency of material and
thereby consistency of action is the goal and it's achieved! The
weight of our blanks is very light and the action of our jigging
rods is exceptional, the bend is parabolic to help provide your jigs
the very best action and to help with the additional stress caused
by fishing the newer Spectra and braid lines which have no stretch.
The rods action helps in taming a larger grade fish too since
there's always pressure on the fish, they don't get a second wind.
 To
finish these rods, we chose state of the art components from ALPS.
The guides are made to deal with Spectra for the life of the rod's
use, and the action of the rod will help maintain pressure on a fish
instead of creating a break-off from too stiff an action and too
little stretch of the super line. The new rods work with you, they
work with the jig, and they help you work a fish! All the rods in
this series are
 6
1/2 feet in length. That's a mid-ground position, some folks
preferring a 6 footer for jigging, some liking the flexibility of a
7 footer. At 6 1/2 feet, we can cover both ends well and if you
chose to use the rod for fishing bait, so be it, you can cast well
and deal well a larger fish given the rod's superb action. The
guides selected will deal well with Spectra lines, and in the case
of the spinning rod, we reverse the largest guide to help prevent
wind knots.
Please click on the images,
you'll have a larger view of the rods and can check detail more
closely. The wrap is our distinctive CharkBait red, with silver and
black trim. The rods are triple wrapped, and the resin used is pure
old school. No cheap fast cure resins used, these take time, four
hours curing time, 3 coats. That's something you don't find on many
rods these days. And, it shows upon inspection.
 The
reel seat is also a distinctive and functional ALPS design. For the
two lighter rods in conventional form we are using ALPS new double
trigger jigging seat. The heavier action rods, given a likelihood of
folks wanting to use a reel clamp, offer a conventional seat. Both
seats use a double lock-down, so once a reel is in place, she's not
going anywhere whether a clamp is used or not. But, given some
stamped steel reel feet used by some firms we felt that we'd better
allow use of a clamp for the heavier rigs - it is not needed on the
lighter rods which are made for handling 65# and down line test.
*(based upon client requests, beginning in 2013 the double ALPS
trigger grip is used on the model 100 only, all others use the
standard grip shown at left which allows use of a reel clamp)
The hypolon is sanded, for a
smooth and richer feel. Again, this is something that's not
typically done on factory made rods. And there are some nice
cosmetic touches you'll notice on these rods upon your inspection.
The gimbals are unique
 ALPS
ball style jigging designs.
Jigging rods are rated a bit
differently than conventional bait or lure rods. Jigging rods
are designed with lure weight a key component of their design. The
way the rod bends is critical, it's action with a specific weight
lure is a critical part of it's design, of even greater importance
than it's test rating. We incorporate both specifications, but
please do understand that the most important characteristic of these
rods comes from matching them with a particular lure weight rather
than line test rating.
| Model |
Lure
Weight |
Nominal
Line Test |
Suggested Drag
Setting |
Weight Gram |
Weight
Ounces |
| Ahi Assassin 100 |
100 |
30-50# |
6-10# |
305.8 |
10.78 |
| Ahi Assassin 200 |
200 |
40-65# |
10-15# |
320.4 |
11.3 |
| Ahi Assassin 300 |
300 |
80-130# |
15-25# |
341.0 |
12.05 |
| Ahi Assassin 400 |
400 |
100-200# |
20-30+# |
346.5 |
12.22 |
 |
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 |
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Here are the rods doing a dead
lift
of 10 to 40 lbs. This simulates the
rods parabolic bend under load,
significant load commensurate with
the drag level that might be expected
if fished "heavy." In all cases, we're
providing example of a level higher
than the drag setting typically used
by anglers for the respective rod.
They pull well, predictably with some
power. Ahi Assassin rods will put a
hurt on a good fish. |
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Ahi Assassin
Topwater Rods
 Here's
another excellent series of rods from the folks who build the Ahi
Assassin Jigging rods. The Topwater series rods are made for tossing
poppers, and a lot more. Typically popper rods are made for use with
spinning reels, but we've also had these produced with conventional
guides since many of the larger poppers are quite castable with
conventional reels and more of our West Coast clients and long range
fishermen have a distinct preference for conventional gear -
especially the jig tossers. The other consideration we had in mind was
the fact that for our long range clients, traveling with an 8 foot
jigstick is getting darn near impossible. Now, consider having a
jigstick, with the strength to handle larger grade fish that's both
powerful, and transportable. The new Topwater 40 and 50 is just
that! You have an eight foot rod that travels like a 6 footer! The
Topwater 40 is rated 30-50#, the model 50, 40-60#.
The components used on these rods is first
rate, all ALPS, with metal reels seat and gimble too! Like the other
Ahi Assassin rods, these are made from both graphite and fiberglass
- from tip to butt of the blank. So, there's no transition point on
the rod between the materials - no inherent weak point. So, they can
fish heavy, and take larger fish. We use 9 guides on the
conventionals and 8 on the spinners, and the first guide is reversed
on the spinning model to aid in preventing wind knots. The rods come
with a sleeve to aid in storage when not being fished.
