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A Classic Vintage in the Making? Kistler's '21 Helium
While there are other product
lines above and below this one, in my mind, Helium is still the series that
defines Kistler Custom Rods. We recently caught wind of some changes within the
company surrounding their source for blanks, so we acquired a stick from the
current Helium series to check out. Here's our look at the 2021 Kistler Custom
Rods Helium. |
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Abu Garcia and Ike Help You Take Your Show On the Road
With all the difficulty these days trying to fly with more than one suitcase, let alone a big tube full of fishing rods, it's a little surprising there aren't more options for multi-piece fishing rods made for the fisher-person who loves to travel. Abu Garcia recently introduced an option within their IKE series of rods consisting of a multi-piece stick with two different tips... |
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Does Power Tackle Deliver with "The One"
Rod?
Power Tackle Rods out of
Richland Springs, Texas has been building fishing rods with serious minded
anglers in mind since 2007. They have a relatively new series that caught our
attention for the name they chose to dub the lineup. Time to meet the "One." |
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Getting Straight to the Point Blank...
Creating a Custom Rod Build
Every now and then we learn of
a new blank manufacturer making noise in the custom rod circles. Usually, we can
find a manufacturer who is not afraid to divulge they are using these blanks so
that we can fish, test, and write up the finished product... |
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ARK Rods's New Graphite Cranking Stick : Invoker Pro IVP74MHRC
Riding on the coat tails of the Reinforcer success is a refresh of one of their original series, Invoker. They've elevated these rods to "Pro" status but kept the price point the same. Let's take a look a the IVP74MHRC to see how they've done.
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The Omega Swimbait 8' Heavy by Leviathan Rods
To be honest, it didn't really take much to convince me to reach out to Leviathan rods once I found out they're relying on Gary Loomis's company, North Fork Composites (NFC), to supply their blanks. Their Omega Swimbait 8' Heavy is built on an NFC, custom specified LMX-PSI
blank... |
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The Search for One : Megabass of America's F5.5-75XX Braillist
Megabass of America's F5.5-75XX Braillist is a seven foot, five
inch (7'-5") casting rod rated with a fast taper rated and medium heavy in
power. The stick's name is derived from the fact it excels at bottom contact
applications. |
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Going Big with Phenix's M1 : The MX-UR80H
Phenix's refreshed and revamped M1 series made a big splash here at TackleTour when we published our thoughts on the Search For One contender, MX72MH. In fact, it is still among my favorites so far this year. Of course, when we published that article, we received quite a few messages from our
West Coast readers asking about the swimbait stick.
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An Enthusiast Level Rod For Anglers Of All Levels, Legit Design's Big Bait Special
Arundel Tackle out of
Chicago, Illinois is in partnership with Legit Design for exclusive North
American distribution rights. That's how we got our hands on the subject of
today's review. Introducing the Legit Design Wild Side WSC75XH Big Bait Special.
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Taking the Time to Appreciate the
Unique Personality of the Dobyns Xtasy Series
Priced well into the enthusiast range these rods are described by Dobyns
as a "feel" series, and are designed to provide an advantage in applications
where quick bite detection is key. |
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A Cranky Honey Badger of a Stick : Ark Rods's TS74MH-G B-Hittay
Since their debut a few short years ago, Ark Rods has done a good job making headway with affordable, smartly styled, good performing sticks. They recently upped their game by signing Pro Bass Fisherman, Randall Tharp to their team and last year, they celebrated this team up with the company's very first line of signature series of rods, Randall Tharp's Honey Badger line. |
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Denali Rods's New Sub $100 Rod Series : Ryker
With several series spread out
and smartly targeted at price points between $100 through $250, Denali's
popularity grows with each passing year. For 2021, Denali looks to push the
boundaries of affordability even further with the introduction of an entirely
new series. |
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Back in the Hunt for the Search : Fenwick's Refreshes Their World Class
Several years ago, we took a
look at a couple of sticks within Fenwick's flagship series of rods, World
Class. Both sticks left me with mixed feelings for while I liked the rods'
build, components, and power, I was hoping for a bit more in terms of
sensitivity especially considering we were fishing a flagship series... |
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Phenix Once Again Delivers on Maxim-um Value
One of Phenix's big
introductions for 2019 was their new look and feel Maxim series rods. This is
their ~$100 series bass rods built for exceptional value. Somehow, we never took
a look at the spinning rod options in the original 2015 series, but we're
correcting that today with our look at the totally revamped MAXS-610L. |
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Busting Bunkers and Awards with Megabass's Destroyer F7.5-77X
Megabass's F7.5-77X Bunker Buster is a seven foot, seven inch (7'7") casting rod featuring a full rear grip. The front portion of that grip is cork, while the back section is EVA foam. It shares the same cosmetics as the F10-711X Onager and F8-78X Mark 48 except at only twelve inches (12"),
the rear handle on the Bunker Buster is short like that of a flipping rod. |
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Casting with Veracity : Abu Garcia's
VRCTY79-9
In case you hadn't noticed, Abu
Garcia has a rather extensive catalog of bass rods. From the budget friendly
Vengeance and Vendetta to the more enthusiast tailored Fantasista, there's a
series of sticks to suit just about any budget covering a plethora of
techniques... |
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Are You a Big Bait Addict? If So, Kistler Has the Rod for You, the KLX7107XXH
Tossing big baits with the intention of landing bigger weights in the livewell
is becoming more commonplace with each passing year. However, that practice has
kind of settled in with the mid-sized and mid-weighted baits of roughly five to
seven inches in length and maybe two to four ounces in weight... |
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Purple Reign : Phenix's Reinvigorated M1
is a Winner
It's been a good seven years or
more since we took a look at the MX72H from their M1 series. Well, the wait is finally because Phenix Rods has unveiled a totally revamped, refreshed, and renewed M1 series with an updated look, feel, and appeal. We took the M1 MX72MH our for a test run. |
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ARK Rod's New Series Delivers Reinforcements for Your Enthusiast Soul
As we grow more and more conditioned to the different formulas (blank + components + grip material and design) for assembling a fishing rod at the various price points, it becomes increasingly difficult for an individual fishing rod or series thereof to capture our attention. What else can a manufacturer do to stir our enthusiasm? |
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Trippin' In Abu Garcia's IKE Finesse Series
Abu Garcia's recent refresh of their Mike Iaconelli signature series of rods is divided into three sub-categories. Our recent look at the MIKEC76-6 introduced us to the Power Series. Today we're concentrating on one of seven sticks from the IKE Finesse Series. Introducing Abu Garcia's IKE Finesse Series MIKES74-4.
