Although this review focuses on the Ugly Stik GX2 three-piece 5’ light fishing rod, I think it’s worth saying how I ended up interested in this rod in the first place. Too often, people dismiss gear out-of-hand because it doesn’t meet their usage requirements, not realizing that other users can put up with its negative points because it offers other benefits they want.
For years, I’ve been using motorcycles and ATVs to get to remote fishing spots—some of them in the forests in my home county, some of them thousands of kilometers away in the Canadian North. Obviously, a one-piece rod is too long for this sort of work. Most two-piece rods are pretty inconvenient when you’re banging down an ATV trail. A collapsible rod might do the trick, but the only collapsibles I can find sold in the North American market are fragile and janky. That leaves multi-piece takedown rods like Ugly Stik’s GX2 series.
I’ve seen four different rods in this series: Four-piece medium-strength rods in 7’, 6.5’ and 6’ sizes, and this three-piece 5’ lightweight rod. I’ve owned the four-piece rod since 2019; when I saw the size of the landlocked salmon jumping at the Churchill Falls reservoir, I realized my puny collapsible was not going to be strong enough to handle them.
The trouble with the four-piece rod is that it lacks sensitivity for smaller stream-and-river fishing. Although it’s one of the most useful rods I’ve owned, especially for trolling, I’ve been looking for something with a lighter action but similar compact size and toughness for use on brook trout and smallmouth bass. Enter the 5’ three-piece rod, which I was sent for a test this summer.
Build Quality & Components
The Ugly Stik GX2 is a very popular fishing rod for users who want equipment that will last a long time while not costing them too much money. Like the other rods in the GX2 series, this three-piece is made of a fiberglass core with graphite layered over to provide a rod that’s durable while still retaining sensitivity and reducing weight. At the end, you have Ugly Stik’s Clear Tip, made of pure fiberglass so it’s tough but flexible. The three-piece construction goes together easily (Ugly Stik provided alignment marks, in case you’re not smart enough to figure out how to align it).
That emphasis on durability carries on to the guides. Ugly Stik used their new Ugly Tuff guides on this rod. These have one-piece construction so they don’t fall apart; to help stop your line from fraying, they have an anti-friction coating.
The reel seat is plastic; it feels beefy, although I suppose you could break it by driving your truck over it or doing something similarly stupid. It should certainly hold up to years of real-world use. Your reel clamps directly to the exposed blank, with the idea that it will improve your feel and sensitivity.
The grip has an EVA foam handle, comfortable and relatively durable—and affordable. At the rear of the handle, a shrink-wrap applique gives your mitts extra traction, especially in wet conditions.
Rating:
7 / 10
Action & Sensitivity
How much you like this rod will depend on your usage case, and your expectations.
In my case, I wanted a rod that was tough and packable while still relatively sensitive for small freshwater fish, and that’s what I got. I was not looking for something to precision-cast tiny Mepps spinners into pockets under overhanging tree branches, because the places I fish don’t require that accuracy, and frankly, I’m not a super-expert caster anyway.
One of the criticisms of multi-piece rods is that they lack sensitivity. On this three-piece, that effect is compounded, but the tip still has plenty of feel; you can detect bottom bumps and light bites and tell the difference between each, and the light action makes for a lot of fun when you get a scrappy fighter on the other end.
Because of the three-piece design, the GX2 blank and the Clear Tip, I would classify this rod as a moderate action.
Rating:
7 / 10
Casting Distance & Accuracy
With a three-piece, lightweight rod that’s 5 feet long, you’re going to give up casting capability. The three-piece GX2 handles a variety of lure weights reasonably well, but it’s not made for the big Laker Taker spoons that I like using when I want to fish deep, and lighter stream-fishing classics like the Super Duper or small Hildebrandt spinners don’t get as much distance as I’d like. If you want distance, something like an 0- or 00-sized Len Thompson spoon or a medium-sized Vibrax Blue Fox should be your go-to.
With this rod, you can’t cast as far or as accurately as even a lightweight two-piece; don’t buy it if you want to get schwifty with overhead casting, or sidearm swings or anything like that. Stick to the basics and you’ll get the job done, but this is not a rod for the precision angler who views their rod as a sniper rifle delivering spinners instead of FMJs.
Rating:
5 / 10
Power & Hook Setting
I would trust the three-piece Ugly Stik GX2 to handle a beefier fish than my other lightweight rods, be they one-piece or two-piece. I used this setup for what was probably my best fishing day this season (on freshwater, at least), when I was trolling up native brookies at HH Outfitters at Island Lake, New Brunswick. I think the moderate action helped here; the slower the action, typically the better set-up for trolling. When the trout retreated to deeper water, spurning the flies that all my fishing partners were dragging on the surface, I tied on a gold Panther Martin instead. Something about that setup drove the fish crazy, and every time my father-in-law looped the boat around the cove we were fishing, another 12-incher would grab that spinner.
Those aren’t giant fish, but it’s bigger than most native trout get in New Brunswick, and they had enough fight to bend that little rod right over, but there was no worry about the rod actually failing. That’s what’s I like most about this three-piece GX2; it’s light enough that you can actually fight a smaller fish and have some fun with it, but it’s built to a much beefier standard than a collapsible in the same price range.
Rating:
7 / 10
Versatility & Technique Suitability
This rod isn’t built for bass tournaments or chasing chain pickerel. It’s a lightweight rod that is made for panfish, brook trout and other smaller fare that you’ll find in streams and rivers. If you might latch onto something bigger—locally, I might hook a landlocked salmon or a big smallmouth bass—you have something that can handle the battle, but if I was going to seriously target anything larger than brook trout, I’d buy something more beefy. Get something bigger if you want to regularly go lake fishing from a boat—this rod was built for the traveling angler who wants a rugged setup for smaller fish, and that’s what it does best.
Rating:
6 / 10
Value & Comparison
U.S. pricing for the three-piece Ugly Stik GX2 combo seems to be around the sixty-five dollar range; it can be a bit hard to find, but if you search for SKU “USGXSP503L” you’ll be able to Google it up. In my opinion, the rod is well-worth the asking price and if I lost mine, I’d be buying another. There aren’t many multi-piece rods in the lightweight category, especially at the 5-foot mark, and I don’t know any others that would be this rugged. Buy this rod, take care of it, and it should last you for a very long time.
Rating:
9 / 10
Overall Rating
This rod is for someone who prioritizes portability and ruggedness over finesse; I think it is the best lightweight travel rod I’ve used, certainly the best in its price bracket. In my travels this summer, it was easy to bring this along on canoe trips or road trips in the car, and not only did I feel it did well, I watched my cousin use the exact same rod to great effect on fussy brook trout on multiple fishing trips. While the one-piece lightweights or ultralights that snobby fishermen use will undoubtedly offer better feel, I’ve seen dozens and dozens of fish caught on these rods, which leads me to once again repeat the old adage: “It’s a poor workman who blames his tools.” Find a lure that the rod handles well, and it will catch fish for you.
Rating:
7 / 10
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