SONIK DominatorX Rods & Reels

Hot on the heels of the darkly seductive Vader X, Sonik has launched a little family of serious carp kit under the DominatorX moniker. It’s pitched the rods right in the middle of the fiercest battle ground, the sub-£150 bracket and the big pit style reels of the same name come in at a seriously competitive £79.99. Let’s take a look at the rods first.

They look good, but so do most new releases these days, so it’s often only by scratching the surface that we get a clue as to the performance, and ultimately, the legacy of the DominatorX name. It’s got the smart 1k weave that adds a crispness to the butt and middle section, giving the rod a progressive action, with a tip that’s forgiving enough to cushion vital hook holds close in.

The two type finish is luverly!

The range is fairly extensive, with an on-trend 10ft 3lb weapon, as well as five more conventional rod running from the 2.75lb right through to 3.5lb 12-footers, and the 13ft 3.5lb for those among us for whom distance is everything. Just so you can have matching spot and marker rods, the DominatorX range also includes the somewhat kinkily named DominatorX S&M Hybrid, rods 12ft and 13ft tools that can be used for spod work and marking up. Classic Fuji DPS reel seat, black-anodised collars and low-key shrink wrap handle gives the impression of understated class. We rather like them!

S&M Hybrid: a brute of a rod

The reels are unashamed big pit models, with oodles of line capacity, as the 8000 name might suggest. They’re lightweight, and feature a huge, coned spool that promises to help you cast to your potential with practised ease. So what of the guts? Super-slow oscillation ensures that the colts of line are laid down evenly, and most importantly, they’ll leave the spool in a friction-free, orderly manner! Sonik has engineered what they call the Quick-Torque drag system onto the DominatorX, which roughly translates as a drag mechanism which allows you to switch from locked up to fully slacked off with a couple of tweaks – kinda essential these days.

It’s when we switch our attention to value for money that the reel really shines (in a black-anodised kinda way). These babies come with no fewer than two spools (anodised black and featuring line-friendly clips), which is a game-changer for those of us who fish more than one water. If, and we can’t report on this just yet, the reels prove to be reliable, long-term performers (and we see no reason why they won’t be) then it might be said that the DominatorX truly scores on all fronts: they look good, they’re pitched at one hell of a price, and the features and performance out of the box add up to a very impressive bit of kit indeed.

Rods: From £109.99 to £139.99
Hybrid: From £89.99 to £99.99
Reels: £79.99