Fin-Nor: Powerlite for the rocks
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The Fin-Nor Powerlite rod upon first inspection looks like a well-finished, mid-level rod. It had taken some pestering from me to get the rod into my hands after Matt Hewetson from Fishing World mag first dangled the opportunity in front of my nose to take it for a fish and do a review. Fin-Nor have a reputation as a company that produces dependable solid fishing gear. From my time with the rod in my hands, I would confidently say this Powerlite model rod meets the expectations of the Fin-Nor brand.
I took the rod with me on one of my rock fishing excursions north of Auckland. We were targeting spring snapper that had started to inhabit the weed beds fringing the flat low-lying ledges. I had fished the area the week before and picked up some nice eating fish close to 3kg. The rod was matched to a Fin-Nor Biscayne 60 reel and spooled with 10kg mono. The reel was a good match for the rod in size and weight, balancing well in the hands. The rod construction is described as ‘overlapping layers of strong flexible glass and lightweight, high modulus graphite’. The action of the rod is fairly fast, the tip is not super soft and is stiff enough to twitch soft baits enticingly.
We were using pilchard chunks which I could cast around 30-40 metres fairly easily. Heavier rigs like weighted strayline rigs and lures could no doubt be belted out a lot further. The rod is rated for 6-12kg line and a test in the garage pulled the scales down to 5kg which means the rod has an honest 6-12kg rating. Some rods on the market are given ratings that are a bit ‘optimistic’ which can be a bit irritating for the angler when fishing a recommended line weight only to find the rod runs out of power on an important fish. If the rod was fished with 12kg line, theoretically a working drag of around 4kg would be used. The action of the rod becomes more parabolic in nature at 5kg of pull, flexing through to the end of the butt. A little more pressure could have been squeezed out of the rod if necessary in a do-or-die scenario. In the field, fighting fish was easy and I had little trouble setting the hook or playing fish. The rod received a strenuous work out with many of the fights being short scrappy affairs with immediate and constant pressure being applied to avoid the fish finding cover in the abundant kelp forests. I landed numerous snapper up to around 2.5kg from the rocky and kelpy terrain in front of our oyster encrusted ledge. The rod preformed as expected and was a good balance of power and sensitivity, sensitive to detect tentative nibbles but powerful enough to subdue the fish. At 2.4m long it is a good length for fishing the rocks or shore, and 8-10kg would be the ideal line weights. It would still be sensitive and responsive enough to fish 6kg with enough power to handle 12kg line.
The rod is fitted with aluminium oxide guides, Fuji DPS reel seat and Hypalon grips. Recommended weight of bait or lures is 25-75grams. The guides are listed as being made by a company named SanFu, which upon inquiry I learnt is a company based in Taiwan. The finish on the guides looks equal to the Fin-Nor reputation of being designed with robustness in mind. Overall I enjoyed using the rod and would certainly recommend it for its intended usage of shore fishing with 6-12kg line for straylining, casting baited rigs, lures or soft bait fishing. It is a little long for a boat however would work fine with a bit of room to move. Distributed by Thompson Walker, the rod comes with a month warranty.
Fin-Nor Powerlite Rod
Length: 8 foot, 2-piece
Lure Range: 25-75g
Line Rating: 6-12kg
Drag Rating: 5kg approx
RRP: $99.95
