07: KAIZEN GREEN PERFORMANCE EXPLAINED
Our goal was to deliver unbeatable performance for the price tag, and something as close to our flagship range as we could, but that was easily available to the masses.
The aim was to bring Platinum performance but at a price that anybody could afford, and that has been achieved within the Green range by utilising the technology and knowledge that we gained from designing our first range of rods.
The Kaizen Green is based on exactly the same action as the Platinum, which in our view is perfect for carp fishing as it balances power with enough flex to be forgiving at the same time, meaning anybody can fully utilise the rod and consistently get it to perform at a high level.
To achieve that we have used exactly the same specification of fast taper mandrel that is used to make the Platinum blanks, with the only difference being that a more affordable grade of carbon is used, along with a slightly higher resin content.
This means that you still get a rod with a tippy action and where most of the flex is in a relatively short section of the tip section, and it takes significantly more loading – such as when casting or piling pressure on during a fight – to really bend the rest of it, and means that the Kaizen Green rods have a real back bone to them, as well as retaining plenty of ‘feel’ that is transmitted back to you and not just absorbed, so you always know exactly what is going on.
This action makes the rod very efficient when it comes to transferring power during a cast, as well as helping to generate very fast tip speeds, and ultimately longer casts for the same amount of effort. Another area where you will really notice the difference is when it comes to line pick up and how quick that is versus some rods where they just fold over rather than lifting the line through the water.
The effectiveness of a rod when it comes to casting can be very much dependent on the angler and their level of technique, but we wanted to produce a blank where anybody could access that casting power – obviously technique will still play a part in terms of absolute range achievable, but anybody can pick one of these rods up and quickly get the hang of compressing them with a standard casting technique.
The carbon that we have chosen not only performs well at maximising power transfer, but also minimises lateral twist when under loading, which makes it easier to cast straighter, and therefore more accurately. This type of carbon, and the resin used to form the rod blank, are still lightweight and help when it comes to moving the rod through the air quickly, which helps with tip speed generation, and ultimately casting distance.
When casting the rods feel very crisp and have a fast recovery, which basically means that the tip stops bouncing quickly once you release the lead, and instead of power remaining in the blank – which is then used up with the tip bouncing up and down for ages – as much of it as possible has actually been transferred into your lead, making for longer and more effortless casts.
Despite all that casting power, the rods are still lovely to play fish on as well as the tip has plenty of flex and is able to absorb the lunges of a fish, whilst giving you a good level of feedback at the same time through the blank, and if you do suddenly need to pile on the power to stop a carp reaching snags, you can lean into it and utilise the power that is in reserve, without fear of pulling the hook.
The actions do of course vary slightly as well depending on the test curve, and length, and whilst they all bend in the same way and shape, that determines how much force needs to be applied to get the same amount of bend – test curve being defined as the amount of load (weight) that needs to be applied to bend the rod tip through 90 degrees to the butt.
To find out more about all the different test curves and lengths of rods that are available, have a read of Choosing your Kaizen Green rod.
As well as reading all about the different rods within the Kaizen Green range you should also pay a visit to your local Korda stockist to actually have a feel of them, and you can find your nearest one via our store locator.