Keith Lusher 04.26.24
As an avid bass fisherman, I’m always on the lookout for a rod that not only executes properly, but has the durability to last for years. Recently I have been using spinnerbaits a lot more and with the windy conditions this Spring, it’s gotten to be were I’ve used them almost exclusively. I’ve been specifically targeting wind blown banks and having tons of success. But there’s one problem I’ve been having with my spinnerbait rod: it’s uncomfortable and starts to hurt my hand after throwing spinnerbaits for too long. After doing a little research I decided on trying out the new Shimano Intenza spinning rod.
I decided on a 7′ 3″ long rod with a medium-heavy power rating with a fast action. The rod comes in one piece. Normally I will use a medium action for spinnerbaits, but lately I’ve been stepping up in the weight and size category of spinnerbaits. I had a bass fishing trip planned for the following week but I just couldn’t wait to try this rod out so I spent the day down at the lake fishing a shorline that was stacked up with wind-blown trash on the surface: pollen, dust, leaves etc. I tied on a white spinnerbait made by Flashin’ Assassin. They specialize in holographic strips that are embedded in the jighead which give of tremendous flash underwater.
The first thing I noticed during my first cast was the comfort of the grip. It’s a cork grip which I am not usually a fan of but the cork on the Intenza is sculpted to fit my hand perfectly. Shimano’s custom reel seat on this reel is also sculpted to fit very comfortable even after hours of casting.
Next, I want to talk about rod strenght. The butt of the blank to the first eye guide is wrapped in a cross pattern of carbon tape. Shimano calls this DIAFLASH technology and its done to reinforce the butt end of the rod and prevent flex and twist. I will say that it did seem very solid and I compare it to a high-end reel that is rigid with no flex.
The flex in the blank transitioned subtly after the first guide and the rod behaved like a typical medium-heavy rod with fast action.
Being a split-grip rod I was able to capitalize on it’s power to whip my spinnerbait about 50 yards out. During my casts the line flowed through the guides without any problem. There are nine total guides on the 7’3″ Intenza rod which are made of lightweight titanium oxide which is extremely smooth and found on high-end tournament rods. I am fully confident that I will not have any future problem with line-whip wearing out the insides of these guides.
Let’s talk hook-up rate. I fished a single wind-blown bank for about three hours and was able to land nine largemouth bass that ranged from a pound to four pounds. I missed on two strikes and lost one while reeling in. The hook-up rate was great and the sensitivity of this rod was tremendous. Numerous times I could feel that blade rolling and then stop as the strike happened.
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As I mentioned, I caught a 4-pounder and I was able to test the rod under stress. The fish made two hard runs that bowed the rod over and showed me how parabolic it was. The rod had decent stiffness leading up to about two feet from the tip.
In the end I was impressed with my new Intenza spinning rod and at a retail price of 150, it’s affordable. However, I’d say it was awefully close to rivaling those high-end tournament grade rods. Im looking forward to adding more lure specific Intenza’s to my bass fishing arsenal in the future!
