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Drennan Martin Bowler 12ft 2.25lb t/c Barbel rods

Terry Simner

Terry Simner

Senior Member & Supporter
Any body use these, or have well informed knowledge of them? Are they average, good, or f'in fantastic? Shortcomings??
 
I have one, they are designed for big rivers and heavy gear, if used in this context they are very good rods. The bend is really nice once you are into a good fish, not too broomhandle. They a very light to hold and the line guides are superb. They do not take a center pin reel, the first guide is too far away from the handle. Personally I think they are great rods but only if you need to chuck a 4oz plus feeder across a big river. Pete
 
Peter Smith 2 said:
I have one, they are designed for big rivers and heavy gear, if used in this context they are very good rods. The bend is really nice once you are into a good fish, not too broomhandle. They a very light to hold and the line guides are superb. They do not take a center pin reel, the first guide is too far away from the handle. Personally I think they are great rods but only if you need to chuck a 4oz plus feeder across a big river. Pete
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Brilliant, thanks for that @Peter Smith 2
 
I’ve used the lighter 1.75 version only and they are an excellent range of rods Terry.

Quite often I think really decent barbel rods are let down with poxy guides or crappy reel seats but Thats not the with the MB rods. I found it impressive personally.

Proper fittings bolted down to a lovely blank. I had a cracking 9 lber out the Swale on it a good few years ago and i remember it was an absolute pleasure on that rod.
sorry that’s not the exact rod your asking about but I’d imagine the bigger brother to be just as nice.
the only down side to them is the usual used prices get really silly especially on eBay auctions. beautiful rods but I wouldn’t be paying some of the daft figures I’ve seen them fetch in the past. Occasionally they get close to starting out custom build money which is madness.
 
Terry Simner said:
Any body use these, or have well informed knowledge of them? Are they average, good, or f'in fantastic? Shortcomings??
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I've got two and think their very good. I use them on the Thames on the rare occasions there's a good flow which isn't that often, ( present conditions accepted).
No problem lobbing a 5oz feeder or lead and the tips are quite responsive.
I've also used them on the Trent and the Wye with no problems.
They have a relatively large tip ring which helps stop weed getting wedged in there whilst reeling in.
The only small issue I had with them was they didn't come with a hook retainer which I solved by whipping one on myself.
 
Dave McGraw said:
come with a hook retainer which I solved by whipping one on myself.
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Yeah my free spirits 2.25 don’t have one either which I find odd and a little annoying. I’ll get round to whipping one on myself as well, never been a fan of using guide legs.
 
Richard Isaacs said:
Yeah my free spirits 2.25 don’t have one either which I find odd and a little annoying. I’ll get round to whipping one on myself as well, never been a fan of using guide legs.
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I've got hook retainers on all my rods, including my Hi S SU's, but I rarely use them, preferring silicone hair bobbles. I use one just above the female joint for retaining my hook, and another one on the male ferrule. The latter one holds the two joint ends safely together of a 'made-up' rod. A third bobble at the extreme of the butt holds the tip closely and safely to the butt for transportation.
 
Terry Simner said:
I've got hook retainers on all my rods, including my Hi S SU's, but I rarely use them, preferring silicone hair bobbles. I use one just above the female joint for retaining my hook, and another one on the male ferrule. The latter one holds the two joint ends safely together of a 'made-up' rod. A third bobble at the extreme of the butt holds the tip closely and safely to the butt for transportation.
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I’ve got the ‘s’ version and they don’t have nothing at all to retain a hook.
Bloody Tight wads, you’d think at £300 a pop they’d slap on a hook keeper.
perhaps they reserved the luxury items like that for the hi s 🤣
 
Hook keepers - If you don't fancy fitting one of the permanent types available then you can easily fit a Fuji EHKM one.
Picture:

10178
 
I’ve got the lighter ones and love them. Think in most cases would cover for most places apart maybe little snag holes and light chib work. And the Trent and seven even in non flood.
 
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