Fenwick AETOS Fly Fishing Rod

I am mainly sending out this review to confirm to all would be buyers that the Fenwick Aetos 11' 1" 6/7 wt is in fact a double handled switch rod. I had purchased a 4wt earlier and looking at the item description, it appeared to be a double handled switch rod but was not....I sent it back to Amazon and was refunded ok.At 1st glance , and I should tell you I am a rod builder who is just learning about switch rods, this rod craftsmanship is quite acceptable for a factory produced rod. There was one imperfection on a tip section guide where it appears the assembly line Epoxy pour failed and leaked some residue upstream and on the single foot guide wrap. All guides on this rod are single foot snake except the double foot stripper guide. The finish is a natural uncoated gray strip, very nice looking. I am happy with the rod so far...waiting to get my ordered fly line. I bought this rod for Sprey casting in pocket water I can no longer reach by foot due to some physical disabilities normal with age and because I plan to build handle sections for other rod builders and wanted to learn to Sprey fish first. I have researched the Sprey Fly lines and ended up with Rio 435gr Scandi shooting head and Rio 30 wt shad shooting line. There are some great reviews for this rod on Yellowstone angler and they recommend a Airflo Scout Skagit shooting head combined with your choice of running line . I may try this later . Hop you find this review helpful. I plan to update it after trials this summer. Fishing for summer steelhead trout!

I’ve been fly fishing 30+ years. I wanted I fast action fly rod that I could use for trout and Shad without breaking the bank and had a decent warranty. I ordered the 9’ 5wt rod. When I received the rod I did a side by side comparison to my other 5wt rod, a TFO Lefty Kreh’s professional series 9’ 5wt. To be fair, I know the TFO is a finesse rod made for delicate presentations in small streams which is why I wanted a stronger rod. Right away I noticed a distinct difference in stiffness/action. Where the TFO bent starting in the middle of the rod, the Fenwick was the upper 3/4ths of the rod. Stiffer and stronger. Exactly what I was looking for. Took both rods out to the James River in Richmond, VA for some Shad fishing. Side by side. Man, I will tell you, what a pleasure it was to cast the Fenwick Aetos rod! I had two heavy streamers on the end of my leader and this rod fired those flies with authority and accuracy! It handled over 50 Shad and blue back herring sizes from 10” to 18”, no problem and plenty of back bone left. Love this rod! I will still use my TFO for the really small streams but when I hit the medium rivers, Fenwick all the way. I was very surprised at how well this rod casted and how accurate it was. The action was just what I was searching for. Now, the other comparable rods on the market are the TFO BVK ($259), Redington Rise ($199) and the Sage Foundation ($325). So all these rods have fast actions and in about the same class as the Fenwick Aetos. I casted them all at my local fly fishing shop. I would have been happy with any of these rods. But I went with the Fenwick Aetos because it was the most inexpensive. Now, Fenwick has the worst warranty out of all the rods in my opinion. I didn’t know the fine print on the Fenwick warranty until after I looked it up for myself. I love the Fenwick Aetos rod but had I known what the warranty was before I ordered it, I may have purchased the Redington which was only $41 more but a wonderful warranty. So only you can make that decision. I will tell you that you will not be disappointed with the Fenwick Aetos, it is a superstar! Casted as good if not better than the other rods I mentioned and is the least cost. If your okay with a less than mediocre warranty you can’t beat this rod. Hope this helps!

I just got this rod, 3wt 10 foot with an 18 dollar reel and with 19 dollar “accurate line, 20lb backing I already had and set it up and went out to a open parking lot just to see how’re it cast. It easily is more accurate than any fly rod I’ve ever used that cost under $900! This rod is a beautiful blue, has excellent cork, is easy casting and super accurate. If you have good casting form it’s practically effortless. It floats the line down gently, straightens out the tippet and kisses the fly down like a real bug. I’m going to buy another of these in 5wt. It’s a wonderful flyrod, a SUPER value and very well made. Bottom line, I love this rod! I highly recommend it ! Now to go fish it tomorrow. I’ve no worries about it breaking, there are no flaws in its construction I can see and I treat flyrods like I paid money for them. You can go spend $900 to1200 on a rod if you want to, but in my opinion it’s like the difference between a 1200 dollar mountain bike and a $4000 mountain bike. Yeah, the spendy one might make you feel cooler or maybe you just like the more expensive shifters and derailers. But if you are like me and just love to ride the thing and love to flyfish you’d have to really focus to notice the real difference. Besides, if you slip on a rock and break this you’ll only be out a small amount of money and not a mortgage payment. 🎣I’ve fished this rod about 4 times a week since I bought it. I love it all the more. It doesn’t like to toss 1” strike indicators, I use a 9 ‘ 5wt for that. I often take at least 2 rods with me when I go out but I use this one and a 3wt TFO nymph rod the most. The 3wt will cover 90% of everything I do and this one is a great rod. Never broken, sensitivity is great, accurate and delicate, mends nicely, sets hooks and protects tippets well. It’s not a large streamer, heavy drop shot rod (that’s why I take the 2 others with me) but I’ve been nothing but happy with this well made, light in hand, versatile rod. I did buy much higher quality fly line for it because it just deserves to have it. So, long term testing, hundreds of fish, hundreds of hours fishing it and I am still a fan of this awesome deal!

The good reviews are true. Very pleased with this rod. This was a great step up for me after using a beginner rod 9' 5wt for the last 10 years. This rod casts wonderfully and even at 10' it is very easy to use. The rod mends well also. It really is a beautiful rod, glossy deep blue and very nice alignment markings. Thank you Fenwick for a great affordable rod! I will be content with this rod for a long time with the fishing I do. Great for both big river fishing and lake fishing. I know it will handle big 3+ pound trout but worked just fine for 15" small lake rainbows.

I like this Fenwick AETOS better than some of the other name brand fly rods that cost 2 or 3 times as much. It looks great and has really nice action. I also latter purchased a 6WT and love it too. My son who is a very avid and experienced fly fisher buys the top named flyrods and broke a tip on his best rod. I let him try my Fenwick AETOS and he now has two of them as his go to rods.

The media could not be loaded.  約束の１週間期日通りに商品が届きました。t梱包も丁寧で商品がも申し分ありませんでした。ロッドも素晴らしい作りでとても満足です。今回Fenwick AETOS 11'1'' ♯6/7 を購入しました。早速手持ちの「リール」をセットして見ましたがリールシートのガタツキもなくしっかりと装着出来ました。充分に釣りに集中出来ますね！次回このシリーズの♯7/8も購入したくなりました。Import 8 店舗店さんは迅速丁寧な信頼出来るショップです。

Very nice Rod soft tip. I've had it two weeks and iv cought about 20 Rainbow trout.So it works, 3lb bent the rod to the cork.Lots of fun.

I was using an 8 ft 5wt Streamside rod, which I love. This new Aetos is great though. The extra 12 inches gives that extra casting distance and it is great fun landing a medium sized fish on this rod. If I have to replace my 9wt I will definitely pick up another Aetos. Great price point. Great rod.