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Acolyte users??

It’s not a lot. 20g give or take and depending on the scales on the day.
There is a huge difference in stiffness and power between them. More so than the 15% claimed.
 
I use both of them in the 13 and 14 foot models. From my own experiences with them I find the weight differences in them (although quite small) are definately noticeable, especially if you use the plus's after using the speci rods.
The plus's are just less powerful so you do get more of a bend in them with less pressure, and I think you get more of a bend further down the rod.
I wouldn't get shut of my plus's, as I like them so much, but if I could only have one for my style of fishing it would be the speci.
Best scenario is to have both models 👍.
 
Steve Sorrell said:
Anyone know if there is much difference in weight action between the plus and the specimen?

Steve
Click to expand...
13' Plus ------------------------------- 150g
13' Specimen ------------------------- 168g
15' Plus ------------------------------- 167g
15' Specimen ------------------------- 187g

For comparison
15' Freespirit Hi-S (new version) ----- 179g
 
Must give my 15ft Hardy Marksman a trip out soon as well as the Acolyte plus 14ft.

I'm still enjoying using the Mach1 5 piece Shakey at 14ft. It seems to do all I want, handling dace and roach with feeling as well as managing a rogue 14lb pike on 3.8 bottom yesterday.
Mind you it took 20+ minutes
 
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The acolyte specimen rods in my opinion belong in a category of rods that I would define as very specialised, very clever float rods designed for either large powerful fish, large floats, fast paced rivers or all of the above. I’m quite Lucky that a good friend of mine that I fish with regularly has the version in the best length (15ft) and as a full blooded specimen hunter himself I’ve got to use and see this thing in action….. Proper action doing what it’s designed to do.

Imo this rod is not a lot of fun dragging modest sized chub out of the nene on it and i certainly wouldn’t buy one unless I was going to use it for what it’s intended to do. Action wise it’s very similar to the rods i already own that fall into this same category of very special rods (Tsi, original Hi-s) but with even more steel in the low to mid. It’s stiffness is almost brutal

The good thing about fishing with pals that fish for monsters, is you can take pictures of the rods actions from a side on veiw which looks very different from your own veiw in use. These rods are really deceptive in the power. So much steel low to mid and reasonably fast tips
IMG_7022.jpeg

That’s my good mate and forum member John taming a 10lb fish on the accy spec.
IMG_7023.jpeg

IMG_7024.jpeg

I managed one or two myself and in this case a mid 11 on the Hi S.
It’s pretty clear from these side on veiws that we don’t see in use that these are incredible rods with so much more to go…….. either that or they go bang! 😳
 
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Richard Isaacs said:
I wouldn’t recommend the newer version of the free spirits Alan and I’d only recommend the caliber of rods you mention there if the op is planning on targeting large specimen fish which hasn’t been mentioned.

@Steve Sorrell There are, imo better 15ft rods than the acolytes but sadly none can be sourced new today.
However whatever size fish or venue you want to target, drennan acolytes have you covered and they are currently the best available float rods that you can source for under £250
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Hi Steve , have you used the newer , lighter version of the hi s , I have the original and it's ace .
Not quite as good as the 15ft torrix tho .
Imo.
 
Jim Gregory said:
Sorry gti su.
Not torrix.
Have you tried the newer his.
Click to expand...
Yeah i bought a 17 and tried a 15 out.
The 17 snapped on me twice through no fault of mine on the first and second time out.

I liked the action a lot on the 17 but something was drastically wrong for it to break so easily.

the 15 is quite a bit more through actioned for my liking. It was difficult to grasp this in the shop when I first looked at them but when you get them side by side with the very original ones it all becomes apparent how different the actions are.

They are lighter than the original version, granted but free spirit shifted a lot of that weight by ditching the stainless caps n collars and shortening the handle. The original is 213g on my scales yet it feels lighter than the newer one at 180g
That said the original stock reel seat is rubbish and IPS seat put on the newer ones is a massive improvement.

