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Barbel float Rod difference Diawa

Richard Isaacs said:
They did a 17-20 but such a shame they didn’t do a 15-17. I’d of been all over that.
Have you still got the Italian F1?
I’d love to find one of those.
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Still got the F1, never seen another. I had the 17/20 conny too. Great rod and was still good at 17, was also rated to 10lb line. With the advent of top and bottom sliders for deep water, suitable for the type of fishing I required, I moved it on. One I have rekindled a love of this year, is my 15ft Shimmy Aerocast Specimen. It eats double figure Barbel for breakfast.... PS have you seen the new Dave Harrell sliders?
 
I bought and started using Mark Tunleys 13. 5 ft (Harrison blank) float rod and it is brilliant. It has a one pound test curve , an excellent action and absorbes lunches from Barbel with ease. I use 10lb line as I fish a couple of snaggy pegs and it can be a hit and hold situation. So far I have only had one hook pull.
 
Jon Frisby said:
PS have you seen the new Dave Harrell sliders?
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Not in the flesh I haven’t
I use them so little that I’ll probably need to lose afew of the old ones I’ve got before buying any.
I’ve got a trip on the YOuse planned in late September so i might pick a couple up to try there. That’s a deep river in most places.
 
Jon Frisby said:
Still got the F1, never seen another. I had the 17/20 conny too. Great rod and was still good at 17, was also rated to 10lb line. With the advent of top and bottom sliders for deep water, suitable for the type of fishing I required, I moved it on. One I have rekindled a love of this year, is my 15ft Shimmy Aerocast Specimen. It eats double figure Barbel for breakfast.... PS have you seen the new Dave Harrell sliders?
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Inspired by Jon I swapped the centrepin from my conny 14xp onto my shimmy speedmaster 450spc last night - had 6 fish long trotting a local river - doesn't pick line up quite as fast at range, but does have more power and subdued the fish easily. It was like rekindled an old flame!!
 
The TFG TSi is getting a fair bit of attention these days. I can't deny ignoring it when it was current. Right or wrong, there was no way I was paying the high asking price for a TFG rod.

A more recent under the radar rod that I can suggest as worth investigation is the Garbolino Altima Match 15' Power Specimen. I understand that there may have been a "similar" rod in the subsequent Essential range.

Jon Frisby said:
One I have rekindled a love of this year, is my 15ft Shimmy Aerocast Specimen. It eats double figure Barbel for breakfast.
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I've got plenty of rods to choose from. Despite its excessive weight, I still won't let the Aerocast Specimen (or any of my Aerocasts) go.
 
Chris Jones said:
there was no way I was paying the high asking price for a TFG rod.
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You weren’t alone on that one I would have also been the same. hence they didn’t stick around long at all. Tackle shops shifted them out at heavily discounted prices just to get rid.

Had i known then what I know now, I’d have no issues whatsoever putting £250 down for one and in this day and age it would probably be a lump more. It’s an incredibly high end blank fitted with very decent stuff. It’s well balanced and very capable

Ive had 2 doubles on mine this year on the Trent and it was a very enjoyable experience.

There is some tales about line ratings that go way beyond what I’d be comfortable feeding through it but it’s definitely up for 0.22-0.23 I’d say.

I wouldn’t take it down the nene and specifically try and tame one of those monsters in there. 12-16lb fish in 10 yards of running space would probably see it come home in a few more pieces.
 
Richard Isaacs said:
I wouldn’t take it down the nene and specifically try and tame one of those monsters in there. 12-16lb fish in 10 yards of running space would probably see it come home in a few more pieces.
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Funny enough, I find barbel hardly run in small rivers, they just seem to swim short distances up and down stream and then try to hug the bottom under the rod tip ( in my experiences that is). After saying that i've only ever had barbel of between 10 to 11lb in a small river.
I found I didn't need an exceptionally powerful float rod. I had no problems catching them with a mkII avenger, acolyte plus, sphere 13 6 spliced rod, and a couple of other similar powerd float rods.
 
its strange how our beliefs moderate our decisions rather than necessarily facts. I had and tried most of all the x 45 blank rods, tourneys, rs , ags air etc. Never broke one but forever marvelling that they didn't and expecting a bang frequently. To me they were spectacular blanks but just felt uneasy using so they went. What did break however was the "unbreakable" £45 each mgt tips! Have to admit that those were my handling faults, to be fair, never with a fish on.
 
