John, your rod should be good enough but you possibly need to fish the feeder differently.I used to Match fish the Thames and won and placed in quite a few winter league matches far bank feeder fishing for chub.My basic feeder method did not involve having to strike fast.Fish about 4lb/5lb mainline and fish your feeder(30gm kamasan black cap) on a loop with a lighter 18 inch hooklength. Start off casting slightly upstream and look to see if the feeder holds bottom,hopefully it will not.If the feeder starts to bounce leave the bail arm open,finger just touching the spool and strike out a long length of line,see if it holds,if not strike another length of line out.Hopefully it should now hold,now put the rod high in a rest downstream of you and tighten up to the bow.If after two lengths of line you are still not holding you need to add weight to the feeder or fish a heavier feeder, but do it carefully, you need that critical balance.The fish dislodge the feeder which bounces along pulling the hook home.Cast often at the start to get the fish competing.Your bite will usually be a tiny tap on the tip and then a drop back the chub or roach should have hooked themselves on the feeder.Pick the rod up and pull into the bow winding to make contact.If you start to find the bites slowing increase or shorten the hooklength, put a bomb with a long hooklength over the same line and fish floating maggots so they drop slowly through the water.Or you can put a big waggler over the same line we used to feed stickymag to get the distance