Evergreen International Kaleido Inspirare TLIC-71MH Super Stallion Black Product Review

Enthusiast Review

Evergreen International's Next Generation Super Stallion

Date:	11/4/18
Tackle Type:	Rod
Manufacturer:	Evergreen International
Reviewer:	Cal

Total Score: 8.25 - ULTIMATE ENTHUSIAST AWARD

Introduction: Back in 2011, I wrote about a very special fishing rod from Evergreen International. It was their super stick, the TKLC-71MHX Super Stallion - a rod that sat within their top end Kaleido series. It remains to this day, one of the most versatile, 7'-1" sticks you can fish. While traveling in Japan in 2013, I came across a variant of this stick in Evergreen's new Kaleido Inspirare series. It was a stick with the same name and ratings only with a different, more aggressive handle design. Here now is our look at Evergreen International's Inspire Super Stallion Black!

Evergreen's Super Stallion has an alter ego.

Evergreen International Kaleido Inspirare TKIC-71MH Super Stallion Specifications
Material	Proprietary blank with 4 axis 45d and 30d crossweave technology
Length	7'-1"
Line Wt.	12-30lb
Lure Wt.	3/8oz - 3oz
Pieces	2
Guides	9+tip (Fuji Ti/SiC semi-micro)
Rear Handle Length	11.5"
Power Rating	Heavy
Taper	Fast
Rod Weight	4.6 oz
Origin	Made in Japan
MSRP	79,000 JPY

It is the Kaleido Inspirare Super Stallion Black.

Impressions: Evergreen International's Kaleido Inspirare series is touted as a refinement of the original Kaleido with updated blank technology, incorporation of lighter, semi-micro guides, and elimination of the rod's foregrip. The end goal was to create a series of rods that were lighter overall and even more responsive than the original Kaleido series.

Instead of a foregrip, this rod features this decorative cap to the handle assembly.

The TKIC-71MH Super Stallion Black is a seven foot, one inch (7'-1") stick built in two pieces: the handle section and the rod. The handle section is built with a split rear grip made of EVA foam, a Fuji ECS reel seat, and a reel seat lockring featuring a graphite inlay and decorative metal winding check. The business section of the rod is mostly unfinished with the visible carbon weave reinforcement. Overall, the TKIC-71MH is a more aggressively styled, contemporary counterpart to the original Super Stallion.

The TKIC-71MH comes with a Fuji ECS reel seat.

Real World Tests: I fished several different reels on this stealthy new rod. The first was Shimano Japan's 2013 Metanium, then their 2015 Metanium DC, before finally settling on the 2016 Antares DC. The latter is definitely a better match for this stick cosmetically though all three reels fish incredibly well on this stick.

Checking out the tip.

Casting: The TKIC-71MH comes with a recommended lure weight between three eighths of an ounce all the way up to three ounces (3/8oz - 3oz) and it handles this weight range with equal aplomb to its predecessor. I spent most of my actual fishing time (as opposed to tying on different baits just to see how well the rod casts each bait) with this stick using baits that fell somewhere in the middle of that range around one to two ounces (1-2oz) and found this to be a nice sweet spot (the midrange of a rod's lure rating will typically be that stick's casting sweet spot anyway).

Launching a Megabass MagSlow bait.

Sensitivity: One area that an Evergreen international stick with the series name "Kaleido" on it rarely disappoints is sensitivity. The TKIC-71MX has very good sensitivity. I fished Megabass's new MagSlow bait extensively on this rod and had a really good feeling of what the bait was doing at the end of the line. In fact, I could feel the nudges and bumps the bait was getting before fish finally committed to eating it - and yes, I did swing at some boulders and clumps of grass. Just because you can feel what's going on at the end of the line, doesn't always mean you know what's going on at the end of the line!

Fig 1 : The chart above illustrates the deflection characteristics of our Evergreen International Kaleido Inspirare TKIC-71MH Super Stallion against the original Super Stallion and our legacy MBR844C GLX.

Power: Normally, when a stick has "MH" as part of its model number designation, the two letters stand for "medium heavy" in reference to the rod's power. Another possible interpretation of these two letters would be "moderate" for the taper and "heavy" for the power. Considering this rod's performance, either of these translations really make sense for this rod. The TKIC-71MH is every bit a heavy powered stick and if you reference its deflection chart above, you can see it lines up almost perfectly with our legacy MBR844C GLX.

A look at the crossweave technology reinforcing the strength of this blank.

Next Section: Power afforded by the Crossweave...