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Shopping Cart
 |
5/16/11
Hi Mark,
Just thought you would like to see the first fish caught on
the Accurate reel and Ahi Assasin rod combo we put together.
Awesome combo, wooped the a.j.twice as fast as traditional
tld 25 with standup rod.
Tight lines,
Stacey
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Hi Vince:
I am sending a picture of me with a
Wahoo I caught using the Ahi Assassin with the Andros reel
mounted on it. I actually caught a bigger one with the same
setup, but the picture is in another guy's camera.
I am also thinking about selling my
Calstar 700 MH and buying another Ahi Assassin. I love it!! I
fished it with 40, 50, and 100 LB. line. It works great on
all!!! Strange but true!
I also mounted the ATD 30 on the rod and
caught a shark and a yellow fin tuna of about 60 LBS. After
catching these 2 fish I am completely confident the rod is
capable of handling a 200 LB tuna.
Thank You:
WES |
Mark,
I just spent 4
days in the gulf
trying to get a
blue marlin on
the
Avet Raptor JX
&
Ahi Assassin 200
and have a
better reply for
you after seeing
my pic, but all
I got for my
time and trouble
was this 182 lb
Yellow Fin Tuna
on the
CB Popper 200
Purple. Oh
yeah, it is a
new Alabama Deep
Sea Fishing
rodeo record. (http://adsfr.com)
One of the
largest fishing
tournaments I
know about. All
I can say is
thank you
CharkBait for
the service, and
great advice…
Still in search
of 2 Blue Marlin
on the Avet,
James
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Warranty, Ahi Assassin rods carry a one year
guarantee of quality of materials and construction. Rods are
checked prior to shipment, but if a failure occurs because of
defect in blank construction (doubtful) we will gladly replace the
rod. Breakage caused by mis-use (high sticking and vicious car
doors) will have support through replacement at an accommodation
price of 50% of the purchase price - one time only. Returned rods
are at clients expense, and must be sent to our Huntington Beach
location for evaluation and warranty coverage.
CharkStraps &
CharkWraps
 Two new items from us, not necessarily
the most creative or revolutionary products we've ever come
up with, but nonetheless they are useful and they are a bit
different than what's available from others.
Our RodWraps are an upgrade from the
StickJackets we've carried for several years. We've made
ours a bit larger in
diameter so that they will accommodate larger saltwater
guides, even larger spinning guides. The StickJackets were
really made for freshwater use, sized accordingly but we
used their spinning models for our application. Now we've
got 'em made our way. We've reinforced the
top with a leatherette end piece and metal grommet which can
be used to hang rods, and we've increased the diameter to
allow your rods, even those using larger AFTCO wind-on
roller guides or larger size spinning guides to fit. The
Wraps are about 5 feet in length, will extend down the rod
into the handle material of most rods. They are not made to
cover the entire rod, only that portion it's designed to
protect - the blank, the finish, the guides.
 These
wraps are all that I've been using now for the past few
years. I like the fact that I can use them for storage
protection, travel protection as well as leave 'em on my
rods on the boat. They are breathable and they don't absorb
moisture. So, they help me protect my rods when they're
bundled up once the fishing is over. On most long range
trips out of San Diego, you move your rods onto the boat and
off the boat all bundled up. They may stay that way
overnight on the boat as well. For a cloth sock, that's no
good. So, you can write off any protection of the rod under
these conditions, and rods do get grouped, compressed,
bounced around while stored on the upper deck and in
handling at the end of a trip. So, when it's time to "take
down your gear" on a long range trip for bundling and
storage on the top deck during travel and boat cleaning,
I'll put my rods in the Jacket individually and in a pinch
two in the same sleeve. That's helped me protect my rods,
their guides, and keep things organized and together at the
end of the trip. With
these things you do get that protection when you need it
most. I even leave them on my rods when I get home and put
my fishing rods away for storage. I'll
spray off the rod jackets while still on the rod, loosening
any accumulated saltwater in the process. Then I'll take off
the wraps, clean the rods more thoroughly and allow them to
dry. Use of a cleaner like Penn's Rod and Reel cleaner for
that, and you've got things in great shape for your next
trip and your gear will stay in new condition. The Wraps are
five feet in length.
The other product we have for rod
organization are our CharkStraps. These are great for
bundling your rods together for transport or storage. You
can secure up to a half dozen rods with these things. Nice
thing about ours verses some others, they are made from a
softer foam/rubber material so they'll never scratch up your
rods. Unlike some similar products I've seen, we made it a
point to include three different sizes (which makes sense
since you'll use all three at different positions on your
bundled rods from the tip to near the reel seat). So, you
get three straps, all with Velcro through their length to
handle most any size bundle of rods you'll be totting, from
2 to 6 or more rods.
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