I work for a large outdoor retail store as a fishing outfitter. I wanted to write and communicate what I’m seeing/hearing from customers, and what I’ve experienced from personal use.

I’ve recommended this rod countless times as the feel (rubberized cork) and aesthetics (black/red/gold) are perfect, and match with a reel we sell (Fuego). When I place the reel on the rod and hand the rig to customer, their response is always, “woah”. I personally use this setup and it delights me from both a grip feel and aesthetic perspective… Berkley hit it outta the park from those two points.

However, the durability of this multi-modulus design is inferior. I’ve snapped 2 rods (stayed within the limits of the ratings), and have multiple customers return to me saying they absolutely loved the rod until it snapped.

I’ve recommended many of the ML power spinning rods for crappie and white bass, as it has backbone and moderate action at the tip to cast smaller jig heads. But 2 lb crappie should not snap this rod, as I don’t high stick.

Recently, I watched Richard Gene The Fishing Machine, on YouTube, use a M power Lightning Rod for bass and thought, “I wonder if that rod will snap while recording…” It did. This is a disaster. There needs to be more resin or even fiberglass in this blank.

I can fish with other high modulus rods with lifetime warranties, but I chose the Berkley because I like the feel and price point. I have several rods (the drawback to working retail in a fishing…