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Chasing chub....

Daniel Earl said:
Im in the middle of sorting my float rod armoury out , I hear good things re the acolytes the new sounds nice.

I want something for scratching in the winter little silvers etc so ultra

Something for decent Rudd and roach

Something for chub

Something for perch

Something for tench and carp

Something for grayling

If you get where I’m going a room for each species or group of.

So I’m looking at the carp wagler the ultra the plus and the new specialist.

I would forgo to hi s to fund it

I’m looking at all lengths depending on waters
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An acolyte plus would do everything on that list.
No need for the specialist or ultra just pick the length that’s going to work for you.
 
Daniel Earl said:
Im in the middle of sorting my float rod armoury out , I hear good things re the acolytes the new sounds nice.

I want something for scratching in the winter little silvers etc so ultra

Something for decent Rudd and roach

Something for chub

Something for perch

Something for tench and carp

Something for grayling

If you get where I’m going a room for each species or group of.

So I’m looking at the carp wagler the ultra the plus and the new specialist.

I would forgo to hi s to fund it

I’m looking at all lengths depending on waters
Click to expand...


Daniel, I don't blame you for wanting a nice selection of rods, I have a good few myself and get a lot of pleasure from using them all....I still want more 😂.
In reality though, you could very easily cover all those species with one or two rods.
The size of the carp might warrant the second rod.
 
Ian Woods said:
Me too, manys the time i've just hit and held barbel and said to myself "it it snaps, it snaps".
Very often i've had rods flatten out, they look like a letter L.
One rod I have and really like for barbel is a drennan im8 specimen float rod.
Yyes, I agree on the acolytes, fantastic rods, again, i've used mine to hit and hold barbel into double figures....beats me how people manage to break them as they do!
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I've the IM9 classic, and need to sort my float gear out as I've not done much of this style of fishing! But from memory, a decent sized carp on it, gave it an awesome battle curve on it without any flat spots, and still had some decent power left in it. So I'd be comfortable fishing that rod for my chub... Shame they're not freely available anymore. Great rods that I would highly recommend trying to get if they come up. 👍
 
Today, I took the opportunity to take the new drennan acolyte specimen float rod out in search of some barbel.
Unfortunately I only had the last coup,e of hours of daylight in which to give the rod a test, and I didn't have a great deal of luck. After saying that, I did manage a small barbel, several very decent chub, a good few monster dace and a sprinkling of good sized roach. I was hitting most of the dace and roach at around 45 yds or more and only lost one as I wound it back at speed against a fast flow of water.
The larger chub were hooked at around 30 to 40 yds and non lost at all. The barbel was only small, but it fought hard for it's size and put a decent bend in the rod!
Verdict on the rod....it felt nice and light whilst holding it , it's good to wally cast with, strike and mend line.
The rod was nice to play the chub and barbel on, and it was soft enough in the tip so you could even feel the smaller fish shake their heads etc when I hooked them.
Regarding it's capabilities with larger barbel, I can't say since I didn't catch any, but my spider senses tell me it will be fine for them.....


 
First time out trotting today since the post above!
With the temp's dropping off as they have recently I decided to target chub.
I used the 12ft free spirit hi S power float rod (doesn't feel like a power float to me!) and the youngs RS centrepin reel. To be fair, the rod is ok, just isn't anything like as powerful as I had been expecting so anyone thinking of getting one be aware they aren't that powerful at all.
A few pic's taken from different swims as I roved along the river.....







 
The rod I use for trotting for Chub is a 30 year plus old Graham Phillips Barbel trotter. I don't know what blank it is but read somewhere it's a Century. I swear by this rod. It's great for trotting bread with hooks up to a Size 8 but I've used it with hooks down to a 20 and have caught 7 plus Chub using an 18. It will take a 6lb line or down to a 2.6 bottom.
I plan to finally catch some Barbel on it this summer on the Severn. My local rivers aren't really ideal for trotting these days ( too few Barbel really though they do get caught).
 
