KastKing Crixus Fishing Rods,IM6 Graphite Spinning Rod & Casting Rod W/Zirconium Oxide Ring Stainless Steel Guides, SuperPolymer Handle

Purchased this rod to pair with my Abu Garcia Black Max spinning reel, size 5, which is the smallest size Abu offers. I love this reel, however a few years ago I broke it’s paired rod, so I replaced it with a 5’6” Ugly Stik GX2 (it was 2020 and pickings we’re slim). I didn’t like the GX2 because it felt way too heavy and was not a rod for finesse. So I needed to buy something to toss really light baits with good feel. I ordered the Crixus, 6’0” ML-MF because it was a great price for a 2 piece ML-MF rod, and it seemed like it would pair well with my black max. Upon unboxing, the rod was fully intact (great packing job, Kast King), guides were straight, and the feel was awesome. But the reel seat was needlessly too big for my reel. The black max 5 is a small reel, but it fits on literally every rod that I’ve owned (7) including my 7’6” heavy rod. In the attached pictures, you and see that the clamp is at an angle that doesn’t taper at the same rate as the top of the seat, which leaves you a quarter inch-ish gap. I included a picture of the clamp on my 6’6” M-F baitcast rod (Scheel’s Pro Angler @ $40) for comparison. This is a weird design oversight, and I feel like it could be corrected in future versions of this rod. Giving the rod 3 stars because the build quality and feel seems great, but I could never use it with the combo I wanted. All of my other reels fit, so maybe with a larger reel this rod would work better for someone else. For reference, the base of my black max measures about 2 1/4 to 2 5/16 inches.

Love this river rod

Purchased 6ft med light mod/fast action rod. I gotta be honest I've always been a st croix triumph guy and these Kastkkng (stupid name) are better rods at half the price. I'm absolutely sold on these. Perfect weight, flexibility, balance with my Diawa Regal1000. Plus, they're ergonomically designed to fit perfectly in my hand. Feels like a Sage fly rod in a spin cast setup. It's unlike me to take the time to write a review like this, but in this case they've earned it. Well done! ... just change the name!!!

Awesome for pan fish.

I am really happy with the quality after receiving it and going over blank, guides and grip/reel seat. Is it as good as My St Croix & Falcon rods?.. No, but for this price range it is a REALLY nice rod. If i had one grip, it would be that SOME of the cheap reels that are not BIG brands (Shimano, Daiwa, Penn, Phlueger etc) don’t sit nice and tight in the reel seat. Other than that this rod is really nice has great action and is very sensitive to even the smallest pickup/hit.