Swimbait Rod Wars Installment #4: The Return of an Old Favorite, Fenwick
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Date: |
2/14/08 |
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Tackle type: |
Rod |
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Manufacturer: |
Fenwick |
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Reviewer: |
Cal |
Total Score: 6.92
Introduction: Journeying back to the domestic offerings, and witnessing
the resurrection of former giant in the industry, our Swimbait Rod Wars takes us
to Fenwick, a company that was almost lost in the obscurity of so many new
competitors in the rod manufacturer landscape. But as we found out at ICAST
2007, Fenwick is poised to retake some of that lost market share with their new
and truly technique specific Elite Tech series of rods. Not only do these rods
feature blanks with actions custom tailored for specific techniques, their
cosmetics follow suit. Submitted for our Swimbait Rod Wars? The seven-foot nine
inch ECSWB79H-F.
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Fenwick
ECSWB79H-F Swimbait ESC Specifications |
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Material |
Proprietary Graphite |
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Length |
7'-9" |
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Length from Back of Reel Seat to Base |
10" |
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Line Wt. |
15 - 30lbs |
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Lure Wt. |
3/4 - 2 ounces |
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Pieces |
One |
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Guides |
9 + Tip (Fuji Alconite) |
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Power Rating |
Heavy |
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Taper |
Fast |
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Rod Weight |
6.4 Ounces |
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Manufacturing Country |
China |
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MSRP |
$199 |
Impressions: The first thing I checked when
our representative from Fenwick arrived was the rod's recommended lure rating.
This information was unavailable at the time of writing for our Rod Wars preview
article. Three quarters of an ounce up to two ounces is what I found stamped on
this rod. A bit of dissapointment to be certain considering most of what we
consider to be big baits out here on the West Coast weigh in excess of two
ounces! Maybe Fenwick is being overly conservative in their rating? Or is this
really just a flipping stick blank labelled as as swimbait rod? There's one way
to find out!
Introducing the Fenwick ECSWB79H-F Swimbait Extreme Speed Control (ESC)
Lab Tests: Off to the RoD WRACK we went to analyze our ECSWB79H-F's deflection characteristics, and what we found was that its behaviour was not unlike that of several other of the lighter weight contenders in our Swimbait Rod Wars.
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Lab Results for Fenwick ECSWB79H-F Swimbait ESC
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Model
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Avg RoD (2-48 oz)
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Rated Action
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Spine
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Measured Weight
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Balance Point
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| Fenwick ECSWB79H-F |
1.24
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Fast
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L&R
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6.4 Ounces
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11"
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| Kistler KBSBS80 |
1.17
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Fast
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Top
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7.2 Ounces
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11"
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| Okuma 711MH |
1.47
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Mod-Fast
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Top
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7 Ounces
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9.5"
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| Dobyns Rods 795ML |
1.27
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Fast
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Top
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8.5 Ounces
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5.5"
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Rate of Deflection (RoD): The ECSWB79H-F shares characteristics with a couple of other sticks in our Rod Wars most notable being both the Kistler KBSBS80 and Dobyns Rods 795ML. It's overall deflection curve is a tad more stout than our previously reviewed Okuma 711MH. Viewing the rod's taper while in our RoD WRACK with loads up to three pounds, we'd judge it to be a fast tapered rod.
Fig. 1 : This RoD Deflection Chart shows the deflection characteristics of the Fenwick ECSWB79H-F Swimbait ESC (yellow curve) against several similar sticks.
Spine, Weight, and Balance Point: The ECSWB79H-F is among the lightest of our representatives weighing in at only 6.4 ounces. Unfortunately, its balancing point is farily far up the blank at eleven (11) inches from the centerline of its reel seat. We noticed a hard edge on both the left and right side of the blank when searching for the rod's spine suggesting the blank has two.
Fenwick's new Elite Tech series of rods takes the concept of technique specific in a production rod to the next level
Next
Section: Onto the field tests
