Thursday Focus - Predator Fishing with Daiwa Prorex

This entry was posted on 1st February, 2018

A pale, washed out sun peers sleepily out over a lake ringed with frost. The water ripples in a breeze you can't feel, but which carries a sharply noticeable chill. You can hear your waders crunching through the winter morning. Your breath hangs in the air, a brief moment of mystery and magic.  In the trees, birds begin to wake, while out on the water, quiet, subtle signs catch your attention, drawing you down to the bank, rods in hand, sunlight picking out the bright lengths of spooled line, the aluminium gleam of reel housing, the sleek sheen of carbon blanks, refined to create an almost invisible silhouette. In the fading frost behind you, footprints.

Down at the water's edge, the cold numbness of your fingers, despite your gloves, is forgotten as you become absorbed in getting your gear set up. Rods, silent sentinels, loaded with heavy duty reels, which, in turn, are spooled with strong braid.  Buckets of bait – lampreys, deadbaits, anything juicy and richly scented. Your tackle box, favourite rig set ups already tied and ready to go.  You set your rods in their rod rest, bite alarms switched to a distinct tone for each rod, clip on your drop-off indicators, and unpack your shelter. Just a chair, stove, kettle, and the essential food and warm drinks for a day's fishing late in the year – it's too cold to be out past the last light of this winter session. You settle down, kettle on the stove, making steamy promises of a warming brew, and begin to bait up, treble point hooks all the way. Rods out, tea in hand, you lay out your large, padded unhooking mat, close to the water's edge. Forceps ready to hand in your pocket – nothing else will get a hook out of the mouth of an angry pike quicker, without causing damage to the fish.

Standing up, staring out over the lake, you feel a million miles away from the busy life you live, back in the 21^st century, the traffic noise of a world going about its business fading out as the water casts its spell.  You could be anywhere.

A burst of thoroughly modern chatter from your bite alarm – something's happening; could it be the first pike of the day? You put down your tea, pick up your rod, and start to play in whatever's fallen for a trick that's centuries old...

 

Doing It Right With Daiwa

 Creating reels since 1955, Daiwa brings Japanese technology and attention to detail together to create technologically advanced, future-ready fishing tackle that performs beyond expectations time after time.

With a UK factory in Scotland since 1977, many of Daiwa's best performers bring the exacting standards and future-proofed technology of Japan into British design and manufacture, creating a range of tackle that anglers of all disciplines can be proud to use on any bankside, river edge, canal basin, or lake.

As a brand, Daiwa is as passionate about creating a superior customer experience as they are about crafting the perfect precision sporting tackle, and offer a service that is unrivalled by other larger, established brands, including providing anglers with the ability to custom-select the features of their rods, in order to create the perfect tool for your tackle box, and give you an angling arsenal in which every item is designed with purpose, and built to achieve its maximum potential with each and every cast.

From encouraging anglers to feel alive with responsive, durable, high-tech, high-performance tackle and accessories, to challenging more experienced anglers to seek the monsters of the deep with the Prorex range of powerful predator rods, reels, and tools, Daiwa is a brand that threads through the very DNA of angling, and one that almost every angler will include in their personal tackle kit at some point in their angling journey.

 

Daiwa Prorex: Seek Your Monster

 

The Prorex range is a dynamic new offering from Daiwa, and specifically tailored to the challenges and demands of the pursuit of the perfect predator. Whether you want to come face to face with the ancient, echoing power of a large, gleaming pike, or you're keen to hold, however briefly, the pint-sized perfection of a perch, Daiwa ProRex is a range designed around predator fish, and built to give you the best possible chance of a close encounter with these monsters of the deep, our modern-day dinosaurs.

Prorex tackle is all about gazing into the endless depths of the wise, all-seeing eye of wily, powerful predators, eyes which are always alert for the next meal, always watching the water for threats to their subsurface supremacy. Eye to eye, human and fish exchanging respect, appreciation, and acknowledgement.

From multiplier and fixed spool reels such as the Daiwa Prorex RX Baitcaster Reel, and the Daiwa Prorex XR Spinning Reel, through the affordable performance of rods like the Daiwa Prorex Spinning Rod, to fish care essentials such as the Daiwa Prorex Curved Forceps, which are perfect for quickly and safely unhooking pike in a way that gives you and the fish the best, safest experience possible, so that you get to experience the thrill of watching that primeval force ripple away as you return it gently to the water, Prorex is a proactive range that is designed to give the kings of the deep royal treatment as you play them in, and bring them to the waters' edge for a closer look, and, hopefully, a quick photo opportunity.

The name Prorex comes from Daiwa's ambition to provide Proactive search for the regal kings of the lake; with Rex being the Latin word for king, and a name that's rich with respect, admiration, and majestic appeal; everything predators stand for.



 

Prorex: In Review

 Daiwa Prorex RX Baitcaster Reel (Multiplier) 



Tell Me About It

The Daiwa Prorex XR Baitcaster Reel gives you low weight strength in an expertly designed and crafted aluminium body that provides the perfect balance on a rod, whether you're playing in, casting out, or jigging a lure through the water. All the action through this reel is silky-smooth, thanks to the six corrosion-resistant ball bearings, that will give your Prorex Baitcaster Reel effortless performance for a lifetime of active predator pursuit, whatever you're targetting, from catfish to zander.

 Equipped with Daiwa's Magforce magnet drag system, the Baitcaster reel is a smooth, quality multiplier reel that gives performance strength to the experienced predator angler, with infinite anti-reverse completely eliminating playback, and keeping you in complete control.  This Prorex reel features a click system, which gives you a subtle, audible alert when your line is being played, allowing you to alter your bait or lure presentation to capitalise on a fsh's curiosity.

