I am not trying to achieve anything very meaningful here by the way, but the other day I got the chance to fish two fairly similar rated lure rods which I like a hell of a lot side by side for the first time. When I first started fishing with the rather brilliant Savage Gear SGS6 8’3’’ 12-42g lure rod earlier this year - review here - it reminded me somewhat of the very expensive, and as far as I can tell, still very hard to get hold of Shimano (Japan) Exsence Genos 9’ 8-48g, review here. For sure the two rods share a fairly similar length and quoted casting weights, but I was surprised and rather pleased how much the considerably cheaper lure rod reminded me of the far more expensive one…………….
I needed to fish them side by side though, and as I said, I got the chance to do so the other day. I haven’t actually fished with the Genos for a fair while now, but it only took a couple of casts and retrieves to remind me how frigging awesome this rod really is. There is an overall “tension” that I can’t recall feeling in many other lure rods I have fished with, but you are seriously paying for it plus the rod has never been available off the shelf here in the UK anyway. I do think that 8-48g is somewhat generous though, because although the rod will deal with lures that light and that heavy, personally I think say a 12-44g rating would be a touch more realistic. You also seriously need to be on your casting with this lure rod because it’s not remotely forgiving, but when it all comes together it truly is an awesome lure fishing rod. But what if I could get a rod which I reckon gives me a lot of what makes the Genos so special for far less money, and it’s available here in the UK?
As I said in my review of the Savage Gear SGS6 8’3’’ 12-42g lure rod, I was absolutely nothing to do with the development of this thing, indeed I literally stumbled upon it in the catalogue via another rod I had tried. I asked the grownups if I could please see one, and I am so pleased I did because I find myself obsessing about this SGS6 8’3’’ 12-42g rod the more and more I fish with it in all manner of locations and conditions. When we were developing the SGS5 and SGS8 ranges of lure rods I didn’t even think of suggesting something like an 8’3’’ lure rod rated to 42g for the sort of lure fishing I do, but with how effortless and sharp and precise and versatile this SGS6 lure rod is, I have actually come around to feeling a slight bit of professional jealousy that this thing is so bloody good! It sits in my hands with either the Penn Slammer IV 2500 or this new Penn Authority 2500 on the end of it and I seriously don’t want to put the outfit down with how good it feels to fish with all manner of different lures in different ways.
Anyway, so I got the chance to fish these two lure rods side by side the other day. Firstly I was really pleased that how I “remember” lure rods in my head did indeed tie in with how the Genos felt after not having fished with it for a fair while, and secondly that it really wasn’t an exaggeration to believe that a considerably cheaper lure rod could live with it - and in some respects I think the SGS6 is a better/more suitable rod than the Genos for how a lot of us lure fish. I don’t mean better in terms of materials and fixtures and fittings, rather I am referring to how much of what the Genos does translates to me in this incredible SGS6 8’3’’ 12-42g lure rod. Light, sharp and incredibly precise, and I find the tip on the SGS6 easier and more forgiving to fish with than on the Genos.
Without a doubt the SGS6 lure rod also rewards the odd dodgy cast I put in more kindly than the Genos does. With smaller surface lures and soft plastics such as the Gravity Sticks which I obviously fish with so much, I genuinely feel that the tip on the SGS6 is working more effectively for me. I know I can go to slightly heavier lures on the Genos, but I have pushed the 40g Surf Seeker as hard as I can cast on this SGS6 rod and it’s not straining. I can happily fish 10g surface lures on the SGS6 though, so to me it’s doing everything that say a 10-35g lure rod at 8’3’’ long can do, but I can go to heavier lures if need be, and I am not losing anything down at the lighter end.
I am not really sure how to explain the feeling of “tension” that comes across to me when I fish with the Genos, but I think it’s pretty unique, and I don’t get quite the same feeling when I fish with this SGS6 rod. The Genos is technically a better fishing rod and so it should be for the price, but now I have fished the two rods side by side I am even more smitten with how versatile and effortless and precise this outstanding Savage Gear SGS6 8’3’’ 12-42g lure rod is. I know that I have not exactly achieved anything here today because there are very few anglers who can or will either spend north of £500 on a bass lure rod and/or be inclined to track one down and risk the lack of UK warranty on it……………
But I do know that there are bass anglers out there like me who could do most of or quite possibly all their fishing with lure rods like these ones I am talking about here. I deliberately went to a 9’2’’ length with “my” SGS8 9’2’’ 9-42g lure rod because I wanted to help create a slightly easier rod to fish with which could still cope with lots of different lures, but here we have this Savage Gear SGS6 8’3’’ 12-42g and I am beyond impressed by this shorter rod and how truly stunning it is to fish with. I can’t do anything about anybody who might not trust me because I am working so closely with Savage Gear, but if I wasn’t working with them then I would not have got the opportunity to take a punt on this SGS6 rod and then tell you honestly what I think of it. You know how much of a hopeless tackle tart I really am, but what you might not know is how deeply satisfying I find it to come across fishing tackle which I think offers serious high end performance for less money than the high end equivalents. Nope, £200 is not cheap, but it’s far less than £500+, and for the price I can’t really see how you can get more rod than this incredible Savage Gear SGS6 8’3’’ 12-42g lure rod.
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