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Ian Woods said:
Today, I took the opportunity to take the new drennan acolyte specimen float rod out in search of some barbel.
Unfortunately I only had the last coup,e of hours of daylight in which to give the rod a test, and I didn't have a great deal of luck. After saying that, I did manage a small barbel, several very decent chub, a good few monster dace and a sprinkling of good sized roach. I was hitting most of the dace and roach at around 45 yds or more and only lost one as I wound it back at speed against a fast flow of water.
The larger chub were hooked at around 30 to 40 yds and non lost at all. The barbel was only small, but it fought hard for it's size and put a decent bend in the rod!
Verdict on the rod....it felt nice and light whilst holding it , it's good to wally cast with, strike and mend line.
The rod was nice to play the chub and barbel on, and it was soft enough in the tip so you could even feel the smaller fish shake their heads etc when I hooked them.
Regarding it's capabilities with larger barbel, I can't say since I didn't catch any, but my spider senses tell me it will be fine for them.....


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Ian that looks and sounds like a great few hours trotting to me!!! Chunky little barbel right there. Just found this thread and have really enjoyed dropping into it. Not living on of near any substantial rivers I only have a couple of smaller ones to go at in Devon and Somerset. Chub are the target but generally only run to a max of 4lb though bigger is possible in places. Good to hear about the specimen acolyte. There was a lot of conversation about it but not that many testers. I'll watch this space.
 
Jon Kennard said:
Ian that looks and sounds like a great few hours trotting to me!!! Chunky little barbel right there. Just found this thread and have really enjoyed dropping into it. Not living on of near any substantial rivers I only have a couple of smaller ones to go at in Devon and Somerset. Chub are the target but generally only run to a max of 4lb though bigger is possible in places. Good to hear about the specimen acolyte. There was a lot of conversation about it but not that many testers. I'll watch this space.
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Jon. I lived in West Devon for 7 1/2 years. There used to be some good Chub in the tidal Exe at Exeter. I once saw a very big one along there whilst Pike fishing. I won't put a weight on it but it was a good one.
.
 
Andrew Jackson said:
Jon. I lived in West Devon for 7 1/2 years. There used to be some good Chub in the tidal Exe at Exeter. I once saw a very big one along there whilst Pike fishing. I won't put a weight on it but it was a good one.
.
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Thanks Andrew that's good to know. Yes I'm aware of the potential for them but I've never fished it for coarse fish only on the fly. I used to fish the culm a lot 16-17 years ago. A stunning little river and an incredible range and size if species. Some barbel were even showing and being caught. It reminded me of a smaller version of the river teme. So gutted it got taken out with pollution. The barbel weren't hard or seen after that. Very likely they'd got in there from the exe. Sadly I don't have the time to really invest in going that far to work it all out. I'd imagine there's a fair amount of ground work to be done as with all wild fishing. I've got the bass here in North Devon though I'm getting in the mullet and wrasse this year all being well
 
Jon Kennard said:
Ian that looks and sounds like a great few hours trotting to me!!! Chunky little barbel right there. Just found this thread and have really enjoyed dropping into it. Not living on of near any substantial rivers I only have a couple of smaller ones to go at in Devon and Somerset. Chub are the target but generally only run to a max of 4lb though bigger is possible in places. Good to hear about the specimen acolyte. There was a lot of conversation about it but not that many testers. I'll watch this space.
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Thanks Jon, glad to hear you like the thread bud 😎. Hopefully i'll get out with the specimen acolyte rod again in the not to distant future and I'll try for some bigger barbel.
I would have gone for a go today but the temp's didn't get above 4.5 degrees which doesn't bode well for catching a barbel on a trotted bait.
I think the 13ft specimen would be ideal for your chub fishing, imo, a brilliant rod, I think drennan have made something very special in these specimen acolyte rods!
I like the 13ft model so much after using it just the one time that I bought the 14 footer the other day and it feels great in the hand, i'm looking forward to testing it out 🙂.
 
