Harrison rod information

[Gary Wagstaff]

I have been offered the chance to buy the last rod mick holgate was building for himself.
it is a part built harrison 14ft gti su float rod. it has a finished handle only.would this rod be the rod for float fish on the ribble for dace to barbel.
was going to treat myself to float rod for my retirement this year as i intend to fish in the day time more so float fishing will be an option .
there have been some good bags of silvers of the river all last season
thanks gary

 

[Richard Isaacs]

I have been offered the chance to buy the last rod mick holgate was building for himself.
it is a part built harrison 14ft gti su float rod. it has a finished handle only.would this rod be the rod for float fish on the ribble for dace to barbel.
was going to treat myself to float rod for my retirement this year as i intend to fish in the day time more so float fishing will be an option .
there have been some good bags of silvers of the river all last season
thanks gary

I had the 13ft version of this exact rod and I would describe it as a specimen float rod and definitely not something I’d use intentionally for silvers. Barbel and chub it’s power is ideal for.
I’ll be honest even at 13ft it’s not a light blank and despite the fact i kept it many years, I didn’t use it much. Once I bought my first acolyte plus the GTI was pretty much retired.

 

[Deleted member 3320]

I really like the acolyte ultra as well as the plus , for silvers it’s just a joy. Still got some power in case but the ultra is great like Rich mentions.

If I wanted just one float rod for most things and happy hitting silvers and some bigger fish the plus is close to an all rounder as you will get does most things well.

If I had a specimen float in the locker and wanted to bag up on slivers I personally would go ultra for the most sport for size of fish targeting.

Just my two pence worth

 

[Gary Wagstaff]

There is also a 13 ft gti standard blank thought this suit me better

 

[Deleted member 3320]

They’re a nice blank but to me they are out dated a little now. Still respectable in use but heavy in comparison to the Drennan or free spirit for example. It’s still the same rod as it has been, i don’t feel it’s a case of its not broke don’t fix it, it’s a case of they sell many more carp rods etc it’s not worth the time to them as the market has over taken them.

That’s my opinion though, i see you want it to be a special rod so want to give you an unbiased opinion as best I can for you to make an informed choice on your purchase.

I for one have bought on sight, and made many losses it’s in my personality admittedly but I can’t always get to see things try things don’t like them try the next, I once was in a position this did not matter as much, these days it now does. Wise words of rich and some others on here you really need to try before you buy where you can. Will be hard with the GTI. I would if you can try the Drennan I have contact with a rod builder that’s built on Harrison for years and he draws the Drennan out for battle above all else for his fishing.

 

[Richard Isaacs]

There is also a 13 ft gti standard blank thought this suit me better

I don’t know of a float rod that would work great for both dace and barbel but one that’s not a million miles off would be a daiwa spectron.

Sadly they are not available new any more but can be found.
They have a delightfully soft fast tip which works very nicely for delicate mouthed fish but on the other hand they have stacks of power lower down the blank. I’ve had a load of barbel on mine and a load of roach chublets and Dace etc. better for big fish but not unsuitable for small ones.

Another option might be a browning sphere river rod. Details from my end will stop there I’m afraid as I’ve not been fortunate enough to use one yet but if real use reviews are anything To go by I’d say there’s very little risk in buying one and they have the guts to land good sized fish.
Long spliced tips too which I really like Personally

 

[Michael Humberstone]

I have been offered the chance to buy the last rod mick holgate was building for himself.
it is a part built harrison 14ft gti su float rod. it has a finished handle only.would this rod be the rod for float fish on the ribble for dace to barbel.
was going to treat myself to float rod for my retirement this year as i intend to fish in the day time more so float fishing will be an option .
there have been some good bags of silvers of the river all last season
thanks gary

I have the Harrison 14ft gti which would suit your fishing for silvers perfectly etc. I find it a delight to use and not heavy! as for the stepped up its certainly more your Big fish rod . Have a look at Mark Tunleys web site float rods for information. Frankly I cannot fault the Harrison but its down to the individual preference.

 

[Ralph Harris]

I have been offered the chance to buy the last rod mick holgate was building for himself.
it is a part built harrison 14ft gti su float rod. it has a finished handle only.would this rod be the rod for float fish on the ribble for dace to barbel.
was going to treat myself to float rod for my retirement this year as i intend to fish in the day time more so float fishing will be an option .
there have been some good bags of silvers of the river all last season
thanks gary

I have started doing the same thing on a 14ft GTI SU myself. My rod was already fully built on an unground blank. The butt was quite tatty so I have totally stripped and ground the blank. Before I did this I put a 1.75lb weight on it to get an idea of potential ring spacing. Picture below.
The bare ground blank is 153g, the other contributors are right you can get a fully built 14ft powerful float rod weighing considerably less than the GTI SU.
As regards to what a rod is capable of catching, I find it easier to think about the line strength I intend to use. In my case this is likely to be 6lb since I generally fish for chub. So it’s doubtful if I will ever put 5lb of pressure on, and looking at the way the GTI SU bends with 1.75lb on it, perhaps not as much as that.
If you are also considering relatively light line, say for chub fishing, it’s worth remembering that the rod only needs to be capable of handling that weight. If you are using 5lb line for chub, and hook a 14lb barbel, the rod will still only see a maximum pressure of 5lb so the rod only needs to cope with that. If you are setting out to catch large fish you may need heavier tackle but the chub fishing will be less enjoyable.
For me a more lightly built rod than the GTI SU would be a better option, but it was available, it was cheap, and I like using rods I have built myself.
New rings and cork came today looking forward to building it.