Tackle Guide Tackle Reviews

Which Apia Foojin’RS lure rod should I buy? Your complete guide.

If you’ve been following the Apia grapevine this week you’ll have read comprehensive reviews of each spinning model from the incredible, new Apia Foojin’RS range of rods. I know it’s been a difficult task for both Henry Gilbey and I to portray exactly how each of these quite unique rods feel to fish with. We’ve been saying it all week – and this is no sales pitch – but they just feel different to other rods. And it’s in a good way too. However, in spite of our best efforts I know from experience that loads of people will still be unsure which rod to go for. Faced with five positively gleaming reviews for five unique but equally capable lure rods, you’re a bit spoiled for choice and this can make things really hard. But I guess – as lure anglers – we love to obsess, analyse and pick through the finer details before making the perfect purchase?! Far from wanting to spoil your fun, this article will hopefully save you some time and clear any brain fuzz. These are of course only my personal feelings about each rod in the range – and Henry or any of the lucky – existing users may have their own. But I hope it helps. Apia Foojin’RS Springer 88ML (3-32g) – £379.99 As the lightest rod in the ‘RS range, your options are easier here. Capable with any lure in its 32g rating (the hidden power is deceiving) it’s a rod I would purchase if fishing a lot of calmer conditions on the coast or estuaries, with a mixture of lures – all soft, metal or diving lures. There are better rods with out there for a surface lure but it will fish them with ease. If you are fishing lures of typically
March 4, 2023
Read more
Tackle Reviews

Apia Foojin’RS Springer 88ML (3-32g) Rod Review – Estuary Genius – Circa £380 (updated!)

Apia Foojin'RS Springer 88
If you’ve already read this review once, I’d politely suggest maybe giving it another go. I’ve just been out with the Springer again today and unlocked a whole host of new findings. Just jump to the bottom for my update. Ben. In a world with so many high quality fishing rods, it takes a lot to stand out. I’ve discussed it already this week in my post about the Apia Foojin’RS Lynx 93M, but Apia have always found a way to do just that. So many rods today seem built from the same, simple wish-list of features and some very definite trends have appeared over the past few years. While the Lynx would be the only rod in the ‘RS range even flirting with a resemblance to normality, the Springer 88ML bucks the trend for doing its own thing. There are some excellent light, bass lure rods out there in the sub-nine range. At 8’8″ long and rated to cast a maximum of 32g, the Springer competes with the likes of the new Major Craft Tidrift 862ML and Seabass Custom 88, the cheaper Tailwalk Hi-Tide SSD 86ML and the now discontinued Tailwalk Eginn 88. And it’s no exaggeration to tell you that it’s a completely different rod to all of them – and the many more that would be easy to list in this crowded field of excellence. I’ve always had a love for shorter rods. I don’t know why but these “middle” lengths have always floated my boat a bit, and 8’8″ has long been a length I’d have quoted in the past as my personal ideal. To be honest, with rod development and longer rods feeling more manageable now than ever, today I’m probably a 9’1″ kind of guy (not that any exist!). But as a huge fan
March 2, 2023
Read more
Tackle Reviews

Apia Foojin’RS Lynx 93M (6-42g) rod review – circa £390

Lynx 93 Casting
“The Twitcher” Before having the pleasure of fishing the Foojin’RS rods, paper-theory suggested that this – the Lynx 93M – would be the go-to all-rounder of the range. The truth is that the RS range contains a series of lure rods that are all completely different. However, even with that they (somewhat strangely) each seem completely capable of fishing a very wide variety of lures. So the conclusion I’ve come to is that – to explain each as succinctly as I can –  I need to pick something that each rod feels the best at. You can consider it a given that you can also chuck any type of lure on each one – and most aren’t far off a 10/10 across the board – but I’ve tried to find the real reason to buy one over another. Before I speak specifically about the Lynx, a little on the RS range and Apia rods in general… If you haven’t fished or seen an Apia rod before, they are different. Solid. Clever. They don’t try to make the lightest rods on paper. They just make them the best fishing rods they can be. To fish one fills you with confidence. There are many rods that leave me with a certain degree of doubt when it comes to hammering them absolutely as hard as I can. Never with an Apia. In testing there are loads of times where I’ve just chuckled to myself, almost pendulum casting the hell out of a heavy lure that shouldn’t even really be fishable on such precision rods. It’s been fun. I can never blame anybody who picks up an Apia in the shop that isn’t immediately blown away (though lots are). They’re not always as steely and light as shop-wigglers favour. I’ve had the pleasure of fishing with some lovely
February 24, 2023
Read more
Stories

Ben Field Lure Fishing – A History

Opening Day
Though I’m writing this even before my first review on this aptly named website of mine, it’s difficult for me to deny the possibility that I might actually have been born for this. It may sound ridiculous, but if you can stay with me a while I’ll try to join the dots between the many seemingly unrelated periods of my life that have all ended up pointing towards the same thing. Born in 1980 I was lucky enough to spend my teens admiring the likes of the Shakespeare and Daiwa catalogues of that classic era. Naturally I was desperate to own almost every item of tackle that graced each page. Sea fishing off Newquay headland from very early age, by 1992 I’d discovered coarse fishing at a couple of local lakes. By 1995, not only was I match fishing, but spending every other waking minute of my days creating imaginary shopping lists (with prices) from the aforementioned brands. Today that’s basically my job. Affording it is still another matter, but my appreciation of a good looking fishing rod has never wavered in more than 30 years of dreaming. At university I made extra pocket-change by writing and submitting online product reviews. Not about fishing tackle but pretty much anything from music to kitchen utensils. I couldn’t help turning each in to a long-winded excuse for procrastination, but long before my job in retail – which came much later – I had an urge to provide information about the discoveries I had made in life. Eventually I realised that University wasn’t really the place for my hyper-focused fishing tackle brain, so instead took a job opportunity outside of Cornwall (passport at the ready!) and trained as a website developer. However, within two years I’d sensibly made my way back to Cornwall
February 16, 2023
Read more