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You'd have just about got it by now as well ;)

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.

Ah yeah, I’d forgotten how much those things can cost 😳 Money well spent?

No, of course it doesn’t and I be surprised if it did. Judging by his other items he’s not exactly doing badly for nice fishing gear and can afford to put a hefty number on that reel and hope for a bite. Me too, but I’ve no idea what that reel might be. One of Chris Lythe’s creations I expect.

…on a single item of tackle? My buddy showed me this Paul Witcher reel on EeBayGum. The mind boggles really. I can’t imagine ever breaking the £1k barrier on an item of tackle to be honest. I struggle when it’s more than a couple of hundred to tell you the truth.

Ah lovely, so everybody here is a little bit correct ;)

Sounds like you’ve done some good sleuthing Kevin 👍🏻 Now, do us all a solid and post up some links and references. I can’t speak for everyone, but I wouldn’t mind reading up on it too.

Could it have been China? I have certainly seen vids of what you are describing of Chinese anglers. Talk about Bolognese rods! These bad boys looked like cooked spaghetti with a bloke on one end and a catfish on the other, and lots of exaggerated yanking and heaving! 🤣

I’m sure you’re correct mate, and it’s probably true that all fishing rods, irrespective of what we now call them, began life as a stiff and some line attached. I am aware of the Italian connection, but when I refer to bolo rods, I am thinking of what we call bolo rods in the UK. To the best of...

Spot on Kevin, mine is 199g. I may be wrong, but I think bolo rods always had reels attached. Otherwise it’s just a pole/whip.

I’ve flirted with idea of Cadence rods before, but can never quite bring myself to buy one. I think my reluctance may be something to do with the over exuberance of guys who use them. Call me Mr. Cynical, but they’re surely not that good. 😂

Think he means mine, Al 👍🏻

He meant Band Aid 2.0 🤩

What’s better than Alan catching a brace of December Barbel…? 🤣

Just double-checked to make sure I wasn’t going loopy, and that article was Feb ‘23 so the prototype was definitely the Acolyte Specimen. A couple of friends mentioned a 17’ Specimen Acolyte, but I think it was more wishful thinking than anything else. I hope I’m wrong. A 17’ Acolyte Specimen...

No, but that grayling article predates the release of the Acolyte Specimen by some months Neil.

Not to to blow your buzz Neil, but the rod in question is what we now know as the Acolyte Specimen Rod 👍🏻

TWO December barbel of course 😃😃 Nice return for a short trip on a “Yorkshire” river somewhere. Second fish (bottom photo) was 8lbs 8oz and gave a good account of itself in a rising river. First fish went off like a rocket and scared the living daylights out of me! I thought my Speedia was...

Ah… well, different story then. Acolyte Specimen will definitely do the job. @Richard Isaacs has got some good recommendations on this as he catches some monsters on the float 👍🏻

Is this for barbel?