Three times Daiwa Emeraldas, Lake Snagov, Garam River, Atlantic Ocean

Until we get to the Daiwa Emeraldas reel, because we love stories, I'll tell them and you read them, that's why we're here, I'll start with one about Bogdan Doncea aka Cox. As a small parenthesis, monthly, you are several thousand readers of the AndyArif.ro blog, growing slowly but surely, a fact for which I want to thank in this way. Back to ours, on one of the famous and old super fishing parties on Sulina, Cox was catching walleye after walleye on a JDM wobbler. Not that he wasn't caught up in something else, see here fishing guide to fishing, but that's simply how he was surprised by the story with that charm-on-a-stick. All this happening in the field of vision of a private citizen equipped with a rigged boat who gave the wheel for several tens of minutes and had boarded (and released) (d) in the boat by Cox. Cox Score – Private Citizen, 30 – 0. Game over, chase and 3rd degree encounter on the shore, the private citizen comes and apostrophizes Cox: “Sir, what did you do to drive me crazy? I didn't catch anything." Cox tactically takes out the JDM wobbler from the kit, shows it, and instantly... Now comes the question, like Denise Rifai: "How much does it cost?". Not what the wobbler is, not how it is fished, not where it is found. "Around 100 lei..." replies Cox. "How about 100 lei? ME, with 100 lei, bought a rod, reel and line!". And he went, with gout and everything.

A 1000 lei combo, Daiwa Emeraldas reel, plus Arrow Air Pro rod, plus Stroft monofilament line

Based on the above premise, however, how much should a decent spin fishing combo cost? That 100 lei is still not enough for an excellent combo for beginners, good for amateurs and enough for professionals in extreme or simply commercial situations. Well, about 1000 lei is the answer. It's not just me, it's also the sum of some sums of personal experiences, but also questions asked by novice fishermen and answers received from experienced fishermen on this topic, either in blogs, videos, facebook groups, physical stores, fairs and or other platforms of socialization/communication between fishermen. Coincidence or not, I decided to do this exercise, I set my 1000 lei for a combo, just as the new Air Pro rods arrived at Arrow International. Why Air Pro? Because it was love at first sight and the price for such a rod was more than decent when we are talking about Toray blanks equipped with Fuji guides and rings. I chose two rods, for two combos, to serve me both in fishing for predators on lakes, but also on rivers, Air Pro ARR.S120.191 (1.97m/1-7g) and Air Pro ARR.S120.240 (2.43m/3-15g), 357 lei and 411 lei. We still had 600 lei available, what reels should we put?

From the product window, I chose Daiwa Emeraldas

I look long at the panel with reels from Arrow, the first option on the available budget would have been the reels from Savage Gear SG8, tried, tested, pleasant, but Daiwa still seems to give me more confidence. I scan from top to bottom, from Exist to Ninja and back, but in the middle of the board a reel catches my eye with blue and emerald inserts, which looks like it would fit perfectly with the design of the Air Pro rods, Daiwa Emeraldas. I give it a cold spin, I like it, I put it on the Air Pro rod, I like it, I give it another spin and start reading the description on the website... I also like the price, a little over 600 lei, we're in the chart .

The Emeraldas X LT reel is designed for cephalopod fishing. The ATD braking system provides essential progressiveness to keep the drill safe. Tough Digigear ensures smooth, durable and precise operation.

– ATD technology braking system
– Bearings: 5 + 1 including 4 CRBB
– Air Rotor frame and rotor in DS5
– Aluminum drum
– Placing the cross wire
– Threaded aluminum monobloc crank
– High density round EVA knob
– Braking force 5kg

Specifications:

Reel type: Front drag

Size: 2500

Drum capacity: 0.16 / 150 mm / m

Number of bearings: 5+1

Recovery ratio: 5.6:1

Recovery per crank turn: 79 cm

Weight: 205g

Blah, blah, blah, blah, what I retained at 600 lei after I liked how it spins were: the design, monobloc crank made of aluminum on thread and the fact that it is saltwater friendly. And that it is intended for fishing for cephalopods, these creatures smart, so a perfect choice. What I would have liked more, a drum shallow a bit more generous, forcing 100m of 0.20mm monofilament line in… and a higher recovery ratio, but nah, you can't have them all. We grind faster and thread less. In short, the two combo 1, combo 2, Air Pro, put on two Daiwa Emeraldas, X 20 LT 2500 and X 20 LT 3000. Budget 1000 lei per combo, fixed money left for a few rolls of monofilament thread Stroft. Why Stroft? Because…