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An
Affordable Cranking Stick for Spinning Rod Fans - The Abu Garcia Veritas
Last year, we shared with you our thoughts on Abu Garcia's new Revo Winch W30 - a low gear ratio spinning reel designed for moving bait enthusiasts. But no cranking or any technique specific reel is complete without a corresponding rod, right? Naturally, Abu Garcia knows this to be true and makes a stick to perfectly match with the Revo Winch W30... |
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A Shot of Finesse with a Dash of Versatility : Doomsday Tackle's T47S-370MF
Just like the previously reviewed T47C-370BCF, this stick features a retro-style color scheme and detailing
that we have found is a little bit polarizing. Some anglers love the throwback colors
and styling while others would prefer a more modern and tactical looking rod.
Which camp do you fall into?
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Taking Aim with Megabass's Destroyer F8-78X Mark 48
Cosmetically, the Mark 48 is a carbon copy clone of the Onager. In fact, if you line up the two rods' reel seats, there is about a two inch difference in handle lengths, and a one inch difference to the tip.
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The Search for One : Lew's Pro-Ti TLPT170M
Lew's stepped up to the plate
recently with a new, top end series of rods for their bass market and we managed
to get our hands on one. Here's our take on the Team Lew's Pro-Ti TLPT170M
casting rod. |
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Shimano and G.Loomis Launch Limited Edition Bantam MGL &
IMX-Pro Combos
For the first time in the two
decades that the G.Loomis brand has been part of Shimano the company will soon
offer anglers a limited edition combo which includes a limited IMX-PRO rod
matched up with the proven performing Bantam MGL baitcasters.
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Wait for It, Wait for It... Abu Garcia's IKE Delay Series
Sometimes, you just want to tie
one on, toss it out, and crank it up. Abu Garcia realizes that moving baits are
a staple of any bass fisherman's arsenal and in the recent refresh of their Mike
Iaconelli signature series of rods, they included a collection of seven rods in
a sub-series dubbed "Delay" just for this. |
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A Mix of Handling and Power Voodoo in the Witch
Doctor Shaman Rods
There are a lot of rod manufacturers out there, and while
Witch Doctor rods may not be a household name among fishermen, the company does
have a strong and passionate following among bass anglers that are looking for a
high performance rod that isn’t just another “me-too” mass produced import. For
our very first in-depth look at the brand’s offerings we put the company’s
flagship Shaman Series to the test. |
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A Spinning Rod with Multiple Personalities : Denali's Lithium L883MS Multi-Spin
I took the opportunity to ask
Major League Fishing Pro Jeff Kriet if he has a favorite in Denali's lineup.
Without hesitation he chose to highlight a stick he feels doesn't get enough
attention and that stick is the subject of today's review. Here's our look at
Denali Rods's Lithium Series L883MS Multi Spin. |
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ARK Rods's TS73MHFC May Not Be a Printer, But It Is Money
Ark Rods is an intriguing manufacturer. Seemingly out of nowhere they burst onto the scene with an array of smartly priced, smartly styled, performance driven series of sticks. We've been working out way through their Tharp series having good experiences with each stick thus far, and the subject of today's article had a name that was just too difficult to resist. Here's our look at Ark Rods's TS73MHFC Money Maker.
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Bub's Punch Rod Levels Up : iRod AIR IRA7104PRG-H
It's been some time since we've visited with a product from iRod Fishing. Founder Matt Newman was recently in touch to share with us some new models added to both their Air and Genesis II lineups. Today, we take a look at a stick designed by Western Pro, Bub Tosh. Here is iRod Fishing's AIR IRA710PRG-H.
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Are You Worthy to Possess the Power of Megabass's Warhammer?
Zander and I have been busy
getting acquainted with the new, extended models of Megabass of America's
current Destroyer lineup, but one stick from the original introduction has been
on my list since its debut in 2017... |
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Daiwa Introduces a Refreshed Black
Label Series - the BLX Bass Rods
At last week's ICAST the spotlight at the Daiwa booth was primarily
focused on the company's new Tatula Elite and Certate reels, but the company
also launched a complete renewal of the Classic Black Label line called the BLX
Bass Series. |
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