Reviewed by: CAPTAIN MIKE SCHOONVELD
Fenwick rods have been around almost as long as I’ve been fishing. The rod company was founded in the 1950s and sold to a new owner about the time I graduated from high school. Fenwick quickly became one of the leading innovators that changed fishing rods basically from fiberglass sticks to high tech fishing tools demanded by the increasing numbers of competitive anglers.
They were the first company to produce an all-graphite rod and for a time Fenwick captured almost half the fishing rod market in the US and Canada. During that time, they branched into fly fishing rods, rods specialized for a variety of fish and even paired their rods with a line of reels that paired perfectly with some of their rods.
Pure Fishing added Fenwick to their stable of rod and reel brands like Abu Garcia, Shakespeare, Berkley and others some time ago and there are plenty of anglers who still look to Fenwick when they are shopping for a new rod. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it, seemed to be their marketing plan.
However, over time, rod technologies changed with rod makers producing new models using lighter, tougher, more specialized materials that better met the specialized needs of modern anglers. The rod engineers at Pure Fishing turned their attention to the Fenwick line and the result was a new line of rods at last summer’s ICAST show. I’ve had the chance to fish with both the casting rod and spinning rod models. Both performed flawlessly for me. I own a World Class spinning rod which I used for a variety of species and techniques, from dock fishing for sunfish with my grand daughter to deep jigging for ciscoes in Grand Traverse Bay. Walleye, bass and lake trout have also “volunteered” to help me evaluate this new rod.
It’s extremely light, but according to Fenwick their proprietary Powerlux 500 resin (whatever that is) makes them 30 percent stronger compared to similar rods produced by other companies. The cork handle on all of the rods I’ve used were flawless, there are quality guides and I’ve not had any issue with the reel seats not gripping the reel firmly.
Whether or not you are a long-time Fenwick fan, if you are a looking for a high-end, long-lasting rod which will match up or exceed the performance of any brand on the market, give these a look at a tackle shop near you. To see the entire line-up of Fenwick World Class Rods check them out at www.purefishing.com/fenwick.
FISHING TOYS 