Daiwa Expands Striper-Focused Surf Rod Lineup with Blackline XT

This past weekend at the Saltwater Fishing Expo in Edison, New Jersey, fishermen from around the Northeast got a first look at the latest in surfcasting rods at the expansive Daiwa Booth.

In 2024, Daiwa introduced the Blackline Series, focused on Northeast fisheries, specifically the striped bass. The Blackline Surf was designed – with input from the crew at Grumpy’s Tackle in Seaside Park, NJ – for the avid surfcaster. These rods feature ALL SIC rings and FUJI K frames, designed to enhance line flow and reduce tangles, a Daiwa Air Sensor reel seat that cuts down on weight without compromising on the structural integrity, and a robust shrink rubber rear grip augments casting power, enabling anglers to cover impressive distances with ease. The Blackline Surf Rods are reinforced with Daiwa’s X45 bias carbon technology, which resists twisting and maintains rod integrity during high-stress situations. The rods are further enhanced with SVF nanoplus technology, utilizing nano particles within the carbon matrix to lighten and strengthen the blank. With the top-of-the-line Daiwa rod-building technology, the Blackline Surf series carried prices $400 to $420.

The new Blackline XT incorporates some of that technology and design into a rod that they say, “offers light weight and durable performance for the budget-conscious angler.” It carries a price that’s above what I’d consider “budget-conscious” at $300, but with surf rods fetching as much as $1,500 these days, everything’s relative.

The Blackline XT features a lightweight graphite blank wrapped using Daiwa’s exclusive X45 bias construction which perfectly spines the rod and prevents blank-twist for added casting accuracy and reinforcement. These blanks are built for abuses anglers put their rods through in the rocky surf – a major consideration depending on how hard you are on your equipment.

Each of the two-piece Blackline XT rods are constructed with V-Joint technology at the connection points, which makes them flex and feel like single piece rods. Durable alconite-ringed Fuji K guides free anglers from the struggle of line tangling in the guides, allowing them to seamlessly make cast after cast even in heavy winds or strong surf.

There are seven models of the Blackline XT from a 9-foot, medium-power rod for throwing lures up to 3 ounces on sand beaches and bayshores to the 11-foot, extra-heavy for fishing bait or bouncing jigs in the Cape Cod Canal.