Enigma Rods

[Afrayedknot]

Anyone get their hands on these yet? I must say I am intrigued by the microwave guides and the aesthetics are quite nice as well.

[21farms]

wow, six months later and still no replies. anyone?

i've noticed that the price for the aaron's edge rods have quietly dropped from $170 to $120 but still not much interest.

[Bronzeye]

I ordered one and returned it unused. Fit and finish were awful--a disappointment for me and surely a manufacturing embarrassment for detail freak Aaron Martens. The source I bought it from said they'd been getting a lot of them returned.

[kstephes033]

I had 4 of them, sold 3. Had two 7'3" MH, one 7'3" Heavy, and one 7'2" Med crank (only one i kept). The MH and H rods were not all that well balanced, but i did have a metanium and chronarch ci4 on the 2 MH, and a Tatula on the H. The ratings seemed to be spot on, i used the 2 MH for 1/2oz plastics and the H for 3/4 plastics and they did handle them well. Personally i did not like the front grip, and did not like that i could not get them to balance well. The build on all of mine was fine, did not see any imperfections or anything so maybe i got lucky there. I did decide to keep the 7'2" Med crank rod as it is very light, very balanced with a lews bb1, and fishes my shallow cranks well.

[fishindad]

I have never seen an Enigma rod nor touched one in person, let alone fished with one. Same goes for any Megabass rod. But I have been following with great interest the feedback from many who have fished both and smile because it reinforces a very wise decision I made to rethink my tackle buying habits.

I own and fish (or have owned and fished) many low, middle, and high end rods including Phenix Boron, Loomis IMX and GLX, St Croix Avid and Extreme, Falcon Lowrider and Cara, Dobyns Champ and Extreme, etc, etc. But as mentioned, no JDM or NRX - past the point of diminishing returns IMO. What blows me away is that as great of a BASS season Aaron Martens had in 2015, it proved (to me at least) that Megabass (or Enigma) rods had absolutely nothing to do with the number and quality of fish he puts in the boat over the course of a year. Nor does it really matter to any other angler. It's not the arrow. Sure, most of us probably know this and don't really care. I know there's the contingent of tackle junkies out there with deep pockets - I liken it to fly guys who have to have the latest Sage, Orvis, Simms, Scott, etc gear - that love to try out new gear every year and are always in search of the "ultimate" rod/reel for XYZ technique. Nothing wrong with that at all. I was in that boat (no pun intended) of looking for the perfect dropshot rod, grub rod, swimbait rod. Until I watched A Mart's results over this past year since he made the switch (Jan 2015) from MB rods.

So why did I post all this dribble? Because I absolutely think it is unfair (and frankly somewhat sad) that folks are somewhat bashing Enigma rods. As if they should be on par with Megabass rods, just because AM fished them for so many years prior? It doesn't take a genius to figure out that at the price point those rods were intro'd at put them in company with sub-$200 rods. So of course they're not up to the high standards of TT followers (I am one) and they never were meant to be. But JC Almighty, let's stop with the negative posts about how ugly, poorly balanced, cheap, whatever, the Enigma rods are to you.

I have sold off almost all my other tackle and fish Falcon Caras (bc) and Dobyns DX (spin) now. But if I were starting out and in the market for a full lineup of bass rods, I would have no issues whatsoever with laying out my hard-earned cash for a boatload of the AM-endorsed Enigma rods. And not because I am a fanboy of his or am in any way associated with that or any other tackle company. I'm just a weekend warrior who has fished for the past 50+ years and learned enough to know that a rod and reel are just a tool.

My apologies to the OP and no offense meant to anyone for the long reply but I think it is grossly unfair to bash these sticks just because they don't live up to the lofty standards we are used to. If the AOY can blow away the best in the world with those rods, I am 100% sure they are great rods. So I say buy one or two and fish em. Just don't compare them to any other rod because they aren't meant to be.

[njbasscat]

I have never seen an Enigma rod nor touched one in person, let alone fished with one. Same goes for any Megabass rod. But I have been following with great interest the feedback from many who have fished both and smile because it reinforces a very wise decision I made to rethink my tackle buying habits.

I own and fish (or have owned and fished) many low, middle, and high end rods including Phenix Boron, Loomis IMX and GLX, St Croix Avid and Extreme, Falcon Lowrider and Cara, Dobyns Champ and Extreme, etc, etc. But as mentioned, no JDM or NRX - past the point of diminishing returns IMO. What blows me away is that as great of a BASS season Aaron Martens had in 2015, it proved (to me at least) that Megabass (or Enigma) rods had absolutely nothing to do with the number and quality of fish he puts in the boat over the course of a year. Nor does it really matter to any other angler. It's not the arrow. Sure, most of us probably know this and don't really care. I know there's the contingent of tackle junkies out there with deep pockets - I liken it to fly guys who have to have the latest Sage, Orvis, Simms, Scott, etc gear - that love to try out new gear every year and are always in search of the "ultimate" rod/reel for XYZ technique. Nothing wrong with that at all. I was in that boat (no pun intended) of looking for the perfect dropshot rod, grub rod, swimbait rod. Until I watched A Mart's results over this past year since he made the switch (Jan 2015) from MB rods.

