13 Fishing Fate Black Creed Spinning Combo

Happy I bought it - even happier that i bought it on sale

 

-Specifications-

Rod: 13 Fishing Fate Black Spinning

  • Length: 7'1"
  • Power: Medium
  • Action: Fast

Reel: Creed Series

 

I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that going to Dick’s or Bass Pro can become a real issue very quickly. I guess the first step to solving a problem is admitting that you have one, so when I tell you that a trip to Dick’s for wacky hooks turned into a new rod and reel combo, this is my attempt to admit that I do, in truth, have a real issue here.

I’ve made a nasty habit of going to Dick’s on payday Fridays, every other week when I have a half day at the office and a chance to get out on the water for a few hours. I spent all morning on one of these days fantasizing about landing bass on a wacky rig, something I haven’t done much of to this point, and hurried over to Dick’s as soon as I was out of work. They say that sometimes fishing gear and lures are made to catch more fishermen than fish, and with my affinity for neon green, I found myself drawn to the 13 Fishing Fate Black Creed spinning combo (particularly the “for sale” price tag attached to it) like a moth to flame. Next thing you know, I have it out on the water. Here’s what I’ve experienced with a little over 20 hours of time with the combo in-hand.

 

What I like:

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So, the Fate Black Creed combo is based, as one might assume, on the 13 Fishing Fate Black rod, which retails on its own for $99USD, right in my regular wheelhouse. It’s made from a 30 Ton HTC 3 low resin graphite blank, which means – something – and features zirconia guides and a good-feeling cork handle.

The reel attached has a bit of a mysterious origin; I’ve spent a good amount of time trying to figure out exactly what reel it is, and I can’t seem to find an exact model. The “Creed” moniker would suggest the reel to be a part of that lineup from 13 Fishing, but I can’t seem to find this model on sale anywhere, and the 13 Fishing website doesn’t help to enlighten me any further.

The Rod:

With a regular retail price of $149.99USD for the combo, and the 13 Fishing Fate Black rod retailing on its own for $99USD, it’s easy to see where most of the money is sunk into this setup, and it shows. This rod is quite sensitive for the price – not more so than my Lew’s Custom Speed Stick Tube Special, but bear in mind that the Lew’s is $20USD more expensive, so take that as you will. Fishing finesse presentations requires a certain degree of sensitivity, and I’ve found the Fate Black rod to perform admirably here. Fighting with a fish on is delightful and confidence-building – while the rod is sold as having a fast action, I’d say it leans a bit more to the moderate side of things, and I’m definitely a fan. Performance is well worth the $99USD spend here.

The Reel:

Whatever this mystery reel is, it performs fairly well. The construction feels solid enough for me, the retrieve is decent, and it makes a great noise when a fish takes drag. All 13 Fishing Reels, so far as I can tell, provide the angler with a deep groove in the reel for tying a knot when first attaching line, which I think is a very cool feature. I also like the handle, which seems to be some variation of an EVA foam; even when wet and slimy from lipping fish, I can get a good grip and feel confident setting the hook.

 

What I Don’t Like:

The Rod:

First and foremost, my biggest complaint is the absolutely ridiculous and nonsensical hook keeper on the 13 Fishing Fate Black rod, which can be seen in the banner image. While it admittedly does look aesthetically pleasing, it is not only barely functioning, but occasionally detrimental to my fishing in ways that I could have never expected. The keeper is located on the top of the rod, not the side or bottom (the logical places to put it), and does not connect on both ends of the contraption, like most standard loop-style keepers. What this occasionally leads to, when reeling in slack line quickly, is the rotational force of the reel throwing the line far enough over the blank to the point where it actually gets caught under the hook keeper, causing a catch that will snap your line under the pressure of a fish biting. If you can taste the saltiness in the text here, it’s because this very thing happened to me – I lost a fish because of this obvious design flaw of the rod. This would be a total non-issue if the keeper just connected on both ends to the blank; nothing could get caught that way.

Another flaw is the grip location. When finesse fishing, I tend to straddle the reel arm with my middle and ring fingers; an even split keeps me comfortable throughout the day. This rod has a handle position that seems to want the angler to put either three or all-four fingers in front of the reel arm, which just feels ridiculous to me. This is a small quarry to have though, as I can still use my standard grip comfortably without any issues.

The Reel:

Now, I paid $119USD for this combo, and at that price point, I’m thrilled with how the setup performs as a whole. It’s not that I don’t like this reel, but in trying to keep things honest with you guys, I wouldn’t want to pay full price for this. This reel is several steps performance-wise behind the Okuma Ceymar spinning reel, which, when priced out, is the same price as the mystery reel attached to this combo ($49USD). I look at this purchase as having spent $99USD on a rod and $20USD on a reel, and while there may be some bias involved here, that seems about right to me in terms of performance. It’s just not as good as other reels in its hypothetical price range.

 

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Techniques

As is typically the case with spinning combos, the Fate Black Creed combo can handily take care of most of your finesse applications. I have excelled with a Big TRD Ned Rig and your standard stick bait, as well as the dropshot and some small poppers. I would venture to guess that finesse crankbaits would do well on this rod too as the action is not as fast as many fast-action rods, as mentioned earlier. I really like the additional length of this rod (7'1") for controlling fish and playing them out, particularly on light-wire hooks. I managed to catch my PB smallmouth in flowing water on a Ned rig, and felt confident that the rod and reel could handle big runs downstream.

 

To Conclude

Frankly, I think that in many situations, buying a rod and reel combo, from any manufacturer, could always turn out to be a bit of a swindle, particularly when you get into the higher price ranges. I remember buying my first Ugly Stik combo, which came with a one ball bearing Shakespeare plastic reel, pre-lined with some mystery monofilament, and for the $35USD-or-so price tag, I didn’t feel like I may have been taken advantage of at all. I caught hundreds of fish on that rod before making an upgrade, and I still have it to this day, some five or six years later. But that setup cost a little more than 1/5 of the 13 Fishing Fate Black Creed combo. I have avoided buying combos ever since that Ugly Stik, simply for the fact that I believe that any money-saving pitch a manufacturer may send your way to convince you to buy a combo is only partially based in honesty, and could be focused on hooking fishermen, not fish.

Now, I may be digging a hole for myself with this kind of talk, but I have to be honest, and at full price, I wouldn’t buy this combo. On its own, I’d snatch the Fate Black rod up in a hurry because it’s a very good performer, hook keeper and all, but this reel isn’t worth the extra spend when there are other viable alternatives out there.

Long story short; buy the rod, don’t buy the combo.