Its features
The North Fork Composite 739 IM is a 7.3-foot-long (2.21 m), fast-action blank with 25-80 g of power. As its name suggests, it's made from an intermediate carbon module which gives it a particularly reasonable weight, excellent resonance qualities, but also solidity and, icing on the cake, a very affordable price of less than 200 euros.
It is rated for a line weight of 14-30 lbs and can be used with braids ranging from PE1.5 to PE2. For many years now, this has been an essential reference for sea anglers, of course, but also for freshwater fishing enthusiasts, especially pike anglers.
Bar applications
As far as I'm concerned, it's now 4 years since the 739 joined my rod bundle with an initial vocation for bass fishing. In fact, it's a blank that accompanies me on all my outings when I'm targeting this species, and which I use with big lures, especially in linear and pulling action.
Its core products are the Crazy Eel 180, Nitro shad 150 with 35 to 40 g lead heads or the Black minnow 140 with 40 g head or the 160 model with 30 or 45 g head.
Nonetheless, this blank is at ease at the top and bottom of its power range, and you'll have no problem using it with smaller soft lures or big stickbaits like the Superspook or the Asturies 130 and 150 while maintaining good casting distances.
A huge reserve of power
The main feature of this blank is its power reserve in the tail. Combined with its wide casting range and medium length, this blank offers real versatility.
This blank is so powerful that some anglers have not hesitated to take it to exotic destinations and bring out powerful fish such as jacks weighing up to ten kilos. While this is obviously not its vocation, those who know this species will easily understand that this blank has it in spades!
My all-purpose rod for when I'm off-shore
Among rodbuilders, not least because this blank allows many different applications and does them particularly well, it has the nickname of "Swiss Army Knife" in obvious reference to its multifunctional nature.
As far as I'm concerned, it's an integral part of my bass faggot, but it's also the only blank I take on the boat when I head out to sea to track bluefin tuna. In fact, it not only allows me to fish my livebaits with a machine gun, but also to fish for pollock on deep heads with tapered jigs up to 150-200 g and soft lures fitted with lead heads over 100 g.
He also accompanies me in the hope of crossing paths with white tuna and setting up troll fishing with Paetas or swimming fish.
My assembly
On rods of this power, I'm more a fan of long handles, so I opted for a full-carbon handle, an IPS Fuji reel seat and a Torzite ring bar. However, on a blank of this power, this last option is not really useful and a set of rings with a titanium or steel frame is more than sufficient.
For bass fishing, I use a size 5000 reel with PE1.5 braid and for heavier offshore fishing for white tuna, I use a size 6000 reel with PE2 braid.
