I’ve been reviewing bass fishing rods for more than two decades and have touched as close to every rod out there as maybe anyone in the industry. Yet I’m still keen to find great rods with sensitivity, power and a great price point. I was sent some of the new FishUSA Flagship Bass rods a month ago and have been fishing with them to get a feel for their place in fishing for the angling community. I have to say, these have been one of the better surprises I’ve found in bass rods in a while.
When you get a rod under $100, you are generally pretty skeptical about performance. Even cosmetics are not the best on lower price point rods in most cases. I’ve never been one to gravitate towards gaudy rod cosmetics. So when I get a classic, sleek, dark-steel-blue rod like the Flagship Bass Rods, I’m already leaning towards liking them. First box checked. Here’s a quick look at these rods and why you should be interested in buying one (or all of them).
If you’re at the Classic in Tulsa, the weekend of March 22-24, you can buy them on hand at the show.
SPECIFICATIONS ON FISHUSA FLAGSHIP BASS RODS
The FishUSA Flagship Bass Casting Rod offers anglers a high value rod at a tremendous price point of $99. The line consists of four one-piece bass fishing baitcasting rods in your choice of medium, medium-heavy and heavy powers. The FishUSA Bass Casting Rods feature a 30-ton and 36-ton graphite blend strategically formed in the rod blank for strength and stronger vibration transmissions through the rod. A direct-to-blank handle design on the rod increases sensitivity.
An amalgamated cork handle offers great comfort for long days on the water while also lightening the rod weight. The thing that maybe impressed me the most was the parabolic tapers load well, cast well and set solid hooks. I spent a whole day being very aggressive bank fishing trying my best to take the rods past their tolerances. They will take a tremendous amount of abuse. I was banging trees, yanking on 4-pound bass stuck in brush, swinging 3 and 4-pound bass up 3-foot banks. I was pretty blown away at how well the hold up.
The Flagship Bass baitcasting rods employ Seaguide components that enhance castability and durability. They also feature a hook keeper that preserves the integrity of rod guides.
MY EXPERIENCE WITH THE FLAGSHIP BASS RODS
I fished the rods for more than a month before they were released. It’s interesting that these rods look better than some of my high end rods just laying on the deck. You think you are picking up a $400 rod when you grab one. I also love that I throw them in the back of the truck and pond hop and don’t worry about them because they are a $99 rod made for this type of fishing. I have tried them in a wide array of techniques including crankbaits, spinnerbaits, swimbaits, mid-strolling jig minnows, jerkbaits and flipping plastics.
I have three of the four rods— the 6-foot, 10-inch medium power, the 7-foot, 1-inch medium heavy power and the 7-foot, 3-inch Medium rods. I also ordered the 7-foot, 6-inch heavy power rod. I flipped bushes with the 7-foot, 1-inch medium heavy and was able to swing nice sized bass out of cover. They are impressive rods from top to bottom. The powers are lean to the lighter side but the backbones are strong enough to swing quality bass. In fact I swung a 6-pound, 12-ounce bass on the 7-foot, 1-inch MH rod this past weekend. What you get are rods that throw a bait a long way while also being strong enough to really wrench on a bass in cover or in close quarters.
IMPRESSIVELY SENSITIVE FOR $99
These rods impressed me with their durability but equally as much with their sensitivity. They did some things with the blend I feel to make the rods a bit more sensitive and the ability to touch the blank at the reel seat adds to that. You are hard pressed to find a $99 rod that is very sensitive. Most are strong but few are also sensitive. To have these two together at this price point is why I rank them so highly. I have in person recommended them to a dozen anglers in the last week. These make super well-rounded rods for any angler. I will be using mine a bunch more this spring.
WORKHORSE FUNCTIONALITY
I was impressed. I’ve been able to catch some funky finicky bass on Kentucky Lake with them. I also caught a bunch with power techniques on smaller waters. I like that they come in the basic 4 combos of length, power and action that offer the most versatility.
The 6-foot, 8-inch medium is your target casting rod with small cranks, lipless, chatterbaits, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits and topwaters. Your 7-foot, 1-inch Medium Heavy offers you that mid range power rod for contact baits like jigs and worms. The 7-foot, 3-inch gives you a rod for for deep cranking, grass ChatterBaits, Carolina rigs, big topwaters on braid. While the 7-foot, 6-inch can handle your flipping, dragging football jigs, swimbaits and your other heavy power techniques.
I was on a heck of a swimbait bite occurring on a lake where the bass were between prespawn and spawn, meaning they were shallow, roaming and aggressively feeding the week or two before the went on bed. I was fishing a fat 5-inch swimbait on a weighted hook. I caught more than 25 bass between 3 1/2 pounds to 7 pounds.
These rods cover a lot of bases, won’t cause you to break your piggy bank to afford them and will make your time fishing with them an enjoyable investment. For more details, click the button below. And you can check out some of the bass I have been catching on these rods.
