Egrell S2 - First Impressions

[JiggyJigs]

Hi Guys.
After letting Ev take my original S2 due to an unfortunate shipping incident with a certain courier, I have finally had the chance of getting into some fish with my own Egrell S2. It also happened to be a tournament which meant I wasn't going to stand around taking happy snaps as I'd have liked...sorry but I will get some soon.

First spot we fished was a big rock face going into very deep water, so we began by chucking plastics on 1/32 and 1/16 jigheads along with Baby Vibes. Unfortunately my spool on the reel is way underspooled so I didnt get a chance to test the rods casting abilities fairly...but I can assure you it casts a lot longer than the rod I was previously using. With one handed flick it casts longer than I could with a double handed cast with the previous rod...so a huge tick goes to Eric's casting tip design on these rods!!!

The feel with the light gear was awesome. I was constantly rambling to James about the feel when fish were hitting the lure, I am now left wondering how many fish I have missed in the past through simply not knowing they were there. To be fair though I have said this when changing to other rods before, but I can comfortably say the feel is as good as any bream rod I have used in the past.


The action on the rod is quite fast, and with the blank design it tends to load up a little lower in the tip when casting but during the fight doesnt fight the fish from the butt. Like most fast action bream rods today it utilizes more of the mid and top section of the rod. This along with the fact it is 7ft gives the rod absolute control over the fish. I wasn't smoked once yesterday (you could say it was due to poor fishing ability though), even though I was hooking very large tarwhine, juvenile samsons, a soapy mulloway and nice sized bream, all in very very tight and nasty structures. The soapy in particular was a real test of the rod as I hooked it literally hard against the structure and had only about 4 feet between boat side and bridge pillar, meaning the rod had some work to do!!!


All up I am absolutely stoked with the rods. They do absolutely everything Eric and Deb say they are designed to do. The big pro's in function are in the ergonomics (awesome grips and reel seat), casting ability, rod action and fighting abilities and finally in the weight department (as most know rod balance plays a big part in this). The only cons I could come up with was that the 7ft length can make close casting a little difficult, but that is the same with any 7ft rod, and will be easy to overcome if I simply fish with it more and get used to it (I've come from mostly 6ft rods).

The finish on them is awesome, with great guide wrapping and epoxy work (minimal though to reduce weight). The grip design also adds to the awesome look, with hardly any reel seat visible in comparison to most rods, along with the crafting of the cork to fit the hand beautifully. The guides look awesome too with a titanium coating on the arms and glistening silicone rings.

All up the S2 Egrell is a sweet rod and will cover a huge variety of light line species, even though it is specifically targetted towards bream and bass. At under $440 it is priced incredibly well for an Australian hand crafted rod with performance to match any of the other top Australian names.

[James Graham]

I have to say i was very impressed his Egrell S2, that handled the soapy like it was a bread and butter fish!

sadly have to say my bank account wont be looking to flash after the new shipment of Egrells to Jiggyjigs.

let me know when they arrive Dave im keen as musted to get some - any chance of you getting them before Walpole (24-25March)

[JiggyJigs]

James I'll look into it...Will be very hard getting them here before the weekend bud...especially with you needing to leave on friday or thursday.

Something tells me I'm not going to be able to keep up with sales on these rods...haha I almost feel sorry for Eric as he has to keep up with making them...lol

[The BeaR]

Don't worry about keeping up with sales boss(Dave), all I ask is you unlock the door once a fortnight so I can get out and do a bit.

Eric&Deb

[adidaspeteman]

I have had a look at the S2 and it feels so light andcomfortable in the hand. A great looking rod, which i might have to get someday in the future for my breamin...

[JiggyJigs]

Well I re-spooled my reel and gave the rod another test out this morning chasing Salmon and Bonito. Got none of the species I was chasing, but did hit some Baby Samsons and the usual herring. One thing is for sure, the rod has some guts when needed!!!

After the re-spool I wanted to really test the rods casting capabilities and I have not been left disappointed. I started flicking small plastics around and immediately noticed that I could throw plastics further than I have with any other rod...best part being I was flicking one handed. Some of this is going to be attributed to the fact it's 7 foot, but I have used other top range 7 ft rods and this truly does outperform them in casting ability.

I then tied on a 35gram slice...yes thats 3.5 times the max recommended lure weight...and yes the rod threw it a country mile! I was very very impressed to say the least. I also threw an Owner Tango Dancer 95 and it bombed that a mile and worked it with ease. (Please note I don't recommend doing this to your rod...I was testing the rods limits in order to give better feedback about the rods.)

Basically I am stoked with the rods performance in all areas so far...and frankly like talking about them...lol

Dave

I have received my rods from Egrell and I am impressed - I will be giving that a 11 day work out in Cairns starting very very soon.

Will get some piccies up tonight.

Thumbs up.

[JiggyJigs]

Which models did you get Ben?

Dave

Hi All,

I managed to secure two The Bear style rods. I am impressed with how light they are and sensitivity.

The first is a The BeaR S2 Spinning rod 2 - 5kg / 7 foot / 1 peice ready for a bit of soft plastic spinning etc. I will be matching this to a Daiwa Caldia Kix 1500.

The second rod is a The BeaR Baitcaster B4-7 / 7 foot / 1 peice ready for some barra fishing with jackalls etc. I will be matching this to a Shimano Chronarch mg50.

Below are some photos for your viewing.

My next lot of photos will hopefully involve a few fish captures.

Cheers

Active Angler Crew.

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