Fenwick Elite Tech Bass? Not the older smallmouth.

[WRangler506]

Im not sure how much traffic this subforum gets, but I figured I would try it out.

 

I have a good friend that has a great deal on the Fenwick BASS Elite Techs.

 

He is looking at the 610MLXF, 69MMF(I think) and the 7MF.

 

Ive only held one in person, the 610MLXF. The action didn't feel as fast as what I would expect for an XF rating. Not even close really. Other than that, they seem pretty nice. His price is pretty good, I just don't know much about them or which ones are best. The 610 ML also very quite stiff for an ML.

 

I know in the old smallmouth series, the 69 MLXF was very popular. Are the ELite Tech WALLEYE rods better rods?

[bradco]

That 6' 10" ML rod seems to be very soft in the tip. I bought one for a drop shot rod, used it once & now it sits in my garage

[LCG]

I really wanted to purchase the elite tech 6'10" ml xf, but I was disappointed that the action was the exact same as the hmg 6'9" ml f that I already have. I also came across two separate rods that had the handle screw broken. 

 

I was more impressed with the st Croix mojo bass 6'10" ml xf. The tip is super soft but goes into the backbone very quickly, like an actual xf. Ultimately I ended up with the st Croix mojo but the wacky 6'8" m xf as I wanted a bit more versatility and I already had the hmg ml f. 

 

However I love the handle of the elite tech, the hidden reel seat is very comfortable. Just got a bad taste when I saw two that were broken in store. But I am a fenwick fan in general. 

 

[Big-Bass]

The new Bass series is nice but I think the older Smallmouth rods had better guides and felt better overall.  I have my 6'9" ML that I use all the time and a brand new one in my arsenal still with the plastic on the cork.  Some say it was the best bang for the buck Fenwick series ever made.  It's interesting to know that the tapers of the Fenwick Elite Tech Walleye rods match the Smallmouth series very closely (even in color) except they have a full grip handle.  

[FryDog62]

I hope Fenwick goes back to the Smallmouth Elite Tech rod again.  The new Bass Elite Tech just isn't the same, the only rods in that lineup I would consider are the Extra Fast, and even those aren't quite the rod the smallmouth was...

[lmbfisherman]

Yeah I love the older version.  The new one just doesn't have the same.  I wish they would go back.  As for the walleye version, is it really the same as the old?  How do you know?

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

I had the new ETB 7'6" MH/F and returned it. Was not very good in a number of areas like weight balance sensitivity 

[smalljaw67]

I'm in the same ball park as the rest of you. I'm a Fenwick fan and the ET Smallmouth rods were just great, what they did with the ET Bass line was add length and more power, something a lot of anglers asked for but it came at a price, it made the rods a little heavier and less crisp. The one good thing was they did mange to keep the rods sensitive, not quite as crisp as the smallmouth but just as sensitive. As for the 6'10" ML-XF not being an extra fast, you have power and action confused, the action is where that tip flexes before it hits backbone. The tip does flex to where it is an extra fast action but it will have give in the backbone as well because of the light power, and remember, this rod was designed primarily as a drop shot rod so the tip section is a little softer than what a normal finesse stick would be. The rods aren't bad at all but if you are use to using the smallmouth series you'll notice the added weight and power right away, I still worry about breaking my 6'9" M-XF spinning rod, that rod is so good at everything, it has the sensitivity for bottom contact baits and the backbone for power techniques with fantastic comfort and super light, I find it hard to put down when using it. If anyone knows where I can buy a 6'9" ML-F in the smallmouth rod just let me know, I've been searching for a while and haven't found any.

[lmbfisherman]

2 hours ago, smalljaw67 said:

I'm in the same ball park as the rest of you. I'm a Fenwick fan and the ET Smallmouth rods were just great, what they did with the ET Bass line was add length and more power, something a lot of anglers asked for but it came at a price, it made the rods a little heavier and less crisp. The one good thing was they did mange to keep the rods sensitive, not quite as crisp as the smallmouth but just as sensitive. As for the 6'10" ML-XF not being an extra fast, you have power and action confused, the action is where that tip flexes before it hits backbone. The tip does flex to where it is an extra fast action but it will have give in the backbone as well because of the light power, and remember, this rod was designed primarily as a drop shot rod so the tip section is a little softer than what a normal finesse stick would be. The rods aren't bad at all but if you are use to using the smallmouth series you'll notice the added weight and power right away, I still worry about breaking my 6'9" M-XF spinning rod, that rod is so good at everything, it has the sensitivity for bottom contact baits and the backbone for power techniques with fantastic comfort and super light, I find it hard to put down when using it. If anyone knows where I can buy a 6'9" ML-F in the smallmouth rod just let me know, I've been searching for a while and haven't found any.

