FENWICK???

[walleyeguy666]

Anyone use em,do u like em are they a well built rod

[Redfish]

I have 2 older Fenwick HMX's and have used and abused them for about 6 years and neither have ever failed me. Saltwater, freshwater they are kinda my jack of all trade rods even to this day. The triggers on these particular rods are "odd" and took some time getting used to. Again, this is for older rods only, newer ones I cannot speak for.

[bassbandit]

I've got a new HMG. I haven't been able to fish it more yet this spring, but my intial impressions are all positive.

For starters, I like the steathy look of it. My rod is very well put together. The wraps are immaculate. I also really dig the feel of the TAC handle. It feels tacky and comfortable. My biggest complaint is that it features an ACS reel seat, which I find less comfortable than the ECS. I have the 7'3 MH. In hand, without a reel, it is noticably tip heavy. But with a Luna 103, it feels very good.

From handling mine in my house, I'd say that the newer HMG's are a good alternative to other rods in the $100 range.

[Finnz922]

Fenwick's lower grade rods HMG, HMX, and Eagle GT are decent rods. They are designed for all purpose uses. They will come in all common sizes and actions. Popular with anglers on a budget and Midwest walleye guys. When you step up into the Elite Tech you are getting into some good quality graphite in specific sizes and actions for specific applications. Again mostly for walleye fisherman. Although some of the rods would make great dropshot rods like the EWS69ML-F, EWS72ML-F and the EWS72M-F. Good rods but went away from bass rods a year ago. I think they had trouble competing so they stayed with their bread and butter. Walleye fishing in the midwest.

[ppFishing]

I have a newer HMG 7 footer casting rod that I use for pitching and flipping. It's not one of main rods but it performs nicely. I like the warranty on the HMG as it is life time. I also have three older HMG models w/ the cork handles. I like the old cork handle better than the new one.

[Tomhdez]

They are great rods and competitive at their price ranges. I love the new elite tech river runner rods and they have been getting a lot of attention for a new line of smallmouth rods set to debut at icast this year. I love my fenwicks!

[Buck2thPerch]

Why is it that when you join or get aquired by Pure Fishing....the quality goes down? The only aquisition of Pure Fishing that I find, on the tackle side of things that went up instead of down, is Abu Garcia. Look at All-Star Rods - used to be very good. Now All-Star just makes mediocre to low quality rods. Very disapointed. Fenwick is stil a house hold name in the Upper Midwest where I live but thier quality too have gone down except for Walleye. I still have a 8yrs-10yrs old Eagle GT that was in many was superior to that of some of the St. Croix rods back in its days. I hope Fenwick does some turning around. Also Cabelas has the Fenwick Silver Hawk rods for almost 50% off. Decent rods but there are better options out there at that price range.

[dragon1]

Ahem...FFO has some awesome deals at times clearing out some very nice Fenwicks.

[KCL655321]

I have a couple Technas, an HMG, & an E-Tech & they're all really solid rods. I like the Technas the best, but the HMG is very solid for where it's priced at. I haven't had a chance to fish my E-Tech yet, but it feels solid. They have been put on the back burner for bass rods(All-Star too) by Pure, as it seems they're pushing the Abu sticks to be their main bass fishing rod line.

[v3n0m]

Why is it that when you join or get aquired by Pure Fishing....the quality goes down? The only aquisition of Pure Fishing that I find, on the tackle side of things that went up instead of down, is Abu Garcia. Look at All-Star Rods - used to be very good. Now All-Star just makes mediocre to low quality rods. Very disapointed. Fenwick is stil a house hold name in the Upper Midwest where I live but thier quality too have gone down except for Walleye. I still have a 8yrs-10yrs old Eagle GT that was in many was superior to that of some of the St. Croix rods back in its days. I hope Fenwick does some turning around. Also Cabelas has the Fenwick Silver Hawk rods for almost 50% off. Decent rods but there are better options out there at that price range.

I completely agree! I used to be a big fenwick fan when I was a kid. I was always pleased with their build quality and blank action until recently. I checked out some of the newer rods @ cabelas and was really disapointed in the fit and finish. They had awful cork and sloppy guide wraps ect. Like someone mentioned previously the elite tech series are nice and they seem to be built well. I also hope they get their act together because they used to deliver a great product.

[smalljaw]

I've got a new HMG. I haven't been able to fish it more yet this spring, but my intial impressions are all positive.

For starters, I like the steathy look of it. My rod is very well put together. The wraps are immaculate. I also really dig the feel of the TAC handle. It feels tacky and comfortable. My biggest complaint is that it features an ACS reel seat, which I find less comfortable than the ECS. I have the 7'3 MH. In hand, without a reel, it is noticably tip heavy. But with a Luna 103, it feels very good.

From handling mine in my house, I'd say that the newer HMG's are a good alternative to other rods in the $100 range.

The ACS reel seat is the tipping point for me, I'll never get another rod without it, that ECS reel seat gave me swollen fingers after a day of chucking a spinnerbait. But to be fait that Elite Tech smallmouth rod with the new handle design looks worthy of a try but most of my rods are being replaced with rods using the ACS reel seat.

[Mattman]

Why is it that when you join or get aquired by Pure Fishing....the quality goes down? The only aquisition of Pure Fishing that I find, on the tackle side of things that went up instead of down, is Abu Garcia. Look at All-Star Rods - used to be very good. Now All-Star just makes mediocre to low quality rods. Very disapointed. Fenwick is stil a house hold name in the Upper Midwest where I live but thier quality too have gone down except for Walleye. I still have a 8yrs-10yrs old Eagle GT that was in many was superior to that of some of the St. Croix rods back in its days. I hope Fenwick does some turning around. Also Cabelas has the Fenwick Silver Hawk rods for almost 50% off. Decent rods but there are better options out there at that price range.

I completely agree! I used to be a big fenwick fan when I was a kid. I was always pleased with their build quality and blank action until recently. I checked out some of the newer rods @ cabelas and was really disapointed in the fit and finish. They had awful cork and sloppy guide wraps ect. Like someone mentioned previously the elite tech series are nice and they seem to be built well. I also hope they get their act together because they used to deliver a great product.

About fifteen years ago Fenwick ceased blank sales to custom builders and moved rod production off shore.

[NJ Jigman]

i have 2 hmx's and 1 hmg and like them never had a problem the only thing is that theyre older, im 6 im 7 and just can't compare to say a im 10 cumara. can't say anything about the new ones mine are 5=7 yrs old

[Buck2thPerch]

I found that my old IM6 Fenwick rods serves really good for Lipless Cranks. The parabolic bend that it has is almost that of current graphite cranking rods, especially the Ugly Stick like bend of the tips. Even though my Fenwick IM6 rods of 10yrs ago are rated MH XFast, compared to my current MH XFast, like I said the old ones feels like M Moderate Fast. Technological advances...

[Carlos Carrapiço]

It looks that in Japan they have no problems at all judging by their line of products and prices...
http://www.tiemco.jp/fenwick/products/index.html