Several themes seem to dominate the current trend in
bass rods: premium performance (and price), technique-spe-
cific offerings, so-called “long rods” over 8 feet and a slew of
budget-friendly rods with high price/performance ratios.
PREMIUM
The Conquest, a new
flagship line from G.
Loomis that supplants the
NRX as the company’s
top-tier bass rod offering,
is packed with top-end
features.
If you’ve got the money
and crave cutting-edge
performance, the
Conquest’s starting price
of $649.99 might not
seem out of line. The
Conquest is the product of
a joint venture between
Loomis and Shimano, and
it’s stuffed with every
impressive-sounding tech-
nological feature the two
companies can muster.
The Conquest, like all
G. Loomis rods, is finished
beautifully and flawlessly.
There are eight casting
and four spinning models,
and if I had the money I’d
probably own them all.
Not to be outdone in
the upper-echelon rod
category, St. Croix has
introduced its new Legend
X series for 2018. Starting
at $390, the Legend X isn’t
quite as expensive as the
Conquest, but it’s unmis-
takably a premium prod-
uct. There are 11 casting
rod options from 6 feet, 8
inches to 8 feet, 8 inches,
and five spinning rod
models.
BUDGET-PRICED
High-end rods like the
Conquest and Legend X
are the jet fighters of the
bass fishing world. They
push the technological
boundaries and offer
advancements that even-
tually trickle down into
other, less-expensive rods.
We all want an F-16, but
most of us can only afford
a Cessna. Thankfully,
there’s a wide variety of
really nice Cessnas being
offered this year, with ask-
ing prices of less than a C-
note to about the $200
mark for rods that offer
dependable service.
At $89.99, the Denali
Fission is a lot of rod for
very little money. It fea-
tures an IM7 blank and a
split Winn grip. Four cast-
ing and two spinning rods
are offered.
The ball bearing-free 13
Fishing Concept Z reel
seemingly has garnered all
the attention, but the com-
pany also released an all-
new version of its Fate
Black rod series, which, I
can assure you, isn’t black.
This visually arresting
green rod features a $99
price tag and a low-resin,
high-strength blank.
Tackle company 6th
Sense is well-known for its
crankbaits, and the com-
pany now has a series of
rods designed to fish
them. Starting at $149, the
6th Sense Lux series will
offer actions tuned to
throw crankbaits ranging
from tiny to huge.
The Feather series is a
new mid-range offering
from Phenix that sports a
mixture of 30- and 40-ton
Toray graphite in the blank,
a carbon fiber reel seat and
a starting price of $139.
JANUARY 2018 I FLWFISHING.COM
SPECIALIZED
Technique-specific bass
rods have been around
since the salad days of
modern bass fishing, and
with so many technique-
specific rods out there, it’s
hard to winnow down the
standouts, but here are a
couple new rods from a
couple anglers who know
a thing or two about tech-
nique:
Mark Rose isn’t called a
ledge master for nothing,
and the new Mark Rose
Ledge Series rods, which
are part of the Lew’s
Custom Pro Speed Stick
Series, distill that knowl-
edge into a lineup that
might not make you one,
too, but will at least give
you the illusion of it.
Starting at $209.99, there
are six casting and one
spinning model for tech-
niques ranging from jigs to
crankbaits to swimbaits.
It’s not entirely clear
whether reigning FLW Tour
Angler of the Year Bryan
Thrift is merely human, or
some sort of relentless
fishing cyborg, but what is
known is that he can flat-
out fish any technique,
anywhere, anytime and
win doing it. The new
Bryan Thrift Series
crankbait rods from
Fitzgerald bring together
all of Thrift’s considerable
expertise on the subject.
The series includes three
7-foot, 4-inch rods in
medium, medium-heavy
and heavy. $189
LONG
Once upon a time,
most everyone fished with
one rod about as tall as
the average sixth-grader.
Now, everyone fishes with
a collection of rods all
about as tall as the aver-
age NBA starting lineup.
Apparently that’s not tall
enough, either, and now
the era of the mega-long
rod is here. Everyone
wants more distance,
more control and more
power, and these rods – all
breaking the 8-foot barrier
– claim to deliver. We’re
only going to see more
such offerings in the
future, but here are a few
available now to whet our
appetites.
The $249.99, 9-foot,
medium-heavy Long
Range Crankbaits model in
Lew’s Mark Rose Ledge
Series breaks the 8-foot
barrier with all the fea-
tures of the regular Ledge
rods, plus a foot more.
St. Croix has also intro-
duced new long rod mod-
els in its Legend
Tournament Bass series,
with five models from 8
feet, 8 inches all the way
up to a whopping 9-foot,
11-inch flipping/punching
model. Price is $300 to
$400, depending on
model.
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