Korda Kaizen Platinum Rods – The Kaizen Platinum range has been under development for more than four years, and came about as Korda felt that they could develop something even better than what was already on the market – despite this being the first foray into rods – using the extensive knowledge and experience of the Team Korda anglers, plus the product development staff at Korda HQ.
Kaizen Platinum Rods
Danny Fairbrass himself has a long association with rods bearing his name, and which he was involved in developing, and so it was a natural progression that we should develop a range ourselves, which had all the attributes that he, and our other anglers, would be looking for from the ultimate carp fishing rods.
The aim was to design a range of high end rods that would cover pretty much any carp angling situation at home or abroad, allowing you to not only accurately reach the fish if they were out at range, but which would also feel nice to play them on.
All of the rods in the range are built on a fast-tapered profile mandrel – meaning that the taper of the rod consistently goes all the way from the butt to the tip, and this produces rods with a very ‘tippy’ action, with pretty much all of the flex being towards the tip end, although of course when under extreme pressure such as casting, the rod will still bend all the way through to some extent.
This type of action allows for better power transfer and the generation of very fast tip speeds, which in turn allows you to cast further than you would be able to with a rod that didn’t have this action. That action also allows much faster line pick-up as well, and whilst most of the bend is in the tip, the power is transferred progressively enough that the rod will absorb the lunges of a big fish at close range without fear of it causing hookpulls, and ensures that it is still a pleasure to play fish on any of the Kaizen rods.
“It’s been designed to be really easy to use for the average angler. I’m not the biggest caster in the world, but with the right length handle and a really lightweight rod, that is really powerful, like this one, it goes absolutely miles with no effort whatsoever”
-Danny Fairbrass, talking about the 12ft spod rod
The taper of the rod isn’t the only factor in determining the action and attributes that it displays, and just as important is the type of carbon that has been used in the manufacturing process – for the Kaizen range the only real choice was the best super tensile, high-grade Japanese carbon that we could get our hands on!
Japanese Carbon Wrap Dissection
This ZERO90 carbon is used in just two layers and with very little resin content, and the result of that is lighter, stiffer blanks – often that stiffness is achieved by using cheaper carbon in multiple layers, which then adds weight to the blank and reduces performance, and is something we wanted to avoid, hence choosing ZERO90 – which further enhance the attributes that the taper we’ve chosen to use on the mandrel already provides.
Not only will this allow more power to be transferred into the cast and with less effort than you’d find with a cheaper grade of carbon, but it also aids enhanced accuracy as well as it reduces the ability of the blank to twist and cause your lead to go off-target during the cast – over a long distance even tiny improvements in accuracy make a big difference to your rig landing exactly where you aimed.
There would of course be little point in producing the ultimate rod in terms of its performance, if the cosmetics didn’t also match that, and these rods have been given a custom-made look, with the type of high grade components that you would expect to find on a rod of this price.
“There is no point in developing a rod that is incredibly light compared to its power, and then adding heavy components to it.”
All of the Kaizen Platinum range is fitted with lightweight Sea-Guide TDG rings, with a 50mm butt and 16mm tip – allowing the line to ‘cone’ off of a big pit spool in a way that minimises resistance as it passes through the butt ring, and providing a tip ring that is big enough to allow leader knots to smoothly pass through it.
Tip Ring Ceramic
The reel is attached via a top quality Fuji DPS seat and the handle is finished fully in Japanese shrink grip – the use of which is more than just cosmetic, and allows for a good grip even when your hands or the rod are wet – and with stainless steel trim and an etched butt cap made by JAG completing the custom look.
In terms of the models in the range, currently there are seven, with 12ft 3lb, 3.5lb and 4lb fishing rods, plus a 12ft spod rod; a 12ft 6in 4lb version for those who really want an extreme range rod but find a 13ft model just a bit too long; plus 13ft 3.5lb and 4lb models.
This will cover pretty much any angling situation, whether you are fishing at 1 yard or 180 yards.
I wouldn’t consider myself a long range caster, but if you are going to fish at extreme range then you need to have kit that won’t hold you back and will gain you extra yards. I’ve been using the 13ft 4lb model for all my long range fishing for two years now and have honestly seen a massive improvement in my distance.
-Tom Dove, talking about the 13ft 4lb Kaizen Platinum
“I always struggled with compressing the ‘heavy’ distance rods on the market as they felt too stiff and cumbersome, but these are the complete opposite – light to hold and east to compress, meaning that fishing at 35 wraps (140 yards) feels like casting 80 yards with my normal rods. My maximum fishing range is about 170 yards now, something which I never thought I’d have in my locker.” Tom added
The 4lb models which are specialist long range tools and have the ability to put a lead and rig incredible distances when in the right hands – as demonstrated by the likes of Terry Edmonds and Darrell Peck, where measured casts in excess of 200 yards have been achieved and which featured in our Long Range Masterclass chapter, filmed at Iles3 in France.
Darrell Peck: “When it came to deciding which rod I would use from the Kaizen Platinum range it was a bit of a no-brainer. I prefer a 12ft rod for my general fishing, whether that be short, medium or even medium to long range, a rod that I’m going to use for 90 per cent of the fishing situations that I find myself in. So for that reason I picked the 12ft 4lb, as I like a stiff rod that’s capable of casting 4 or 4.5oz leads over 140 yards, and it’s only when I turn to extreme range fishing that I’ll look to be using a 13ft rod, as they can be a bit unwieldy for general purpose fishing.”
The Complete Kaizen Platinum Range
- 12ft 3lb
- 12ft 3.5lb
- 2ft 4lb
- 12ft Spod
- 12ft 6in 4lb
- 13ft 3.5lb
- 13ft 4lb
Get Kaizen Rods now at Big Carp Tackle Store: