Emeraldas Infeet 83MLI Interline Review

Right my first product review on here so sorry if I have missed things or waffled on but just ask away and I’ll try and answer them.

So a bit of a back story into why I have got this rod. At the start of the year I was looking to buy a versatile rod and reel combo to use for light snapper fishing and eging , I ending up purchasing a Daiwa spellbinder SP702MLFS and a Caldia 2500. I was very happy with the combo and it was ok for eging but was having trouble with guide wrap and the fast blank of the rod was not that great for eging (I was dropping a few, not sure if that was the rod or my general lack of skill!). So anyway the rod had a warranty claim on it and they replaced it (if you want that story you will have to ask me personally as I don’t want to put it on the net). This got me thinking do I get another spellbinder or an egi rod? After some discussion with Daiwa/my local tackle shop I ended up deciding on the emeraldas infeet interline.

Ok so this is my first interline and I had a fairly open mind about them, Les kindly let me have a few casts of his more expensive emeraldas interline but with me winding with my right hand and not bending it on a squid it was hard to gauge the feel of the rod. The rod came in this nice plastic box and it included a rod bag, which I was happy to realise you could keep the reel on and zip the bag up, I wish Daiwa would do that with all their other rods. Anyway, so first up I was interested in reading all the paperwork that came with the rod, but alas it is all in Japanese so I set it up by the pictures.

Firstly the interlines come with a little threading wire that you loop 60cm or so of braid into it and push it through the blank from the one guide. This was surprisingly a very quick exercise and would be very easy to do out while fishing as long as you have remembered the wire. Daiwa make this little ratchet spool thing for the wires as an added accessory and I will be getting this soon as the wire would be very easy to kink and I’m sure one of those pictures with Japanese is talking about that. After I had it threaded I went to tie on my leader as the leader knot is travelling through the blank it must be a very low profile knot and on one of the papers (in Japanese) had a diagram for a knot which looks like a slim beauty but is finished off with two half hitches (it looks like more in the pictures but I can’t read the writing to see how many more it is) and then finally a uni knot. I have never seen this knot before so I gave it a try and managed to get one I was happy with on the third go as with any new knot I tied it off onto something in the back yard and snapped it to see if it broke at my blood knot or the leader knot surprisingly it broke just up my braid but I was very happy with the pressure I placed on the knot. Also the line shot back up the blank and into the handle which was interesting.

Well rod is now set up so I have a few casts in the front yard and street but there are a lot of power lines so guess I will have to just go eging First cast with the rod and the squid jig goes a mile further than I was expecting the rod has a medium slow blank and is 8”3 and is a dream to cast even when using heavier jigs (have only casted 2.5 basics so far) you can belt it out way wide and the line just streams out at an incredible rate especially as there is no chance of guide wrap so I was pelting it. The rod feels nice working a jig through the water and the slightest twitch gets the jig moving.

Well that’s enough mucking around, time to find some squid. 5 mins later we come across a nice tiger and I get to bend this thing. This is where I have found a massive difference between the spellbinder and the infeet, with the spellbinder the rod loads up very quickly and then gets down the blank and there is heaps of power but not a lot of flex not what you need or want for eging. The infeet however bends nicely over the whole length but still has a lot of grunt down lower in the blank. It absorbs the whole lunge in the rod and this makes it a lot easier to keep squid connected. After managing to get about a dozen squid on it so far without dropping one it is making a big difference to my catch rate. The other big thing I noticed as how refreshing it is not getting guide wraps I hadn’t realised how before I cast I used to check the tip and guides and there would be a fair few times the jig would be caught between some guides. I tried to tangle the line on the interline and I failed! The line just rolls down the blank every time and comes out straight. I think this is great and after only two days I have decided my next rod purchase will be one of the master tournament X interlines for the kayak as tip wrap happens a lot due to rod angles during kayak fishing and also it is difficult to unwarp tips without dunking your reel in the water.

Anyway I’m very happy with the rod and would recommend an interline to anyone if you want to have a look at the rod features, here is the link to Daiwa’s website: http://daiwafishing.com.au/?p=6906

Nice review mate.Sounds like a solution to alot of peoples problems.

Like i said Robbie interlines are the best solution for line wrap prone peoples like myselfs

nice choice and great review. I was hoping someone would review the emeraldas infeet interline because i'am interested in it now.

Haha we have same combo, have been using it for a few months now, love it too, can cast and work jigs all night without getting tired. Have even caught a few good size bream and flatty with it.

I could not work out the recommended daiwa knot so I am using slim beauties with 6lb leader and its fine.

hey Les, yea mate it has solved a lot of my issues, prob wouldnt have had the guts to buy it with out having a go with yours first.

Kasper, Daiwa have also got another interline that is the next model down its called the liberty club eging its around $170 and its also a Medium weight for all those 3kg+ squid you catch.....