What Are People Saying About It?

 The Daiwa Prorex XR Baitcaster is considered a quality reel, with a super smooth action. People like the inclusion of tried-and-tested Daiwa technology, such as the Digigear gearing system, and Magforce drag, and are impressed with the enhanced performance this predator multiplier reel offers.

With a high capacity 37mm spool that's perfect for running thick lines, this is a quality reel that packs a genuine predator punch, and ensures you're heading out fully equipped and ready to do battle with whatever lies beneath.

Buy your Daiwa Prorex XR Baitcasting Reel



 

 

 

 

Daiwa Prorex XR Spinning Reel (Fixed Spool)



 Tell Me About It

 This reel is easier for less experienced anglers, and those lacking confidence in the predator discipline, to handle, being moe straightforward than multiplier reels, and ideally suited to junior perch anglers, and young zander fans. However, don't be fooled into thinking that this reel's simplicity makes it any less capable when loaded with bait and handling a heavy, fighitng pike.

With Daiwa's renowned Magsealed body, and the smoothness of eight corrosion-resistant ball bearings, this reel comes with a spare spool, and is enhanced by Daiwa's Advanced Tournament Drag (ATD) system and Digigear gearing.

Perfect for running braided line, which is itself a reliable predator line, this fixed spool predator reel has a light yet rigid body that combines peak performance perfection with effortless handling that's comfortable all day long.

What Are People Saying About It?

 A striking reel that combines stunning form with superior function, this fixed spool Prorex Reel, from Daiwa's dynamic new predator fishing range, is ideal for those new to the challenges and pleasures of fishing for predator species, be they 25lb pike or 2lb perch, and gives a performance far beyond what its simplicity would suggest.

If you're looking to get into predator angling, then this reel will give you the smooth performance you'll need to succeed, and achieve your angling ambitions.

Buy your Daiwa Prorex XR Spinning Reel



 

 

 

 

Daiwa Prorex Spinning Rod



 Tell Me About It

 Available in lengths from 6ft to 10ft, the Daiwa Prorex Spinning Rod features HVF nanoplus carbon blanks, enhanced with Daiwa's high-performance X45 technology, this predator rod gives you the ability to choose a length to suit your preferred species and fishing style, giving you on-point angling whatever predator you choose to pursue.

Titanium oxide guides provide the perfect complement to the smooth, secure V-Join system, which ensures that this sectional rod gives a strong, stable, responsive performance when assembled. Despite its high-performance design and functionality, the Prorex Spinning Rod has a light, easy feel, which gives a superior cast time after time.

This is a slim, smooth, responsive rod which offers fluid action, with a Fuji reel seat that keeps you in close contact with your underwater action, so you know exactly what's happening and when to strike.

What Are People Saying About It?

This is a really light, supple, yet strong rod that gives great action and feel. Daiwa's targetted design, which provides a rod for (almost) every eventuality, makes choosing the right rod absolutely effortless, and means you can spend more time actually fishing, rather than looking for fishing tackle.

Buy your Daiwa Prorex Spinning Rod



 

 

 

 

Daiwa Prorex Curved Forceps



Tell Me About Them?

Because you definitely don't want to go fishing without forceps, which are the best, and gentlest, way to remove hooks from pike, Daiwa's Prorex offers these premium unhooking pliers, which are capable of loosening even deeply-swallowed hooks safely and gently, ensuring that pike can be returned in prime condition, and saving your fingers from angry teeth!

Featuring a locking mechanism, and secure grip for all hook types, and hooks that have been taken a long way back, these 20cm forceps should be ready to hand in your pocket throughout your predator fishing session, so you can get your pike unhooked and back to the water quickly and cleanly.

What Are People Saying About Them?

Perfect for larger fish, these unhooking forceps are a little stiff to start with, but soon loosen up, giving an effortless, easy, fish-safe performance out on the bank, and ensuring that pikey piece of piscatorial perfection can swim off, a little wiser, and a little bit more of a challenge for the next angler.

Buy your Daiwa Prorex Curved Forceps



 

 

 

 

Prorex Potential

These products offer just a small glimpse of the range of predator fishing tackle and accessories on offer from Daiwa's award-winning Prorex range. If you're looking to go deeper with your angling, why not go predator fishing, and enjoy the thrill of coming face to face with a true king of the deep, and looking a living, breathing slice of prehistory right in the eye?

Designed to give anglers the smoothest and most reliable performance, and fish the least stressful encounter with the surface, Prorex is a range to watch from the dynamic, high-tech force behind the Daiwa brand.



Predator Fishing Tips

1. Pay Attention – look for the subtle signs of the presence of bait fish shoals, notice what the weather and water conditions are like, and observe the landscape around your watercourse.  While a fishfinder is definitely a distinct advantage, with focused, intelligent attention and awareness on the angler's  part, it needn't be an essential.
2. Take Care – pike may seem like big, beefy bullies, but they're actually quite a fragile fish.  If you're not confident handling them – don't. Unhook them in the water, if you can, and let them swim straight back out. If it's not possible to unhook in the water, never be afraid to ask other anglers on the bank, or the bailiff on managed and commercial waters, for assistance.  Pike should be unhooked on a large, padded unhooking mat, and returned in a cradle, if they must be brought to the bank.
3. Fish Right – leger deadbaiting is an effective predator tactic in winter, while in summer, the dancing action of realistic artificial lures, particularly those designed to mimic the look and movement of smaller bait fish, can prompt a swift take from cruising pike, who, having been woken up by the warmth of the water, are in lively mood, and hungry.
4. Subscribe to ADTV Fishing on YouTube for the best tips, tricks, and product reviews for predator fishing and beyond.