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10ft x3 lb rods

Adam Wylie

Adam Wylie

Senior Member & Supporter
Hi all,
I met a guy at the weekend whilst fishing the Trent, and he was using CEN CQ 10ft x 3lb rods
for Barbel Fishing .He stated he had been using them for 2 seasons and really enjoyed fishing with
them .He let me have a waggle and put a bend in them ,they certainly didn’t feel over the top,and I got the impression there was very little difference between this rod and my 12ft 2.25 ???
He caught a 11lb 4oz Barbel later in the afternoon ,the rods appeared to perform perfect ,he was fishing about 2-3 rods out .
what’s your thoughts on the use of 10x3lb rods
thanks in advance 👍
 
The TC is useless except it kind of tell you the casting weight.
To me, it is all about the action. I am more than happy to use a through action 3lb rod for barbel fishing. If fishing the close range, 10ft is perfect fine for me as well.
 
I've got a pair of Daiwa black widows that are 10 ft 3lb test curves. I use them for pike fishing from my boat. They dont feel particularly poky for that test curve. I've also got a 10 ft Wychwood with a 3lb test curve and it is poky! Same length, same test curve, two totally different rods.
I'd be happy enough using the daiwas for barbel in a small snaggy stream.
 
I'm a recent 10ft convert for small water carp fishing - have a pair of 10' Freespirit CTX in 2.75 and am really enjoying using them! (arguably in preference to my 12' 2.5 Greys Customs as the length and action are more versatile) They're not as 'bendy' but are still relatively 'parabolic' and cast beautifully / can handle larger leads etc - they also have a shorter handle (to the end of my elbow) which makes seated fishing waay easier

Being an OCD carper I also have the matching 10' CTX SPM (3.75) as a marker/spomb rod but also using this as a dedicated river spopper rod - considering giving the CTX a go on the WAvon this winter but worried they might replace my beloved 2.25 Torrix . . . !
 
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I have the 12' CFX spod (4.5lb) and marker (3.75lb) rods and really happy with them. I bought them a few years ago after they came out top in a group field test. I got them to put a 40mm ring on rather than the standard 50mm, the guy who I dealt with in the Tackle Box told me that they had based them on the Freespirit S class range.

Anyway, if the other rods in the CFX range are as good then they are excellent value.
 
Joe Winstanley said:
I have the 12' CFX spod (4.5lb) and marker (3.75lb) rods and really happy with them. I bought them a few years ago after they came out top in a group field test. I got them to put a 40mm ring on rather than the standard 50mm, the guy who I dealt with in the Tackle Box told me that they had based them on the Freespirit S class range.

Anyway, if the other rods in the CFX range are as good then they are excellent value.
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CTX are slightly better carbon from what I understand than CFX however I think the designs are pretty much the same with Freespirit consulting Tackle Box on the CFX range at the outset . . .pricing is now comparable (both were previously cheaper - CTX where available at £99 ea!) however Tackle Box will replace any broken CFX blanks no quibble which is excellent!
 
Had a look of the cfx range, not cheap considering the price of other rods tavklebox have, but if they are as good as the fs s range, that is well priced.
 
Chris Belcher said:
CTX are slightly better carbon from what I understand than CFX however I think the designs are pretty much the same with Freespirit consulting Tackle Box on the CFX range at the outset . . .pricing is now comparable (both were previously cheaper - CTX where available at £99 ea!) however Tackle Box will replace any broken CFX blanks no quibble which is excellent!
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I think my rods were around £140/each in 2017, cost about £10 extra not to have 50mm butt rings. The spod rod has considerably outperformed an original Greys Prodigy spod (now sold) and the marker rod considerably better than the Greys Prodigy (now my dropper rod) and Torrix marker rods (now my mini spomb rod).

The service at the Tackle Box is second to none imo, and the SAH guarantee is a great insurance policy.
 
Joe Winstanley said:
I think my rods were around £140/each in 2017, cost about £10 extra not to have 50mm butt rings. The spod rod has considerably outperformed an original Greys Prodigy spod (now sold) and the marker rod considerably better than the Greys Prodigy (now my dropper rod) and Torrix marker rods (now my mini spomb rod).

The service at the Tackle Box is second to none imo, and the SAH guarantee is a great insurance policy.
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Lol - most modern SPM rods outperform the Greys Prodigy Spod & Markers by some margin (we all bought them at the time!) - they were horrible cumbersome tools that actually almost put me off using a Spod for life!
 
i've got a couple of different test (1.75 & 2.25) 10ft harrisons. Lovely rods... don't tend to use them on larger rivers, though maybe i should...
 
Chris Belcher said:
Lol - most modern SPM rods outperform the Greys Prodigy Spod & Markers by some margin (we all bought them at the time!) - they were horrible cumbersome tools that actually almost put me off using a Spod for life!
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You could say that about lots of spod rods.

I used to be friends with Bruce Ashby and he made me a few rods. All were excellent until I got one of his spod rods. Allegedly the best on the market…..

I couldn’t bend it and my casts went all over the place. I flogged it and bought a cheap Fox one - which is fine. But I still hate spodding and hardly ever do it.

Agree about the Greys Prodigy rods - I got some 2.75 carp rods and they were awful. I sold them to a guy who lives in Australia.
 
Tim Marks said:
You could say that about lots of spod rods.

I used to be friends with Bruce Ashby and he made me a few rods. All were excellent until I got one of his spod rods. Allegedly the best on the market…..

I couldn’t bend it and my casts went all over the place. I flogged it and bought a cheap Fox one - which is fine. But I still hate spodding and hardly ever do it.

Agree about the Greys Prodigy rods - I got some 2.75 carp rods and they were awful. I sold them to a guy who lives in Australia.
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I bought the 2.75 Prodigy rods. Very erratic casters and a not a very nice action. Was happy to move them on. Not the worst carp rods I've ever had though, that title goes to the Bruce Ashby Skorpios I bought from the TB.

The original Prodigy specialist 1.25/1.75 twin tips on the other hand served me well for a good few seasons. Really good value rods I found, and I got about 70% of what I paid for them back when I upgraded to some Harrisons.
 
Tim Marks said:
You could say that about lots of spod rods.

I used to be friends with Bruce Ashby and he made me a few rods. All were excellent until I got one of his spod rods. Allegedly the best on the market…..

I couldn’t bend it and my casts went all over the place. I flogged it and bought a cheap Fox one - which is fine. But I still hate spodding and hardly ever do it.

Agree about the Greys Prodigy rods - I got some 2.75 carp rods and they were awful. I sold them to a guy who lives in Australia.
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I don't like spodding either and prefer to either use big PVA bags or a bait boat (shock horror!) if allowed . . .got a 13' S Lite SPM which is a beast of rod and can lob a large spomb to the horizon but its still not exactly a joy to use (especially with the smaller spombs) based on its weight - its easy to cast/compress but heavy and tiring with a dedicated spod reel - the 10' CTX SPM however is actually quite good fun and with its lighter weight is more accurate with smaller spombs up to 80yds . . .
 
Richard Parsons said:
Yes, technically that's probably true, Chris, even if 3lb tc rods might not be part of a bait dropper discussion. Spopper - well, I've never used one, and is a technique used by small minority (who regularly fish fast flowing wide rivers)?
Either way, my comment was a little tongue-in-cheek and mock astonishment of carp angling talk on BFW.
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Carp anglers - we are rogue programmes in the matrix!
 
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