All in all I’m not a great fan since having to return my 17 for a refund based on 2 broken tips

But I’m a huge fan of the original version. So much so that I’ve got a spare and I’d buy a 3rd if one came up.

I’d be totally lost without it now. It’s one of those rods where you really don’t know where its limits are. On a number of occasions I’ve felt I’ve reached them but it’s always had that bit more in the tank.

Your welcome to keep your GTI’ 15
I didn’t like mine one bit. 2 hours tops then I was putting it down and I’m a big bloke that doesn’t struggle to hold rod for a while. It’s a very heavy blank I think the walls are quite thick. It’s been unchanged since the late 80’s i believe
 
Richard Isaacs said:
Yeah i bought a 17 and tried a 15 out.
The 17 snapped on me twice through no fault of mine on the first and second time out.

I liked the action a lot on the 17 but something was drastically wrong for it to break so easily.

the 15 is quite a bit more through actioned for my liking. It was difficult to grasp this in the shop when I first looked at them but when you get them side by side with the very original ones it all becomes apparent how different the actions are.

They are lighter than the original version, granted but free spirit shifted a lot of that weight by ditching the stainless caps n collars and shortening the handle. The original is 213g on my scales yet it feels lighter than the newer one at 180g
That said the original stock reel seat is rubbish and IPS seat put on the newer ones is a massive improvement.

All in all I’m not a great fan since having to return my 17 for a refund based on 2 broken tips

But I’m a huge fan of the original version. So much so that I’ve got a spare and I’d buy a 3rd if one came up.

I’d be totally lost without it now. It’s one of those rods where you really don’t know where its limits are. On a number of occasions I’ve felt I’ve reached them but it’s always had that bit more in the tank.

Your welcome to keep your GTI’ 15
I didn’t like mine one bit. 2 hours tops then I was putting it down and I’m a big bloke that doesn’t struggle to hold rod for a while. It’s a very heavy blank I think the walls are quite thick. It’s been unchanged since the late 80’s i believe
Click to expand...
Yes I agree , the newer version is a different rod completely, I've had the old from release , and only use it for barbel , and very occasionally carp. As good as it is , imo for trotting, the gti just nudges it for control over doubles.
 
Jim Gregory said:
Yes I agree , the newer version is a different rod completely, I've had the old from release , and only use it for barbel , and very occasionally carp. As good as it is , imo for trotting, the gti just nudges it for control over doubles.
Click to expand...
I don’t disagree the GTI su is very capable with big fish, I just couldn’t get on with the weight of it.

The original free spirit has been brilliant to be fair. I always knew it was good but never really appreciated just how good it was until i started catching one or two from the nene this year.

the average fish is around 12lb and they don’t need to travel much more than 5-8 yards to find a snag. That’s a different ball game completely to having fun, letting them run around freely, tiring themselves out on the Trent.
It Just would be nice to hook more of them. You wade through a good few blanks on there before the float sails away with a barbel.
 
Richard Isaacs said:
I don’t disagree the GTI su is very capable with big fish, I just couldn’t get on with the weight of it.

The original free spirit has been brilliant to be fair. I always knew it was good but never really appreciated just how good it was until i started catching one or two from the nene this year.

the average fish is around 12lb and they don’t need to travel much more than 5-8 yards to find a snag. That’s a different ball game completely to having fun, letting them run around freely, tiring themselves out on the Trent.
It Just would be nice to hook more of them. You wade through a good few blanks on there before the float sails away with a barbel.
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You don't have to let them run around freely, tiring themselves out Richard, per gaps you ought to play them hard on the trent , like you do I the nene. .
I certainly do.
 
It depends how much money you want to spend and if you are willing to put off buying a rod for a bit. A friend of my has recently tested new Normark prototype rods -13 and 14ft models. He reports that the 14 ft rods are very good.
 