Thats good to know, I'm hoping they will fix the line!  I don't even like the new Aetos line either, I did think about venturing into the World Class, but....what they did to the ET and Aetos made me "hesitant".  I guess regarding the length and power, I guess I'm in the minority...I thought the power and actions were just perfect!  I have the M-XF ET Smallmouth and that thing is awesome, I like the Aetos 7' M-F better though.  Both super versatile and super sensitive!  I credit you for getting me to bite on the 4 Fenwick rods in my arsenal.

[WRangler506]

5 hours ago, smalljaw67 said:

I'm in the same ball park as the rest of you. I'm a Fenwick fan and the ET Smallmouth rods were just great, what they did with the ET Bass line was add length and more power, something a lot of anglers asked for but it came at a price, it made the rods a little heavier and less crisp. The one good thing was they did mange to keep the rods sensitive, not quite as crisp as the smallmouth but just as sensitive. As for the 6'10" ML-XF not being an extra fast, you have power and action confused, the action is where that tip flexes before it hits backbone. The tip does flex to where it is an extra fast action but it will have give in the backbone as well because of the light power, and remember, this rod was designed primarily as a drop shot rod so the tip section is a little softer than what a normal finesse stick would be. The rods aren't bad at all but if you are use to using the smallmouth series you'll notice the added weight and power right away, I still worry about breaking my 6'9" M-XF spinning rod, that rod is so good at everything, it has the sensitivity for bottom contact baits and the backbone for power techniques with fantastic comfort and super light, I find it hard to put down when using it. If anyone knows where I can buy a 6'9" ML-F in the smallmouth rod just let me know, I've been searching for a while and haven't found any.

Thanks for the info, but Im not confusing the power and action. In MY opinion, the action on the Bass is not even close to as fast as the walleye, or a st Croix avid. I was able to compare side by side with each. In some ways I like that, but just wasn't sure about how it was rated XF.

When I loaded the tip of the rod it started bending much farther down the rod than the other 2 mentioned. It actually seemed like it was simply mislabeled...not sure what to make of it.

Your point about adding power, yes that sounds right as the ML feels much different than the previous ML. Id like to fish one so see how it feels over a couple hours.

[Angry John]

18 hours ago, Luke Goguen said:

I really wanted to purchase the elite tech 6'10" ml xf, but I was disappointed that the action was the exact same as the hmg 6'9" ml f that I already have. I also came across two separate rods that had the handle screw broken. 

 

I was more impressed with the st Croix mojo bass 6'10" ml xf. The tip is super soft but goes into the backbone very quickly, like an actual xf. Ultimately I ended up with the st Croix mojo but the wacky 6'8" m xf as I wanted a bit more versatility and I already had the hmg ml f. 

 

However I love the handle of the elite tech, the hidden reel seat is very comfortable. Just got a bad taste when I saw two that were broken in store. But I am a fenwick fan in general. 

 

I had that issue with my rod after owning it for over two years.  I scraped the blank and re-epoxied the handle screw section back to the blank and its good to go now.  They tried to run me threw the warranty process but its not worth the money of shipping that lower budget rod back and then paying to send it to me.  I have stuff around the garage for building rods so that seemed the much better choice considering their glue failed to begin with.

[smalljaw67]

On ‎4‎/‎6‎/‎2017 at 5:14 PM, bradco said:

That 6' 10" ML rod seems to be very soft in the tip. I bought one for a drop shot rod, used it once & now it sits in my garage

 

Uh, drop shot rods have very soft tip sections. Fish with a high end Daiwa or Megabass with the solid tip they call the stinger, those are really soft and it is why drop shot specific rods aren't really good for other techniques. The reason you want a soft tip for drop shot fishing is for two reasons, the first reason is it allows you to move the line a little more aggressively without moving the weight much helping you keep it in the same spot. The second reason is it lets you see the strike, the fish can bite and you'll see it before the fish feels the resistance and drops the bait. That is important because even with the most sensitive rod you won't always feel a strike on a drop shot, sort of like a weightless Senko in that regard, so you probably want to read some articles by Aaron Martens about fishing a drop shot. I'm not trying to be smart but every angler I know that is really good fishing a drop shot all like rods with super soft tip sections, for me, well I don't use it enough for a dedicated rod so I try to find something with a soft tip but not too soft so I can use it for other techniques because most drop shot specific rods are too soft in the tip for anything else so I compromise but if I would use it a lot I'd probably opt for a rod that is really soft.