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Browning 13.6 river rod

Think it is the same seller who has 2 for sale on Facebook?
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Shame it wasn't collection only. That might have depressed the final price and it's only about 15 miles away. I really don't need another spare though.
 
I remember when home and ? in north east were auctioning these rods maybe 4 +years ago. Easy to buy at around 140/150. Another miss on my part, ha!
 
Alec Hague said:
I remember when home and ? in north east were auctioning these rods maybe 4 +years ago. Easy to buy at around 140/150. Another miss on my part, ha!
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Home un Leisure? I won a 15ft 6 one from them on Ebay for about £200. They never delivered it and eventually I got my money back. Paid a bit more than £200 when I finally got hold of one. 🫣 Money well spent!
 
Danny Moss said:
How do the brownings compare to an Acolyte plus and specimen?
Thanks🎣
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Hi Danny,

I’ve got a 13’ Acolyte Specimen and a 13’ 6” Sphere, so I can tell you how I experience them. I fish exclusively with centrepins if that makes any difference to how you construe my comments.

The 13’ Acolyte Specimen is almost the same weight as the 13’ 6” Sphere (in my case both rods weigh 167g I think), but it’s way, way stiffer. I use it for barbel and chub in fast water or where I need to “hit and hold” and it is excellent. I would not use it for smaller species, although it would technically work although a tad unsporting for smaller stuff. The tip is fast, the middle powers up nicely and there’s silly amounts of power in the butt. Wallis casts like a dream.

The 13’ 6” Sphere is a different kettle of fish (no pun intended). The spliced tip is lovely and fast but also cushions lighter hooklengths well. It’s nowhere near as stiff as the Acolyte and not as powerful. I would be happy using it for chub in fast water, but it’s certainly not an out-and-out big fish tool. Where it is simply stunning is fishing for grayling. It easily hits bites at distance and the transition from spliced tip to hollow section to mid section is very smooth so you don’t tend to lose many. When you do get a good fish on (think 4-5lb chub) there’s plenty of power lower down, and it feels superb. Also Wallis casts very nicely indeed.

If I had to have just one, it’d be the Sphere. I had a 15’ 6” but I massively prefer the 13’ 6” model. I’ve never struggled to control the float with that length, apart from the odd time when the conditions really weren’t conducive to float fishing at all! I tend to use a 4” Trudex II with the Sphere because I like how the narrow drum feels in my hand. I use a Triton True-Pin on the Acolyte for tackling bigger stuff.

Hope that helps Danny, feel free to PM me if you want to ask anything more specific 👍🏻
 
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