Lamiglas SS101MHS
Field Test by: Stephen Knapik
NYSDEC Licensed Fishing Guide # 4321
Product: Lamiglas SS101MHS built by Lamiglas & Stephen Knapik
Blank: SSU 1201MHS
Rod Rating: 10’ with a lure rating of 2 to 6 ounces and a line rating of 17 to 40 #’s. Tip size of 9 and a butt diameter of 1.030”. Average weight is approximately 8.5 ounces
Color of Blank: Dark Forest Green
Modifications: I left the factory reel seat in place and I covered the cork taped handle with black vinyl shrink-wrap. I used 6 Fuji Hardloy BSVLG guides # 50, 40, 30, 25, 20, & 16 at distances of 60”, 45”, 34”, 24”, 15”, and 7” from the tip of the rod. The distance from the reel spool to the stripper guide was 36”. The center of the reel seat from the butt measured
22 ¾”. While many anglers choose to use only four or five guides I prefer using six guides for better control and accuracy of my casts.
Setup: Van Staal 250B with 50# Power Pro braided line/ 50#
Fluorocarbon leader and duo-lock snap.
Date of Field test: Sunday February 3, 2008 from 1:00 P.M. till 2:30 P.M.
Place of Field test: Jones Inlet, NY
Conditions: Sunny skies, air temp 46 degrees, water temp 45 degrees, inlet seas were calm with an flooding tide, winds were west/southwest at 5 to 10 knots.
Plugs used in field test: Bucktails: 3/4, 1, 1 ½, 2, 2 ½ & 4 ounces.
Bomber long A 7/8 ounce, Super Strike 7 ¼” Needlefish 1 ¾ ounces,
6" 2
1/8oz Super Strike Little Neck Deep Diver (Bottle Plug) Super Strike
Darter 2 3/8 ounce, Gibbs Metal lip 3 1/2 ounce, Gibbs Canal Pencil 3 1/8 ounce, Storm Shad 3” 4” and 9”, Hopkins lures 1, 2 & 4 1/2 ounce, Super
Strike Popper 2 ¼ ounce .
When I first received this ten foot partially built surf rod from Lamiglas this past January ’08, I noticed this “Medium Heavy” rod was rather thin and light with a medium/fast taper. According to Lamiglas this blank is rated for 2 to 6 ounces with a line weight of 17 to 40 pounds. Lamiglas states: “Using a proprietary blend of intermediate and high modulus

graphite, the blanks deliver unquestioned strength and durability while maintaining the agility, responsiveness and lightweight nature of a complete graphite build”.
This blank was designed to resist ovaling and failure common when surf rods are put under tremendous pressure, especially when fishing with the newer “braided” micro-filament fishing lines.
When physically compared to the Lamiglas GSB 1201M the GSB is rated
4 to 12 ounces (over stated ) with a butt diameter of .790”, a tip size 11, line weight of 40#’s and an overall blank weight of 11.75 ounces. The
SSU 1201 MH blank is actually 3.25 ounces lighter than the GSB 1201M yet seems to have some substantial backbone on weighted static testing.
I decided to leave the factory Fuji reel seat in its original place at a short length of 22 ¾” from the butt. I usually tape my reels on at a distance of approximately 24” from the butt. However, the shorter distance with the factory reel seat I was able to deeply load this rod with ease and comfort using many various plugs and lures. Please keep in mind I am not a tall person at 5’ 7”.
Lamiglas requested that this rod be field tested by the end of March due to its catalog deadline. The problem with field testing a new rod in early
February here in the northeast is that fish such as Striped Bass, Bluefish and Weakfish are not around to catch and are at least two to three months away. So the best I can report on is how the rod loads and feels during casting and retrieving. As of this writing I have no real life data on how the rod will handle a fast swimming large striped bass, bluefish or weakfish. I can only speculate how it will function. I will give you that opinion this upcoming season when the bass and bluefish hit our beaches and inlets.
When I arrived at Jones Inlet I had the place to myself with bright sunny skies overhead. The air and water temps were mild for this time of year and I had suddenly broke out of my cabin fever.
I decided to immediately put this rod through a complete yet hard workout. I began by tossing a 9” 3 3/8 ounce wooden Gibbs Canal Pencil
Popper. The rod load extremely well allowing the plug to travel straight and far on several repeat casts. The plug danced well on the surface of the water using 50 # Power Pro line. I have always found pencil popping effective at catching decent fish but very tiring in general for someone who seems to develop tendonitis during the season on a regular basis. The rod flexed well with a repeated back and forward motion yet somewhat slightly stiffer than my Lami GSB 1201M. Still no complaints since it took little effort to get the plug to dance on top of the water.