Neil Watson said:
It depends how much money you want to spend and if you are willing to put off buying a rod for a bit. A friend of my has recently tested new Normark prototype rods -13 and 14ft models. He reports that the 14 ft rods are very good.
Click to expand...

I'll bite because I'd like to know. Are these new rods from a freshly resurrected Normark brand (owned by Rapala VMC) or are they Milo Titan 2024s/Milo Titanics?
 
Richard Isaacs said:
They’ve been out a short while now.
Click to expand...

I'm aware of that.

Richard Isaacs said:
Aren’t they only obtainable from Italy anyway.
Click to expand...

I understand that most of the Milo Titan 2024s that found their way to the UK came from Spain. I'm sure that they will have been available in Italy too. They've been on and off the Milo website repeatedly over the last six months. Perhaps some lawyers are making some cash. I've not seen any hint of them being available from UK retailers.

There is talk that Milo have had their wrists slapped over the use of "Titan", hence my use of "Titanic" in my question. It's not as if Milo haven't used "Titanic" and "Revenger" previously.

There's a bit of talk about Matt Hayes mentioning new Normark rods in a recent video/podcast. Others are saying that the Normark brand is currently parked.

All of the above prompted me to ask the question I did.
 
Chris Jones said:
I'm aware of that.



I understand that most of the Milo Titan 2024s that found their way to the UK came from Spain. I'm sure that they will have been available in Italy too. They've been on and off the Milo website repeatedly over the last six months. Perhaps some lawyers are making some cash. I've not seen any hint of them being available from UK retailers.

There is talk that Milo have had their wrists slapped over the use of "Titan", hence my use of "Titanic" in my question. It's not as if Milo haven't used "Titanic" and "Revenger" previously.

There's a bit of talk about Matt Hayes mentioning new Normark rods in a recent video/podcast. Others are saying that the Normark brand is currently parked.

All of the above prompted me to ask the question I did.
Click to expand...
I was just asking the question Chris. Chill …im Not trying to put you on the defense.

Yes I’m fully aware of Milo’s previous rods which were essentially as close to titans and avengers as you could possibly get as they were even using the same blank manufacturer as well as almost copying the names.
Rare as hens teeth, I’ve certainly never come across one. I even think pictures are uncommon.

The new ones i thought could only be imported from Italy but yeah like you say makes sense that connecting European countries would get hold of them easily enough. I don’t think there’s a link between them and this more recent talk just based on the fact that most normark buffs will know about the Milo rods already and this talk of normark is very recent but who knows until more information comes out.

I can’t see a product like that coming off the current rapala belt being that great nowadays to be fair but wouldn’t it be nice to be proved wrong on that one.
 
Here's a picture of my two Avengers (both missing the top1/2" unfortunately); the one with the garish decals is a slightly later batch, the original logo was much nicer. I sent my first one to Geoff Salisbury to have the handle altered (which i think may have ultimately been done by John Hutchinson) and that is the one with the writing in white ink.

They are great rods. I have a pristine 15' Avenger at full length. I was told they were from the Daimaru blank but there's doubt about that from Normark fans; I'm disinterested in that debate as I have early Normarks too and really like them.

Terrible pics but you get the idea - they definitely existed.

IMG_8013.jpg
IMG_8012.jpg
 
Roy Daintith said:
Here's a picture of my two Avengers (both missing the top1/2" unfortunately); the one with the garish decals is a slightly later batch, the original logo was much nicer. I sent my first one to Geoff Salisbury to have the handle altered (which i think may have ultimately been done by John Hutchinson) and that is the one with the writing in white ink.

They are great rods. I have a pristine 15' Avenger at full length. I was told they were from the Daimaru blank but there's doubt about that from Normark fans; I'm disinterested in that debate as I have early Normarks too and really like them.

Terrible pics but you get the idea - they definitely existed.

View attachment 32355View attachment 32356
Click to expand...
Milo revengers. Was only saying yesterday in the thread how rare it is to see even a good picture of one let alone anything else.

These are Milo’s copy of the normark avenger 2000
 
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