Goby

Regarding the baitcaster models... I was throwing spinnerbaits last Fall for Bass on a local lake, about a 20" Pike ate my Spinnerbait, followed by a much much larger Muskie grabbing hold of the Pike, immediately corking one of my World Class rods, that Muskie held on for several minutes before finally letting go. Couldn't do a darn thing with it or control it in any way, but that rod took a beating when the Muskie hit that Pike and still works like new. The blanks are definitely super tough... If you were to just hold these rods in a tackle shop, they are light, but maybe not take your breath away, but when you fish them and hook nice fish on them, which I am fortunate to have fisheries around me where say a 5 pound Smallie isn't all that big of a deal, they just feel very solid in hand and very well built. They feel much more solid and higher quality than say a Loomis NRX+ while actually fishing with them. I also prefer that cork fore-grip over say the metal fore-grip on my MegaBass rods. The thread wraps, epoxy work, etc... is just as high end as MegaBass, which is obviously better craftsmanship than Loomis or St. Croix. I buy a lot of fishing crap because I like to try new things, I would consider these rods made for fisherman more so than what feels great standing in a tackle shop if that makes sense. I only have one season on them so far, but all three were used a lot and never flinched. The way they blended the cork with the EVA was likely tough to do and is why the two rods I sent back to be replaced had the issues they did, frankly most guys likely wouldn't have even noticed what I did, I am just particularly picky, I don't break rods or treat them like shop tools so I tend to care about initial quality more than most. The cork on the models I have is definitely better quality than say what MegaBass uses on their P5 rods and these rods are about a $100 less. I am kind of a stickler about cheap cork, I don't use cork sealer or any of that non-sense, just want a high density of cork as it's more durable in the long run. I think where Fenwick has failed is the marketing, they have not done any decent marketing to back up their dealers, seemingly trying to rely on a name that isn't what it once was. Let's be honest, most tackle shops don't employ marketing geniuses so you aren't going to get it from them. Before I bought these rods I scoured the internet and there is nothing out there, no decent YouTube reviews, etc... If I owned a rod company in 2025, I would have detailed YouTube videos of each model going into detail what they are designed for, etc... I used to help design and sell boats for a living, you would sell more boats by putting up a simple YouTube video than you ever would travelling all over the country going to trade-shows, etc... and the YouTube video was free... Fenwick has an automated system to return rods purchased direct from them, it did not work properly when I tried to use it so trying to deal with their customer service was not all that impressive, which is odd as Abu Garcia has great customer service, the people you speak to may not know anything about fishing, but they answer the phone, accomplish what you need them to do, etc... Fenwick was always leaving a voicemail and a couple days later they would call you back sort of thing... I think Fenwick should just use the same call center as Abu Garcia does and invest some time in marketing and they would see sales increase... I am assuming their automated return system is fixed by now so maybe the call center is unnecessary, but they definitely need to invest in marketing. It's a different World now and simply having your rods in racks at tackle shops isn't enough to sell them, especially when you are trying to rebuild a brand. Just my thoughts...

I own the 7'2" Medium Heavy/Moderate Fast, the 7'1" Medium/Moderate Fast and the 7'3" Medium Heavy/Extra Fast baitcaster models in the World Class series. Like I said there were a couple I received where the cork had obviously came off in a large chunk during the manufacturing process and they just glued it back on, which me being me, was not OK, but the replacements they sent were, great and the cork was inline with what you would get on a Loomis Conquest at twice the price. Probably going to pick up the 7'1" Medium/Extra Fast model for small jigs, unfortunately NOT one of the models for sale on the cheap at ALF lol

I see online that several retailers are selling the Fenwick rods at a steep discount, assuming they are being discontinued? Any insight on their replacements? I have a three World Class baitcasting rods that I really like, the cork on them can be a crapshoot, had to send a couple back due to this which was sort of a debacle, but the ones I have are primo and been very happy with them. Was thinking of getting one more, but not sure if they are about to be discontinued.

I received my dozen Siebert's Lil Man jigs I ordered today, these are exactly the kind of quality I was looking for. Still in ice fishing mode round these parts, but hopefully sooner than later can get them wet. They seem like real winners for sure. Thanks again for all the suggestions, in time hope to try some of the other ones that were recommended here as well.

I’m a big fan of the Yo Zuri jerkbaits, work great, much cheaper.

I love my high end Loomis rods, the Conquest spinning rods have no equal in my opinion... I like MegaBass too, but for the cost of their P5 series, they should have better cork and I really dislike the handles on the P5 Destroyer Megabass spinning rods. My only gripe with Loomis is their serial numbers, they seemingly just slap them on any which way even on the high end models, typically very crooked on the blank which to me makes no sense when all the other decals, the guides and blanks are perfectly straight... Just bothers the heck out of me, wish they would take an extra half a second to put them on straight, but I still buy them... The Conquest 902S SJR is the finest big water big Smallmouth spinning rod ever created for small jigs, tubes, etc...

