Have you seen the new Fenwick Elite Tech technique-specific casting rods? I’m pretty sure you’ll want to. Some will remember a Fenwick Elite Tech line from about 8 years ago. Here’s a little behind these rods and what I found with the new ones I’ve been testing.
Fishing rods come and go. It seems like some rod lines are here one year and gone the next season. While other rod lines have been through 8-10 iterations. There are some old rods I wish they still made and some new rods I wish they never did. But lately there has been a lot more good rods entering the market. That’s a great thing for anglers.
Fenwick designed the first ever “technique-specific” bass rod when they invented the first “flipping stick.” Now some 40 years later, they have come full circle with a full line of technique rods in a wide range of powers, actions and lengths to fit just about every technique in bass fishing.
Here are just a few of the things I found of note about these rods:
- Good reel seat
- Comfortable all day
- Light and sensitive
- Smooth construction
Right reel seat
One of the first things I liked about the rod was the real seat. Namely how the reel is secured to the reel seat. In seems in the last few years, rod manufacturers have been trying to come up with different ways to secure a reel to rod snugly without it breaking or loosening while fishing. And many have failed to make a good design. I really like the foregrip and how it snugs up the reel on the rod and looks seemless.
The reel seat features a combination of high density EVA and cork composite materials to make a grip that stays secure and looks good while being very functional while fishing.
Comfort in fishing
Anglers will find the area around where you palm the reel comfortable fishing all day. That’s a bonus. Sometimes in an effort to make a cool feature or make it look cool, it ends up being not very comfortable to palm the reel there all day.
But the Fenwick Elite Techs are very comfortable to fish with all day. Obviously weight has a lot to do with that but the shape, texture and padding around the reel also does. So I was very happy with this rod’s grips.
I recently fished them all day for 3 of the coldest days I’ve spent on the water and the grips were a welcomed relief. They stayed comfortable all day everyday even in the freezing rain.
Light means sensitive
The rods are extremely light (the 6-foot, 6-inch medium rod weighs 4 ounces). Even the 7-foot, 3-inch jig rod only weighs 5.1 ounces. So these rods are nice and light and I found them to be very sensitive.
They went to Titanium frames on the guides and Fenwick has done a good job of removing excess weight from resins in their rods in recent years. The result is a great looking rod that is even more functional than fancy.
My on-the-water impressions
As I mentioned I fished them this fall and winter and on a recent trip to Dale Hollow I was catching smallmouth out of 30-50 feet of water on jigs. That’s a lot of water to transmit a bite to your hands which were freezing because of being wet and cold. Yet I still felt and caught a lot of fish on this rod in some very trying conditions because I could feel when something changed on my jig. When the weight was just a hair more or a hair less I knew something was up. That’s a great testament to these Fenwick Elite Tech bass rods.
The other thing I like about these rods is they are so smoothly designed. Each guide is rock solid with a sturdy seat, quality inserts and the rod is smooth and finished throughout. I’ve tried two of the rods, the 6-foot, 6-inch medium rod and the 7-foot, 6-inch medium-heavy power rod.
The 6-foot, 6-inch was a great a rod for square bills around cover and topwater plugs. The 7-foot, 6-inch is a great jig rod. I’ve used it casting a jig and even flipped a bit with it. But it’s got a lot of power while still fishing more like a finesse rod because of its lightness and sensitivity. It’s like fishing with a broomstick without feeling like you’re holding a broom all day.
I caught more than 21 pounds of smallmouths on Dale Hollow for my best five fish just a week ago on these rods. Very impressive performance out of a $149.95. rod. If you’re looking for a new rod for this spring, I think you will want to give these Fenwick Elite Techs a look.
I was very pleased with the Aetos Rods a year ago and these are obviously building off those and new technologies. Fenwick has a legendary reputation in rod building and they are obviously reestablishing themselves as a powerful player with these new lines of rods.
Check them out here at tacklewarehouse.com and at FenwickFishing.com.
