BWG Roho Kamba 100% Fluorocarbon
Traditionally I am very weary of going sub 12lbs on any type of line. I just don’t have confidence in line that I snap with little or no effort between my hands and in past experience where we broke off multiple fish on 10lbs during comp day really sealed the deal on it. Sometimes however in super clear water you have to make the exception and excuse the pun but I call it “spool shit or don’t get bit” where you spool sub 10’s and hope to get the fish away from cover and tired without snagging or breaking off. Spooling thicker, stronger line you just cut your strike rate in half so what choice would you make?
With winter rolling in fast, dropping water temps and also being met with quick dropping water levels on our larger dams it was the perfect opportunity to work on my winter and ledge fishing skills as I promised myself I would do this winter.
I spooled up with 20lbs Maji Kamba braid backing followed by about 15 meters 10lbs BWG Roho Kamba 100% Fluorocarbon; my main rig for this rod would be a drop shot. I was testing this on comp day… I usually don’t test stuff on competition days but it was the ideal opportunity to test this line on exactly the type of fishing I would use it for.
After bad mechanical problems and a morning riddled with issues we were finally on the water. We lost out on the first hour due to having to idle to our plan A site.
We tried a little sunny western bank fishing in transit to our spot; it delivered one fish on a mojo rigged Venom skip shad.
Roha Kamba is perfect for your dropshot applications:
We found a deep step with a nice “glory hole” (my ancient x51 says there are at least 30 nice fish in it Haha can I trust this reading? I need someone with proper electronics to survey it but I don’t want to give away the spot just yet) and this was unbeknown to me so I marked a new spot at least. I don’t want to disclose too much as I would like to first go back and look at it some more but at least idling along gave one positive thing I left the spot without fishing it.
Finally reaching the plan A spot I wanted to fish initially we were met by another two boats sitting right on top of it +-80m apart. I had to move on to plan B.
Reaching our second spot I could start to fish, FINALLY! Wasn’t long before I felt a super subtle bite and wham, I was into a fish, which in turn threw my hook like a bad habit half way through the retrieve. This really made my “moer-meter” spike.
Trying to coax it again I got snagged on some hard brush and this is where I got some serious respect for this line. I pulled and tugged and barely managed to snap it! It was super strong! Felt like I was pulling on some 15lbs wire! That really impressed me.
Not always about size, when the fishing is this tough quantity is very appreciated!
Now for the important stuff:
Not only was it really strong it was super sensitive too, I was able to feel a great deal on 10M+ presentations and I loved that. Roho Kamba also held up great at the knots, as always, taking care and time tying your knots saves you frustration during the day. After a full days fishing even the join where I joined my fluoro to the braid backing was still very strong and ready for more although I would not recommend ever to not retie the join every 2 hours or so, I was out testing durability.
Now, many people won’t recommend braid backing for this type of fishing either, for one simple reason: Braid floats and it will eat some of your precious time waiting for your bait to reach desired depth, but I can tell you why I like it…
Its super sensitive
You have less stretch when setting the hook on those 10m+ drops
Its very thin and strong
I have confidence in it.
Back to Roho Kamba:
Pros:
Great strength
Great knot strength
Awesome price point
All the right features, sensitive and strong
Cons:
This might seem stupid but it’s really true. A lot of fishermen like flashy things!
The packaging is a bit bland, it has come to my attention though that it is being re-branded with new stickers etc. which are looking good. Although Roho Kamba is very well priced when compared to other products on the market, Fluoro is just expensive in general and in my opinion a waste if you are a weekend warrior or just fishing for fun. I would not recommend it for someone whose rod will be in the garage most of the year. UPDATE:
New packaging is looking SWEET:
Verdict:
I am sold on BWG’s Roho Kamba its great line at a great price. Solid performance matched with great sensitivity. It’s certainly spooled on more than a few of my on-deck rods. I have replaced my finesse rigs with this line and soon will be testing the 8lbs as the 10lbs is very tough.
-AvS
