Total Sea Magazine

The Shimano ForceMaster is a three-piece beachcaster with three models in the range – 4.25 metres rated to cast up to 200g, 4.5 metres and five metres rated to cast 225g. They’re constructed from a combination of Geofibre and XT40 carbon to provide a crisp action yet retain good bite sensitivity. They have a fixed reel seat positioned a comfortable distance up from the bottom of the butt allowing you to get good leverage into a cast. The 4.25m and 4.5m models have seven guides and the 5m rod has eight due to its extra length.

We acquired the 4.5m version. Its striking scarlet graphics stand out well on the black carbon blank. One very neat feature is the textured grips either side of the joints. This makes taking the rod apart very easy, especially when your hands are cold and wet. The tip is plain black carbon, so it would be a good idea to add bands of reflective tape to aid bite detection. The large butt guide will break down the large coils of line that come off a fixed-spool reel during a cast. The tip guide measures a sensible 12mm; this will allow you to wind small clumps of weed in with the leader knot instead of having to stop when you have a fish wallowing in the backwash.

For the test the rod was matched with Shimano’s Ultegra XSB loaded with 15lb mono and a tapered shockleader. On the end was a single-hook clipped-down rig with a 170g lead to carry the bait through a 30mph wind. These conditions would be a very good test to see how the rod handles rough conditions. The wind was coming off the sea at a 45-degree angle, so when I turned into the cast I was hitting straight into the teeth of it. To combat this I had to keep the cast very flat and the trajectory of the rig very low to maximise distance. If I cast too high the wind would have caught the line, making the cast drop short. The rod coped well with being hit hard but was a bit of a handful when reeling in because the extra length was caught by the wind, blowing me backwards. Even putting lots of power into the cast, the rod loaded and unloaded smoothly and didn’t appear to be underpowered. A 150g lead didn’t carry well enough in the conditions and the two casts I had with a 200g lead went okay but the recovery was noticeably slower. I stuck with the 170g because this loaded the rod best and coped admirably in those conditions.

When in the rest, I kept the rod tip fairly low, even though the waves rhythmically pulled it down. If I’d stuck it up high to keep the line out of the waves the wind would have blown it from the rest, so I chose the lesser of two evils.

Overhead casts didn’t send the rig far enough into the wind and I found a ground cast with more body rotation loaded the rod better and gave superior distance. I’m sure that in easier conditions an overhead style would work well for most situations.

INFORMATION
Blank material: Geofibre and XT40 carbon
Overall length: 4.5 metres
Casting weight: 225g
Sections: Three
Rings: Seven plus tip ring
Reel seat/coasters: Fixed screw-down reel seat
RRP: £159.99

TSF RATINGS
Appearance: ★★★★★★★★★★
Casting: ★★★★★★★★★★
Fishing: ★★★★★★★★★★
Value for money: ★★★★★★★★★★

Contact: Shimano UK Ltd on 01386 425824
Website: www.shimano.com