I was pleased they were packaged well and delivered with rod sleeves. Only a few trips on the rods so far (pond hopping for bass, will see saltwater duty in near future), and they have performed very well (7'medium/moderate-fast, 6'7"medium/fast). Has significantly reduced fatigue over the course of many consecutive hours of casting, nearly 1.75oz and 1oz lighter than my previous rods. Using the 7' primarily for crank/spinners/anything treble and 6'7" for chatterbait/jigs so far. Both toss 1/4oz to 5/8oz lures well, achieving great cast distance (wind permitting) with minimal effort and pinpoint accuracy. Running braid for mainline and mono or fluorocarbon for leader depending on the lure. excellent feedback through the blank to judge/adjust the action of the lure. Glad I could buy American products from a local veteran owned business. I plan to splurge on some suppressor series rods after I've abused these for awhile.
I recently purchased the medium action rod for using with heavier hardbaits. I have the medium light and light action rods from Old 18 for lighter baits and wanted the lighter physical weight of those rods in a medium action rod. The Ascent did not disappoint.
I have 4 old 18 rods. This one I use for my swim jig. Has great feel and is perfectly balanced. I plan on buying more in the future.
This is my first Old 18 rod, but definitely not my last! It is super light and extremely sensitive. I’m already looking at which rods I can sell to replace them with Old 18 ones. This is my rod company moving forward.
This rod performs flawlessly. I can throw a squarebill, Senko, or a wacky worm with it.