Daiwa Emeraldas, in field test we trust, lake Snagov, Romania

The test bench followed faster than you could imagine, just a few days later we were entering the two combos directly into the competition Arrow Snagov Cup, stage in the national championship of fishing from a boat to rapitors of Romanian Spinning League. The first combo composed of Air Pro ARR.S120.191 (1.97m/1-7g), Daiwa Emeraldas X 20 LT 2500 and monofilament wire Stroft it did its job more than I expected, I used it 90% during the perch competition, skipping, jigging with 5 gram jigs and in micro wobbler fishing. Big like. I didn't miss my old Steez shod with high end Daiwa reels much. Please, I missed them a little, just enough to say "Hey, leave it!". The other combo, intended "somehow" for fishing for bream and bream rested quietly, mounted, properly in the boat. He probably knew it was coming an autumn with blackberries in a confrontation with the Garam River in Slovakia.

Queen Daiwa Emeraldas, King Garam River and M(a)reiner Pit, Slovakia

I knew it was coming, but I'm telling you this so that we can keep the same relationship of trust that we started with. In fact, for this expedition to Slovakia we had prepared Combo 2, Air Pro ARR.S120.240 (2.43m/3-15g), Daiwa Emeraldas X 20 LT 3000. From the beginning, it was intended for fishing on the river, for barbel, bream, perch, avat, saddle or whatever, because that's how it is on the river. Besides, that's what he said Malin Musatescu: "Arifule, get ready for the river king Garam with long rods because we will fish from the shore and from the water all the species of predators that we have been dreaming of for several years in Romania. Medium light is the name of the game." And so it was. You will see the full story of this expedition from Slovakia soon on Fishing and Hunting Channel, on my channel of Youtube and of course here, on AndyArif.ro. It is certain that Daiwa Emeraldas and Air Pro made a perfect team for 5 days in the fight with several dozen barbels, avats, perches and chubs. It was a fall with deep diver micro wobblers and 5cm rubbers mounted on 3-5 gram Cheburashka rigs and offset hooks. We have video evidence. And photo. The Daiwa Emeraldas reel holds up!

Daiwa Emeraldas in the footsteps of Christopher Columbus, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

The third one field test was the ultimate, saltwater and ocean fish far stronger than their freshwater cousins. After a few days of fishing from the shore at snook, diamond fish, lady fish, trevally and other species in the Atlantic Ocean can say on my heart that the Daiwa Emeraldas does not beat, chop and spin like it did the first day I took it out of the box. I didn't use the Air Pro rods here, because there is no travel version (yet), but I assume you know what travel kit I'm leaving in recent years after me. In terms of illusions, I only had Berti Helic and Typhoon Berti, probably the most versatile metal lures all around, at least in my opinion. And from here I will leave you with your eyes in the sun, because there is a lot to tell, as well as from the Garam river, but I promise to come back with details and separate articles about these gorgeous locations where we should all get to at least once in a lifetime.

Daiwa Emeraldas, Arrow Air Pro, Stroft, Taifun and others

I would be a hypocrite to say that these combos he used are the best in the amount of 1000 lei. There are certainly others, other companies, other prices, maybe better or with similar features and prices. Or to say the Air Pro is just like a Steez and Daiwa Emeraldas is just as good as an Exist or a Certate and not worth throwing your money away. I don't want to get into technical details about rod action and sensitivity, gear travel and reel brakes, or weights, design or other criteria that may dictate the correct price of a rig. What I can tell you is that in all these three moments that I told you about above I did not feel the need for another fishing equipment. And I go with them to where there will be more fish or new challenges. Arrow Air Pro + Daiwa Emeraldas + Stroft Color + Berti Taifun = LOVE