PRODUCT GUIDE
WHAT’S NEW FISHING
The final verdict has come in: Atomic Arrowz hit the target
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Being handed the newest gear on the market to test is not my favourite part of working at Fishing Monthly, but it’s right up there. This week started with a phone call from my old mate Jay, national sales manager at Frogleys Offshore in Ballina. He had some exciting news that their latest range of rods – the Atomic Arrowz series had landed and was being distributed to stores by the thousands as we spoke. We’d been able to have a play with the samples of these rods at the AFTA trade show on the Gold Coast in August of last year, and had eagerly been awaiting their release to the market place. The Atomic Arrowz range features four series of rods specifically designed and tuned for the Aussie market by the team at Frogleys. They consist of Bream Specialty, Estuary, Barra and Offshore and are made to cater for both lure and bait anglers with 14 rods in total. Each rod comes equipped with the new Fuji deep pressed ‘O’ ring stainless steel guides, and Fuji reel seat. All but the barra models come with hyper-sensitive EVA grips front and rear. The barra models are loaded with cork at the rear and EVA on the foregrip. Knowing the Atomic Arrowz were coming out of the MajorCraft factory, renowned for producing quality and value for money in fishing rods, I was more than happy to put my hand up to put them through their paces.
TESTED
This trevally put a solid bend in the Bream Surface model that Steve was using. right through to my fingertips. As with any new rod I’ve used, it took a few casts, maybe 20-30 to dial in my range and start to cast accurately. Distance isn’t a problem – I could’ve launched that Sugapen to South Stradbroke Island with the right breeze. I only managed a couple of fish for the morning on the heavier stick, and none of them were big enough to stress the rod to its limits, but the ones that did eat were handled with ease thanks to the lovely taper and responsive blank. In summary, although our testing period
for these was much shorter than we’d usually like to have – by about 3 months – I would happily have any number of the Atomic Arrows series in my quiver of rods. Although they are labelled as being built for specific purposes, these two rods alone could cover a lot of bases in my usual fishing pursuits for under $200 RRP each! If you’d like to know more about these rods please give our Tackle Junkie on the Fishing Monthly Magazines Facebook page video a watch and then head into your local tackle store to put a bend in one for yourself. – Rob Gaden
These Atomic Arrowz look pretty fly on the deck of a bass boat! The test for us what exactly how much quality could we expect out of a couple of rods that retail for around the $189 mark. Having used rods from the $50 special bin right up to some that retail for $700+, I dind’t know what to expect. We were blessed with a Bream Surface AAS-70BS – which we matched to a Daiwa Emeralds 2506 and an Estuary AAS-70ML, which we saddled with a Daiwa Luvias 3012. These are the rods we figured to be two of the more versatile rods in the range. Bream, jacks and trevally were the targets of the day and the lures of choice were Bassday Sugapens in both the 70mm and 95mm versions, the smaller being fitted with the new Trick Bitz assist hooks, which make it easier for those slurping silver terrors of the canals to latch on to. Steve Morgan grabbed the Bream Surface rod as he almost loves bream as much as life itself, while I worked the heavier combo tight to structure looking for a red
dog or estuary dwelling trevor. A couple of a casts into the session and Steve had a nice little trevally on and was bending the Bream Surface model to the foregrip. It was mentioned on the way to the ramp, “I wonder if we can break these things?” We tried – as you’ll see in the accompanying video – but couldn’t. A scattering of fish continued to eat the tricked up Sugapen and hit the deck throughout the morning. Each presenting a different challenge, but all conquered without fuss by the equal parts power and precision demonstrated by these rods. For me, the first thing I noticed about the rods was they look awesome. Quality workmanship in the build is obvious and the lightweight of the blank also stands out. You could fling lures or plastics all day on this thing and not get tired. The transfer of lure action through the braid to the rod is also noticeable. Every zig and zag of the head of the Sugapen came
Bream aren’t quite a match for the Estuary model, which would be more suited to mangrove jacks or larger trevally.
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