So why did I post all this dribble? Because I absolutely think it is unfair (and frankly somewhat sad) that folks are somewhat bashing Enigma rods. As if they should be on par with Megabass rods, just because AM fished them for so many years prior? It doesn't take a genius to figure out that at the price point those rods were intro'd at put them in company with sub-$200 rods. So of course they're not up to the high standards of TT followers (I am one) and they never were meant to be. But JC Almighty, let's stop with the negative posts about how ugly, poorly balanced, cheap, whatever, the Enigma rods are to you.

I have sold off almost all my other tackle and fish Falcon Caras (bc) and Dobyns DX (spin) now. But if I were starting out and in the market for a full lineup of bass rods, I would have no issues whatsoever with laying out my hard-earned cash for a boatload of the AM-endorsed Enigma rods. And not because I am a fanboy of his or am in any way associated with that or any other tackle company. I'm just a weekend warrior who has fished for the past 50+ years and learned enough to know that a rod and reel are just a tool.

My apologies to the OP and no offense meant to anyone for the long reply but I think it is grossly unfair to bash these sticks just because they don't live up to the lofty standards we are used to. If the AOY can blow away the best in the world with those rods, I am 100% sure they are great rods. So I say buy one or two and fish em. Just don't compare them to any other rod because they aren't meant to be.

Isn't that what this site is about? If someone buys something and uses it, they should be able to post their opinion, especially when someone is asking for it. Using Aaron as an example of why these are great rods is exactly what he intended when he entered into this venture I'm sure. Aaron is a natural, is better than 99% of tournament fishermen, and could probably out fish most of us with a Coke can and some mono. All that has zero to do with the quality of the rods he's selling.

[kstephes033]

I never intended to bash them, hence why I still own one and like it. I was purely stating that I personally got rid of them because the balance was not what I wanted. The rods were plenty sensitive, build was perfect on mine with no imperfections I could find, and I really liked the rods, other than balance which is sonething I personally can't handle an unbalanced setup. No it's not a megabass or any other high end rod, but being its half the price or less I wasn't expecting to be. Hell if the best (or one of the best) anglers on the planet uses them for his livelihood then they definitely are good enough for the vast majority of us. I know you weren't trying to single anyone out but again the op asked for an opinion on them, so I have my true unbiased answer. I own many rods in that same price range, and truly these were rods that I really hoped I would like and keep due to affordability and the sensitivity to me is above their price point, but again balance to me rules over most everything else. I have told many of my friends and club members that they are a great stick for the money, especially being able to find them for $85 now on certain sites. I did have some of the longer rods as well and many companies can't seem to get balance down on something over 7' long. I couldn't stand an Orochi xx tour versatile for the same reason and sold it. So again I was just giving my unbiased opinion since there seems to be very few people that have tried them and or post about them. For $85 I do think they are one heck of a Rod and would not hesitate to buy it for that price to give them a try. I did, and they for the most part just weren't for me. Rant done.

[illinoisbassfishin]

I absolutely love them. I have a 7'3" mh, 7'3" h, 7'8" h, 7'2" m cranking, and a 6'11" ml spinning. I've had all of them since Sept '15 and all of them have performed flawlessly. I like the feel of them. They just seem to have a real smooth crisp feeling when casting and setting the hook on fish. Maybe they aren't as light as say a gloomis nrx or something like that but they are pretty darn light and you aren't paying $500 either. I am thinking about buying one of the phenom titanium rods in the next week or two.

[hungry_cow]

" I'm just a weekend warrior who has fished for the past 50+ years and learned enough to know that a rod and reel are just a tool."

Most all of us realize that the high end gear we get isn't going to put more fish in the boat. But most of us have a philosophical difference here. To most of us a rod and reel are not just tools. We see them as fine machinery and art that adds to the fun of all the casts that don't catch fish.

So its nice to see a reviews for a rod that confirms it is only a tool. Its not bashing the rod as it may still be fine for someone who just wants it as a tool to catch fish. But for those that want more than just a good tool we can know to pass it up.

[BucketHunter]

I, and many others as well, have it on good authority, and have for a long time, that pros undoubtedly have 'production like' rods that are custom blanks, with better guides, and better builds (graphite arbours instead of tape, reel seats moved, weight added for balance etc) wrapped up in production colours to mimic the lines of rods they are compensated to promote. It's not hard to do, and it's not rocket science. Fish the production rods, tell them what you want changed, what parts your want swapped and voila, delivered to your door. Whether this happens before, and bean counters whittle down the quality to make a product fit a price point, or after as a clandestine swap, is of no consequence.
Claiming that an angler fishes better with high end gear, or poorly with low end gear isn't just misguided, it's totally irrelevant.
What you see an angler use, what he puts on his deck for blastoff, and what he leaves on his deck for weigh in, is usually all for show. Rods, reels, line, lures. They can all be modified, swapped out, and hidden/exposed as a pro sees fit. It has been said by other pros that they'd love to see inside KVD's tackle box, on MLF - because he gets all the new stuff before anyone else.
Prototypes get fished, win tournaments, then get locked away in secret, shared with friends and scoped out by discerning spectators long before they ever hit the shelves, a couple of seasons I would guess.

[389Maverick]

I am 100% sure they are great rods. So I say buy one or two and fish em. Just don't compare them to any other rod because they aren't meant to be.

Or maybe we should just wait for your review, can you see the irony?