Think Less, Fish More with Megabass of America's F5-75XX EMTF

Total Score: 8.25 - GREAT

Introduction: For a company once considered somewhat boutique and highly stylized (maybe even a little quirky), Megabass, or more accurately, Megabass of America is quite mainstream nowadays. Once upon a time, the manufacturer's fishing rods each had their own handle designs - not each series, but each individual fishing rod. Though the spirit of this approach is reflected in the current Destroyer lineup, for the most part, the practice has been abandoned and can no doubt attributed to the company's growth and need to be more efficient to meet demand.

Megabass of America revamped Orochi XX for 2018

The company's Orochi XX series of rods is a case in point. Though the homogenization of their product line began long before this series introduction, it was almost as if that approach was begun with Orochi XX in mind. It was this series that the company introduced their first, made for the North American fisherman collection of fishing rods and it was this collection that helped the company become more mainstream

The new blank wrap features metal micro-fibers

Early in 2018, the company debuted Orochi XX gen 2, a revamped series of rods taking on more traditional "JDM" styling. The F4.5-74XXS Enforcer took home Editor's Choice Award honors after its review last June, and now it's about time we take a look at another rod in that same series. Here's our take on Megabass of America's Orochi XX F5-75XX Extreme Mission Type-F (EMTF).

Today, we take a closer look at the F5-75XX EMTF

Impressions: The Extreme Mission Type-F (EMTF) is a seven foot, five inch (7'-5") stick made from Megabass of America's proprietary X47-ASL Metal Fiber Blank material code named kabt (ka-boo-toh). This blank is the company's latest strategy on the cross weave, multi-axis arrangement of underlying material that the majority of JDM companies now employ (e.g. Daiwa, Shimano, Evergreen International). However, instead of relying upon carbon fiber material, Megabass is using metal micro fibers in these blanks claiming better tensile strength and resilience resulting in a blank with more strength and integrity.

The EMTF is a stick made for moving baits

Otherwise, the EMTF features a full rear grip made of cork, Megabass's traditional custom designed locking mechanism, and a custom designed reel seat. Guides on the EMTF are Fuji, stainless steel framed SiCs. Put side by side against the original Orochi XX, and the new sticks look and feel much more expensive, but retail is the same.

Time to push the limits of this stick