Product Review: 22 Infeet LTD AGS

By Joshua Bland

Every good parent knows you shouldn’t pick favourites amongst your children. But sometimes one outshines the rest as they warm a special place in your heart. For me, my baby for the 23-24 season has been the 22 Infeet LTD AGS and boy does it keep my heart toasty.

Okay, so this is the most expensive rod I’ve ever purchased. Did I wince when I paid for it? Maybe. Did I chuckle in delight on the first cast? Absolutely I did. Was it worth it? Without doubt. I think for any fishing fanatic out there, there is a specific technique or style of fishing that occupies most of their time. When you start to count the number of hours you spend using that combo, it’s pretty easy to fisho-math your way to getting the best quality product for the technique you spend the most time doing.

For me, fishing the shallow mud flats of the South Australian Onkaparinga estuarine system land-based can require a specific piece of hardware to excel. I spend much time each winter casting plastics between 1/30 and 1/8oz over shallow mud flats for schooled-up black bream. This technique requires long casts and most importantly, a sensitive and responsive tip. The local gurus in the past have been drawn to the long and superfast actions of Japanese Ajing rods which are designed to help the user work tiny plastics precisely at range for horse mackerel. When DAIWA announced the 22 Infeet LTD AGS it was clear from the specs sheet that this new kid on the block had fit these requirements to a T.

Anyone who’s danced with black bream before knows their shutdown nature which can lead to some very hard sessions. It is times like this that every 1% counts. An undetected bite is a lost fish. A clumsy lure action is of no interest. And a cast a few meters short of the strike zone is something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.

When I say this is my favourite rod, I mean it. The first time I used it, I could feel the tail kick of a Bait Junkie Minnow and felt a sniff from a fish that I otherwise would have passed off as bottom. The sensitivity you get with AGS rods cannot be understated and leads to a better conversion rate as you get a better picture of what’s happening beneath the surface.

So, what’s the action like? Well, the rod feels pretty stiff for the most part until the last 3-4 inches. Precise superfast action is the calling card of this rod and the megatop solid graphite applied at the tip means it can bend freely in all directions lending to a better feel when working a plastic. The body of the rod, however, evolves when hooking a fish – transforming into something surprisingly shock-absorbing, really managing those important hook sets.

Since by now I’m sure you’ve already placed one of these in your cart, you’re probably looking for a reel to match. Since I value the extra cast distance and better balance, I say 2500 size reels are the only way to go with this rod, but you are free to do as you wish and tell me I’m wrong if you prefer the weight saving from a 2000. Honestly, a rod this light is best complimented with a high-end finesse reel; the 20 Luvias, 21 Revelry, or the 23 Airity are perfect options. I went with the Revelry – I’m an Iron Man fan.

If you’re reading this thinking why would anyone bother this much for bream, lucky for you this technique-specific setup suits a wide range of light tackle species. Two other scenarios I have used this combo for are land-based reservoir fishing for perch (when I need to get plastics out and over weedy margins), and flats fishing with bait for yellowfin whiting. On the days the yellowfin are being fickle and just sucking at the bait, this rod picks up the bites.

So, take this as my wholehearted endorsement to crack the piggy bank at least once to purchase the best rod for your style of fishing. If you think about it, when you factor in all the guilty doughnut runs you won’t need to take to soothe a bad day fishing. Really, you’re saving money… or buy that doughnut anyway – you deserve it.