Major Craft “Lati-Go” Rod Series

The Major Craft, Lati-Go rods have been exclusively designed for the European market and first appeared in March 2024. We had the opportunity to test them in the field and find out first-hand how they perform. At a first glance we can say that the Lati-Go series is anything but ordinary.

The development of the Lati-Go rod series, revolves around 4 axis: Strength, Sensitivity, Weight and Balance. On each one of the four parameters, Major Craft has scored the highest.

All three Major Craft “Lati-Go” rods are made of Toray's Torayca T1100G, Japan's finest carbon and Mitsubishi High Modulus carbon. In addition, the blanks are further strengthened using Major Craft’s R360 manufacturing method, to achieve a combination of Lightness, Strength and Sensitivity like never before. The “Lati-Go” will take HRF and Light Spinning fishing to a higher level. Under the R360 Technology, the arrangement of Carbon fibers in all directions have created a ultra-lightweight blank, that combines power and torque. Unlike the conventional carbon tape reinforcement on the blank’s surface, the blank itself is composed of carbon sheets, laid in the multi-axis directions. It is a blank structure that can respond to any force applied in a 360° degrees angle, hence it helps the rod’s blank section adopt to any direction the resistance is coming from.

What does this practically mean in the field? That Major Craft has achieved to create perfectly balanced rods, that are easy for anglers to use, with excellent casting performance, and can be used all day long without fatigue. For the development of the Lati-Go rods, Major Craft utilized the T1100G carbon sheets by Toray Industries. The T1100G is a nano-level carbon fiber material, that achieves both high strength and high elasticity modulus. It is a latest technology carbon material, used in the field of aerospace or in aircraft applications (such as the tail of planes and floor beams of Boeing 777s), where extreme performance is required. The difference between the T1100G Torayca® material and other composite materials is that when compared (Load vs Strain), they both behave identically until the maximum load, after which the T1100G resin shows a significant increase in energy absorption, offering 13% higher-strength and 10% higher-elasticity.

One last detail to remember about the Lati-Go rods, is the unique serial number, each rod carries in the butt. 

The LTG-792ML/S is a 1-12 gr Casting Weight Lati-Go rod, named Allegro. It comes in blue colors and has a quite edgy character. For certain, this rod does not belong in the pure Light Rock Fishing category, although it can handle light lures and take on big predators. We matched the Allegro with a Shimano Stradic Ci4+ 1000 and a PE0.4 braided line. The suggested max PE is 0.8. At first this combination of rod and reel felt comfortable to hold and well balanced. Numerous technical and rather demanding LRF lures were used, such as the Kudos Crankbait at 7.5 gr the Savage Gear Gravity Pencil at 5 and 8 gr, which were casted and worked in an impeccable manner by the Allegro. The tip's action is also extremely Fast, giving to this model a "nervous" profile. The Allegro rod is equipped with a Fuji TVS reel seat and Titanium Fuji K Type guides with Sic rings. Indeed, we felt that the Major Craft LTG-792ML/S performs better with compact sized lures and small jigs. A 10 gr jig will be beautifully casted and worked by this rod. Starting from 8 gr to 10 gr jigs, Pencils and compact Minnows are a perfect match to this rod.

Next in line, is a rod with Purple artworks on its blank, as well as on its cover. This is the “Lati-Go” Presto 822MH, with 10-32 gr Casting Weight at 2.5 meters of length. We rigged this rod with a Major Craft Ceana 2500 reel, carrying PE 1.0 braided line. The Presto rod ideally works with PE 0.8 up to PE 1.5. The fact that the LTGS-822MH can work even with PE 1.5 reveals that this rod has a lot of strength reserved in its blank, for a 10-32 gr Casting Weight class. We were positively impressed with the low weight and the tireless handling of this rod. The Presto rod was put against 20 to 28 gr lures, both floating and minnows. What was evident from the first moment of the field testing, and positively surprised us, was this rod's ability to instantly transmit to our palm, every bit of available information. When fishing with floating lures, this rod was very consistent in transmitting the "action", whether the rod's tip was pointing low, or during "skipping" retrieve. The low overall weight, its sharp action and the great capacity for strength, are few of the criteria to consider, when looking for a top quality, strong and easy to handle rod, for long fishing sessions.

The Major Craft R360 rod building technology has been utilized on the making of the Presto. The reel seat is VSS by Fuji. It is equipped with 10, low weight, Titanium Fuji K Type guides with Sic rings. The tip's bending curve stops in the 4th guide and the sturdy blank, sets you up for epic battles with tough, Spinning opponents. All in all the Lati-Go Presto is here to set new standards in Medium to Heavy Spinning.

We finally tested the Lati-Go series rod, with a casting weight of 3 - 18 gr and 2.40 m of length. We mounted this rod with a Daiwa Freams 2500 and PE0.8, as the max suggested PE is 1.0. This instantly means that we are dealing with a strong blank. The rod was tested with a wide range of lures, starting with a 14 gr IMA Salt Skimmer which was impeccably casted and worked by this Lati-Go rod, called Vivace. The butt is short, at 27 cm only and allows the angler to gain complete control over the lure. Next was a floating lure, the Sparrow 115 which weighs 17.4 gr and almost reaches the max Casting Weight of the LTGS-792M. It did not trouble us, neither during casting, not during handling the lure, demonstrating the blank's power. The Lati Go Vivace stands out by its red details. The 9 top-notch guides are Fuji K Titanium with Sic rings. Take a closer look to the tip's response rate, to better understand the rod's Fast action.