Neil Smart
Senior Member
I was going through the merits of my assortments of rods, mostly of the Barbel variety, some horrible things, some not so, all to do with fashion, marketing or just plain old reccomendations by others.
Perhaps the most delightful rods I own are the Torrix 1.75 11 foot, and the superb Dave Mason river rod made by Andy Silwa.
My preference is small river fishing, so you can see why, but the junk we anglers have to endure in the name of specialist rods is huge. I don't need to cast heavy weights to the horizon, well occasionally on a flooded Severn, but don't you think that most Barbel rods set out with that in mind, and for the most part we are left overgunned without the sensation of playing a fish on such heavy gear?
The Dave Mason rod is built on the 10.6 ft1M6 blank, an American thing I believe, and the need is for strength combined with lightness, to suit their lure preference.
I certainly am no expert on rod blanks, but I know some on here are, and I would love to explore the possibilities of using these blanks for my kind of fishing, and for others too, I believe these blanks might be unavailable now, but are there similar?
Given that Barbel are thinning out somewhat, especially the smaller rivers, I need a rod that can cope with the odd barbel, but is fine with the bigger club, and not have a heavy feel. 6 to 8lb line, 10 to 11 foot that will cast a loaded 40 gram feeder, if you can better the Dave Mason I will be a happy blanker.
Perhaps the most delightful rods I own are the Torrix 1.75 11 foot, and the superb Dave Mason river rod made by Andy Silwa.
My preference is small river fishing, so you can see why, but the junk we anglers have to endure in the name of specialist rods is huge. I don't need to cast heavy weights to the horizon, well occasionally on a flooded Severn, but don't you think that most Barbel rods set out with that in mind, and for the most part we are left overgunned without the sensation of playing a fish on such heavy gear?
The Dave Mason rod is built on the 10.6 ft1M6 blank, an American thing I believe, and the need is for strength combined with lightness, to suit their lure preference.
I certainly am no expert on rod blanks, but I know some on here are, and I would love to explore the possibilities of using these blanks for my kind of fishing, and for others too, I believe these blanks might be unavailable now, but are there similar?
Given that Barbel are thinning out somewhat, especially the smaller rivers, I need a rod that can cope with the odd barbel, but is fine with the bigger club, and not have a heavy feel. 6 to 8lb line, 10 to 11 foot that will cast a loaded 40 gram feeder, if you can better the Dave Mason I will be a happy blanker.
Things have changed so much since I started this Barbel thing, I used to be quite content and happy catching all manner of species, on the 'tip' or float, the latter being a joy and I forgot just what it was like to flick out a stick float and seeing the dip of the float.