One of the fishing rod lines I first saw at ICAST 2012 that caught my eye was from Fenwick. The new Aetos Rod line meshes quality materials with bold, sophisticated looks and modern materials to make a great rod that middle price point. Fenwick sent me three rods to review, two baitcasters and a spinning rod. I liked several aspects of the rods including the following:
- Tacky grip
- Small components
- Lightweight
- Strong backbones
- Blue styling
- Titanium guides
- Lots of options
Components improve on quality blank
The blanks on these rods are made with a Carbon Veil technology and Cross Scrim graphite construction. In layman’s terms that just means that the graphite is laid multiple directions around the scrim along with layers of carbon fiber to yield a very strong but very light combination in a rod blank. The rods feel very strong in your hands and when doing things like swinging bass over the gunwale.
But then on top of that they incorporated Fuji Skeleton reel seats and grips, TAC handles for a superior but lightweight and sensitive grip on the rod, and Titanium guides with Titanium inserts for lightweight but durable guides for your line.
Sensitivity improved with blank construction
I don’t claim to fully understand all the ins and outs of quality blank construction of bass fishing rods, but I know a good blank when I pick it up. These blanks have a great color and look to them, but how they fish was even better in my opinion. I’ve fished with the rods for 5 months now and love how well they perform. The rods all load well on the cast and are very sensitive whether you’re trying to feel the subtle vibration of a spinnerbait blade or the head of a jig scraping along the bottom.
The backbone makes the rod
Some rods are lightweight but feel like they will break if you try to swing a 2-pounder in the boat. I swung several bass weighing more than 4-pounds on the two baitcasting rods although I don’t advise it for the medium action rod. It worked but I think I was probably pushing my limits. But the medium heavy action 7 foot Aetos handled hard pulling bass easily on a variety of baits from spinnerbaits to jigs. I like a rod that is both sensitive and strong. That can sometimes be hard to find without paying a fortune. But they did a good job with their carbon fiber and cross laid fibers in this rod.
All the rods cast very well. They load nicely, and because they have a reinforced backbone, I felt like I could really whip a bait as hard as possible to get a little extra distance. The other nice thing is there are 26 rods in the lineup already. Fenwick manufactured these to be their flagship lineup of rods. Priced at $179.99, they are a high end rod with a moderate price point that should still leave anglers feeling like they got more than their money’s worth.
You can find these rods at Tacklewarehouse.com, Fenwickfishing.com and retailers around the country.
More photos of the Fenwick Aetos Rods (click to enlarge):
