Based in 2017, Ark Fishing continues to blow up within the bass world. Whereas they make a wide range of fishing sort out—baits, reels, efficiency attire, and equipment—their rods are extraordinarily standard amongst severe bass anglers. Final 12 months, Ark despatched me an entire batch of their rods, from funds choices all the best way as much as their prime performer—the Reinforcer. I’ve been testing it ever since and have been extraordinarily impressed with what this premium bass rod brings to the desk.
For starters, it has all of the attributes of a high-end rod: wonderful construct, nice supplies, considerate design, and a slick look. Its efficiency, as you’re about to search out out, matches its design, leading to considered one of my new favourite go-to bass rods. Truthfully, I used to be shocked with how a lot I appreciated it and much more impressed with what number of different good merchandise the model presents. They promote every part from high quality funds rods and reels to progressive baits to premium merchandise. And that’s the place the Reinforcer casting rod comes into play. Right here’s an in-depth have a look at Ark’s flagship casting rod.
First Look: Ark Reinforcer Casting Rod
Out of the field, the Reinforcer options an unsanded 46T HM carbon fiber clean, titanium guides, and a high quality cork deal with. These high-end elements make for a really sturdy construct, and even when one thing had been to occur, Ark presents a lifetime guarantee. It’s also noticeably light-weight and delicate whenever you decide it up. My take a look at mannequin, a 7-foot, 1-inch medium-heavy casting rod, encompasses a one-piece development with a fast-action—excellent for varied fishing methods.
The standard of the supplies additionally means a steeper price ticket—$350, to be precise. That places this rod within the premium class, though it’s widespread to search out bass rods for just a few hundred {dollars} extra. Nonetheless, irrespective of the way you shake it, that’s some huge cash. However for the intense bass angler, it’s well worth the consideration.
Fishermen have the choice of 10 completely different fashions various in size, motion, and energy. This lets you tailor the rod to a selected model of fishing—finesse rigs, throwing frogs, flipping jigs, and so forth. Ark features a chart on their web site with every mannequin’s specs, line rankings, and the fishing utility for that particular rod. When you don’t wish to decide to a selected fishing approach, the 7-foot, 3-inch mannequin is an all-purpose rod.
The Reinforcer encompasses a clear, easy aesthetic. Its matt black end with a easy interweaving design enhances its fashionable design. The Ark brand burned into the cork deal with can also be a pleasant contact. And whereas all of those nuts and bolts are essential, one of the best a part of the Reinforcer is the way it feels in hand. It’s light-weight, straightforward to solid, and simply snug to carry. Instantly after opening it, I knew this could carry out properly on the water. Spoiler alert: I used to be proper.
Specs
- Rod Sort: Casting
- Items: 1
- Rod Size: 7-foot, 1 inches
- Rod Energy: Medium-heavy
- Rod Motion: Quick
- Line Score: 8-17 pound
Different Notable Options
- Unsanded 46T HM carbon fiber blanks
- Enhanced with carbon nanotubes in between the carbon-fiber layers
- Fuji PTS/TVS reel seats with soft-touch layer
- Titanium guides
- Portuguese AAAA grade cork handles
- Restricted Lifetime Guarantee/$100 alternative price after 12 months
- Light-weight, delicate, and robust
- 10 casting choices (4 further spinning choices)
On The Water Efficiency
For testing, I selected the 7-foot, 1-inch medium heavy Reinforcer with a quick motion. It has confirmed to be a fantastic all-around rod for spinnerbaits, Texas rigs, gentle pitching, buzzbaits, and toads. It will additionally work properly with a Berkley Choppo 90 and be serviceable with a Spook or popper, although I’d advocate slightly softer motion rod within the lineup for these two.
Probably the most memorable catch with this rod got here a few weeks in the past. I had been whipping a buzzbait round for just a few hours—skipping, tossing, pitching, and slinging it into any little patch of shade or cowl I may discover. Lastly, I had a 4 ½-pounder smoke it beneath a shady spot. The Reinforcer carried out flawlessly that day, permitting me to make a whole lot of correct casts in quest of that one elusive, high quality, shallow summer time chew.
The rod hundreds flawlessly, and it’s straightforward to fireplace solid after solid. When massive bites got here, the Reinforcer had each little bit of energy to carry fish into the boat. However once more, my favourite half about this rod is the way it feels in hand. What I imply by that’s I like how a number of issues come collectively on this rod to make it snug, delicate, and well-balanced. It looks like a high quality rod whenever you decide it up, and it fishes tremendous easily.
Some key components that feed into this nice really feel are the Portuguese AAAA grade cork handles, Fuji PTS/TVS reel seats, and unsanded 46T HM carbon fiber blanks. Now, that’s simply a variety of technical mumbo jumbo. To translate, the reel seat has an uncovered part of the rod clean for sensitivity, and the reel seat itself is coated with a skinny layer of softer materials, giving it a cushty and safe grip. It’s received slightly tackiness to it with out being sticky.
All of the science that went into making the clean labored, as this is without doubt one of the lightest, strongest, and most delicate rods I’ve ever fished with. I just like the titanium guides, too. Sizewise, they land someplace between conventional guides and micro guides, which is good. The open lure keeper works nice for treble-hooked and weedless-rigged baits, and it’s positioned on the entrance of the rod above the reel. That is my favourite model lure keeper since you don’t need to take away the hook out of your tender plastic to retailer it every time. And the location minimizes snagging on the road.
Last Ideas
The Ark Reinforcer Casting Rod is a well-built, superbly designed, all-around nice bass fishing rod. The one downside is the worth. Even at $350, a number of different rods available on the market are priced at $100 to $200 extra. However I’m undecided they’re much higher than the Reinforcer. This casting rod deserves the premium label. After years of testing rods and aggressive bass fishing, the Reinforcer is considered one of my all-time favorites. I can solely think about you’d really feel the identical method if you happen to picked one up.
