Megabass Lays Destruction to the Perception of JDM(continued)

Of the three rods Megabass USA sent in, this is the one Cal had to have.

Introducing the F6-72X4 Destruction.

When Megabass USA mentioned they wanted to send the X4 Destruction together with the other two sticks, I agreed, but really, did not expect much based on my past experience with the original. I figured I'd WRACK it up, and send it back. Well, I soon found out the F6-72X4 Orochi X4 Destruction is a different animal than its predecessor. The second I picked it up, I could not believe it was based on the original Orochi Huge Contact Destruction. Gone was the heavy, clumsy feel I recalled of the previous version, and in was a new, lighter rod with a very responsive tip. As tested, the F6-72X4 came in at only five ounces, 1.6 ounces less than the original.  But, and there’s always  “but”, the rod has a balance point of nine inches above the centerline of the reel seat. Not great but it shares a similar balancing torque to the Daiwa Steez STZ741XHFBA-XBD with 0.23 ftlbs - decent.

Now in all fairness, the original Orochi Huge Contact Destruction’s model number was F7-74DG, so it was rated a full step heavier in power and had two extra inches in length than the X4 Destruction. In reality, while they may share the same “Destruction” name, these are not the same sticks. Regardless, and needless to say, Megabass USA did not get the X4 Destruction rod back. No, I had the perfect testing ground for this rod in mind, so instead of finding this stick in the return tube with the F3-610X4S and FX-711X4, they received a call with my credit card number and an authorization to charge!

Fig 3: This chart illustrates the deflection characteristics of the new Orochi X4 F6-72X4 (yellow curve) versus the original "Destruction" rod (orange curve). Note how both curves start and end very similarly, but how the yellow curve has higher values in the middle suggesting the X4 Destruction has a much softer tip.

Where was this testing ground you ask? Of course, it was the Amazon. With a rod this powerful, there’s little question it can hold up to catching a few largemouth, but after the positive lab results of the X4 Aaron Martens Limited and X4 Seven Eleven, I had to see for myself, what these new X4 blanks were all about. Yes, I took it upon myself to reshuffle my planned arsenal for the Amazon and made room for this new stick from Megabass. Quite the sacrifice, but someone had to do it.

Fig 4: This chart illustrates the deflection characteristics of the new Orochi X4 F6-72X4 (yellow curve) versus our Search For One baseline rod (orange curve) and our All Purpose Big Stick Average (red curve). Note how the yellow curve pretty much splits the difference suggesting the F6-72X4 might be more at home used as a heavy or extra heavy rod rather than an all purpose bass stick or a big bait stick.

F6-72X4 Orochi Destruction: Before packing the rod up for the Amazon, I did run it through our standard barrage of lab tests including an appointment with the RoD WRACK. Naturally it was quite a bit more powerful than our Search For One candidates, yet still because of its tip, this stick felt more versatile than its power would suggest.

Fig 5: Add to Fig 4, the curves of Evergreen's Super Stallion (light blue curve) and Daiwa's XBD Steez Frog Rod (purple curve) and the proper technique fit for the F6-72X4 begins to take shape. But it's still a bit lighter in power than either of these two sticks.

Fig 6: This chart offers up our last comparison and illustrates the deflection characteristics of the new Orochi X4 F6-72X4 (yellow curve) versus two heavy powered bass rods, an MBR844C GLX (orange curve) and a Phenix MBX707H (red curve). The F6-72X4 shares a similar tip to these two sticks, but even more backbone.