Wired2Fish 2012 Wishlists | Rods
Posted by Jason Sealock on Thu, Dec 15, 2011 @ 12:02 AM
There’s no denying it. A new rod can make you feel like your fishing has improved almost overnight. Probably nothing else in our fishing arsenal has that immediate and dramatic effect on how we feel about our fishing than a new fishing stick.
Rods and reels were definitely the big hit at ICAST this year. We listed some of the reels we like for 2012 in our Reels Wishlist. So now we’ve put together a bunch of new rods and maybe one or two “new to us” rods that we think you should check out.
Abu Garcia Veritas Microguide Casting Rod
This is an affordable, good looking, functional baitcasting rod that features lightweight, microguides, a nano-fiber knick proof coating, exposed rod blank at the reel seat, split grip handles and of course the attractive price for all those features. The rod casts really smooth.
The reel locks down tight with the unique fore grip. We have several of the original models of Veritas rods that we bought through Tacklewarehouse.com. But we just recently got to test the microguide rod. We’ll have a full review soon, but we’re happy with the performance, especially at the $99 price point.
Denali Jadewood Flipping Stick
We think the Jadewood series of the Denali rods is one of the best rod buys in fishing. The small company designs their rods in Arkansas and has them made to their specifications through careful testing and analysis with various techniques and input from their growing prostaff.
The Jadewood Flipping Stick is new to their line-up. The rod offers great comfort, great accuracy when pitching and flipping. It loads well and really lets you lean into the fish. The rod has served double duty as a swimbait rod and castable umbrella rig rod as well. Both are great to fish on this rod, and we’ve taken numerous bass in the 5 to 7-pound range already on the rod. If you want a budget priced flipping stick, this is the one.
Dobyns Randy McAbee Cranking Rod
This rod came out a little while ago, but we’ve just recently got to experiment with it. We're so blown away by how well it casts big deep diving plugs, we figured there were probably a bunch of folks like us who didn’t know about it that needed to know. It’s unique features are a little more backbone and an amazing 8-foot length. That sounds like too much rod, but it launches a big plug like no rod we’ve ever seen before. We’ve been throwing it a bunch lately on some different areas where we’ve had some big bass lately and the rod loads well, has great sensitivity and is comfortable to fish with, even at 8 feet.
If you need a new deep diving crankbait rod, you should definitely check out this rocket launcher.
Fenwick EliteTECH Smallmouth Spinning Rod
There have been very few rods and reels designed just for smallmouth bass. They often fight differently and strike differently than largemouth, and Fenwick tapped some top smallmouth resources to make several rod models for spinning and casting in their new EliteTECH Smallmouth series.
The spinning rods feature very comfortable hybrid cork grips, a unique reel seat, and thin but strong blanks with very attractive frog green blanks. The rods were light, sensitive and had good tip actions with powerful back bones. It’s key when fishing for smallmouth to have a rod that can continually drive a hook as they often trap lures in their crushers and keep the hook from sliding into place. So constant pressure from a strong rod can often hook those bass that clamp down. We’ve caught several largemouth and a couple small smallmouths on drop shots so far and are very pleased with how it casts and loads under pressure.
Pinnacle Perfecta Microguide Spinning
We received a prototype to photograph and test on this unique concept rod that features a hybrid microguide system. The first guide looks almost flared in reverse that tapers the coil off the spinning reel into the micro guides up the rod. We’ve fished it a couple times and the rod is amazingly light, very sensitive, features a comfortable cork grip and casts fairly well for a new concept guide system.
The rods are not yet available but should be after the first of the year. Many folks have been raving about how good the new Tournament Class of rods and reels from Pinnacle are now, and the new spinning rods seem to expand and extend their growing improvements in rod and reel manufacturing.
St. Croix Rage Rod
The new rods from St. Croix are all the Rage. Okay that’s a really bad pun, but we’ve been fishing a medium heavy 7-foot Rage rod for a few months and have caught several bass on jigs, chatterbaits, lipless baits and spinnerbaits on the rod. Anglers will notice an increase in the number of guides on this rod as well as a very unique grip that won’t get slick, even in the rain. It’s comfortable and even seems to keep your hands warmer on those cold days.
This rod has an astounding 13 guides. The increased number of guides seem to keep the line off the blank of the rod and provide a nice even load when setting the hook and leaning into a bass with some shoulders to it. If you’re looking for a great all purpose rod, this might be a good choice for you. Check them out locally because the new grip is interesting and you’ll want to see how it feels in your hand.
St. Croix Legend Tournament Walleye Rod
The St. Croix Legend Tournament class rods are newly redesigned for the upcoming season. Both the bass and walleye lines added rods and totally re-engineered the blank construction with a new process involving NSI (Nano Silica) to make them lighter but stronger and more durable. We like when companies take popular tackle and figure out how to make them better from season to season. It shows a commitment to quality and customer loyalty to a product line.
We checked out the Legend Tournament Walleye Snap Jigging rod. Scott has played with it some and likes the way the rod controls his rapid and violent rips on the jig but also has enough tip and backbone to hook and play big walleyes out of the depths. The rods are noticeably lighter and more sensitive, and if you loved the original series, you’ll really like the new and improved versions.
Rod Gloves
Once you buy all those news rods, you want them to last. Buying a rod is an investment in your fishing, just like buying a boat. So you'll want to keep it covered and protect it from those knicks that ultimately lead to breakage and compromise the rod's strength.
We love our Rod Gloves. They fit snuggly to the rod, but the mesh material keeps it from dinging and scratching while riding in our trucks, boats, rod lockers or wherever we might carry a rod. They come in tons of colors and you can even brand them with custom logos. Definitely worth a few bucks to protect a $100 - $300 investment.
Obviously there are a lot more new rods out for the upcoming season, but we wanted to share the ones that we fished and liked. Rods are getting better every season and a good rod can give you a lot of confidence in a new fishing season.