ARK Fishing Essence ESS73MHFC Product Review #arkessencerod #arkfishingessence

Rod Review

The Search for One : ARK Fishing's Essence ESS73MHFC (continued)

Power: Out on the water, the ESS73MHFC performed flawlessly on the hooksets and subsequent fights. More importantly, I found it softens up just enough next to the boat where I did not fear tearing the hook out of the fish's mouth. Back in the lab, the stick charts out with a prototypical "medium-heavy" power curve aligning almost perfectly with our twenty year historical average for this power classification. So much for my old school 1/4-3/4oz lure rating.

Fig 1 : The chart above illustrates the deflection characteristics of our ARK Fishing Essence ESS73MHFC against the historical averages of similarly powered rods we've tested over the past twenty years

Design & Ergonomics: Tipping our scales at 4.9 ounces, the ESS73MHFC is well balanced and felt pretty good in hand. Overall weight is a little high but considering its balance point of only six inches up from the midline of the reel seat, it's a very good compromise.

Checking out the tip

The diameter of that full rear cork grip matches the back of the reel seat well and tapers down slightly towards the middle length of the grip before flaring back out again at the end. Grasping diameter at the back of the reel seat is comfortable. Some grips can be overly wide in diameter at this spot, but the ESS73MHFC is not.

Lab Results for ARK Fishing Essence ESS73MHFC
Model	Avg RoD	Taper	Measured Weight (oz)	Balance Point (inches)	Balancing Torque (ftlbs)
ARK Fishing Essence ESS73MHFC	1.66	Fast	4.9	6	0.16
TSFO >100 Rod Avg	1.76	--	4.6	8.0	0.19

Custom machined reel seat hood

The rod does not come with a foregrip and instead has a custom designed metal reel seat hood to cap off the handle assembly. ARK uses an open ended hook keeper located top side of the rod, right above that reel seat hood. I had no issues with line tangles or loops getting caught in the hangar - a common complaint of hook keepers this style in this location. I think that hanger's proximity to the reel seat helps avoid those situations.

Open ended hook keeper in very close proximity to the reel seat

Price & Applications: ARK Fishing's Essence series is their second most expensive line of fishing rods priced just above Invoker Pro and well below the flagship Reinforcers. With so many models in the series, finding one that suits your application needs should be rather simple. For the ESS73MHFC specifically, if you're looking for an all purpose candidate, it is one among a handful of rods in the same series that should suit with the variances between models being actual length and taper.

Ratings:

ARK Fishing Essence ESS73MHFC Ratings (?/10)
Construction/Quality	Straightforward and clean. Nothing real fancy here but overall very tight build	8
Performance	No nonsense, all purpose power and taper. The FazLite guides are perfectly functional but they have a bulky profile that doesn't feel as other guides in the Fuji portfolio or sleeker competing components	8
Price	Priced about right given the combo of blank and components	7
Features	High grade graphite blank, sufficient components, cork grip, no foregrip, custom designed reel seat	7
Design (Ergonomics)	Those who still prefer full length cork rear grips will appreciate the Essence series... otherwise, good balance and weight ratio	8
Application	A decent all purpose candidate this stick has a versatile range of capabilities	8
Total Score		7.66
Ratings Key: 1 = terrible : 2 = poor : 3 = lacking : 4 = sub par : 5 = mediocre : 6 = fair : 7 = good : 8 = great : 9 = excellent : 10 = unbelievable! For More Details of the updated rating system visit our explanation here

Pluses and Minuses:

Plus	Minus
+ High grade graphite blank	- They are functional but I am not a fan of the bulky profile of Fuji's FazLite inserts
+ Full rear grip	- Micro sized running guides can be problematic with connection knots
+ Good weight to balance ratio
+ A true "medium-heavy"

The ESS73MHFC is another very good performing stick from ARK Fishing at a price point that shouldn't cause too many issues with that fishing tackle operating budget

Conclusion: When fishing rod companies begin introducing product lines with small, incremental differences in price, I get a little confused. Case in point, I'm not certain I can distinguish much of a difference between ARK Fishing's Invoker Pro and Essence series other than styling: Invoker is more aggressive and contemporary while Essence is more classic and stripped down. That full rear grip does give Essence better balance but at the small expense of weight, so if you're curious to try either, it comes down to what you value in those categories. What I can say about the ESS73MHFC is that ARK Fishing has delivered another very good performing stick at a price point that shouldn't cause too many issues with that fishing tackle operating budget.

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