What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Fenwick Fishing Rods?
This is the question we asked the members of our community group, not because we didn’t already know, but because we wanted somewhere to start.
In order to convince someone of something, you have to first show them that they have an opinion, or in this case, a preconceived notion.
You see, Fenwick has been in this industry for quite a while, which means that they’ve opened themself to about as many opportunities for scrutiny, ridicule, and whatever other word you want to use to express that there is almost nothing but negative sentiment that has shrouded the brand over the past 20 years.
We’re here to tell you why this sentiment, while once warranted, is no longer. We’re here to tell you why you’re wrong about Fenwick Fishing Rods.
Do You Know J-Poe?
Justin Poe, or as almost everyone we’ve met calls him, J-Poe, is someone you may not know by name, but you likely are familiar with his work. To expand from there, you’re CERTAINLY familiar with he and his partner in crime, Dave Brinkerhoff’s work together.
J-Poe and Dave were integral in bringing to life many of the rods which we consider to be the gold standard for what we and many of you consider the gold standard of what a fishing rod should be, not the least of which being the Shimano Cumara, G. Loomis E6X, rebranding of the G. Loomis GLX, and the original G. Loomis NRX.
Why is this relevant? If you can’t make the inference, it is because these two have been hard at work with their new team of rod specialists at Fenwick.
We had our favorite podcaster, Andrew Hayes (Tackle Talk Bass Fishing Podcast) connect with our favorite Rod Guru, J-Poe, in an effort to talk about the fruits of that hard work; The revitalized World Class, Elite, HMG, and Eagle fishing rods from Fenwick.
We’re going to briefly introduce you to each new series using quotes from J-Poe here, but we strongly recommend that you take the time to listen to the full interview while reading our thoughts in our blog post here.
Justin Poe: “Our goal was this: We wanted to make the best fishing rods we could absolutely make, you might’ve seen it in some of our immediate marketing materials, and it was literally the mantra from this day forward, good is our enemy.”
“That is what we set out to do. We didn’t want to make just another ‘Good rod.’ This is 2023.”
Justin Poe: “World Class is our very top of the line. That is where we put a lot of our innovation, so that’s where we really press the material strategy. It’s made with a 40 and 36 ton graphite blend with our proprietary reinforcing resin, titanium, everything thin, zirconium everything, all the cool features, carbon reinforced real seats instead of glass reinforced real seats.”
“Who fishes World Class? That’s the guy who wants the best rod on the planet. That’s who wants that Rod. ‘I want this because it gives me a leg up on my competition.’ “
Justin Poe: “Elite is a blend of 36 and 30 ton graphite with that reinforced resin, same titanium, similar reel seat, things like that. The extra 25 horsepower on the supercar is a big difference. So you’re paying for the 25 extra horsepower in World Class.”
“It takes a lot to make that rod the way it is. And that material is very, very expensive. So Elite is a 36/30 blend with the same reinforced resin, same ratio of reinforced resins, the same components, same guide train, same real seat as World Class. There’s a little bit more available in Elite, there’s more models because starting at $229.95, it’s more applicable to more people.”
Justin Poe: “HMG is the heart of this new line of rods, right at $150 — There’s over 70 models in HMG alone. HMG is a blend of 30 and 24 ton graphite, it has titanium guides, and a little bit different handle configuration with a glass reinforced real seat because, on purpose, we made the real seat a little heavier. It helps to balance so you don’t have to add counterweights, you add a few grams in the real seat and it changes how the whole rod fishes.”
Justin Poe: “Eagle starts at $99 and if there was one series that I’m most impressed with, it’s Eagle. I cannot find anything even close in the market that feels as good as these eagles do for $99.”
“Eagle’s a little bit limited, just like world class is a little bit limited. You’re not going to get all the crazy technique specific models in Eagle because, in our studies, findings, communications, and in our questions that we ask those guys paying $150 are the ones that want the difference between a 3/16 oz. and a 1/4 oz. jig rod. So, I mean they want to get super finite as you go higher. It’s not quite as technique specific as you go lower.”
Still Not Convinced About Fenwick?
Please go listen to our Interview with Justin and scroll through our blog post. You will learn what it takes to conceptualize and build over 200 new rods, what rods you should be using for different techniques, andwhy Fenwick deserves your respect.
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