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Drennan barbel rods

Rod porn is right Bob, those pictures of your rods should come with a health warning for folk with dodgy tickers :D:p

Beautiful chap.

Cheers, Dave
 
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''Once you KNOW how much a rod/blank is from the Far East compared with an English blank, you start to understand the price difference.
A lot of stuff that gives the impression of coming from a certain country is often based on assumption and here say.

Made in Britain does not necessarily mean with totally British/UK components.''

You are obviously in a far better position than most to comment on the quality of rod blanks but from that statement it appears you are saying that far eastern rod blanks are of a lesser quality than that of our own manufacture. We all know that there are cheap rods made and there is a market for them...but when I look at a sub £60 rod for example, I don't think you can fault the build quality on them. The components may not be brand names as such but they are built to a price after all. I haven't mentioned blank action because that is after all down to personal preference. If you take a rrp £150 rod from Shimano, Daiwa or fox ranges for example...its got all the Fuji bits, stainless collars & trimmings - indeed most of those 'select' items offered on a custom build. A compromise with handle material may be a small price to pay with regard to options available but when you are getting two for the price of one......its food for thought. I mentioned my Fox Horizon twin top Duo Lites in my earlier post, the cork handle comes in at around 23" depending on what size reel you have on, 18" to the reel stem. Stated as being suitable for 90% of builds on the linked custom build website. Again, all the fittings being as the custom build. My rod cost £100, a similar 'built' rod starts at £250! It may sound like im knocking the custom rods or Harrison - im not! I have a couple of 90s 12' Harrison built 1 3/4lb GTI's and 13' GTI match rods complete with the plastic sliding reel collars of the time....the best of there day. Im just trying to make the point that there are rods out there for all tastes and price ranges without it being a custom build.
Just on another note....has anyone seen the new Daiwa basia carp rods.....I wonder how much is material cost and how much is sales hype with regard to the rrp??
 
If you put aside for the moment any ethical aspects of where rods are built, what is great is the wide variety of rods that are available to suit most budgets and most fishing situations and this spectrum of choice is very healthy, particularly for the consumer. I am no expert on these things but I believe we are also in a position whereby rods carrying a very modest price tag are more than capable of handling barbel and doing so in a way that is enjoyable for the angler and safe for the fish (assuming used correctly etc etc).

I do have some custom built rods by Ian tucker and Bob Gill and these are fantastic. They are not not fantastic in the sense of making me a better angler, they are fantastic because of the whole buying experience which for me, is sort of also part of the whole fishing experience. Choosing the components that suit you, an inscription perhaps, is, again, all part of the experience. What I also appreciate and value is the more personal service and interaction you get with the likes of Bob and Ian. It makes a wonderful change from most other buying experiences (within and outside of angling) which, to my mind, have become more and more sterile. The custom rod and reel building industry seems incredibly small and delicate to me and as such, very sensitive to market shifts. Personally, where I can, I want to support it, as I try to do with local independent butchers, or green grocers, because if they don't survive the place becomes less rich in terms of variety and diversity and that's just dull.

But of course all this needs to be balanced by the fact that money is tight for a great many of us and so having that choice is vital and no one person's choice is better or worse than anyone else's- we are all just doing what's right for us and our circumstances.
 
Whilst these custom jobbies are very nice to look at, I'd be worried about using them on say the steep muddy banks of the Severn or Teme. It seems a bit of a folly tbh. Or perhaps that's me being a tight bugger.
 
Nick Anderson said:
Whilst these custom jobbies are very nice to look at, I'd be worried about using them on say the steep muddy banks of the Severn or Teme. It seems a bit of a folly tbh. Or perhaps that's me being a tight bugger.
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That's how I feel too, seems like a lot to fork out for a rod albeit a good looker. But then again I reckon the Drennan, especially the older ones are great looking but above all they do the job.

As far as rods that are 'named' have a few including Pete Drennan, Martin bowler, and of course John Wilson,:rolleyes: which reminds me of Mark of the Bristol Avon who often bumps into Martin Bowler bankside, Mark was passing Mark who was fishing down a steep bank, Mark shouted to Martin 'Have you lost a rod Martin'? Because I have a rod here with your name on it:)

However I do admire the skills of Bob and all the rest that can turn a bland length of carbon into a work of art.
 
I had a pair of the older drennans with twin tips. They lasted me a longe time with no sign of giving up. It was only when I tried a friend's daiwa infinity that I thought I would splash out and update. I got the pair for £340 so a bargain methinks.
 
I have a number of Drennan Tench Float Rods - Mk 1, Mk2, Mk 3 and Super Tench.
Cheers
Bob
 
We work hard enough in our life's chaps why not treat how selfs when we can.
 
All I need is a shed full of Fox Kevlars Robert and I'd be set lol.
 
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