Have always been on the lookout for AJN (All Japan Network) rods but to no avail. AJN is apparently a joint venture between a Singaporean and a Japanese. Thin but strong rods that bend to a 'U', just like the unbreakable Ugly Stik. Solid carbon shafts are by no means any tougher than carbon/graphite rods; the same degree of care applies.
Found out about AJN rods via SG forums such as fishingkaki and wat-the-fish. Would just love to get my hands on half a dozen and thrash 'em to the max to see how much punishment they'll take. Youtube vids are testimony to the resilience of these rods; grand trevally (GT), barras (barramundi/siakap), etc, in SG payponds have put the AJN Stealth rods through their paces.
Even emailed them ... to no avail. They're either too busy attending to business and R&D, or not bothered about expanding their business into the Malaysian market or are ... 'prevented' ... from entering the our market. Even so, it is not unreasonable to expect some professional courtesy since they're doing business. If they only knew - I find it hard to believe they do not - the ultra light angling slice of pie here. I know of one angler who goes to sea with a Cherrywood 1-6lb ultra light rod for Spanish mackerel (tenggiri)!
Finally came across a simulacrum of the AJN at Red Hot Anglers, PJ. Caught my attention almost immediately as I scanned the rod racks. Dashed off as I had errands to run. Returned the next day to take a better look. Even wifey's eyes widened when I asked Sam (Red Hot's co-proprietor) to do a flex test again. 'Light and strong,' were her words, and for RM90, it certainly seemed worth it. It was the last piece standing, and another angler had bought two before me.
Well ... 5' 6", 1pc solid carbon shaft, 7 guides, rated 7-14lb. Comes with its own rod bag. AJN's Stealth are rated 4-10lb for the 5-footer and 8-15lb for the 5' 6". Will most probably bag me at least another 1 ... or two .. when the next batch comes in. That definitely means another rod rack ....
Nice, fuss free tip ... remains to be seen if line gets tangled easily.
Stripper guide .. seems pretty small but it's an almost medium light in ultra light dressing. The latest batch of AJNs seem to have bigger stripper guides.
Nice matt finish with just a dash of red for colour.
Perspective ... that's how thin the rod is.
Found about the Eupro Salty Fighter PE 0.8-2.0 6' butt joint rod from the forums (where else?). Looked for it but found it not. Finally saw someone letting go of one in mudah. Met up, negotiated and got it for RM90; nice chap, sez the rod is new and unused. Would like to have the time to fish with him at a restricted area only he has access to. Good buy but spent RM300 to convert an inline BC rod into a spiral wrapped BC rod. Talk about inflating the cost ...! The cost included new guides all the way, sigh. It'll come up to RM150-200 if existing guides are usable. Saw another piece at Sam's at the same time I saw the AJN clone. At RM120, it was going at the old retail price! Into the bag as well, then.
This exposed portion of the rod blank plugs into the handle
There was a Gawas rod with similar properties but it was going for RM340 ... what gives? Sam said the Gawas four10 is supposedly made in japan ... hmmmm .... regardless, I don't like red, and that Gawas rod had more red than the AJN clone. But I like its K guides very much.
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