A Different Approach : The New Player - Trika Rods

Introduction: Chances are you haven't heard of Trika rods before as the brand is a new entry into the highly competitive rod market, but the team behind the new brand have actually been developing products for outdoor enthusiasts for over two decades. The new Trika rods leverage the company's engineering experience and expertise in carbon weaving to develop a fishing rod that they consider to be built different to both cast and feel different.

From the makers of Ravin Crossbows comes the new Trika Rods

A Newcomer to the Rod Market: Trika just hard launched their first rod series this summer and while the brand, and their fishing rods, are new to this market the founders have a long history in the outdoor industry. I first learned about this new project and brand from Danny Uribe, who had previously developed his own rod series. Danny is part of the Trika product team that was brought together to develop these new rods from the ground up.

The team at Trika has been working on this launch offering for over two years and they are now hard launched and available for sale

The parent company of Trika is the same team that engineers and markets Ravin Crossbows, Rage Broadheads, IQ Bowsights, Block Targets and GlenDel 3D Targets. If you are a crossbow, bow archer, or hunter you likely have come across these brands as they are major player and even category leader in some of these segments.

Compare the Trika rods and Ravin Crossbows and you can see that they share some design elements that tie the brands together, including use of carbon fiber and silver and orange highlights. Even the Trika logo seems to pays homage to the parent company's hunting legacy.

Trika Rods: I've been fishing the Trika prototype rods since pre-ICAST when the blanks and guides were being finalized and some components, including the reel seats, were 3D printed and still in the process of being finalized. I was able to experience the blank and handle designs and found the initial rods to be very sensitive. Since that time Trika has finalized their builds and we just started fishing the mass production rods a week ago.

Trika rods feature a number of proprietary elements including the blank, reel seats, and carbon fiber handles

The production Trika rods are considerably more refined than the prototypes and still feel light and exhibit a very tactical look and feel. They don't look like traditional rods that use off the shelf components. Similar to the Ravin crossbows these rods feature a number of proprietary components and emphasize ergonomics. While they are not the lightest rods we have weighed in our lab they are very well balanced. As an example the 6'10" Medium/Xtra Fast casting rod weighs 4.0 ounces and the 7'3" Medium/Fast rod casting rod weighs only 4.2 ounces.

A look at Trika's one piece ergonomically tapered carbon fiber casting rod handle

Similar to Edge, and a few other brands, the Trika rods make use of carbon fiber handles that are durable, light, and sensitive. Trika's grips are differentiated however as they are one piece designs that are ergonomically tapered. When asking about the design of these handles Trika confirmed that they are not foam-core grips and are made specifically to match the diameter of each blank, the same is true of the reel seats, so that there is no liner needed. This minimizes weight and provides direct access to the blank and improved transfer of vibration through the handles and reel seat.

The Trika spinning reel handle features a very aggressive taper. These grips are designed specifically for the blank diameters and do not have foam cores to maximize the transfer of vibration

Both the casting and spinning reels make use of proprietary carbon reel seats, and are finished with a slick looking Trika logo insert. The foregrip on all rods consists of a hood finished with a hollow carbon fiber grip that reminds me of an arrowhead. While this design is a nice callout to the company's roots it also has a functional purpose as well. We have found that this foregrip to be very comfortable to rest your finger on when holding both casting and spinning rods and it also transfers vibration coming down the blank adding to the rod's sensitivity.

A look at the proprietary carbon spinning reel seat and foregrip

The heart of the Trika rods are the proprietary blanks which Trika has been developing over the last two years. These blanks are made in America and while the company is staying tight lipped on the manufacturing process and the exact materials that it is comprised of it looks like they are made with a cross-woven graphite construction that is devoid of any gloss which could potentially add weight or reduce sensitivity.

While I'd love to learn more about the sauce in the Trika blank it doesn't surprise me that Trika went with a proprietary graphite design in these new rods as they have years of experience in carbon weaving, spine consistency, and graphite weight reduction all stemming from their years of experience making arrow shafts.

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