My next plug in my arsenal was a Super Strike Darter with a weight of 2
3/8 ounces. The plug loaded well on repeated casts and I was able to accurately place it on the surface of the water. I was able to stay in full contact with this plug the entire time, which is very important when tossing darters especially at night. Following the darter I switched over to a Big “Danny” metal lipped swimmer. This plug has a habit of catching the wind on me from time to time. But today since the winds were light the plug loaded and casts very well. This plug too was easy to feel at all times.
Now I decided to try a Long A Bomber that only weighs 7/8 of an ounce.
As you can guess this plug is difficult to load on any heavy surf rod. I decided to do a test by casting it down the beach with the light wind at my back. After several repeated casts I was able to toss the plug only 50 measured yards. I then repeated the same test but this time I was facing the wind. I was able to toss the plug about 25 to 30 yards. Although a plug this light doesn’t load well on this type of rod I was still able to toss it far enough that it could be used effectively. Despite the 2-ounce minimum rating for this rod I still was able to feel the plug move through the water.
I soon began tossing several different tins such as Ava Jigs and Hopkins lures from 1 ounce to 4 ½ ounces. As you can guess they can go a country mile! This rod handles a 4 1/2-ounce tin with ease and a 1-ounce tin as well. With a fast moving inlet current it was sometimes difficult to feel the lighter 1-ounce tin but it’s certainly doable. I even tossed a few Storm
Shads. The 9” monster storm shad that has a weight of about at least 4 ounces loaded well with little wobble. The little storm shads don’t load as well but because of their design they cast well enough and have great sensitivity when retrieved with braided line.
As the afternoon started to wind down I reached for a bunch of bucktail from ¾ of an ounce to 4 ounces. The 4-ounce bucktail casted like a dream, far and accurate. With the fast moving inlet water I was able to stay in compete control of the lure. The same goes for the other bucktails down to
1-½ ounces. Once I started tossing ½ to 1-ounce bucktail they did not load the rod at all yet I was still able to toss them a decent distance. The feel for these light bucktails was present probably more so because of the braided line rather than the rod itself.
I wanted to see how the rod would bend if hooked into a big bass. So since it is early February and there are no fish around I decided to try a nonscientific experiment. I walked down the beach to a big old wooden log. I planted a 2-ounce bucktail into the wood and walked back about 75 yards and put as much reasonable pressure on the blank to see if the rod tries to roll out of my hands or flattens. I had the rod bent like a candy cane and

guess what? The rod stayed fairly straight and it was still round without any ovaling as seen on other surf blanks. I was truly impressed.
My first impression of the SSU 101MHS is sweet. I might even use this as my go to rod this season in replacement of my GSB 1201M. The SSU
101MHS handles well, loads well and has great sensitivity. The fact that it keeps its shape under pressure is very impressive. My only complaint is more personal than anything else. I don’t generally like reel seats but
Lamiglas simply put this one to close to the butt of the blank for my liking, making it difficult to keep a decent amount of rod between my legs.
Since it’s too early to know how this rod will handle big fish I will reserve judgment until that time. However, just working with what I have done today I feel fairly confident that it will be able handle decent size fish.
If I had to give this rod a rating on a scale of 1 to 10 (ten being the best) without catching any fish on it I would probably give this rod an 8 to 9 rating. That of course could change up or down once I know how it will handle an array of big and small fish.
Todd, thanks for the opportunity to test this rod!
Steve Knapik