top of page
Featured Posts
Recent Posts

13 Fishing / No.8 Tackle Enters SA


It’s not every day I get to do a rod review but I really love doing these. It forces me out to go fishing no matter what… WIN-WIN!

My parents came to visit from CPT and it was a fitting time to arrange a trip for my dad and I to do some fishing.

I had one major problem though, all the good private dams I know and have access to are just about empty.

This drought we are experiencing in SA has really had a major impact on my fishing adventures as I would imagine it has on many other anglers.

In Limpopo we have had little to none rain and it’s really getting beyond urgent for this El Nino to let up and for us to get some decent rain. At the time of writing this review Tzaneen’s level is 32%.

I arranged with one of my mates for another private venue that’s still got decent water to go out and fish to get the review done.

I could not launch my boat as the dam was about 50% and launching is not possible so I had to bank-bash which is still fine by me.

We will be looking at the No.8 Fishing Tackle Blackout rod in this review. No.8 Tackle is a sister company of the fast growing 13 Fishing company.

The story behind this rod and brand is close to my heart as Initially I wanted to import these but was beaten to the punch by another gentlemen. He is a great guy and agreed to the review easily and without fuss.

My main points of interest in this rod was quality at an affordable price. The R/$ is killing many people and prices are so high it is not viable to import costly brands for the everyday angler.

I opted for a 7’3 MH for use with my worming and jigs. When it arrived it looked super long but rest assured it was 7’3 and I think the skeleton build makes it look longer than it is. I might scale down to a 7’ when I get another just for personal preference.

Visually, it’s a real looker. It has a matt black finish with light silver branding. It is put together really well and certainly looks the part.

I fell in love with this blank! I cannot stress how much I like it, sure it’s really light but I have felt lighter from other brands. It falls well within the acceptable bracket for my preference. Weight is a big issue as most guys would know, fishing all day during comp or consecutive days really puts you through your paces and every little bit that can help goes a long way. The blank makes up for the 7'3 blanks little extra weight with superb sensitivity and a monster backbone!

This is my most favourite feature, it is insanely sensitive. While dragging my Texas rigged critter along the bed I could feel individual little stones and gravel and then the thud of hitting some wood. It was SUPERB!

As far as I understand this blank is made using a composite high modulus blend of 30 and 24 ton graphite coupled with No.8’s high performance resin this is called HTC3 by the manufacturer. To be honest I was a little sceptical as I am not a fan of blended things but I have to admit I was really surprised by the sheer power and sensitivity it delivered. It has a monstrous backbone which I also loved, I am a big fan of power in rods, it help me set the hook better, helps me guide the fish away from junk and grants me the power to winch a fish needed. I really put the rod through its paces, my baitcasters drag was set real tight and I wanted the rod to do the work. Many head thrashes and jerks after doing this I still managed to land fish on 12lbs test Roho Kamba. I did not land monsters but +-500g to a kilo fish. It surprised me once again, even with the drag set at crazy level the rod ate up allot of the tension.

I pit the rod against two other rods for casting test, a Berkley and a Defiance. I used the exact same baitcaster on each rod. I managed a good 1-2m gain on the Blackout! I liked that allot as I always feel I just fall short on some casts with a weightless or light pegged bait.

The guides are quality and well placed. They opted to make the first and tip guides mini guides and the middle guides are some sort of a hybrid between mini and micro guides. Although this sounds awkward and weird it really works well and looks good too! I have a concern here as with all micro-type guides on all rods that sport them, you will have to care for your rod really well. Take precaution to protect the guides and a rod sock will do well. Personally I always prefer mini guides but the Blackout might make me re-consider. Only time will tell.

The reel seat is raised and minimalistic or skeletal. I love this type of seat, it improves sensitivity and overall weight of the rod. The fastening screw is real quality and sturdy. It also has a little surprise with the words “Fish your heart out” inscribed around the screw base. The rod also has comfy EVA grips in black and the butt end cap has the No.8 Tackle logo on. Just about the only thing I really didn’t like was that the butt end did not have a soft feel like rubber etc. but a hard plastic end cap This causes a hard thud when putting the rod down on its butt end. In my opinion this does not affect performance in any way but is rather a personal preference for me.

I was so impressed with this blank and the rod overall I opted to buy the test rod from the importer. I will certainly be getting more of them too!

For the tournament angler who does not have 3k for a rod this is the perfect solution.

The price point should be about 1.2k per rod.

Remember to add the importer on Facebook under “13 Fishing South Africa”

a Big thank you to Dennis Lutge for all the no-fuss review!


Join our mailing list

Never miss an update

  • Facebook App Icon
bottom of page