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Preston supera X power float rods.

Richard Isaacs

Richard Isaacs

Senior Member & Supporter
I know nothing about these other than what I’ve read which sounds very interesting for us specimen river boys.

The supera has been about ages now and usually associated with pellet and carp waggler rods but to see something come out in sensible lengths with good casting and line ratings, it’s certainly got my attention to want to look at them further.

Good on you Preston it’s about time we had some other choices. I’d be very interested to hear if anyone gets their hands on one as to what They feel like.
Pricing suggests they should be very good as they ain’t cheap.
 
Richard Isaacs said:
I know nothing about these other than what I’ve read which sounds very interesting for us specimen river boys.

The supera has been about ages now and usually associated with pellet and carp waggler rods but to see something come out in sensible lengths with good casting and line ratings, it’s certainly got my attention to want to look at them further.

Good on you Preston it’s about time we had some other choices. I’d be very interested to hear if anyone gets their hands on one as to what They feel like.
Pricing suggests they should be very good as they ain’t cheap.
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I see there's nothing on YouTube yet about them or any reviews.
Can someone explain casting weight and line ratings?
This new supera x power has a casting weight of 8-18g and a line rating of 3-8lb.For example,
Browning never gave a line rating for their Sphere match and spliced tip river rods but gave a casting weight of 30g.
Doesn't that make the sphere a more powerful rod or am I being dumb.
 
Dave Brooksbank said:
I see there's nothing on YouTube yet about them or any reviews.
Can someone explain casting weight and line ratings?
This new supera x power has a casting weight of 8-18g and a line rating of 3-8lb.For example,
Browning never gave a line rating for their Sphere match and spliced tip river rods but gave a casting weight of 30g.
Doesn't that make the sphere a more powerful rod or am I being dumb.
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You’re not being dumb at all. It’s a solid question. I’ve never seen official line rating for the spheres either but heard a 6lb max many times quoted to believe it’s probably about right. Certainly the river rods feel good with 5-6lb on.

Casting weight I really don’t know where the figures come from. The minimum for a start of 8g??? Not many people using this rod in the uk are going to exceed that and most will want to be under it. There’s only the plummet that will ever get close to maximum casting weights of float rods and on fast pace rivers they wouldn’t be used any way so I tend not to pay much attention to them.

30g on the sphere river rods makes some sense as casting substantial weight on a float rod will probably put most pressure on the tip section and the sphere being solid carbon will be more durable and probably cast an ounce a long way with no risk whatsoever.

I’ve always ignored Preston rods as their concentration has mostly been focused on shorter commercial, or lighter action with the odd 17ft rod thrown into their lower end stuff.

To see a nice pair of power floats put into their top of the range stuff, in good useful lengths, and great on paper stats makes me want to go pick one up. The handles look sensational I must admit. Great armlock with a nice looking seat and good mix of materials. Looking forward to a waggle soon hopefully.
 
Looking into further details the 15ft version is not a “power” float. It has a 2-6lb line rating and a 12g max casting weight
It sounds more like sphere/acolyte plus territory.
 
It looks like a dew retailers have got the wrong end of the stick, or they know something we don't and PI aren't advertising yet.

https://leightackle.co.uk/preston-innovations-supera-x-power-float-214674-p.asp
https://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/preston-supera-x-power-float-rod
https://thetackletavern.co.uk/product/preston-supera-x-power-float-rods/

The following seem to match the PI website.

https://www.protackleshop.co.uk/en5/preston-supera-x-power-float/s/38849

https://www.prestoninnovations.com/en/products/rods-reels/pp-11066
https://www.prestoninnovations.com/en/products/rods-reels/pp-11145
https://www.prestoninnovations.com/en/products/rods-reels/pp-11144

I had a shop waggle with the 13' Supera X the last time I was in a big tackle shop. As far as can be ascertained from such limited experience, It seemed pretty nice. Not necessarily the lightest I've ever handled, but not overly weighty. However, at the price point, I expect Fuji fittings. It's the kind of rod I'll only take a punt on if it's significantly discounted.
 
Chris Jones said:
It looks like a dew retailers have got the wrong end of the stick, or they know something we don't and PI aren't advertising yet.
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I’m pretty sure some of the distributors have got the information incorrect
there’s only 1 power model by the look of it.
 
