I never got the foragers rod as I wasn't fishing at the time, and when i decided to I found that I could actually skip it due to food and fc buffs and all I used for gear was the halcyon rod and standard max melded af and i70 accs, so that whole stage can be removed from the argument really..
although I agree that the ironworks rod should be equal if not better than lucis, it really wasn't that much more work to get if you had been fishing the whole time, as most the active fishers had already caught the majority of the big fish needed.
if however like myself you are just starting on this endeavour then lucis is so much easier to get, although for me as it stands ive caught 22hq clams with about 70nq and countless that got way. so bad rng luck for me for lucis. however ive been getting quite lucky at catching the big fish so far.
is the ironworks desynthable.?? cus if it is chances are it would yield fc3 if not mastercrafts... (although there is cheaper options for fc3)