Ian Woods said:
Funny enough, I find barbel hardly run in small rivers, they just seem to swim short distances up and down stream and then try to hug the bottom under the rod tip ( in my experiences that is). After saying that i've only ever had barbel of between 10 to 11lb in a small river.
I found I didn't need an exceptionally powerful float rod. I had no problems catching them with a mkII avenger, acolyte plus, sphere 13 6 spliced rod, and a couple of other similar powerd float rods.
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That would be a blessing if they did that.
Are the barbel up north getting soppy these days 😂

I lost an enormous one last Friday that i simply couldn’t stop from getting under the fallen tree and that’s a decent 15-20 yard run down from me. They know it, they live under it and they always bolt for it.
It’s a case of fish vs tackle and which one will let go first.

side strain and rod well submerged was all i could do before she cut me off.
In winter they slow up and give more of a sporting chance on this sort of gear but I don’t think I’d of landed that unless I went up again on the line to something like 0.26 maybe.
It’s getting ridiculous really as we are entering barbel line territory there but if I’m to land a 14-15plus fish in that snag pit of a river which then I think I might have to put together a very specific outfit for just the river nene trotting only.

I know the rod is up to it. I’ve seen that bend in places that have made me cringe yet it’s always coped,
 
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Richard Isaacs said:
That would be a blessing if they did that.
Are the barbel up north getting soppy these days 😂

I lost an enormous one last Friday that i simply couldn’t stop from getting under the fallen tree and that’s a decent 15-20 yard run down from me. They know it, they live under it and they always bolt for it.
It’s a case of fish vs tackle and which one will let go first.

side strain and rod well submerged was all i could do before she cut me off.
In winter they slow up and give more of a sporting chance on this sort of gear but I don’t think I’d of landed that unless I went up again on the line to something like 0.26 maybe.
It’s getting ridiculous really as we are entering barbel line territory there but if I’m to land a 14-15plus fish in that snag pit of a river which then I think I might have to put together a very specific outfit for just the river nene trotting only.

I know the rod is up to it. I’ve seen that bend in places that have made me cringe yet it’s always coped,
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In that situation I would use a shorter more powerful rod, for e.g. maybe a rod like the 10ft 2 1/4 test nash scope I have and fish a reliable and robust mono such as 8lb sensor direct to a 10s or even an 8s superspade hook. I would use the larger than normal hook size simply to lessen the chance of it pulling out of the fish because I wouldn't give the fish an inch of line off my reel. The only leeway the fish would get from me would be the bend of the rod and stretch in the line.
I have fished hit and hold spots many times and used that exact set up. Up to now I think the biggest fish i've had fishing in those situations has been just shy of 12lb, so no monsters, but i'm confident the set up would easily subdue any barbel in uk waters.
I always try to keep my rod tip upwards to unbalance the fish and make it work against the flow as well as my tackle.
 
Ian Woods said:
Funny enough, I find barbel hardly run in small rivers, they just seem to swim short distances up and down stream and then try to hug the bottom under the rod tip ( in my experiences that is). After saying that i've only ever had barbel of between 10 to 11lb in a small river.
I found I didn't need an exceptionally powerful float rod. I had no problems catching them with a mkII avenger, acolyte plus, sphere 13 6 spliced rod, and a couple of other similar powerd float rods.
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I wish you’d have a word with the Ouse fish then and tell them to please play nicely….those sods act like turbo charged comets😂
 
Ian Woods said:
In that situation I would use a shorter more powerful rod, for e.g. maybe a rod like the 10ft 2 1/4 test nash scope I have and fish a reliable and robust mono such as 8lb sensor direct to a 10s or even an 8s superspade hook. I would use the larger than normal hook size simply to lessen the chance of it pulling out of the fish because I wouldn't give the fish an inch of line off my reel. The only leeway the fish would get from me would be the bend of the rod and stretch in the line.
I have fished hit and hold spots many times and used that exact set up. Up to now I think the biggest fish i've had fishing in those situations has been just shy of 12lb, so no monsters, but i'm confident the set up would easily subdue any barbel in uk waters.
I always try to keep my rod tip upwards to unbalance the fish and make it work against the flow as well as my tackle.
Click to expand...
For hold and hit near snag or under the tree, I use my 6ft 2lb Nash scope and 20lb braid, brutal I know, but perfect for the job.
 
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