Carrot Stix Review
e21 Carrot Stix
The
Boyd Duckett Classic Gold Carrot
Stix by e21 (element
21),
is, well, bright
orange. To be honest it wasn't quite as orange as I expected when I
pulled it
out of the box, yet still fulfilled my orange needs (I am a big fan of
orange).
Upon unboxing this masterpeice of worksmanship, the first aspect that
tickled
my senses was the featherlight weight of this rod (weighing in at just
over 3.2 oz!), I could swing this
thing for
hours on end with little to no fatigue.
This
extreme lack of weight is due to the High
Modulus Graphite and Nano Bio-Fiber blank, with which these rods are
constructed. Yes, this is no joke, the Bio-Fiber refers to a nano fiber
derived from actual carrots.
The construction is rumored to be 70% Carrot Fiber.
With the light weight of this rod, comes some serious
sensitivity. From feeling out the bottom with a jig, to the ever so subtle
vibration
of your spinner
bait, you... feel... everything. There
is nothing like fishing a willow-blade spinner bait and feeling it
vibrate as it cuts through the water, and then the vibration stops...
yes... that is a bass.
Minutes
after I removed the rod from the packaging
I threw on an old reel that I had on my 6'6" St. Croix Triump spinning
outfit. It was unbearble. Holding the Triumph again, it must have been
at least twice the weight of the new rod and two inches shorter, and
when screwed the reel on it was quite an awkward feeling setup with the
weight of the reel. That being said, if you are in the market for a
reel for your Carrot Stix, be sure to get a reel that won't weight the
rod down. I am planning on going with a magnesium reel to complete this
flawless combination of destruction.
e21 designed this rod for professional angler, and 2007 Bassmaster Classic winner, Boyd Duckett. Duckett secured his victory in the superbowl of bass fishing weilding the Classic Gold Carrot Stix paired with a Rat-L trap, crankbait, and a Berkley Chigger Craw. I have recently seen Skeet Reese fishing with the Carrot Stix, and rumor has it that e21 is designing a set of rods for him, which we we can expect to hit the market in the coming year.
The e21 Carrot Stix boasts a foam-like textured grip and a shiny gold end plug. The texture of the grip feels nice in your hand and provides for a solid grasp. e21 opted to not use cork for the grip for the function of less weight, as well as boosted sensitivity, since cork handles have a dampening effect on a rod. Besides looking sleek and shiny, the golden end cap of the e21 Classic Gold Carrot stix unscrews revealing a weight chamber to adjust weight of the rod.
The LTX version of the Carrot Stix is the less expensive $150.00 brother of the Classic Gold, which sports a cork end cap in place of the gold one. The main visual differentiation between the LTX and the Classic Gold is in the quality of components. The Classic Gold is built with higher quality reel seats, guides, and includes the weight slot under the butt cap, etc. There is also a third rod in the family of Carrot Stix that I have listed below called the "21 Carrot Gold Carrot Stix," which boasts a golden paint job and a cork grip, read our e21 21 Carrot Gold Stix Full Review Here!. This model will run you around $199.99 for the spinning version.
To give a final thought, this is the best quality rod I have had the pleasure to bass with. The main selling point for me is the sensitivity, which I promise will blow your mind, and improve your bass fishing game. Just make sure to pick up a super light weight reel or you may have some weight balance issues.
I have a full carrot stix video review on the way as well as more hands on pictures of the rod, showing everything that I wrote about, so check back it should be up by the end of the week.
-Happy Bassin'
Click images below to view products
E21 Gold Carrot Stix Gold
E21 Carrot Stix LTX