Edi, where did you get that caldia with a double handle?? is it a 2506? and hows the balance on the infeet? with my 2500 caldia the balance point is an inch in front of the grip, was thinking of getting the emeraldas infeet 2506 with a double handle but a caldia 2506 with a double handle would prob be spot on for weight and its a much nicer speced reel.

robbie wrote:Edi, where did you get that caldia with a double handle?? is it a 2506? and hows the balance on the infeet? with my 2500 caldia the balance point is an inch in front of the grip, was thinking of getting the emeraldas infeet 2506 with a double handle but a caldia 2506 with a double handle would prob be spot on for weight and its a much nicer speced reel.

Hey mate mine is a 2508 originally it was a single handle but i got the double handle separately off ebay $90, Lithuania of all places lol took forever to get here, I thought I had been scammed. I replaced the knobs with power S knobs, all up for the double handle and knobs u could probably buy the Inf emeraldas double hand but yeah I like the specs of the caldia better.

Anyway only got the handle this week and haven't squid with it yet will let you know after the weekend if weather is good. But just handling it around the garage winding feels more solid and balanced, moving the rod and winding feels smooth too no more wobbles.

I am not so sure if the Liberty is in the same league as the emeraldas interlines, I played with one at the store, it felt heavy and the material feels cheap, I would save more and get the emer branded ones

Interlines are great, will always have issues with line wraps with a guided model even with the new k guides. Good to see someone has finally reviewed the inf model. I've contemplated getting a complete inf setup so I can lend it to newcomers.

As I've always said you don't need dedicated Eging gear but there is a big difference in blank design which deff helps the overall experience.

Deff get the wire holder and never leave home without it. If you do some 50lb mono will also do the trick. The knot listed on the user manual is a variant of the slim beauty and by the sounds of it you tied it correctly. I either use my knot tying machine or a normal slim beauty. But there are slimmer profiled knots out there which maybe good to look into.

With the wires if you need to replace keep in mind there are different ones . I got one recently and it has a ball on the tip which doesn't fit through the Emma's as it's such a small dia.

Andy, I am going to start tying the PR knot on all my rigs now its a pain but is super slim as the leader is not doubled over. I would be cautious about the infeet 2506 as I had a tierra and it was crap and the infeet reel is a terria with a diferent paint job and a 2506 spool.

Edi, Think I might just save up for the Caldia 2506H and get the RCS double handle, S knobs and bearing upgrade kit it looks really nice. I like the caldia so much I wont mind having 2 with one a high speed.

andy wrote:
Deff get the wire holder and never leave home without it. If you do some 50lb mono will also do the trick. The knot listed on the user manual is a variant of the slim beauty and by the sounds of it you tied it correctly. I either use my knot tying machine or a normal slim beauty. But there are slimmer profiled knots out there which maybe good to look into.
.

When I got mine, the store had actually lost the threading wire... they had to reorder it which took 1 week, but I took the rod anyway.... I manage to suck the thin braid from the exit hole all the way up the blank, was not a good look .

Hey EDI when you want to catch up for a session Robbies just got his rod so he'd be a Ika poo suck hahah .Interesting things im hearing about the rod.The line snapping Robbie and going down the balnk it happends with guided rods too.

robbie wrote:Kasper, Daiwa have also got another interline that is the next model down its called the liberty club eging its around $170 and its also a Medium weight for all those 3kg+ squid you catch.....

Robbie i know they have the liberty egi club rod but it is crap, the width of the rod blank around the base is stupid. I really want the new interline or guided egee or emeraldas infeet. At the moment i have an egee as well as major craft solpara egi rod which is rated for 3.0 to 4.0 jigs so i can do deep water jigging and i really like it but i want one rated for 2.5 and 3.5 jigs and they are around $100 dollars on plat. So i will probably get another major craft solpara and a daiwa interline egi rod.

Hey Ned, sure love to meet up for are ika session. I been meaning to go to the comps but something always comes up.
I fish manly every week, would be good if someone could show me the ropes around redcliffe or northside *hint* *hint*

Though I am out of action this weekend as I got to get some minor surgery on my leg. When is the next comp date?

Edi,

Comp dates are here: https://brisbaneegiclub.forumotion.com/t764-2012-competition-dates

If that doesnt work go from the home page, B.E.C Competitions, 2012 Competition Details, 2012 Competition Dates

We have social nights on the alternate days which are run like the comps but only a small prize for biggest squid is awarded.

I would be keen to do a redcliffe session next weekend

Robbie

Hi Robbie,
Where do order those Daiwa Interline wire cases from and how much do they cost?

Andrew,

Motackle have them for $17.95 but at $10 postage its a bit rough. I am going to ask my local tackle shop how much he will do them for as he is usually very competitive. I will ask them and if its too much we could get a few people on here who are keen for one to split the postage.

http://www.motackle.com.au/index.cfm?pr=product&product_id=8228

Robbie

The case is about the $30 mark.

Try Tackle World Sandgate he can get anything and hes also a sponsor.