My Apia Foojin’RS 90ML+ was supplied to me by Lowen-Chy Angling in St Austell, Cornwall. The Art Magic 90ML-plus is a rod exclusive to AOF – designed by Ben Field, drawing on the knowledge of inspirational Apia rod designer, Ustuki. As a fast-action, powerful yet sensitive bass rod, this 9-footer has a casting weight of 5-36g making it unbelievably versatile.
Unpacking the rod!
The rod comes in a soft black neoprene case with a white and red logo, with a double zip on one end of the case.
Upon opening the case you see that the case has two sections, an inner pocket that holds the top section of the rod, and the bottom section goes on the other side as you can see in the image when you get the rod the butt section is covered in a bubble wrap sleeve.
The Rod blank is black, it has a red band around it with the Apia name and logo. It also has the name and model in white and red lettering, with a UK badge exclusively for the UK market. It looks stunning !!!
The Grip is a collaboration between Ben and the Japanese designers to bring a grip that results in a grip that was intended to be on the finished rod. The screw-down reel fitting is also a nice design as I feel other screw-up fittings move when casting.
The Nano put-in joints were a suggestion by the rod designer Utsuki’s, allowing for a bigger contrast of tip and butt power making it to be both precise in the tip and powerful in the butt, a very clever design.
The guides are all quality Fuji components, using SiC guides and stainless steel frames. They look stunning on the rod.
The butt end has been designed to handle the UK’s changeable conditions. It has more power but is not too stiff. It is capable of throwing 36g lures without any problem.
The Art Magic has a responsive yet light tip, which makes it work so well for lots of different UK fishing situations.
Conclusion.
The Apia Foojin’RS Art Magic 90ML+ is a beautiful rod in all aspects so far, it looks stunning with so many fantastic designs thanks to Ben Field working with inspirational Apia rod designer, Ustuki. Feedback on the rod is exceptional, so many who have bought it, have praised it as a fantastic all-round rod, so much so that I decided to go and look for myself, which resulted in me grabbing one for myself. Part 2 of my review will follow when I try it out for a bass. Links to The Art of Fishing website and Lowen Chy Angling are below.
Thanks for reading my review.
Great review Steve. Glad you managed to catch a Bass on it already. Tight lines!
Thank you, James. Yes, it was nice to catch a nice one in the first session.