Richard Isaacs said:
Looking into further details the 15ft version is not a “power” float. It has a 2-6lb line rating and a 12g max casting weight
It sounds more like sphere/acolyte plus territory.
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I'd hazard a guess that it will not be dissimilar to the Signature Pro.
 
Alan Rose said:
I'd hazard a guess that it will not be dissimilar to the Signature Pro.
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The handle looks very substantial and chunky round the back. I’d imagine its overall weight will be more than the featherlight maver. However they state minima guides.

I’m not sure how I feel about that on a match rod.
On the one hand especially with a chunky handle this thing is going to feel very light maybe even wand like if those guides are practically weightless.
On the other hand, it doesn’t take much to bend a substantial float guide from Fuji with a knock, so those minimas are likely to be very frail indeed which puts me off

I’ll certainly go and look at both models and check em out when I can see what they are like.
 
Have a watch here... (skip to 23mins to see it in action with a couple of small barbel).

Not sure I am convinced, and especially not for north of £300.

 
Alan Rose said:
Have a watch here... (skip to 23mins to see it in action with a couple of small barbel).

Not sure I am convinced, and especially not for north of £300.

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I think we must of been watching different videos Al because the rod I was looking at had loads more to go.
It only started to show curve in the lower half when the line got caught round the top of its dorsal fin.
A 3lb barbel in a shallow clear fast river will put a good bend in any float rod I own without breaking a sweat.
I think the action on the rod in that video looked fabulous to me.

Not sure why he couldn’t get on with a bolo float though. The river pace looked made for it. Easy to say when your not there i suppose 🤷🏻
 
Richard Isaacs said:
I think we must of been watching different videos Al because the rod I was looking at had loads more to go.
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You're probably right... my eye is not as good when it comes to things like that.

Richard Isaacs said:
Not sure why he couldn’t get on with a bolo float though. The river pace looked made for it
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I had the same thought!

There is so little about these rods on forums or elsewhere. They're obviously throwing old Desmond out there to drum up business from the match side and the specimen side. I think that they'll probably disappear like the Maver Signature Pro unless something drastic happens. Although I imagine Preston has a far bigger market share in the UK than Maver.
 
Alan Rose said:
You're probably right... my eye is not as good when it comes to things like that.


I had the same thought!

There is so little about these rods on forums or elsewhere. They're obviously throwing old Desmond out there to drum up business from the match side and the specimen side. I think that they'll probably disappear like the Maver Signature Pro unless something drastic happens. Although I imagine Preston has a far bigger market share in the UK than Maver.
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Preston rod’s haven’t really grabbed my attention before being heavily marketed in fishing situations that don’t interest me in the slightest.
Despite the odd long 15/17ft model it seems that Match/commy/still water seems to be the areas where they concentrate their rods the most and as a result they have gone under the radar for me in previous years.

These recent supera X models have pushed more towards the specimen river type fishing which naturally grabbed my attention the minute they were released and I actually really like the (limited to pictures) look of them including the action demonstrated in the videos.
Definitely on the Christmas break list of things to do is go pull on one
 
Neil Blood said:
Those Minima line guides would put me right off buying one, probably a lot of other anglers too?
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Yeah I’m a bit reserved about them aswell
If the legs have a bit of strength in them, they could be awesome because they’ll make the blank feel very light and the lack of a separate liner opens them up making trotting, casting and slider fishing (if that’s your thing)even better than a smaller hole lined guide.
But if they have taken them down to the wire and impacted their strength it would probably be a non starter for me. Single legged match guides are frail enough as it is.
 
Richard Isaacs said:
Yeah I’m a bit reserved about them aswell
If the legs have a bit of strength in them, they could be awesome because they’ll make the blank feel very light and the lack of a separate liner opens them up making trotting, casting and slider fishing (if that’s your thing)even better than a smaller hole lined guide.
But if they have taken them down to the wire and impacted their strength it would probably be a non starter for me. Single legged match guides are frail enough as it is.
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That’s my problem with daiwa ags guides, they are light and smooth, but damn frail, and it’s the first time in my life I saw a warning/user guide for the rod guides.
 
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