American fishing rod and lure manufacturer Cousins Tackle Corp. has announced a new partnership with Northeast surfcasting legend Ron Arra, along with plans to introduce an entirely new line of Cousins Ron Arra Signature Series Surf Rods over the coming months.
Like all Cousins rods, these new 9- to 11.5-foot surf rods will be handcrafted in America beginning with precision-tuned blanks rolled in the company’s own Huntington Beach, California factory. These advanced graphite composite blanks feature actions fine-tuned for this specific purpose by Cousins head designer Wade Cunningham, working closely with both Arra and Josh Cooper, who recently joined Cousins Tackle following 13-plus years designing rods for Lamiglas.
Arra’s sponsorship connection to the Lamiglas brand goes back 24 years; much of this time working alongside Cooper in the development of advanced surfcasting rods for Northeast plugging techniques.
The combined experience and rod-building expertise of Cunningham, Cooper and Arra is poised to take surfcasting performance to the next level — particularly when it comes to casting distance and accuracy. “These new rods will have casting actions fine-tuned to deliver superior distance and accuracy throwing today’s most popular striper plugs and lures,” said Arra. “At the same time, they will provide the power and strength needed to control, tire and subdue even the biggest striped bass in the surf.”
Arra’s appraisal of these new rods’ performance is based on decades of experience, both as an angler and product developer. He is a five-time United States Distance Surf Casting Champion, professional angling instructor and author of best-selling fishing books. A long-time Cape Cod resident, Arra is often found fine-tuning his craft on the area’s famous surfcasting beaches or the iconic Cape Cod Canal.
“We are very pleased to be working with Ron and excited about the awesome line of rods that will result from tapping into his knowledge and expertise,” said Bill Buchanan, President of Cousins Tackle (and together with Cunningham, one of the two actual cousins for whom the company is named). “Dealers and fishermen across the Northeast are going to be blown away when they see the precision and quality in these new rods. We’re confident they will quickly become ‘must-have’ gear for dedicated surfcasters,” added Buchanan.
This new family of one- and two-piece surfcasting rods will be crafted with the same quality components and attention to detail as all premium Cousins rods, including attractive and durable triple wrapped Fuji guides, lightweight Fuji reel seats and three separate coats of Flex-Coat Slow Cure Finish. Cousins’ Lifetime Warranty against defects in materials and workmanship is the surf angler’s assurance of durable performance season after season.
These rods will be available only through Cousins’ network of independent fishing tackle retailers. To learn more, or locate a dealer near you, call Cousins Tackle Corp. at (714) 893-0423 or visit CousinsTackle.com.
