# Chinese equipment review



## labman1 (Dec 27, 2015)

After reading the various posts about Chinese fishing equipment, I decided to venture outside my comfort zone and make a purchase. My bass fishing partner is a gear head and he elected to make a few purchases to tag along.

Fly rod- the Toray Carbon 8wt, I couldn't get an informed answer as to the difference between the "Sky HIgh" and the Toray carbon rod, other than $5-6 difference. Fit and finish was impressive, my totally wag swing weight is comparable to my TFO BVK, a little heavier than my wife's Orvis H2. I caught a few bass with it, including a 6.5 lb'er, fwiw the fish fighting ability on the bass seemed adequate. The action is definitely fast, less than the BVK, more than the H2. I recently sold a Sage One, and preferred the Chinese action over it. Seems to be a great rod for $90ish, we'll see how it holds up over time.

VM reel, great finish and fit, held 175 yd of 30lb backing and a SA saltwater 8wt line with ease, I think it would easily carry 200 yards of backing if wanted. The downside was no option to change the reel from left to right hand retrieve. I didn't consider that as an option prior to ordering, it may not be, but it's something I'd ask about if interested in the reel. The drag seems more than adequate. Once my shoulder lets me go down to the coast, I plan on evaluating the reel in saltwater, hopefully with a few jacks and reds to make a true determination.

Misc fishing equipment bought: nippers, great finish. Boga grip, decent finish, worked just fine on bass and weighed on the money versus a digital scale. Leatherman styled tool- Asian fit, lol. Definitely a bit small, but functional. Scissors, excellent finish, very sharp. Forceps-had to peel back the coating in order to make them operable, not bad, but somewhat disappointing. Fly box, seemed fine, I dunked it a few times and it remained water tight.

Bought 4 neoprene reel covers that were supposed to be for 7/9 weights. They'd be lucky to cover half a three weight reel. definitely the Asian fit for that item. The included cover for the VM was perfect.

Wading pack and backpack- the construction seems solid, but I'll wait until the zippers and material hit salt to give up a thumbs up or down.

Overall, the cost savings on the misc equipment and packs was substantial. I totaled up well over $500 in costs if name brands were purchased, the Chinese stuff was under $60. I don't know if I'd make another purchase of similar items as the quality was a bit uneven. But, I've never been a Van Staal type equipment guy, I'l buy 2-3 cheap pliers from Home Depot, use them a few years, lose them, and buy some more. If the packs hold up, there is substantial savings for that type of product.

The rod and reel impressed me, for roughly $160, plus shipping, those two items impressed me a lot. The reel was well machined, I'm interested to see what it does in the salt. My partner is contemplating making a purchase of a few baitcasters and spinning reels based on the fly reel quality.


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## DeepSouthFly (Sep 7, 2016)

I have bought some chinese stuff thru e bay. the seller is maxcatch. I mean for the money i have no complaints. the reel has held up in saltwater all summer. and i havent even cleaned it one time. 6 wt rod handles reds perfectly


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## labman1 (Dec 27, 2015)

Due to shoulder related issues, I'm on the IR list for casting and fishing. I loaned out the VM reel and Toray rod to my buddy on the coast. He fished them hard for 4 days catching a lot of reds and multiple jacks. He said the reel performed flawlessly, excellent drag, good retrieval rate and no issues with overall performance. For context, his reels of choice in 8wts are currently Tibor and the Nautilus NV-G. They got into some big jacks, so the drag was definitely given a workout.

The rod performed well, but had a hard time casting 60+ into the wind a few afternoons. His go to sticks are TFO BVK and the Scott Meridian.

My wife just got back from a trip to Belize, she used the reel paired with a Orvis H2 and a TFO BVK rod. She had a great trip and got multiple bones every day. They ran into a school of baby tarpon maybe 15-25 pounds and hooked one up with the reel. The fish broke off, but the guide was apparently impressed with how the reel performed.

So, based on 2nd hand info, the reel is a winner. I'd buy multiple reels for the price, if nothing else for travel reels to satisfy the stick y finger gremlins that seem to be a few international airports. The only downside is no option to switch retrieval sides from left to right.

For the rods, I'll probably stick to TFO for the cheaper price point rods, I can't quite articulate what the slight issue with the chinese rod is that I don't care for. But again, for $80 it's a heckuva buy and if I do purchase additional reels, I'll probably buy another rod just to make the shipping cost more palatable.


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## trekker (Sep 19, 2015)

Screw China.


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## texasag07 (Nov 11, 2014)

trekker said:


> Screw China.


 I think you mis spelled Orvis.


Lol, great news on the reel regardless of everyone's moral stance on foreign fly gear.


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## sjrobin (Jul 13, 2015)

With the exception of the Helios rods.


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

labman1 said:


> After reading the various posts about Chinese fishing equipment, I decided to venture outside my comfort zone and make a purchase. My bass fishing partner is a gear head and he elected to make a few purchases to tag along.
> 
> Fly rod- the Toray Carbon 8wt, I couldn't get an informed answer as to the difference between the "Sky HIgh" and the Toray carbon rod, other than $5-6 difference. Fit and finish was impressive, my totally wag swing weight is comparable to my TFO BVK, a little heavier than my wife's Orvis H2. I caught a few bass with it, including a 6.5 lb'er, fwiw the fish fighting ability on the bass seemed adequate. The action is definitely fast, less than the BVK, more than the H2. I recently sold a Sage One, and preferred the Chinese action over it. Seems to be a great rod for $90ish, we'll see how it holds up over time.
> 
> ...


You can change that reel from right to left by taking off the spool and find the spring wire that holds the center Axel. Remove the spring take out the Axel turn it around and put it back in and replace the spring
My contact there is Mary and she can get you instructions. I just purchased my second outfit for another grandson. Fly rod, fly reel and fly line. The lower priced fly rod cast great and is fast. I cast it with their wind cutter fly line and had smooth 90 ft cast


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