The Five New Rods I Used Most Last Year
I have a lot of fishing rods, certainly over a hundred at last count, many of which should get given away or sold because they’re unlikely to be used again. I’ll probably up the count in 2025, because part of my tackle-hoarding sickness is that I live for the myth of more. I purchase some of the new rods I obtain each year with my own hard-earned cash, while others show up as media freebies or as part of testing plans for various websites. I give all of them a fair shot, but some work their way into the rotation better than others.
Here are the five that I obtained in 2024 that’ll get used heavily in 2025 and beyond:
I very rarely use baitcasting rods under 7 feet anymore, but I was surprised at how often this little finesse bully ended up on the deck of my boat. In fact, I don’t think it ever left the boat after I got it. It’s super-crisp for throwing Ricos and flukes and weightless wacky rigs. It might be good with small jerkbaits, too, or any time you’re using light baits and need to make pinpoint casts. One day Hanna started fishing it and I freaked out, thinking it was gone – it was hard to get her to give it back.
They call this a dropshot rod, and it works fine for that, but I also had a ball using it with Ned Rigs and wacky worms and even minnow style baits. It’s a joy because it’s so light, and also because you can feel it if a fish even thinks about breathing on your lure. Not cheap by any means, which means I’m extra careful when slamming rod lockers and extra appreciative when I catch a fish on it that I might not with another rod.
Fenwick has really bounced back in a big way with the addition of some major league rod designers – and this premium product is proof that they know what they’re doing. It became my “all around,” useful for a wide variety of techniques from topwaters to Texas Rigs. In fact, even when I didn’t have it dedicated to a particular technique when I blasted off in the morning, I almost always had it in the rod locker as the “first man up” when I wanted to try something else.
This is by far the least expensive rod in the group, but you wouldn’t know it from the way it handles. In fact, Dobyns has created something of a problem for their company in that their “lower end” rods consistently perform so well, providing less incentive to go up the ladder. I have several of their Champion XPs (but none of the Xtasy…yet) and while they’re very refined so too are their sub-$100 sticks.
OK, this one didn’t get used a ton at home, but its showcase in Panama, taming yellowfin tuna, means that it’ll always have a very special place in my heart. It was far smoother than any other travel rod I’ve ever used, and didn’t buckle under the pressure of fish in the 10-40 pound class. It’ll go with me on every trip from now on.
No, I didn’t get one of the Kyoya Fujita $1,300 limited edition sticks from Daiwa, but I feel plenty fortunate to have the number of high-quality rods that I own. I realize that everyone has their own preferences in terms of lengths, components and actions (as well as preferred price points) but these are five that made me very happy.
