I’ve been modern lure fishing for just over a year now and if there’s one thing that I’ve come to realise, it’s that there isn’t one rod that can do everything. Lure fishing isn’t a technique, it’s a whole discipline in itself and just like any other discipline of fishing, modern lure fishing requires several rods for different jobs and there are rods more suited to blasting hard-baits to the horizon for bass, to rods more suited to fishing soft plastics under your feet. Another thing I’ve come to realise over the past year is that Hart, imported into the UK by Tronixpro, have a pretty damn good range of rods developed for almost every eventuality that the UK modern lure angler may encounter.
A few months ago, I reviewed the Hart Bloody Epitaph2 (which you can check out here). This was designed for whacking out big lures and for vertical jigging. I also have a Hart Bloody Offshore 240, which is Hart’s general hard-bait, plugging rod (review coming soon!). But this month I thought I’d introduce you to two of Hart’s specific soft-plastic lure (SP) fishing rods, which have been specifically designed for two very different applications – the Hart Bloody Finezza Hedge and the Hart Bloody Night Ranger.
Hart Bloody Finezza Hedge
The Finezza Hedge is described as “a rod for supertechnical fishing styles with light vinyl’s”. I couldn’t have put it better myself. In a nutshell, the Hart Bloody Finezza Hedge has been created for what we call HRF – Hard Rock Fishing, and rated to cast soft-plastics and jigheads from 7-28g. At 2m (6.7ft) this rod is clearly not designed for long distance casting, but for fishing soft plastic lures at close range, in a harbour environment or out on the open coast. It comes fitted with Fuji guides and a Fuji reel seat, as do all the rods in the Bloody range, but what makes this rod unique from other HRF rods is it has an inserted, solid, fiberglass tip. This amplifies the sensitivity of this rod ten-fold, making it perfect for fishing in the roughest terrain with soft plastics of less than an ounce, whilst remaining in contact with what’s going on at the business end, all the time. With the lightest HRF soft plastics, you will feel every bounce of the lure along the bottom, and even the subtlest bites from the smallest of species, will register in the tip extremely clearly.
I’ve been using the Bloody Finezza Hedge since last summer and all I can say is that I’m in love. Its short length is perfect for rock hopping and spending whole days scrambling the coast. It’s sensitivity means that I’m aware of everything that’s going on and I lose less tackle with it than any other HRF rod I’ve put my hands on to date, plus I get to feel the slightest bites from small Pollack, yet the rod retains enough reserve power in the butt section to subdue the largest of hard-fighting Wrasse! To date my biggest Ballan on the Finezza is 4lb 14oz – in fact it’s landed more Ballan’s over 4lb than I can count and will hopefully be responsible for landing my first 5lb Ballan, on lure, later this year.
If you’re looking at getting into HRF fishing with soft-plastics, the Hart Bloody Finezza Hedge is a ‘must’ to check out!
The Hart Bloody Finezza Hedge
- One piece Supertechnical rod
- Designed for fishing with light vinyl’s (soft-plastics)
- Length – 2.00m (6’ 7”)
- Casting weight 7-28g
- Light/Fast action
- Perfect for UK HRF fishing
Cost £197.99 or less, the Hart Bloody Finezza Hedge rod is available from Glasgow Angling Centre and other TronixPro stockists.
Hart Bloody Night Ranger
Hart’s Night Ranger is described as “a rod specially designed for Light Rock Fishing”. Light Rock Fishing, or LRF as it is otherwise know, is the light-tackle brother of HRF (Hard Rock Fishing) and is generally regarded as fishing soft plastics and hard lures, less that 7g. So where the Hart Bloody Finezza Hedge has been designed to fish with heavier soft-plastics over 7g, the Night Ranger (and the Night Ranger EVO) have been designed to fish with ultra-light soft-plastics and other lures in harbours and on the open coast, which weigh between 1-7g.
Again, like the Finezza Hedge, the Night Ranger comes fitted with Fuji guides and a Fuji reel seat, but instead of having a light fast action like the Finezza, the Night Ranger has a semi-parabolic action. In our terms, that’s a slow progressive action which curves from rod tip to rod butt and this is for good reason. One, it provides nothing short of excellent sport when fishing for mini-species like Scorpion fish, Blennies and Gobies; but two, if you should hook something larger, which is often the case when fishing LRF tactics with light lines, this progressive action will absorb any serious lunges from the fish which will give you a better chance of landing your catch without the line breaking. This is one tough rod that hasn’t been designed just for little fish but any sized fish. The only thing little about this rod is the ‘little’ ultra-light lures it was designed to be used with!
I first saw the Hart Bloody Night Ranger at last years Tackle & Gun trade show, and from that moment I had to have one! My main plan for this rod was to use it for shallow water estuary bassing, with finesse lures, later this summer – and for a little mini-species fishing around Plymouth seafront, but since it arrived I’ve found that it also doubles up as a great light freshwater lure rod for Perch and Chub. I even took it light tackle Wrassing and it coped with Wrasse to 3lb, around some of the harshest rock and kelp, with ease. I can’t wait to use it Bassing later this year!
To sum up, if you’re looking for an ultra-light lure rod, that will cope with everything from mini-species to big Ballan Wrasse and Bass, and even double up as a light freshwater lure rod, you won’t go far wrong by checking out the Hart Bloody Night Ranger!
Also available the Hart Bloody Night Ranger EVO 2.16m 1-3.5g
The Hart Bloody Night Ranger
- Two piece specially designed Light Rock Fishing rod
- Designed for fishing with ultra-light vinyl’s (soft-plastics)
- Length – 2.24m (7’ 3”)
- Casting weight 3-7g
- Semi-parabolic (slow, progressive through) action
- Perfect for UK LRF fishing
Cost £177.99 or less. Glasgow Angling Centre stock both the Hart Bloody Night Ranger and the Hart Bloody Night Ranger EVO, they are also available from other TronixPro stockists.
Iridium Spheric 4011 and Iridium Spheric 2511
I’ve wasted enough page space already, so I won’t bang on, but if you’re looking for reels to pair with the Hart Bloody Finezza Hedge or Night Ranger, Iridium’s Spheric range offer great value. On my Finezza I have a Spheric 4011 and on my Night Ranger I have the Spheric 2511. Both are made from ultra-light corrosion-resistant graphite and feature 11 bearings, a high-precision micro-adjustable front drag, a heavy-duty bail arm with an oversized line roller, an extra-thick machined aluminium handle with soft grip, and a light-weight aluminium spool. Both also come with a spare spool. The Iridium Spheric 4011 has a retrieve ratio of 4.9:1 and holds up to190m of 0.30mm braid, the Spheric 2511 has a retrieve ratio of 5.2:1 and holds up to 125m of 0.22mm braid.
More than enough cranking power and more line than you’ll ever need in a month of Sundays. Two great reels to pair with two great rods!
Cost £81.99 and £74.99 respectively
HART fishing is owned by Spanish tackle giants, Evia with distribution in the UK handled by top tackle company, Tronixpro. For more information visit the Tronixpro web site.
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