While visiting local tackle shops this winter and attending the winter tackle shows, I think I’ve found my new favorite back bay rod for popping stripers along the sod banks and sedges – The Weapon Mag Jr. from Century.
Taping out at 7 feet, 3 inches and rated for 1/4- to 2-ounce lures (ISS875XS), The Weapon Mag Jr. is Century’s latest addition to its The Weapon Jr. lineup. It was created to bump the rod butt out a bit to allow for a larger diameter, in turn making a faster taper rod capable of loading with lighter lures; it also recovers faster with enough power in the base to put the screws to a good fish. The Weapon Jr. Mag has no fiberglass in the tip but features a full carbon blank and titanium guides.
In terms of scouting out a new “weapon” for back bay trips on my center console, I had a chance to sit down with several Century reps at the Saltwater Fishing Expo in March to talk about the entire Century lineup. “The 7-foot Weapon is probably the most versatile inshore rod you could possibly get,” said Century’s regional sales representative Rob Crossley, adding “It delivers so much performance; it can throw a wide range of lures, soft plastics, it can throw a half-ounce jighead with a soft plastic, all the way up to a 4-ounce metal-lip.”
What sets Century apart from other blanks is a special blend of epoxy resins, a very high-grade carbon fiber used in the blank and their autoclave process. Century has been designing and manufacturing rods for over 30 years from their U.K. based facility. Ryan White, well-known from Hatteras Jacks on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, has helped spearhead design and distribution of Century rods in North America, working with local pro staffers and field reps to tailor development to regional needs.
“It’s all based on performance,” White said. “We look for the best-performing guides to go on the rods, the best-performing composites, we go to the umpteenth degree to process the composites to make them perform the exact way they should,” White added, explaining how the autoclaving process evacuates excess air and resin to super-compress the composite making for a more sensitive and longer lasting rod.
Of the Mag taper, White explained it’s the Weapon Jr. material only adjusted for a longer taper mandrel. “Thinner blank wall, a little lighter feeling in the hand, a little less weight in the tip,” he said. The Weapon Mag Jr. boasts EVA shrink tube grips, and like all Century rods you’ll find locally it is hand-made in the U.S. (on blanks from Great Britain) with one coat of slow cure epoxy for reduced weight and delamination.
The 7’3” version I’m looking at comes in at $460, while the 7’10” (ISS945XS) model will run about $475.
SEE THE EXCLUISVE CENTURY FISHING ROD INTERVIEW
