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Harrison "Chimera" Specialist No2 12' 1.75lb

Lovely rod to play modest sized fish on, perhaps a little soft when the going gets tough or the fish get big and head for sanctuary.
 
I got a pair last year, primarily for Tenching. They look and feel awesome. Can’t comment on their fish playing capabilities yet, they’ve only had the one outing on the Wye and conditions were against me that day, but couldn’t resist giving them a debut, even if it wasn’t for their intended use.

Able to cast loaded feeders accurately & effortlessly at 30-40 yards on the day and they’d definitely go further. I’d say their ideal casting weight is circa 2.5oz and they’re moderate/progressive actioned.

Good for Avon and Stour work and for bigger rivers in normal Summer conditions, I’d say. Hopefully, they’ll serve me well for the Tincas too.
 
I’ve had a pair from new, built by DL.

wonderful rods that I bought for tench fishing. They cast 50g black caps or 1-5 -2oz leads as far as I need and will land almost anything.

They have been extensively used for heavy chubbing, barbel fishing on the B Avon and upper Thames, bream fishing, even roach feeder fishing.
They can just about cope with 3oz leads if you are careful.

About the only thing they aren’t very good at is ‘quiver tipping’ for chub, surprise, surprise ! I have to resort to touch legering as the tips aren’t sensitive enough to read the bites.

Highly recommended.
 
Tim Marks said:
I’ve had a pair from new, built by DL.

wonderful rods that I bought for tench fishing. They cast 50g black caps or 1-5 -2oz leads as far as I need and will land almost anything.

They have been extensively used for heavy chubbing, barbel fishing on the B Avon and upper Thames, bream fishing, even roach feeder fishing.
They can just about cope with 3oz leads if you are careful.

About the only thing they aren’t very good at is ‘quiver tipping’ for chub, surprise, surprise ! I have to resort to touch legering as the tips aren’t sensitive enough to read the bites.

Highly recommended.
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If you get a second section built with a spliced solid carbon tip they make excellent quiver rods. My no 1 I had built with 3 top sections.
 
Loved this rod
Chimera 1
Had it been 11ft I would of kept it and not bought the Avon.
I’d of probably got a pair.
70C23D2E-CE65-4EB2-950E-7C2682B8EDFD.jpeg
 
Richard Isaacs said:
If you get a second section built with a spliced solid carbon tip they make excellent quiver rods. My no 1 I had built with 3 top sections.
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Thanks Richard, that makes good sense.

Im actually going to the river later today to ‘test’ a lighter quiver rod. Assuming it won’t do what I want; the next stage was going to be asking on here about ‘beefy’ quiver rods.

You are ahead of me; as usual !
 
Richard Isaacs said:
Loved this rod
Chimera 1
Had it been 11ft I would of kept it and not bought the Avon.
I’d of probably got a pair. View attachment 22563
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There is a chimera Avon at 11 ft. But I am but sure you can do a spliced quiver tip with it (I believe this is done by Harrison?), seems all builders only offer push in quiver tip?

Actually, this is something I always want to ask you Richard, why you choose Harrison Avon instead of chimera Avon?
 
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Huanzhou Zhu said:
There is a chimera Avon at 11 ft. But I am but sure you can do a spliced quiver tip with it (I believe this is done by Harrison?), seems all builders only offer push in quiver tip?

Actually, this is something I always want to ask you Richard, why you choose Harrison Avon instead of chimera Avon?
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Because I always try to avoid buying without first trying.
I’ve got nothing against the chimera Avon but I’ve never pulled on one or had line through one. The traditional Avon I have many times before I bought it so I knew exactly how good it was and that influenced my decision
 
Chimera 2 is a great rod, not my favourite 1.75 mind
Personally I prefer the drennan Marrin Bowler 1.75 which is a bit stiffer in action , but that is purely personal preference
A brilliant off the shelf blank that wasn’t around for long??
That said if it’s NSL my favourite is the Dark Carbon 1.5tc for smaller feeders or for bigger rivers and feeders it’s a chimera 3
Mark Tunley did offer spliced in quiver tips as a special on the torrix . I used one at the weekend for chubbing
 
Love mine - only got one and 'upgraded' for a pair of matching 12ft Torrix rods but ended up preferring the Chimera. Each to their own but I liked the softer action and never found that it lacked stopping power. I also have the 11ft Torrix which is an amazing rod, but weirdly didn't seem to work in the 12ft version.
 
I've got a pair and they're fantastic rods, they were my go to barbel rods for a long time, use them for tench now.

I think know there's enough power in the butt to stop big fish in their tracks, so can't agree with some previous comments.
 
Richard Booty said:
Love mine - only got one and 'upgraded' for a pair of matching 12ft Torrix rods but ended up preferring the Chimera. Each to their own but I liked the softer action and never found that it lacked stopping power. I also have the 11ft Torrix which is an amazing rod, but weirdly didn't seem to work in the 12ft version.
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My thoughts to the absolute letter Rich.
The chimera 2 will absolutely stop anything. It’s a million miles away from soft. It’s just slower in the tip and has an action that wants to bend. A rod that wants to bend is not a rod that’s out of control so let it bend and slam on the brakes.

I’m with you regarding the torrix too. In 11ft it’s my favorite barbel rod to date bar none.
I’m a big fish angler. Or in layman’s terms a “blanker” a lot of the time. I’m not particularly interested in going after 7,8,9lb fish as fun as they can be occasionally. The torrix is a big fish rod. It doesn’t really do itself much justice stopping splashers but set the hook into something that simply doesn’t stop pulling back and it comes alive and has an action that literally Seperates itself from any other rod I’ve ever used.
In 12ft it’s a popular rod but the 2/3 action that you get over 11ft on the 11ft rod is more like 3/4 over 12ft on the 12ft rod and that doesn’t do it for me. I’m not a fan I’m afraid…. The chimera and the GTI are nicer than 12ft Torrix’s imo. The exception to this however is the torrix 2.25.
That is completely different again. It’s more through actioned and slower tip than the 11ft Version which is completely bizarre and it feels a fantastic 12ft rod…..🤷🏻 At 2.5lb they went straight into fast actioned carp blanks and changed the action completely again.

Torrix’s are a real strange one because each one feels completely different to another.
 
Richard Isaacs said:
Because I always try to avoid buying without first trying.
I’ve got nothing against the chimera Avon but I’ve never pulled on one or had line through one. The traditional Avon I have many times before I bought it so I knew exactly how good it was and that influenced my decision
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I have a pair of the Chimera 11ft avons and have landed double figure carp on them when fishing prawns for perch.

Possibly the last rods I'd get rid of along with my Daiwa avons.
 
Bob Watson said:
I have a pair of the Chimera 11ft avons and have landed double figure carp on them when fishing prawns for perch.

Possibly the last rods I'd get rid of along with my Daiwa avons.
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I bought the chimera 11ft Avon for chub fishing, as Mark Tunley said, it is a sweet Avon rod and bend forever, and the last few feet is really strong. I may give it a try for rolling meat when condition is allowed.
 
The 12' 1.75 Chimera will land any barbel that swims in normal river conditions. Loads of power in the butt section and takes an awful lot to lock them up. Much more than the 12' 1.75/2lb Torrixes ime.
 
Thanks fellers,
was asking because I have been selling some rods, reels and Korum luggage for the widow of my deceased friend and whilst other items have sold very quickly, I am yet to get an enquiry on the "Chimera" so just wanted your "learned" opinions ;) 👍
 
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