Lew’s Fritts Perfect Cranking Rod Review
A Great Place to Start Cranking
-Specifications-
Model: LDFP70M
Length: 7'
Power: Medium
Action: Moderate
A while back, I almost never found myself using crankbaits. My #1 confidence bait for year-round bass fishing was always a stickbait, usually rigged weightless on an EWG hook, fished slow and finesse style. It wasn’t until fairly recently that I got hooked on crankbaits of all types after having a few tremendous days on the water. The power-fishing, water-covering ability of crankbaits and their capacity to fish all levels of the water column at variable speeds is something that simply can’t be overlooked, and I wanted to start getting serious about my cranking game by buying a tailor-made rod.
I had been tying all of my cranks to spinning tackle because I didn’t have any rods with a soft tip and a parabolic bend at the time, and I was getting tired of it. It was working, but I wanted to get myself into the dedicated cranking rod game, and after doing some looking around, I stumbled upon the Lew’s Fritts Perfect Cranking rod. To make this intro a little shorter, I’ll just say this; I absolutely love it.
What I Like:
Okay, for starters, the $80USD price point puts this thing right in the affordable range that even broke guys and girls like myself can afford. For that price, you get:
-A blank made from 42 million modulus graphite/fiberglass composite construction
-Full cork handle and EVA butt caps
-Stainless steel line guides with aluminum oxide inserts
-Great construction, excellent feel, and excellent aesthetics
When I first got out to fish with this thing, I was almost immediately impressed. I was tossing a lipless in some shallow mudflats at a local pond, and the very first fish I caught was a three-pounder who fought like a mother. I had my anchor on the kayak down on my right side, and hooked the fish on the left. As I retrieved, the fish went under the boat, and because of my anchor location, I couldn’t turn myself to get a good angle on the fish unless I stuck the rod under the boat, which I ended up doing. This rod had no problem bending completely over on itself, going under the kayak from the left side all the way to the right and then back again. Despite the headshakes and all of the other extenuating circumstances of that catch, the rod performed its duty perfectly. Again, for only $80 bucks.
Casting on the Lew’s Perfect Cranking rod is excellent as well. Now, it may be better, or it may be worse than another medium-power, moderate-action cranking rod at the $80 price point – this is the only rod I have used with those build characteristics, so I honestly couldn’t say at this point. What I can say is that I can bomb crankbaits out like it’s nobody’s business, and I can maintain accuracy as I do so. I’m entirely satisfied with the casting distance and ease of use with this rod.
Setting the hook with this rod is also awesome. The tip on the medium-power version is very soft, but the backbone is sturdy enough to muscle around some good sized fish. Sensitivity is solid here; you can feel the difference between bumping a patch of weeds or getting struck by a fish without having to spend too much time on the water with it. When you do run up on a fish with this thing in your hand, the feeling is stellar – the tip will pop once or twice, and then the top of the rod will load all the way down practically to the handle. I got nailed by a six-pounder and I thought I had hooked into a shark when this rod bent itself over and loaded that fish up for me. Very cool stuff here. Once again, only $80USD.
What I Don’t Like:
There isn’t anything about this rod that I don’t like, at least not yet. I have read reviews on Tackle Warehouse that allude to an eventual breaking of the rod guides, or at least a chipping of the inserts and the forced necessity of replacing them. To this point (5/12/18) I have about 50 hours on the water with this rod, and I haven’t had any notable performance issues of any kind.
One thing I have noticed is the reel seat twist-down has a slight tendency to loosen after a few hours of casting. It’s no big deal, but I do have to remind myself to check every hour or so to be sure everything is nice and tight.
To Conclude:
As of right now, I really have no issues with this rod. At that $80USD price point I keep bring up, I truly don’t know if you could get a better entry-level dedicated cranking rod than the Lew’s Fritts Perfect Cranking. I do have two more rods with these build specifics coming up for review, the Dobyn's Fury series cranking rod and the Lew’s TP-1 Speed Stick Perfect Cranking, so I’ll have to post an addendum when I’ve gotten sufficient time on the water with both. Either way you slice it, I love this rod, and I’d happily recommend it to you and anyone else I run into from here on out.
