Team Lews Hm85 Ml Spinning Rod Review

[smalljaw67]

Well I was able to get out for a few hours yesterday and get some time with this rod as conditions were perfect for it. It was a high pressure day, bright bluebird sky but an occasional cloud or two came by later in the morning. I used a Daiwa Tierra spinning reel in the 2500 size spooled up with 8lb Spiderwire Ultimate Mono and I used 3 different techniques with the rod, small jig, shaky head, and ned rig. I began by using a home made finesse jig tied on a 1/16oz head with a Tiny Paca Chunk trailer, the entire jig and chunk were black in color as the water was stained with about 1.5' to 2' visibility. I fished the jig for 30 minutes with no bites fishing around emerging weed beds and some dead falls and not even a sniff so I switched gears and tied on a 1/8oz shaky head with a 5" finesse worm in 8' to 10' of water and I immediately got bit, I ended up catching 2 small fish, 1 was 11" and the other was 13" but they didn't hit hard so I switched to a 4.5" finesse worm and that worked a little better. The slightly smaller worm was getting good action, mostly smaller fish in the 12" to 14" range but I did manage 1 solid 16" fish before the bite died but I did catch 7 with it. Then I finished off the day with my own ned rig, a 3" Senko with a 3/32oz worm nose jig and that resulted in 5 fish, a 13.5" fish, a 12" fish, a 9" dink, and 2 right at 14", nothing to write home about but a nice 14 fish in 6 hours of fishing. Now the rod, the first thing I will get out of the way is the cons, and the only con there is happens to be balance, if you grip the spinning reel with the stem between your middle and ring fingers, the rod is a little tip heavy, not bad but noticeable, however, if you grip it between your ring finger and pinky, then it better but it really isn't bad. I will also include the rating into the con section, the ML is just as I expected for the line and lure weight, it is more of a medium power rod, but I knew that before I purchased it, most ML will be rated 4-10lb line with 1/16oz to 3/8oz lure weight. Now the pros, the first thing is the guide spacing, power and action, you know all three work with each other as casting is effortless, I found myself having to feather the line for the first dozen casts or so as it took very little effort to throw the baits I used. The blank is a real winner and it is very apparent why the rod retails for as much as it does, sensitivity, this rod has it in spades and that happened to be needed as the fish weren't big and were very light biters. I can see why the guides with Alconite inserts where used, good guides help with bite transmission and anything less on this blank would be a disservice as it really does have a lot of feel. I understand sensitivity is very subjective and I agree and I also know not every expensive rod is sensitive nor is every cheap rod not sensitive but the best I can describe the feel of the rod is on par for the retail price. My overall assessment on the performance of the rod is a solid 4 out of 5 stars with 1/2 star taken away because it is slightly tip heavy and 1/2 star taken away because the weight and power of the rod is more a medium than a medium light but other than that I say bravo! My feelings on purchase would be as follows, had I paid retail, I would be satisfied with what I got, I wouldn't be blown away as it is what I would expect, if I got it at TW sale price for $159, I'd be extremely happy and for what I paid for it with the shipping, $90.94, I'm blown away, I feel like I stole it, this is a lot of rod for under $100 and very under rated, I'm not sure if it is due to Lews having more focus on reels or some other reason but the rods get very little notice, but from now on they will be on my radar.

[microotter]

Thank you for this review! I ordered the 7' ml through the sale but I have not reveived it yet. I am excited to get it. I was hoping that it was a sensitive rod.

[WPCfishing]

My 6'6" MM casting rod is exactly what I had hoped it would be. It's a total 10. I'm heading in 15 minutes to go fishing. I'll be casting the 7' MHM. I will let you know more when I get back tonight.

 

Glad you like the rod SJ!  Nice review. You have another one coming right?

[smalljaw67]

My 6'6" MM casting rod is exactly what I had hoped it would be. It's a total 10. I'm heading in 15 minutes to go fishing. I'll be casting the 7' MHM. I will let you know more when I get back tonight.

 

Glad you like the rod SJ!  Nice review. You have another one coming right?

 

I already got it, same rod but it is for my grandson. I had mine on Friday and I spent a day looking it over and ordered another for the grandson and after his last day of school were going out with it and throw grubs for smallmouth!!

[WPCfishing]

I already got it, same rod but it is for my grandson. I had mine on Friday and I spent a day looking it over and ordered another for the grandson and after his last day of school were going out with it and throw grubs for smallmouth!!

 

Nice Gift! .. Must be fun spending quality time with him.