Author Topic: Spinning Rod: Assassin Amia Fuji's KR-Concept Conversion (Read 49990 times)

fishatic · « **Reply #120 on:** October 23, 2014, 10:25:24 PM »

Regarding my direct Microwave / KR comparison in my last post:
I would NOT suggest using size 5 running guides on a rod that will be used in the surf.
Ever.

Size 7 is my personal suggested minimum for the lightest most crisp rod response whilst still being strong enough and large enough to let knots fly through without hanging up
Size 8 for stronger sticks
Size 10 for beasts

Size 5's are for bass rods.

Of interest, Fuji are introducing double-foot KR Concept stripping and transition guides in December for this that do not trust single foot guides. Cant wait to try 'em

Steenie · « **Reply #121 on:** October 24, 2014, 06:11:09 AM »

Thank you for putting the guides on the Sierra and the KR concept guides into perspective and sharing your knowledge on this! Clearly it is going to be a difficult decision on conversion or not. In your reply it is clear that the setup on the Sierra is very good if you do not use a braid leader. I don't use one, like many of the spinning chaps in KZN, but others do. And clearly the chap doing the rod conversion will have to know exactly what he is doing to get further optimisation on the Sierra's performance.

Half-Pint · « **Reply #122 on:** October 24, 2014, 07:53:29 AM »

Steenie I have just had 2 rods redone by Brandon aka Fishatic and let me tell you the change is unbelievable on the first rod I collected (Haven't collected the second so can't comment there yet).

I will ignore casting distance for the moment because before having my rod redone we did some measured casts at Leeukop that averaged at about 130m. I have only cast the redone rod over dry land so not comparing apples with apples (though even over dry land it is outcasting my distance at the dam

)

The single biggest improvement for me has been the sensitivity of the blank. The only way I ca explain the change is like your first experience with braid. You remember when every time your sinker rolled you thought you had a bite

same thing. I am pretty sure I could tell the geological composition of the ocean floor with this rod!

Unfortunately the only way to really tell how much it changes your rod is to cast one of Brandon's creations

PS: Look out for a full write up on my rod in a week or so once I get some time to take decent photos and test cast it at a dam.

Steenie · « **Reply #123 on:** October 24, 2014, 08:14:13 PM »

Quote from: Half-Pint on October 24, 2014, 07:53:29 AM

Steenie I have just had 2 rods redone by Brandon aka Fishatic and let me tell you the change is unbelievable on the first rod I collected (Haven't collected the second so can't comment there yet).

I will ignore casting distance for the moment because before having my rod redone we did some measured casts at Leeukop that averaged at about 130m. I have only cast the redone rod over dry land so not comparing apples with apples (though even over dry land it is outcasting my distance at the dam )

The single biggest improvement for me has been the sensitivity of the blank. The only way I ca explain the change is like your first experience with braid. You remember when every time your sinker rolled you thought you had a bite same thing. I am pretty sure I could tell the geological composition of the ocean floor with this rod!

Unfortunately the only way to really tell how much it changes your rod is to cast one of Brandon's creations

PS: Look out for a full write up on my rod in a week or so once I get some time to take decent photos and test cast it at a dam.

Thank you for your detailed reply. Looking forward to your report. Cheers, Riekert.

carll · « **Reply #124 on:** October 26, 2014, 11:24:16 PM »

Hi Half Pint,
Very good post from you making your experience clear about the . I had 2 rods redone by Brandon aka Fishatic and let me tell you the change is unbelievable on rods. I didn't made the post to make the point that it is always hard to give an objective perspective on something that you just bought and spend a lot of money on it because you always want to justify the purchase because it's human nature! I don't know how anybody that has not seen or tried the KR Concept on their spinning rods can question Fuji's invention. It's not Brandon's invention BUT Fuji's. Brandon is the first rod builder in SA as far as I am aware that started building with Fuji's KR Concept. He has done a lot of research, he used international forums to get information and spoke to the overseas spinning anglers. He tested in various variations before he made any posts in SA about the Concept. Anybody that has met him will know that his knowledge about rod blanks and guides is fantastic. He had my Amia for 3 weeks and tested it rigorously with different guide sizes and guide spacing’s. I even thought at one point I will never get my rod back.... hahahaha but that was once again proof about how passionate Brandon is about his work and know what’s he doing, he even gave me daily feedback on the progress that was being made.

Fuji is a huge international company that has been building high quality guides for years. Fuji, I believe Fuji would not make a statement Internationally about standard guide layouts and Micro guides, that the Micro Concept is good but they weren't satisfied. They spent an estimated $2 million on research to develop the K-Series guides. All Fuji's research and statements is available to read on the internet. Fuji even went further to prove that the standard rod layout is not 100% ......in their video it clearly shows what happens with a standard guide and the micro guide setup.

It totally confuses me that some people see it in slow motion exactly what happens with the different layouts and still question it ?,,,,, but maybe they don't want to see or even understand how the KR Concept works .....and making funny posts and and and about the KR Concept … oh well! Why would millions Anglers change their Rock and Surf Rods standard rod guides ? and even paying more ? Its all about better performance and and and …
Most rods off the shelf come out with standard guide layouts. There is an international diagram that they work according to, to make the guide spacing’s and our rods mass produce. My Assassin Amia came out with high quality rod guides BUT the KR Concept has put the Assassin blanks in a whole new dimension. I was so satisfied after both my spinning rods were converted to Fuji's KR Concept that I shared my experience with this forum so that they can get the same satisfaction that I experienced. I could have kept it to myself but I believe we are here to share tips and information with each other.
Price wise...... yes it is expensive because of the Rand being so weak compared to the Dollar... but I look at it this we spend a lot of money on braid,lures,reels and new cars and 4x4 Bakkies, bigger inter-coolers, new computer chips to get more performance out of what we have just bought EVEN if it costs more..... LOL!
The same goes for me with regards to fishing tackle and accessories. Can I question member X that he bought a Shimano Stella and then say the price is crazy? hahaha I wouldn't because I don't have a Stella and I have never fish with one and also know nothing about the reels performance.

