AIRRUS ULTRA XL - MODEL UXLS671MH
Thanks for the winning spinning rod!
(A product review by Russ Bassdozer)
Two years ago, I set out on a mission to search for a better spinning rod. I had performed these kind of rod searches before, so this was nothing new. Based on past experiences, I knew these missions to find a better rod can take time but also pay off in the end.
How it works is I start questioning everyone I know about what rods they use and why, especially experts in specific techniques, and I try as many of their recommended rods as I possibly can. There's a whole lot of phone work, poring over rod manufacturers catalogs, and getting on the water to try as many recommended rods as I can. Sometimes there is no way I can actually go out fishing with an expert, due to distance. So "trying their rods" sometimes means I must buy one first in order to try it. Needless to say, I don't do this lightly since the experts' choices aren't always what suits me best, and that can get expensive quickly.
I have a name for this rod search process. I call it "ratcheting up a rod". The process has proven successful for me, but also can be a costly process. Costly because I usually have to ratchet up - or buy - several rods along the way until I finally get the exact rod I want. In a sense, each time I ratchet up a rod, it becomes my new "personal best" that all other rods of that type must then beat. At a certain point, I feel confident I've found the best rod, and call off the search, more or less.
For example, about six years ago I began a mission to search for a better dropshot spinning rod. It took me most of those years and I "ratcheted up" quite a few times to finally get to the dropshot spinning rod I now enjoy. Besides dropshot, I've also ratcheted up over the years to topwater, crankbait, jerkbait, spinnerbait, jig, rig and spoon rods - all baitcasters - that now suit me fine.
In terms of a spinning rod for ten pound test however, I was unhappy with what I had been using to toss tube jigs and hula grubs for instance. I just didn't have the rod I wanted for that.
So two years ago, I set out on a mission to find such a rod, expecting I'd have to ratchet up several times during the search. The questions were asked, rods were borrowed and tried. Based on some of the best tube and jig fishermen in North America's advice, several promising rods were bought during the process. The rods sounded like they could be "it" but in actual usage, the rods disappointed me.
During the second season of my search, Ken Whiting of Airrus Rods suggested I might try his Airrus Ultra XL Model UXLS671MH. It proved to be more than what I was looking for in terms of a ten pound test spinning rod.
When it arrived, the fact it had two interchangeable butt handle sections (one long, one short) unnerved me. I had never seen a rod like that before, and I summarily dismissed it. I had always been an advocate of one-piece rod blanks from tip to butt, and I explained to my significant other, Andreane, that the interchangeable handle sections on the Airrus rod would never work for me. To my surprise, she scolded me for rejecting the rod before I even tried it.
Andreane was right. In using the rod, there is no negative I could ever detect due to the interchangeable butt handle section. I've never "felt" it there and never felt the rod acted differently than a one-piece rod.
What I did to modify this rod however, and what brings out the ultimate sensitivity in this rod to me is to add two ounces of lead weight to each of the interchangeable butt handle sections. Now, this is not a negative either, because almost each and every rod can benefit from being weighted for better balance. As far as I know, however, it is only Airrus Rods that come designed to let you weight them. What I use are two one-ounce Mojo sinkers. These are slender cylindrical sinkers from Mojo Lures (www.mojolures.com). With a few wraps of electrical tape to snug them securely inside, I slide two one-ounce sinkers that fit snugly into each interchangeable butt handle section of the Airrus Rod. This balances the Airrus Ultra XL Model UXLS671MH spinning rod so perfectly that the rod almost feels weightless when fishing with it, and the sensitivity to feel bites and what the bait is doing increases exponentially.
I use the long handle section when two-handed distance casting is required or a forceful hookset such as fishing 1/4 to 1/2 oz tube jigs or other types of soft plastic baits on jig heads, or soft plastics rigged with a Mojo, bullet or Carolina sinker from 1/4 to 1/2 ounce. This was the original application, using ten pound test, I had in mind for this rod.
I was astonished to find that with the short handle section, this same rod is more than satisfactory to handle light to medium (say, 1/4 to 3/8 oz) topwaters, jerkbaits, crankbaits and spinnerbaits on 10 pound test. I use the rod with a 2500 size spinning reel, either Shimano or Daiwa.
Oh yes, those weightless soft baits, either the 4-inch 9S-series Senkos or the 5-inch Senkos, rigged Texas or wacky, not to mention Zoom Flukes, fish perfect with this rod.
I may have left out a tactic or two that this rod can probably do.
It is a rare find - an all-purpose ten pound test spinning rod.
The Airrus Ultra XL Model UXLS671MH so exceeded my expectations, and it did so many things so well, that I found myself in genuine need of a second one. Upon buying another, the upgraded rod blank on this model is now more sensitive to transmit fish on the line more than ever before. The rod guides are now much lighter weight than before, and now made of a metal which can't ever crack or chip like ceramic guides do.
The Airrus Ultra XL Model UXLS671MH was a great rod, but now it is even better.
If you've been searching for one of the best spinning rods to handle ten pound test applications, you can call off the search now. I know I did.