Edge Rods by North Fork Composites MagBass 705-1 Product Review

Rod Review

The Search For One : Guess Who's Back Building Rods? (continued)

Design/Ergonomics: Ergonomically, if you look at this rod's handle in profile, you'll see that center line of the rod blank does not align with that of the handle. That's because the reel seat has an offset that effectively lowers the reel in your hand making it easier to palm and far more comfortable to hold all day long. This is a design that increases the appeal of some of the original G.Loomis sticks because anglers who have fished the design really covet the comfort provided by this configuration.

Edge Rods is using an open ended hook keeper located on the underside of the rod.

The colors and graphics of the 705-1 are really basic, no frills, black and white with just a hint of orange in some of the thread wraps. These rods are very stealthy and no nonsense and while the weight of this built rod is average, the balance is quite extraordinary.

Design & Ergonomics Ratings for EdgeRods MagBass 705-1
Grip (1-5)	Colors / Graphics (1-5)	Balance (1-5)	Weight (1-5)	Total	Possible	Rating (= Tot/Pos * 10)
5	4	5	3	17	20	8.5

Ah the sanded, unfinished blank - recognize that look?

Application: Edge Rod's MagBass 705-1 is built as their answer to our Search For One campaign. Code speak for this rod while touring the factory earlier this year was "The One". It took a little time for us to figure out to what they were referring, but once we did, we got a good chuckle out of it. So how does this sticks stack up across applications? Pretty darn well actually.

Bass Rod Application Ratings for EdgeRods MagBass 705-1
Rip/Jerk (1-5)	Steady (1-5)	Lift & Drop (1-5)	Drag (1-5)	Twitch (1-5)	Total	Possible	Rating (= Tot/Pos * 10)
5	5	4	4	5	23	25	9.2

Ladies and Gentlemen, Gary Loomis is back and judging by the performance of this stick, he hasn't lost a step.

The strengths of this rod are with baits like jerk and rip baits, spinnerbaits, and topwaters. Jigs, Texas rigged soft plastics, and Senko style baits are fine too - as long as you're staying within the recommended weights for lure ratings. The allure of this rod is that really easy loading and sensitive tip. This stick is a very strong Search for One contender.

It's difficult to mask your enthusiasm when fishing these sticks.

Ratings:

EdgeRods MagBass 705-1 Ratings (?/10)
Construction/Quality	A well built stick on a blank that reminds us of Gary's magic touch.	9.5
Performance	A well balanced taper to support casting and fish fighting power and sensitivity equal to what we expect from top of the line.	9.2
Price	A "fair" price for a rod with this pedigree, but certainly not for the masses quite yet.	6
Features	The carbon handle will put a lot of people off at first, but if you take the chance and fish it, you will be surprised how much sense it makes.	8.8
Design (Ergonomics)	Those spiral guides - either you love them or you just can't wrap your head around them.	8.5
Application	Edge Rod's Search For One Candidate performed quite well in our poll	9.2
Total Score		8.54
Ratings Key: 1 = terrible : 2 = poor : 3 = lacking : 4 = sub par : 5 = mediocre : 6 = fair : 7 = good : 8 = great : 9 = excellent : 10 = unbelievable! For More Details of the updated rating system visit our explanation here

Pluses and Minuses:

Plus	Minus
+ Gary Loomis is back and so is his high end blank.	- High end pricing for a high end product.
+ You want sensitive? HM is just about as good as it gets.	- Design and features are not for the conservative at heart.
+ There will be skeptics of the carbon handle, but you need to fish it to realize how well they perform.

Conclusion: Yes it's true we were contacted by Edge Rods for a consultation during the early stages of prototyping for their new bass series of rods. They had been paying close attention to the site, and they wanted to discuss, face to face, what we look for in a bass rod and why. We basically told them all they really have to do is look back to Gary's former company and update what he did there. They did that and more.

I was hoping for a striped bass, but I guess this guy will do. Edge Rods by NFC's MagBass 705-1 easily wins this Editor's Choice.

The MagBass 705-1 is built with a take no prisoners, make no compromises approach. It is built with the highest grade graphite blank that North Fork Composites offers. It is built with the highest grade guides by Fuji. Despite the fact this configuration will make it more difficult to sell the rods because it looks odd, the guides are spiral wrapped around the blank in order to deliver maximum performance when fighting your catch. The handles are carbon fiber - light, durable, washable, sensitive, and the reel seat features an off set design that made the original G.Loomis rods so comfortable to fish. If you're searching for "The One" and want the best possible tool you can have in your hands, it's difficult to argue that EdgeRod's MagBass 705-1 is not it.

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