The Veritas range of rods has built a strong reputation as a reliable and affordable rod instantly recognisable from its white blank and black bindings. Its Egi model, the Egi Special UL, is a 7ft 8in two-piece rated to cast jigs up to 4.0.
It’s a great egi rod for a beginner or anyone who wants a specialised egi rod but doesn’t want to break the bank as it retails at around $140. It’s a soft parabolic blank that has some good whip to it for easily punching out jigs. It’s a robust build that you can take down to your local rocks or piers without fear of easily breaking it and this will appeal to many egi anglers. The high-quality Ultralon EVA is a nice touch that’s comfortable and grippy in the hand, although it could have been finished a little neater.
For the money the components are great; the Fuji KR guides are well placed along the blank and the VSS reel seat locks in the reel with ease and comfort for a secure hold through a day’s fishing. We found it could handle casting 2.5-size jigs without an issue but is best suited to 3.0 and up. The soft tip but does very well retrieving sizes 2.5 through to 3.5 and you could drop-shot with it or cast out baited jigs under a float. It’s a good blank during the fight that can handle larger squid and you never feel over-gunned on the small stuff. In terms of entry-level egi rods this is one of the better examples on the market.
