Head Gunner J-Version

Head Gunner was developed for northern snakehead in the wetlands of the Russian Far East, fished from an inflatable kayak, and for the snakehead species of Southeast Asian reservoirs and ponds fished from a boat. It began when Whiplash Factory's Kuniaki Shinke travelled to the Russian Far East, fished with local anglers, and set out to build a rod combining their requests with his own plan.

The result is a blank shorter and lighter overall than a typical snakehead rod, and the company is direct about the consequence: in classic heavy cover it is short of power. What it matches well is light cover, where a conventional raigyo rod has more power than the situation needs, and small irrigation canals where casting is awkward and lure control has to be fine.

This J-Version is based on the export model, with the thread colour and reel seat changed and the grip blank slightly reinforced. Whiplash positions it as enough power on an unstressed taper, flexible and with some give, and suggests it suits anglers not confident in their arm strength as readily as experienced ones.