About this Review: This review is my honest opinion of the rod which I purchased with my own money in January 2021.

My take

The Shimano Poison Adrena is Shimano’s top-of-the-line rod series. It’s geared towards the angler who prefers higher-end equipment and who is more advanced than a beginner fisherman. I love these rods for power fishing and moving baits in particular. My favorite baits to throw with these are swim jigs, swimbaits, crankbaits, and jerkbaits.

About this rod

• Model: 2021 Shimano Poison Adrena Casting
• Rod Length: 7’3”
• Rod Power: Medium-Heavy
• Rod Action: Moderate Fast
• Rod Pieces: 1 Piece
• Rod Material: Graphite

About me

• Preferred fishing styles: Power fishing with moving baits.
• Experience: 35 years of fishing

Test conditions

• When I bought this: January 2021
• Reel Paired with Rod: Shimano Curado/Curado DC
• Line Paired Rod: Sunline Sniper FC 16lbs
• Days tested: 150 days
• Waters I’ve used it on: Freshwater lakes and rivers.
• Species targeted with rod: Largemouth bass

How it performs

What I was looking for

I was looking for the lightest, strongest, and most technologically advanced rod capable of handling swim jigs and smaller swimbaits for the most part. This requires a moderate fast tip with a heavy power backbone but also needs to be very light in weight. Since this method of fishing requires many repetitive casts I wanted something very light to as not to fatigue my arms for a full day of fishing.

Why I chose this gear

My experience with the Shimano brand and the high-performance technology such as Spiral-X included in these rods solidified my decision to get this model. The Poison Adrena is a great choice with a fast enough tip and powerful backbone and yet it is still extremely light and sensitive. The sensitive blank and the power of the rod, as well as its lightweight were big deciding factors for me.

What I love about it

• Quality: I do love the quality of the rod. I have used it a lot and the hooksets and how it handles fighting fish are very impressive. The rod tip is very responsive and when fighting, the fish can be steered in the direction I want it to go with ease. The Spiral-X technology really allows the rod to be super strong without adding weight.
• Versatility: These Poisons are very versatile. Many of the rods can be used for multiple techniques but they have a wide variety of lengths, models, and powers to fit any style. These rods work well with not only moving baits but also soft plastics and jigs. The rod I chose with its 7’3” length, moderate fast tip, and medium-heavy backbone can be used for other presentations such as spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, and some small-to-mediumsized crankbaits.
• Application: This model is ideal for open water flats in freshwater. I love using this rod for swim jigs on grass flats. The tip rips it from the grass without being too stiff and allows the fish to eat the jig really well and get great hook-up ratios.
• Literal weight: These rods are very lightweight compared to other rods with comparable powers and actions. I have no problem using these for 8 to 10 hours a day with very little fatigue.
• Length: The 7’3” length was ideal for making long casts and getting quick hooksets.

Issues I’ve encountered

• Rod tip: One of the few issues I have encountered is sometimes I feel like the moderate fast tip could be a touch faster. It tends to load a bit slower than other moderate fast tips. This is great for treble hooked lures but sometimes can be an issue on single hooked lures, especially if I need to make a hookset at longer distances. For those who enjoy a faster tip, I would avoid the moderate fast and go with the fast tip instead.

Favorite moment with this gear

I recently used this rod to fish an underspin swimbait on grass flats. I absolutely wore them out with this rod. The moderate tip would load up, allowing the fish to get the swimbait all the way in their mouth and they hooked up perfectly and more importantly stayed hooked up.

Value for the money vs. other options

For those who are looking for a higher-end, high-quality rod model to power fish, this is absolutely the lineup for them. I’ve been enjoying several of these models like the 6’11” M+ for jerk baits and the 6’10” extra fast spinning rod for 2 years now and they have never let me down. They are expensive but for those who are high-end users, these are absolutely worth it when compared to other high-end rods like the G.loomis GLX, St. Croix Legend Tournaments. For about half the price of a G.Loomis NRX or a St. Croix Legen Extreme, I can get a very comparable rod in the Poison Adrena. I would be careful not to compare the regular fast actions to the extra-fast actions of the NRX as the NRX line is a much faster tip action than any of the Poison rods. However, when compared to regular fast actions these match up excellently and will save me some money while providing an excellent quality rod.

Final verdict

For the high-end user, these rods compare to other brands with rods in the $600 range for half the price. They are light, strong, and insanely sensitive. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy more for soft plastics, jigs, and moving baits. Overall, though, I have found that they excel for smaller swimbaits, swim jigs, and jerkbaits, too.