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New
Products at the 2010 International Sportsmen’s Expo
(continued)
  Phenix
Trout Rods: It wasn’t all about bass rods at the show for Phenix at the ISE
show, the company has devoted an equal amount of time to updating their trout
rods as well. In the midrange segment the company is introducing their new
Mirage series which also make use of burl wood in combination with
ultra-lightweight eva foam in their grips.
The new lineup
of trout rods from Phenix all make use of burl wood
The Mirage
rods combine burl with eva for a lightweight and striking looking rod
The blanks on
the Mirage rods are all made out of carbon fiber
There are 12 models in the
Mirage lineup and 6 of them are one piece and the remaining 6 are two piece
rods, but unlike many rods where the two pieces are equal in length these rods
break down right above the foregrip.
The two piece
rods break down a few inches above the foregrip
Check out the
bend on the tip
The company did this to
preserve the proper parabolic actions. At the show we checked out the tips on
these rods which can bend almost all the way back to the blank, to achieve this
Phenix built these rods completely out of carbon fiber. The guides on the Mirage
trout rods are all silicon carbide components from Alps. The Mirage rods will
retail for $159-199 dollars depending on model.
The new
flagship Phenix trout rod is the Iron Feather
Next up in the lineup are
the final production Iron Feather trout rods, we first saw a prototype of these
rods at Bass-A-Thon last year, and the final version looks much more refined
than that first prototype. The iron Feather rods are designed out of carbon
fiber as well but the actual fiber in the tip is not cross weaved, it is
actually laid parallel to deliver a unique action.
Larger eva
grips combine with small burl inserts to form a comfortable grip
The result is a butt that
offers excellent backbone and a tip that is extremely limber. When we first
checked out the rods and shook them in the air the first thing that came to our
mind was “drop shot.” The team at Phenix admitted that many bass anglers have
expressed interest in this particular rod just for that particular application.
Though designed for trout fishing the characteristics of the Iron Feather rods
make them a great choice for many other species and applications.
The back of
the Iron Feather features a split grip and a burl and composite butt cap
All of the Phenix rods are
about a month away from becoming widely available from both e-tailers and
retailers. Phenix has always had a strong following among anglers and since
their rebirth a few seasons ago have continued to build their fan base. The
latest rods from the company look absolutely fantastic and are sure to please
existing fans of the brand as well as catch the attention anglers just learning
this nimble custom rod manufacturer.
Liwei, Jason
and Vince at team Phenix show us the new lineup, and we like how far the company
went to differentiate their new rods
Next Section:
Dobyns, Lamiglas, Shimano and Rooster rods
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