I lived in McKinleyville for a while... If it was me and you have never been, I would make an honest effort to do a lot of site seeing, (Del Norte and Humboldt Counties) are the most incredible place in the lower 48... If you truly want/need to fish for Bass, you need to go East on the 299 a few hours from the 101... Tons of steelhead angling opportunities and one of very few places you can catch Cod from shore, the lagoons to the North on the 101 have some Largemouth, but I don't think it's incredible Bass fishing... I moved there to fish steelhead, was primarily what I did all over the North Coast and beyond... The Smith and Eel were my favorite rivers and largely why I moved there, but fish don't come super easy on them... The Lagoons would not require a boat and you never know what else you may catch, worth a shot... If you have never been to Eureka, it's one of the worst places on the planet in some ways, lots of hard drugs, severely mentally ill all over the streets, worst of the worst, much much better to pass on through that town, the rest are much much better to the North or South... You will see what I mean if you drive through...

Boy... talk about a rabbit hole lol Found this site that seems extremely informative. https://linelaboratory.com/braid-summary/

So weird lol I have never had a fluoro to braid connection fail with 832, ever. I had never heard of x-braid until you mentioning it here. Looking at Tackle Warehouse, is the (X-Braid) the same company as the (YGK X-Braid)? What diameter of the YGK XB Upgrade do you typically use?

I have tried a lot of different braids over the years and for the most part I have found 10 pound Sufix 832 paired with 8 pound fluoro leads or 15 pound 832 with 10 pound leads to be my favorite, which covers 90% of the fishing I do "spinning rods"... The 832 works well with my favorite line/leader knot a simple 13-14 turn albright knot, I can tie this knot with my eyes closed darn near so it just works for me. I am in need of some new braid, 10ish pound at the least and was thinking of trying something different. Last year I tried the Sunline "Almight" and like everything Sunline makes, it was very high quality, but I noticed it didn't hold as well with my albright knots compared to the 832, causing me to have to add a couple more wraps to my albright. I also did not love the casting distance with it, I was using 18.5 pound and if I ever tried it again I would go with the 16.5 pound. Either Sufix or Sunline is not totally accurate with their diameters as the 18.5 pound was definitely thicker than the 10 pound 832, despite the manufacturers listed diameters saying the opposite. I try to go by diameter as rated pound tests are rarely accurate, lot of marketing involved... Anyway, I saw that Sufix has a new braid out that is supposed to be designed for spinning reels. Has anyone tried the new "Revolve" braid? How does it compare to other braids you have used? Does the color fade more or less than the 832? Any insight from folks that have on the water experience with it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

I have always heard that Randy VanDam is even better than his Brother Kevin VanDam, just never was as passionate about tournaments. Absolutely no idea if it's true what so ever, but have heard it more than once. Not sure he is an average Joe, but doesn't have the accolades as Kevin does. Whether anyone wants to admit it or not, there is still some degree of "luck" to fishing, any given day, who knows, today you could be Ricky Bobby, tomorrow, not so much... Just need that luck to be on the right day... Where the average Joe would likely fall short is when he went to another region, with a totally different type of fishery than he is used to and tried to do an entire series... That's where the experience truly comes into play... Not a tournament angler, just a passionate fisherman, trying to go "pro" sounds like a great way to make fishing not as fun anymore, but definitely respect those that can do it.

Thank you very much Gentleman! Very very much appreciated!

Does anyone know of any skirted jigs similar to the size of Strike King Bitsy Bug jigs that are made of a bit higher quality materials and with a higher quality hook that won't rust as easy? Love the Bitsy Bug Jigs, but would really like to have a bit higher quality. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Love TW, wish they would build something like that in Northern Michigan...

I have tried every option, numerous times as have buddies that I asked to call as well, frankly I thought they were just ignoring me possibly, which may be the case... none the less, my buddies did not get a call back either... I will just let AMEX handle it, over it. To be clear, the entire point of this post was NOT to bash Fenwick, I spent a LOT of money on new World Class rods the past couple months and really like them, especially the Reaction bait models I have. I would have ordered even more by now had all this not went as it has... Frankly, it was a last ditch effort to try and salvage my desire to be a customer, I was hoping this was all just a scenario where their systems were messed up and I would perhaps be given a number that actually works and could at least speak to someone and they would say, yes we got the rod back and it's in process to be refunded or will eventually be processed even, there was/is no rush, to be clear, originally I didn't even want a refund, I just wanted the rod exchanged and that was why I was trying to contact them, to no avail... In speaking with Abu Garcia, another Pure Fishing company, they were just as perplexed as me... Moderators can delete the entire thing if you like, never in a million years did I think this thread would go as it did...