I’d love to know how a fishing tackle company with its origins in a country which is still in the midst of a horrible war manages to bring literally any fishing tackle to the international marketplace, let alone stunning lure rod after stunning lure rod. I cannot help but respect Favorite so much. I have fished with this 2025 version Favorite Skyline 902MH 9' 12-35g a lot now, and although I haven’t given as much time to the more powerful 2025 version Favorite Skyline 902H 9' 26-56g, I feel that I know enough about the rod to talk about it here. For ease of use let’s refer to these two 9’ long lure rods as the 12-35g and the 26-56g……………

Here’s some blurb about these rods from the Favorite website: “The updated line of Favorite Skyline professional rods is designed primarily for fishing with soft lures on jig heads. The blank combines top-grade carbon materials, including M40X, previously available only for the Japanese market. This carbon fiber is 30% stronger than standard 40T carbon, enabling the rods to be lighter and more sensitive without loss of durability. Additionally, the butt section is reinforced with an 8-directional OCG carbon wrap. The updated Skyline models feature more functional DKK ZrO2 guides on most blanks and Seaguide ZrO2 for ExH models, replacing the outdated Fuji Alconite used in the previous version. The combination of guides in steel frames along the blank and in titanium frames on the tip section unloaded the rod’s tip, improving balance and reducing tip inertia. The design is minimalistic, free of excessive elements with no functional value. As a result, the new Skyline is lighter, more sonorous, and “meaner” than the previous version”.

It feels natural to start with the 9’ 12-35g because that’s the sort of casting weight for a lure rod that a lot of us are going to turn to for the bulk of our UK and Irish bass fishing. Weighing in at a measly 137g and rated as having an “Ex Fast” action, I reckon this 12-35g is THE single fastest lure rod around the 30/35g rating that I have ever used. I don’t mean poker-stiff because anybody can make an unwieldy lure rod like that for not much money. I mean very, very fast and sharp and precise and user-friendly (if you can cast). The very definition of the word “steely” when applied to a fishing rod. If you have got a decent casting style then your lure goes where you want it to time after time and it makes me smile. If you don’t have a decent casting style then you’re going to struggle with a lure rod like this because it doesn’t forgive. It rewards good input from you and it gives back in spades.

Trying to describe rod actions is a pretty thankless task for many reasons, but I will try my best. The Favorite Black Swan 902MH 10-36g (review here) is described as “Fast” on their website, and I guess when compared to this “Ex Fast” Skyline 9’ 12-35g it makes sense. Let’s describe the equivalent Black Swan as a fast progressive action, as in there’s a bit more forgiveness there if you mistime a cast and overall it’s arguably a slightly easier rod to fish with and deal with all sorts of lures and techniques. More tip bending into more mid-section if that makes sense, whereas on the Skyline you’ve got that classic ex fast tip and you almost need to unlock the rest of it. This Skyline 9’ 12-35g we are talking about here is like a surgical instrument it’s so precise, but as I said, it needs proper input from you.

The Favorite Skyline 902MH 9' 12-35g, with thanks to Dave from Labrax Mafia for the use of this photo

I can’t find any lure or technique which I think trips this 12-35g rod up, but you need to be able to adjust your drop lengths and launch angles to get the best out of it. I obviously can’t see myself when I cast, but I believe I am casting something like a regular DoLive Stick or Gravity Stick Paddletail rigged “naked” on the 6/0 corkscrew weedless hook a bit differently to how I might wind a 35g Surf Seeker up on this rod. Three quarters of the power when putting the heavier Savage Gear Sandeel V2 Weedless out there gets you more distance and precision than if you try and leather the hell out of it for example. Get the timing right with the regular Patchinko and it’s a joke how far you can put it out, but you do need to get things right. When you do it’s just effortless how good this rod is, and I love how that extreme feeling of sharpness can be so rewarding.

I don’t know if I am actually feeling anymore on a rod that is this sharp, but when I am bumping stuff like the Sandeel V2 Weedless lures along the bottom over rocky ground for example, bloody hell it feels good. You can seriously go for it with metals like the Seekers from say 23g up to 35g and I can’t help but giggle at how well they go. I can’t hit the 35g Surf Seeker especially any harder than I can on this rod, and the 40g Surf Seeker doesn’t feel like it’s putting this rod through undue strain - but I am categorically not telling you to cast more than the suggested 35g top end. Do so at your own risk!

In my mind this is yet another very special lure rod from the wizards that are Favorite. It makes sense to me that these Skyline rods are described as “rods for fishing with soft lures on jig heads for shore and boat fishing”, but it’s also too narrow a description for how versatile I think this rod is - if your casting can unlock what this blank can do. Banging metals in hectic surf conditions down to subtly presenting the smaller 4.5’’ DoLive Stick, this Skyline 9’ 12-35g is a serious bit of kit. I have fished with various lure rods over the years which I think are trying to achieve a similar feeling, but I can’t recall a rod which in my opinion outdoes this thing. It’s awesome.

So what about the much more powerful 9’ 26-56g version which weighs a stated 151g? Well to start with I think the ratings do this rod a bit of a disservice. We must call this rod the 26-56g because that is what is on the rod, but to me we’re looking at a very fast and powerful lure rod which can comfortably deal with lures from say 15g up to 50g. You can go up to 56g without any stress, but up to 50g and I reckon this rod is performing at its best. For sure there is more power here than most UK bass anglers are going to want or need, but again if your casting is good then this rod can easily be unlocked to give you a versatile weapon of a lure rod.

I kinda like fishing in bouncy conditions on the open coast with what could be described as a slightly overpowered lure rod. On this 26-56g I don’t get any “tip-flap” when the wind is really blowing - tip-flap drives me mad when I am trying to present lures in side winds especially - and I tend to ease into my casts with the slightly lighter lures and this thing doesn’t eat me up at all. Smooth and steady. For sure I can go for it with the heavier lures if need be, and I would imagine that this 12-56g would make for a cracking pollack rod from the shore and perhaps the boat when you need to put the hurt on a fish which lives for crash-diving.

Damn right my first choice here would be the 12-35g Skyline, but the more I fish with the more powerful 26-56g version, the more I fall for it. It wouldn’t be a rod I turned to all that often, but it’s bloody impressive. To be honest the lighter 12-35g rod is so fast and sharp that you don’t suffer with any tip-flap in stronger winds anyway, but I could see anglers who like to fish bigger lures for bass but don’t want a more cumbersome longer rod turning to this 26-56g. You know much much l like the (heavier) Penn Slammer IV 2500 and Penn Authority 2500 spinning reels, and I like how they combine with this more powerful 26-56g Skyline if you own either of those reels yourself. By all means fish those reels as well on the 12-35g Skyline, but to me this lighter rod of the two here benefits from a lighter spinning reel. Around the £300 mark is obviously a decent chunk of cash to spend on anything, but with how much performance this amount of money gets you, and especially when compared to rods which might cost a lot more? I honestly don’t know how Favorite does it…………..

A review of two of the lighter Favorite SkyLine rods can be found here.

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Favorite Skyline 902MH 9' 12-35g (£289.99) and Skyline 902H 9' 26-56g (£309.99) lure rod reviews - this amazing Ukrainian company does it again

© Henry Gilbey 2023