Gary Howard Custom 9' 24kg LBG/ Drone Rod

Gary Howard Custom 9’ 24kg E-Glass Land Based Game Rod

THE POWER TO STOP THEM. THE FORGIVENESS TO KEEP THEM HOOKED. THE LEVERAGE TO BRING THEM HOME.

Purpose-built for serious drone fishing, beach fishing and land-based pelagic action.

When you’re battling powerful pelagic fish from the beach, you need more than just brute strength. You need a rod that delivers exceptional leverage, absorbs violent shocks, maintains consistent pressure and gives you the control to bring trophy fish safely through the shore break.

Introducing the Gary Howard Custom 9’ 24kg E-Glass Land Based Game Rod — a serious heavy-duty fishing rod that combines the legendary toughness and forgiving characteristics of E-glass fibreglass with a practical 9ft length that’s exceptionally well suited to modern drone fishing.

Designed for anglers targeting powerful species such as Spanish mackerel, longtail tuna, cobia, giant trevally and other hard-fighting pelagic, this custom-built rod delivers an outstanding combination of strength, control, durability and fish-fighting comfort.

* Maximum leverage. Controlled pressure. Less fatigue.

* The 9ft Advantage – The Ideal Length for Drone Fishing

Why fight a big fish with 12–14ft of rod when you don’t need to?

Traditional surf rods are often designed around achieving maximum casting distance. However, modern drone fishing completely changes the game. When your drone is delivering baits hundreds of metres offshore, the need for an excessively long casting rod is eliminated. Instead, your priorities become fish-fighting leverage, comfort, line control and the ability to maintain sustained pressure on powerful fish. That’s where the Gary Howard 9’ Land Based Game Rod really shines. At just 9ft (2.74m), this rod offers a tremendous mechanical advantage over longer, more cumbersome surf rods.

Maximum Leverage Without Excessive Fatigue

Longer rods create a greater mechanical disadvantage for the angler when fighting powerful fish. The additional length effectively increases the leverage working against your arms, shoulders, back and core.

During prolonged battles with hard-running pelagic species, this can quickly become exhausting.

The shorter 9ft design reduces this mechanical disadvantage, allowing anglers to apply substantial pressure more comfortably and efficiently.

The benefits include:

• Reduced physical fatigue compared with fighting similar loads on considerably longer surf rods.

• Improved leverage, allowing anglers to maintain sustained pressure with less unnecessary strain.
• Greater manoeuvrability, particularly when following fish along the beach.
• Better fighting control, making it easier to adjust rod angles as fish change direction.
• More comfortable extended battles, especially when targeting large, powerful pelagic species.
• Practical line management, with sufficient length to help control line around the shore break.

When you’ve got a powerful fish taking line hundreds of metres offshore, the last thing you want is to be fighting your own rod as well. With the Gary Howard 9’ 24kg, you’re fighting the fish — not the equipment.

E-Glass Construction – The Secret to Keeping Fish Hooked

Superior Shock Absorption. Consistent Pressure. Greater Control.

One of the most important features of this custom Gary Howard rod is its E-glass fibreglass construction.

While stiff, high-modulus graphite rods are popular for their lightweight and responsive characteristics, E-glass offers a completely different set of advantages that can be particularly valuable when targeting powerful game fish from the beach. E-glass is renowned for its toughness, flexibility and forgiving bending characteristics.

A well-designed E-glass blank can absorb sudden shock loads and flex progressively under pressure, helping cushion the violent movements of powerful fish Rather than transferring every sudden surge directly to your fishing line and hooks, the rod acts as a shock absorber.

Why Shock Absorption Matters

Large pelagic fish rarely fight smoothly. They make blistering runs, shake their heads violently, change direction without warning and can suddenly surge against heavy drag pressure. These movements create rapid changes in line tension that can result in pulled hooks, broken leaders or lost fish. The forgiving nature of E-glass helps manage these sudden loads by flexing and recovering throughout the fight.

This provides several important advantages:

• Absorbs sudden shock loads during explosive runs and violent head shakes.
• Helps maintain consistent hook pressure as fish change direction.
• Reduces abrupt tension spikes that can contribute to pulled hooks and tackle failure.
• Cushions powerful surges when fishing with appropriately set heavy drag pressures.
• Helps minimise momentary slack line through the rod’s progressive loading and recovery.
• Provides a forgiving fighting action that helps anglers maintain control throughout extended battles.

This combination of strength and forgiveness is especially beneficial when fighting powerful pelagic species on heavy tackle. Sometimes, the rod that bends with the fish is the rod that helps you land it.

A Huge Advantage in the Shore Break Because the Last 20 Metres Can Be the Hardest Part of the Fight. Any experienced beach angler knows that hooking a trophy fish is only half the battle. After successfully fighting a fish from hundreds of metres offshore, you still need to negotiate the unpredictable and often violent conditions of the shore break. This is where good fish can be lost in seconds. As breaking waves lift and push a fish towards the beach, line tension can drop dramatically. Moments later, a retreating wave or sudden surge from the fish can create an enormous spike in pressure. These rapidly changing forces can be particularly challenging when fishing with very stiff rods. E-Glass Works Like a Suspension System

The progressive flex of the Gary Howard E-glass blank helps absorb these sudden changes in loading. As waves push and pull the fish, the blank bends and recovers, helping smooth out abrupt changes in tension and maintain more consistent pressure on the hook. This can reduce the likelihood of pulled hooks and lost fish during the critical final stages of a fight. Combined with the manageable 9ft length, the rod also allows anglers to adjust fighting angles and move along the beach more easily. It’s an ideal combination for controlling powerful fish in turbulent, shallow water.

When a trophy Spanish mackerel, longtail tuna or cobia is thrashing in the shore break, the forgiving action of E-glass can make all the difference.

BULKY ITEM