When I was looking for a new multi-purpose rod and wanted to try something new, I decided to take a chance on a Trika rod. I looked on BBC to try and find some real-world experiences with the rods but basically came up empty. So, after a few months of having this rod, I felt I would share my experience with it to try and help if anyone happens to be on the fence about purchasing one. As the title says, the one I chose was the 7' MH fast in the 6x model line-up ($299).
First off, let me say that you can disregard all of their marketing nonsense (they say their rods are 2x more sensitive, 4% lighter, and provide 29% longer casts). They say that they have the data to back these claims up, but things like sensitivity are subjective to many people. Personally I think it was a mistake to make all of these really bold claims, but regardless, let's talk about the rod and it's performance.
When I first got the rod and took it out of the rod tube, I was immediately disappointed in the full length carbon fiber handle. It felt like plastic and it felt hollow. It also felt kind of slick or slippery. The best way to describe it was that it felt cheap. However, my mind very quickly changed when I got the rod out on the water to fish with it (more on that later). The rest of the rod I liked. Some won't be a fan of the grayish-blue color of the rod's blank, but I actually like it. The rod was put together well and did feel very light in hand. I have used two different reels on the rod (Shimano Metanium B MGL and Daiwa Zillion G) and both reels feel and balance really well on the rod. The reel seat is quite comfortable, but admittedly I'm not a reel seat snob and rarely has a reel seat been uncomfortable or annoying to me.
Over the past few months I have used a variety of baits on the rod. Swim jigs, chatterbaits, spinnerbaits, jigs, T-rigs, lipless cranks, topwater walking baits, buzzbaits, and I even did some topwater frog fishing with it. Although the rod is rated for 3/8 - 1oz baits, I feel like it's wheelhouse is with baits in the 1/2 - 3/4 oz range. With baits in that weight range, it is one of the more accurate casting rods I have used. It's good at pitching, but not among the best I've had for that technique. Going back to that full carbon fiber handle, once I got it out on the water I realized why it felt the way it did. The handle does have a hollowness about it, but what I realized is that because of that design the handle acts like an echo chamber, making this probably the 3rd most sensitive rod I have ever used (Steez 7'1" MH (blue accents) AGS rod being number 1 and the Megabass P5 X-Bites being number 2). As with the other two rods I just mentioned, I have set the hook more than once with the Trika rod only to realize that I just nicked a rock or hit a weed. The rod definitely has extremely good sensitivity. It also has something else that I have come to love about JDM rods, and that is a sort of dual-action taper. Although not as precise or as good as a few of the JDM rods I have used, the Trika rod has a very crisp feeling that aids in casting, but once a fish is hooked the blank loads a little deeper than you would think, allowing for the rod to absorb surges and head shakes without the fish coming off. Having used this rod for both single-hook and treble hook applications, I've had very few fish come unbuttoned.
Overall, I really love the rod. At $299 it's not cheap, but I would say it's a lot like the Shimano Expride rods in that it punches above it's price in many ways. Is it without it's flaws, no. The carbon fiber handle still will occasionally slip a little bit in my hands and it's not as good at pitching baits as I'd like it to be. It's a color scheme that some won't like and although not terrible, I'd like to see SiC guide inserts on a rod costing this much (website says it uses Zirconia inserts on Titanium frames). But when it comes to performance, there's not much about it to dislike. It's very light, casts really, really well, and is extremely sensitive. The design of the blank helps in keeping fish pinned and the rod has ample power for a MH rated rod.
Lastly, I want to mention their 1-year money back warranty. It's probably the reason why I took the chance to purchase the rod. They have a no-questions-asked like it or return it 1-year warranty (they even provide the shipping label to return the rod). As far as I know, no other company offers something like this. It gave me a little peace of mind to know that if I bought the rod and decided I didn't like it, I could return it and get my money back.
Hopefully this helps, but if you would have any questions about the rod that I didn't answer in this review, feel free to reach out to me via PM and I'll try to answer them for you. And since this was a mostly positive review I feel I need to mention that I have no affiliation with Trika and could care less if anyone decides to purchase their rods or not, but since this is a brand that doesn't get talked about much since they are a direct-to-consumer rod, and since I didn't find much real-world info here on BBC about the rods, I just felt I would give my 2 cents about the one I purchased.
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Originally Posted by cadman
