The Elite Series handles show some impressive engineering, providing a very light, tactile grip that’s great for all-day casting.
Fenwick’s history began over 70 years ago with rods built in a garage at Washington’s Lake Fenwick. By the mid-60’s, the company had developed the famed “Lunkerstick” and commanded almost half the U.S. fishing rod market.
In the 1970’s, the company reports they were the first major manufacturer to release a graphite rod, releasing the HMG series in 1973.
As an aside, I got hold of my first graphite rods about two years later—not Fenwicks, but bare graphite blanks which I crafted into ugly and inelegant but effective rods for trout and redfish in my then home in Homosassa, Florida.
I never bought another fiberglass rod.
Not that fiberglass sucks—it’s still great for rugbeater applications where more flex, power and durability is critical and lighter weight and faster action are not. But other than that, graphite rules.
It would be a long time, though, before I’d own a Fenwick. The company had then and now the reputation of building premium rods—great sticks but not something working schmucks (like fishing guides) could generally afford.
The company has been through several iterations since then before finding a permanent home at Pure Fishing, circa 1988—not everybody agrees on the year.
All that is foreplay—Fenwick is still making great rods, the latest of which are in the Elite Series. I got a chance to try one out recently on my annual visit to Pensacola beach, and it was just the ticket for tossing light jigs at pompano in the surf.
The most interesting—and different—feature on the new Elite series spinning rods is the grip. This is where the rubber meets the rod on any serviceable rod. A poorly-designed handle can make the finest graphite stick into an unused tool, the last one you want to reach for in the rod box.
The ventilated composite reel mount and grip is a unique feature on the Elite Series spinning rods, with a nice feel and a shape that allows all day casting in comfort.
The butt has a cork section, then a ventilated composite inset before the cork foregrip. The composite section has what Fenwick calls “Soft Grip” technology, which makes it feel more like rubber than hard slick composite. It’s just “grippy” enough to stay put in a wet hand, but a lot more durable than cork, which has a nice feel but soon gets worn on the few premium rods that offer it covering this portion of the handle.
The Soft Grip section is also structured so that it’s the same level as the cork handle, eliminating the annoying skinny section where the blank is exposed in many other spinning rods. If you want to touch the blank—as you might when crawling a Ned rig on bottom where the slightest tap might mean a bite—you can, but you still have a full-sized grip that won’t cause hand cramping as quickly as the direct blank grip. It’s really a significant advantage.
The reel mount is positioned right so that you can put two fingers ahead of the mount, two behind, as most of us do, but also it’s right to go with three ahead, one behind, as I tend to do when my hand cramps up after long hours of working a topwater or jerkbait.
The shaped grip at the butt of the rod is a big plus for two-handed casters.
The butt grip is also tactile composite, and is shaped to fit the palm of your hand—a nice touch for those of us who fish saltwater and generally make two-handed casts.
The series gets into the premium price range at $259.95 to $309.95, but if you decide to treat yourself to a special stick now and then, this one would be worth considering; https://www.fenwickfishing.com/collections/elite-series
— Frank Sargeant
