Returning to Tradition : Fenwick's Elite Tech Spinning
Introduction: As one of the pioneer rod building companies in the industry, Fenwick has a long, and very storied past. It is on one of their sticks, a circa 1980's, 5'-0", HMG ultra light rod, that I managed to catch my heaviest large mouth bass to date - an eleven pound plus fish. Naturally, because of that catch, I have a soft spot for this brand, but it's been a long time since the company has built something that's piqued my interest - the competition is fierce these days. At ICAST 2014, we were shown the latest refresh of their Elite Tech bass rods, a series of sticks that are a little bit old school yet very contemporary in design and spec. Here now is our look at their ETB69M-MFS-MFS.
Complete Article: http://tackletour.com/reviewfenwickelitetechspin.html
Returning to Tradition : Fenwick's Elite Tech Spinning
Re: Returning to Tradition : Fenwick's Elite Tech Spinning
Nice review. These rods are generally not in distribution nor do they get much talk. Nice to see TT bringing a good product forward for review.
When I first read the review, I was disappointed with the overall outcome. I thought for a moment I had the same rod but when I checked I found mine is a 6'9 ML Fast action in the Smallmouth series. While very similar to the rod reviewed, my ML weights in at a 3.2oz. I can't imagine what Fenwick has done to increase rod weight 30% by increasing power by 1/2 How would you have felt about the rod if it weighed in at 3.7oz?
I've been reading your reviews for +10 years Cal. I'm wondering if you see less sensitivity difference now between a well made $150 rod and a $400 rod vs. the difference say 10 years ago? When I picked up the 6'9 ML fenwick 2 years ago it hit me that I'd need to mount same reels and same line on this rod and a $400DS rod to say conclusively if I can tell a difference sensitivity wise.
When I first read the review, I was disappointed with the overall outcome. I thought for a moment I had the same rod but when I checked I found mine is a 6'9 ML Fast action in the Smallmouth series. While very similar to the rod reviewed, my ML weights in at a 3.2oz. I can't imagine what Fenwick has done to increase rod weight 30% by increasing power by 1/2 How would you have felt about the rod if it weighed in at 3.7oz?
I've been reading your reviews for +10 years Cal. I'm wondering if you see less sensitivity difference now between a well made $150 rod and a $400 rod vs. the difference say 10 years ago? When I picked up the 6'9 ML fenwick 2 years ago it hit me that I'd need to mount same reels and same line on this rod and a $400DS rod to say conclusively if I can tell a difference sensitivity wise.
Re: Returning to Tradition : Fenwick's Elite Tech Spinning
If you're asking whether some of the current $150 are more sensitive or just better overall than in the past, the answer is yes
But the old Berkeley Series 1 sticks which retailed for $99-$129 when they first came out in the mid to late 80's were very sensitive in their own right, so it really just depends on the build.
But the old Berkeley Series 1 sticks which retailed for $99-$129 when they first came out in the mid to late 80's were very sensitive in their own right, so it really just depends on the build.