Tips and Reviews

Cashion Fishing Rods: John Crews Signature Series Worming Rod

Posted on Jan 26, 2022 at 06:33 pm by Eric R. Nelson

The number of rods on the market today have skyrocketed and a look at the rod collection of Matt Allen from Tactical Bassin’ will drop the most tackle addicted fisherman’s jaw. The simple rod choices of old are out, and now you can purchase a rod for every one of the hundreds of lures and presentations out there. Being an angler with no affiliation or hang up on a single brand, I have had a chance to use many rods in the $100-200 price range. That range is what I would consider the “affordable” rod category and generally what I stick with. 18 months ago I decided to purchase a quality combo for my favorite technique - the Texas Rig.

After trying a few rods, and checking on prices it was hard to decide what brand to go with. I have had good success with 13 Fishing, St. Croix, Duckett, Abu Garcia, and others. Stepping up to the higher end St. Croix was tempting, but I found them to be a bit higher priced for the step up I was looking for while keeping the range in this affordable category. For this decision, I opted to go with a recommendation from a trusted source and friend who I know has a passion for the Texas Rig as well - Cory Dreyer.

The Rod: John Crews Signature Worming Rod (MSRP $219.95 US)

The rod Cory recommended without a moments hesitation was the John Crews Signature Series Worming Rod. The overall aesthetics are stylish in John Crews form with the black and red similar to the Missile Baits packaging. The rod screams quality with the counterbalanced system in the handle and comfortable grip it just feels right. The epoxy used to secure the guide seats to the blank seemed a little heavy but done in an intentional way. The #5 sized Fuji guides I was concerned about being that I generally like to run braid to leader on my Texas Rigs but I was assured the sensitivity gain was worth it. I paired it up with a new Shimano Curado 70 series reel, some 16lb Sunline FC Sniper and hit the lake in the Spring of 2020.

One trip in particular told me all I needed to know about how sensitive and powerful this combo would be. I ended up fishing a fresh lay down that ran out about 30’ from shore and over a fairly steep bank where the tree top ended up sitting over 15’ of water. A few casts at the tree and and tick tick.. the wonderful heartbeat rhythm that gives that confirmation to set the hook. I picked off about 10-12 fish off the same little branch midway up the trunk. The remarkable part besides the number of fish I was able to catch so quickly was realizing I was instantly able to tell the difference between the weight bouncing through branches and a subtle fish strike. I remember thinking to myself “branch…branch… branch… FISH!” and setting the hook, every bite was on the fall and not off bottom.

Handling bigger bass is very impressive as well with the rod’s backbone and bend being the right mix to have the confidence to handle brutes in most situations. The guides are smooth, and being a little larger than the typical micro guides should be usable for low profile connection knots like the blood or the FG although I haven’t attempted this on this combo.

The rest of the my 2020 season fishing local and national trails was full of success due in large part to the John Crews Signature Series Worming Rod, which was the essential tool at Smith Mountain Lake that sealed a 2nd place finish and the 2020 Mid-Atlantic Angler of the Year title and continues to be the rod I stage close by every time I get in my kayak.

The Company

Cashion Fishing Rods is a Sanford, NC company and is one of the only rod companies in the U.S. that builds their own blanks in house. The rod blanks are made of American made materials including the carbon fiber, epoxy and kevlar, making this truly “Made in the U.S.A.” all engineered by Dr. Cashion himself who is an advanced adhesives and continuous fiber expert.

On the website you can see statement on customer service being a big part of their focus. The rods come with a lifetime warranty and they do stand by their products. I had an issue with the first rod breaking 8-10” down from the tip fairly quickly after purchasing it. I contacted Cashion and was able to go to their facility in Sanford and pick up a replacement immediately at no charge. The replacement had broke one the first hook set in the same place. Cashion again handed me another rod at no charge, and that rod has gone through 2 seasons of constant use and abuse landing fish up to 23” / 7lbs all over the Southeast. I chalked this up as a potential bad batch situation that got by quality control. The way Cashion stood behind the product and worked with me to make sure things were right completely gives me confidence in their products and confidence to highly recommend this rod for any weekend or highly competitive bass angler.

Note: The John Crews Signature Series now uses the newer Cashion ICON series technology, which are also the blanks used in the new Cashion Kayak series and Worming/Jig rod which I purchased recently and will give my first impressions of in an upcoming article!