Stopped past the shop today on my way home from work to possibly see what all the hoop-la was surrounding the St. Croix Victory rod was. Have never seen or touched one. No Victory rods in stock. Dealer must be on the short list to get them. 
 

Anyway, a lot of Fenwick HMX rods there. I have never owned a Fenwick. Back when I was a lot younger I trout fished with some work buddies who fished Fenwick. I thought they went out of business, and was always under the impression the old Fenwick was a quality rod. 
 

After handling a few HMX rods the 7 foot ML fast rod did have a half decent feel to it. May have felt better with a reel on it, don’t know. 
 

I felt the need to search reviews on that series of rods while having them in front of me. They don’t review very well. Either 5/5 or 1/5. A lot of breakage during use. Very few mid point reviews, I could be wrong but they seem to be more accurate. They look nice but.......

I had a 6'6 M/F and I liked it. I only fished it for a few months before I damaged it (my fault so I can't say anything about its durability). It felt a little too stiff for what I was looking for in a M rod but it balanced well with my old shimano nexave. I don't think it's a bad option for the price.   

Never used or handled an HMX.  I do enjoy my HMGs.  I have always felt Fenwick offered good value for my money.  I have a couple of the older Aetos, Smallmouth ETs and Techna AV rods.  All good and some outstanding.

Spankey, a Fenwick HMX 66M-FS-2 is one of my favorite finesse rods. It’s paired with a Daiwa Revros LT2500 with 20 lb Sufix 832 and a 6 lb mono leader. I really like the action and I like the way it looks at well. 

I also have a HMX 76H-FC baitcasting rod. But 7’ 6” rods aren’t a great fit in my small boat and I rarely need a heavy rod. 

Guys thanks for the replies. I think I'm going to pick up a 5', 1pc, Ultra Light. My trout season is on the winding down side now but I trout fish through the winter. I did like the action of the rod was a moderate fast but felt more toward the moderate side. I'm thinking about retiring my favorite trout spinning rod, make a wall hanger out of it. Old Loomis/Lew's UL combo. Bought it back about 1981. I think my old work buddies use to fish the UL Fenwicks w/Shimano Symetres.

 

The 7' ML fast had a nice feel. My trout rods get put to hard use. Maybe I can get in an HMG of the UL and the ML so to compare both models as well. I know a few guys who fish the UL Eagles. 

 

It does surprise me that the reviews are not better on these rods. 

 

I realize this is a bass site and got off track with the trout a bit but I like my trout fishing also.

I really like my HMX. I have a 7' ML/F spinning, zero complaints. I use it with a 2000 or 2500 reel for Neds and crappie fishing. Heck of a rod for 80 bucks.

8 minutes ago, PourMyOwn said:

I really like my HMX. I have a 7' ML/F spinning, zero complaints. I use it with a 2000 or 2500 reel for Neds and crappie fishing. Heck of a rod for 80 bucks.

That's great to hear. Over all the years I've been fishing I've never owned or fished a Fenwick. Rod breakage is hard to judge because a lot of people are their own worse enemies causing a rod to break. Never hear what they were doing when it broke.

I will fall under the 1 star rating camp. I had two HMX spinning rods. Both broke in a few months under normal usage (I’m lucky if I can get out once a week).  I now avoid all Fenwick rods.

 

To clarify  - I only purchased one of the rods. The second was a warranty replacement, but was a different rod not a repair of the same rod. 

22 minutes ago, Skippy said:

I will fall under the 1 star rating camp. I had two HMX spinning rods. Both broke in a few months under normal usage (I’m lucky if I can get out once a week).  I now avoid all Fenwick rods.

 

To clarify  - I only purchased one of the rods. The second was a warranty replacement, but was a different rod not a repair of the same rod. 

I think if you read enough posts on this site alone, it seems almost every brand of rod breaks. Not to denigrate your experience. Just seems to be true. It doesn’t take much of a flaw in the graphite during the manufacturing of a rod to induce a weak point that will snap under a load. But it stinks that you had two break. 

1 hour ago, BrianMDTX said:

Spankey, a Fenwick HMX 66M-FS-2 is one of my favorite finesse rods. It’s paired with a Daiwa Revros LT2500 with 20 lb Sufix 832 and a 6 lb mono leader. I really like the action and I like the way it looks at well. 

I also have a HMX 76H-FC baitcasting rod. But 7’ 6” rods aren’t a great fit in my small boat and I rarely need a heavy rod. 

I have the HMX 76H as well...Great rod if you like fishing with insensitive pool cues. It's not my most hated rod (that honor goes to the Abu Vendetta) but it's almost as bad. The only thing I use it for is trolling big old DT-22 and DT-28 crankbaits for Stripers. In that rare case the sensitivity doesn't much matter and the broom stick nature of the rod is actually sort of desirable.

 

The HMG and even the Eagle series of Fenwick rods are OK for the money, but you can keep the HMX.

Regarding rod breakage...

 

The only rod guaranteed not to break...is the one that's not used.

1 hour ago, Spankey said:

That's great to hear. Over all the years I've been fishing I've never owned or fished a Fenwick. Rod breakage is hard to judge because a lot of people are their own worse enemies causing a rod to break. Never hear what they were doing when it broke.

Yeah.  Operator error is seldom admitted to, but I'd bet is often the culprit.  I'd bet sometimes the operator isn't aware that the rod might have gotten knocked against a hard object setting up the breakage.  All bets are off if the rod was shipped to the owner.  I've received too many that arrived already broken.

1 hour ago, Skippy said:

I will fall under the 1 star rating camp. I had two HMX spinning rods. Both broke in a few months under normal usage (I’m lucky if I can get out once a week).  I now avoid all Fenwick rods.

 

To clarify  - I only purchased one of the rods. The second was a warranty replacement, but was a different rod not a repair of the same rod. 

Sucks that it happened.....twice.    I can understand your staying away from Fenwick, but that doesn't negate the fact that Fenwick makes, and has made, some very nice rods.  I own 14 Fenwicks....HMG, Elite Tech Smallmouth, Techna AV and Aetos.  Never had a problem with any.  I believe Fenwick also has good customer service.  Not that I've ever needed to use it.