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Jon Kennard said:
Thanks Andrew that's good to know. Yes I'm aware of the potential for them but I've never fished it for coarse fish only on the fly. I used to fish the culm a lot 16-17 years ago. A stunning little river and an incredible range and size if species. Some barbel were even showing and being caught. It reminded me of a smaller version of the river teme. So gutted it got taken out with pollution. The barbel weren't hard or seen after that. Very likely they'd got in there from the exe. Sadly I don't have the time to really invest in going that far to work it all out. I'd imagine there's a fair amount of ground work to be done as with all wild fishing. I've got the bass here in North Devon though I'm getting in the mullet and wrasse this year all being well
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Yes Jon. I had a few goes for the Culm Barbel at Beare Gate ( I think that's what it was called). It was a long way away from where I lived and I didn't like the fact it was right next to the motorway. Too noisy! I hooked one but lost it trying to keep it out of the snags. That was the only one I hooked in about 4 trips. I knew a couple of people who put them in there but that's all I'm saying! 🤣
The town stretch of the Tone has good Chub fishing though nothing big. Used to be good ones in the Brue and Parrett I believe though I don't speak from experience.
Tight lines. 🙂
 
Andrew Jackson said:
Yes Jon. I had a few goes for the Culm Barbel at Beare Gate ( I think that's what it was called). It was a long way away from where I lived and I didn't like the fact it was right next to the motorway. Too noisy! I hooked one but lost it trying to keep it out of the snags. That was the only one I hooked in about 4 trips. I knew a couple of people who put them in there but that's all I'm saying! 🤣
The town stretch of the Tone has good Chub fishing though nothing big. Used to be good ones in the Brue and Parrett I believe though I don't speak from experience.
Tight lines. 🙂
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My laughing face was at the barbel stocking 🤐. I'm guessing that was up above Silverton mills so the m5? I didn't really fish that far up only one trotting. Yes I'm in the fast of the tone tomorrow. Cannot wait is been a tough old month of Ill health following complications after a routine operation. Just breathing in that fresh air as i watch that first cast of the day make its way down the flow 👌
 
Jon Kennard said:
My laughing face was at the barbel stocking 🤐. I'm guessing that was up above Silverton mills so the m5? I didn't really fish that far up only one trotting. Yes I'm in the fast of the tone tomorrow. Cannot wait is been a tough old month of Ill health following complications after a routine operation. Just breathing in that fresh air as i watch that first cast of the day make its way down the flow 👌
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Glad you're feeling better. Enjoy your day. Yes that sounds right about the Culm. 🙂
 
Julian Griffiths said:
I've the IM9 classic, and need to sort my float gear out as I've not done much of this style of fishing! But from memory, a decent sized carp on it, gave it an awesome battle curve on it without any flat spots, and still had some decent power left in it. So I'd be comfortable fishing that rod for my chub... Shame they're not freely available anymore. Great rods that I would highly recommend trying to get if they come up. 👍
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Best rod I've ever owned.
Even though it feels softish has plenty of backbone and picks up line quickly on tje strike.
Can't see me ever getting rid of it.

Steve
 
Steve Sorrell said:
Best rod I've ever owned.
Even though it feels softish has plenty of backbone and picks up line quickly on tje strike.
Can't see me ever getting rid of it.

Steve
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They are very good rods the im9’s but it was inevitable that they were going to be dropped along with a lot of the drennan rods once acolytes were on the scene.
It’s just my opinion but I don’t believe drennan have ever bought float rods out as good as the acolyte range especially now theyve completed it with the power 3.
Very crisp with reasonable fast actions at superb weight and balance …… what’s not to love.
There’s a couple of normarks I slightly prefer because they are faster action again and the spliced tip sphere also edges them for me as well but if the truth be told the drennan acolyte rod’s could very easily cover me for my float fishing and certainly not leave me wanting much at all
With what’s available to buy nowadays I don’t think you can buy a better float rod.
 
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