Introduction: If you've been following along with the saga that is TackleTour's 2008 Swimbait Rod Wars, you've probably been wondering what is up with all these lightweight excuses for big bait sticks. Aside from the XH Okuma product covered in our very first review under this theme, all the sticks so far are sorry excuses for TRUE big bait casting platforms - namely for baits in excess of 5 ounces! Well, just as with any foray into an extremely physical endeavor, it's a good idea to do some stretching and warm up exercises beforehand. We're done warming up here at TackleTour, introducing the first of our true heavy hitting swimbait rods, Lamiglas's XC807 Big Bait Special!
 

Spine, Weight, and Balance Point: As previously mentioned, our XC807 weighed in at an even nine (9) ounces with a balance point pretty far up the blank - a full ten inches above the centerline of the reel seat. As heavy and out of balance those stats may seem, this measurement is right in line with the Okuma GS-C-711XH reviewed earlier that weighed in at 8.9 ounces with a balance point of 10.5" above the centerline of the reel seat, so the XC807. The similarly rated Dobyns 807MAGH is heavier still at 9.9 ounces, but that extra ounce or so of weight, was placed at the back end of the rod bringing the 807MAGH's balance point to only 5.5" above the centerline of the reel sett. Finally, we located the Lamiglas XC807's spine at the bottom of the rod.

The XC807 is one stout rod!
 

Rated a fast action stick, it feels more like a mod-fast taper

Real World Test: The XC807 from Lamiglas is a serious swimbait stick with serious dimensions. Leave it to the crew at TackleTour to take an unconventional angle with this stick by pairing it to a relatively small, low profile casting reel in the Shimano Antares DC7. Of course, we later switched out this reel and replaced it with the Daiwa Millionaire I'ZE Black Sheep just to be able and match the XC807 up with a reel that seemed a more appropriate scale for the task at hand.

Matched with an Antares DC7
 

Complete Field Test Set-Up for Lamiglas XC807 Big Bait Special
Reel(s)	Shimano Antares DC7	Daiwa Millionaire I'ZE Black Sheep 250
Line	65lb Suffix Performance Braid	20lb Cuda Copoly
Primary Baits Fished	Rago 10" Tool	Spro BBZ-1 Slow Sink

Casting: The XC807 we received from Lamiglas was actually mislabeled with regard to its lure rating. When we pulled it out of the shipping tube and saw its rating of 3/4-3 ounces, we immediately called John Posey of Lamiglas for clarification. Their website specifies this rod at 1-6 ounces, and it feels every bit of that rating if not more when you pick it up. John acknowledged the error in this rod's labeling and offered to send us a new sample. We declined his generous offer since the label has no effect on the rod's performance. However, we did notice an online shop or two that had this error in their rating of the rod as well, so be mindful when you're shopping for this stick online that the correct lure range rating for this rod is what's represented in this review.

 
The biggest, baddest bait, to date, in Cal's swimbait box, the 8.7 ounce, 10" Rago Tool

Of course, once we got out on the water with this stick, I immediately forgot what the correct rating was supposed to be, so the first bait I tied onto it was the biggest, baddest bait I had in my Lakewood A048 swimbait box - the 8.7 ounce Rago 10" Tool. Understandably, the XC807 was overmatched.

 
But someone forgot to tell Cal the XC807 is only rated for up to 6 ounce lures!

I couldn't get a comfortable cast off with this bait on the XC807 and was ready to condemn the rod for being unable to handle that bait until I got home to recheck the rod's proper rating and realized I was the one in error expecting too much of this stick to handle a bait so far above its lure rating. The hazards of having so many new sticks to test at the same time!

WHIFF!

 

Rewinding a bit back to that same day, and still on the water, after coming to the conclusion the 10" Tool was too much for this rod, I pulled out a Spro BBZ-1 instead. After tying this more appropriately sized bait onto the end of the line, I started firing away over open water and was met with much better results! This bait weighs approximately 4.5 ounces and is right in the wheelhouse of the XC807. Overhead and sidearm casts were all met with ease.

 
Despite the whiff of a cast, the XC807 still managed to get that huge bait out a good distance.

Next Section: Sensitivity, Power & Applications