Oh and I dont think that im a Pro as called in one of the comments here. As they say in Afrikaans.... "Om the lees en the meet is om the weet" in my opinion!

Steenie · « **Reply #125 on:** October 27, 2014, 05:57:18 AM »

Fortunately I am 95% sold on the concept - fishatic I will PM you soon to discuss the conversion of my Sierra, and the potential performance enhancement, in an objective fashion. Cheers, Riekert.

Steenie · « **Reply #126 on:** January 04, 2015, 05:50:45 PM »

Thanks Brandon for your advice on converting the Assassin Sierra to KR-concept. I send all the important measurements of rod guide spacing etc. etc. through to him so that he could assess the design that the rod came out with. The verdict is that the design on the rod with the micro guides is very good. But that he should be able to get an extra couple of meters, and perhaps some added sensitivity out of the rod with KR-concept. His suggestion to me was to use the rod "as is" until the micro guides have reached the end of their useful life. Then I am going to send my rod to him for the conversion. I am not using braid leaders, and I do not suffer from wind knots (after Basil Manning set my reel up for me), so the micro guides are absolutely fine for now. But I am looking forward to try the KR concept on the Sierra.

fishatic · « **Reply #127 on:** January 04, 2015, 06:12:20 PM »

Look forward to hearing from you.
B

carll · « **Reply #128 on:** November 06, 2016, 08:36:12 AM »

For a while I have been chatting to tackle-holic - Convert my Assassin Sierra H to KR Concept guide system

Tackle-holic converted both my Assassin Amia and Spin to the KR Concept guide system. There was a huge increase in performance after the conversion. I can't wait to get my Sierra back to try it out with the new KR guides.

Maybe TH can give more information on my Sierra's new conversion.

fishatic · « **Reply #129 on:** November 06, 2016, 08:37:15 PM »

Rod is done, bar KR Concept logo to be applied.

fishatic · « **Reply #130 on:** November 06, 2016, 08:38:23 PM »

I know the concept works.
Every.
Single.
Time.
A winner.

carll · « **Reply #131 on:** November 07, 2016, 04:53:26 AM »

Thank you Brandon - the build quality is great as always and the end product !

carll · « **Reply #132 on:** November 19, 2016, 06:22:50 AM »

Oh man ! I got my Assassin Sierra back from Fishatic " Brandon" today with Fuji KR concept guides fitted. It looks good, it feels good ! Thanks Brandon - the build quality is great as always and I know the end product is an absolute pleasure to use.Tomorrow morning is testing time !

Steenie · « **Reply #133 on:** November 21, 2016, 08:50:54 AM »

Quote from: carll on November 19, 2016, 06:22:50 AM

Oh man ! I got my Assassin Sierra back from Fishatic " Brandon" today with Fuji KR concept guides fitted. It looks good, it feels good ! Thanks Brandon - the build quality is great as always and I know the end product is an absolute pleasure to use.Tomorrow morning is testing time !

Congratulations on joining the Sierra - KR concept club! I simply love the conversion that Brandon did on mine. I am sure you will love it as well. We have arguably one of the best 1 - 2 oz spinning rod - guide systems out there!

REEFMAN · « **Reply #134 on:** November 21, 2016, 10:00:52 AM »

I had my 14ft Superslim done with KR Concept's by Brandon as well. Beautiful to cast!

carll · « **Reply #135 on:** March 29, 2018, 09:00:44 PM »

Brandon the KR thread is very quite, What's up ?

sardinella · « **Reply #136 on:** March 30, 2018, 12:49:06 PM »

Well, I am busy doing all the research to give the KR guide concept a bash on some medium to heavy 7 foot dropshop rods. Reels will be shimano 8000 size. I am coming to the conclusion that one should not be hesitant to play with the guide layout after the initial calculations, mainly going out and cast with the guides taped on, and then make some adjustments to fine tune line flow and eliminate line slapping against the blank, and then using static loading to finetune the runner guide layout. Quite a mouthful.
Main expectations for me will be improvement of rod sensitivity and pulling ability as casting distance is not critical when dropshotting of the boat at sea.

fishatic · « **Reply #137 on:** March 31, 2018, 07:49:42 AM »

I would suggest based on reel size using an NGC layout. (New Guide Concept)
It will be better suited to your relatively large reel.

You mentioned 8k size - which reel and what braid?
Work on 7-8 guides + a tip top.
Two Nice starting points:
KW30 KL20 KL12 reduction train and depending on line and leader 4-5x KT7/KT8
KW30 KW25 KL16 KT10 reduction train and depending on line and leader 4x KT7/KT8

Tape and test: cardinal rule.

Are you going to build it your self? (hope so)

sardinella · « **Reply #138 on:** April 01, 2018, 08:38:01 PM »

The more I read the more I realised that a NGC guide layout might be the route to follow with this one, and you have just confirmed it.
Rèels will be the older Japanese Stella SW8000HG, silver and gold model with Gosen PE3 for the one setup and a Twinpower 10000HG with Gosen PE4 for the heavier setup.
Thanks for your advice on the reduction train.
Will be doing the rods myself.
I need some advice on a clearcoat to use once I have stripped and sanded the rods.
Thanks

sardinella · « **Reply #139 on:** April 01, 2018, 08:40:25 PM »

Will also be doing spinning setup to be used with a Stradic 5000 and Gosen PE2. This one will be a KLH reduction train