# Lami International Graphite review



## Carolina Rebel (Aug 25, 2005)

Finally finished building my first rod here recently. Its a Lamiglas International Graphite 9' 5/8-2oz. rated blank, I used Fuji Concept SiC guides in a casting configuration, slightly oversized to allow me to use the rod with braid-equipped spinning gear. The rod saw a good bit of usage this weekend, working hard trying to seek out a striper or 2 at a local tailrace. No stripers were in the cards, but I did get a good feel for the performance of this rod. 
First off, this rod is very light. This was one of the selling points of this thing for me, as I was wanting something light that I could use lure fishing all day if I wanted, or that girls could surf fish with occasionally and not have too much trouble casting. The bare blank went about 4.5oz, pretty light for a rod in this class. 
Additionally, the rod seems to be an all around good performer. Its got a fast action, just what I wanted for slinging fairly light lures and weights a long way with not too much effort. Tossing a 2oz. egg weight and a 1/8 oz. bucktail this weekend, I just had to hold the rod tip a little rearward of straight up and give it a quick push-pull and instantly the little 5500C3 was singing, as the weight and bucktail shot like a laser to the 80 yard mark, maybe a little farther. I was able to sling a 1/4 oz Rattle Trap around 60 yards, and a homemade striper plug that still needs work went close to 100 yards on this setup on a hard cast. 
Fishing the tailrace while the water was turned on gave me an opportunity to test the rod's flex, and pretty importantly determine if it was going to break easily. Most guys fishing the rocks behind this tailrace have heavy duty stuff--St. Croix surf rods rated for 3-6oz, 10' Ugly Sticks, Ocean Masters are common fodder. This little Lami looked tiny in diameter compared to the other rods there, and I was worried it wouldn't fare well, but it proved to be just fine out there amongst the rocks and current. A few times I got snagged on rocks in the middle of the river channel, a good 60-70 yards out. With one turbine on this meant the current exerted alot of pressure on the 50-60 yards of 50lb. braid in the water, and for the heck of it I would rear back to try to pop the bucktail loose. The rod showed no signs of strain under any amount of reasonable pressure I put on it, and to be so light it had a surprising amount of backbone. Of course I couldn't flex it enough to break 50lb Power Pro, but as much pressure as I put on the rod I'm confident it'll be fine with the occasional small car hood, door mat, or anything else I might happen across while tossing little bait or lures. 
To test out my use of oversized guides I put my Sahara 2500FB spooled with 30lb PowerPro on the rod and used it to throw a 1/4 oz. roostertail. The lure flew a solid 30-40 yards on a whippy cast, and there was no excessive noise on the retrieve even though the line angle going to the gathering guide looked a little extreme. A little heavier bait on the spinning combination cast great, so I believe that setup will work. 
The only downside to this rod IMO is that its made in China, and only has a 1 year warranty. Then again for $67 what can you expect? I'd definitely recommend this blank to anyone looking for a good starter blank, or for that matter a good lure blank. I should get to test it out this weekend tossing Hopkins spoons to blues and pups at Ocracoke, I can't wait!


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