EOW XPEDITE PRO Portable Telescopic Casting and Spinning Fishing Rods, 24T Carbon Blanks & Solid Carbon Tip, Cork Handle, Travel Rod, Short Collapsible Rods

The media could not be loaded. I was planning a multi-week National Park vacation to the mountains in western United States and Canada and looking for an ideal rod for me and the family to take along on long hikes. My goal was to have something small, sturdy, and quality, but not be out a lot of money if it got broken. Our target fishing was mostly trout in out of the way streams or rivers in Glacier NP, Yellowstone, Tetons, and Idaho. I’m an avid fisherman, and prefer solid graphite rods versus two-piece or telescoping especially for trout and bass. After researching I came across the these rods and decided for the price I’d give it a shot. I purchased a 6ft and 7ft to try on my local Smallmouth streams first. The feel of the rods was good with the cork handle, but a little less sensitive of course than I’m used to (Note the rods say they are targeted for 8 lb -14lb test on the rod specs). That said, I wanted to use lighter line so I set the 6ft with a Shimano and 7ft with a Daiwa reel both with 4lb Berkley Trilene Smooth casting line. On first two trips I caught several small smallmouth , and one nice ~16inch small mouth (pictured). The rod did great, nothing broken or stressed even with that fish, so figured it was ready for the vacation trip.The size was nice and packed down well to about 17 inches in size. It packed perfectly in the outside loops of my Dakine Heli-Pro snowboarding backpack (pictured) or in my kids backpacks which could zip. I preferred the outside so I could protect the tip and reel from getting smashed by other gear, and I always kept the plastic protector over it when hiking. I even did some rough off trail hiking down into back country in Idaho and Montana though chest tall brush and had no trouble with anything breaking.As far as ease of use, once you get to your destination you can have it unpacked and ready to go in about a minute. I generally had best luck leaving a small snap swivel hooked to my rod, and when arriving taking off the plastic tip cover, and extending rod from bottom thicker extensions first and gradually working towards the top being careful especially with the last 2 extensions so they don’t break and are lined up.Overall these rods were perfect for what I was looking for. They caught over 40 trout, a northern pike, several smallmouth and panfish since we’ve had them (over three months). Most importantly they gave me more opportunity to fish on our vacation by being sturdy and packable for the hikes, and a great price! Definitely recommend!

Worth the extra couple bucks over the Zebco one. Cork handle better finish and color.

I bought this as a birthday gift for my girlfriend's 10 year old son as his first big boy rod. He really liked it and the quality is very good. If I order another one I will go a bit longer I think over 6 ft is necessary for good action especially if you're using artificial lures because the rod is on the stiff side. I'm giving four stars because the eye on the tip of the rod seemed a bit crude in a lower quality but overall the rod itself is excellent quality and excellent value.

Exactly what I wanted.

I have been fishing for over 30 years, everything from sunfish and crappie, to professional bass tournaments to yellowfin tuna. I own & use rods and reels that range from $15 to $750.It’s important to recognize the limitations of your equipment. Rod blanks are designed and manufactured to exacting standards depending on their use (lure/line weight, action, etc). Multi-piece telescoping rods will always be more brittle (easier to break) than a single-piece because the wall of the blanks needs to be thinner. The more telescoping pieces there are, the thinner the blanks will be and the easier to break the rod is.Multi-piece telescoping rods like this one are great in that they are easy to travel with. I leave two (this one and a conventional style) in my car with some basic tackle because I travel for work.Knowing the limitations of the rods, I can alter my hook-sets, hang-ups, and casting. I’ve had this rod for over a year and use it almost every week primarily for bass fishing. My biggest fish was about 7lb flathead catfish on a bass lure.NOTE: No matter what type of rod you’re using, never try to free a hang-up with a bent rod. Point the rod directly at the hang-up and pull straight back. There shouldn’t be any pressure on the rod, only on the line.

I was a little skeptical honestly. Then I got the 7' rod. I love it now. I'm not a pro fisherman but this is really nice. The blue is deep and very sharp looking. There is attention to details on this that are better than I expected. The spinning version has a nice taper to the cork handle that is in a nice spot for a good grip.The extension and retraction is easy to do also. Takes a little practice getting the rings aligned perfectly straight but is still fast and easier with a reel and line on it.This rod is rather stiff but I can still bend the rod so the tip is pointing straight down with a gentle curve and feel comfortable that I'm not going to break it.My last setup was a $60 combo from sporting store. I put that reel on this rod and it's changed the game entirely even with a cheap reel. I have a 20lbs 8 strand braided line the flys through the ceramic rings compared to the metal rings on my cheaper rig. Testing it out in my yard with a 1/4 oz drop weight was fun. Not a full cast, just a flick had it out 100+ feet.The 7 foot rod collapses as small as they say. It fits nicely on the side of a regular backpack. My cheap reel, line and this rod with the protector on it were a mere 14.5 oz. Less than a pound. It's really awesome being that lite because it keeps the rod balanced during use. I never realized how tip heavy the cheap combo was until I upgraded. It really helps the hand fatigue.If I have one complaint, it's that the protector seems designed for the shorter versions. The larger 2-3 rings aren't covered. For $30, this is really a steal. I'm thinking I'll get a shorter version for when I'm fishing a river from my kayak and need more control/accuracy.Overall, I highly recommend this. No regrets here. I'd buy it again.