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John Wilson rod is back, by angling direct.

Huanzhou Zhu said:
For the money, I think the angling direct makes some nice rod. And maybe these are good rods as well, but nothing like the John Wilson rods we used to live.

John Wilson | Rods | Angling Direct

John Wilson Tackle - Buy now at Angling Direct. Price Checker ensures best value to you - Free delivery available.
www.anglingdirect.co.uk www.anglingdirect.co.uk
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These are made by Jarvis Walker I believe. The Mastertlne from my local Tewkesbury were the original JW rods that have the nostalgia and quirkiness. For me the old Avons were the ones, apart of course from my newly acquired quiver (cough).😧
 
Years ago I owned a John Wilson Masterline Avon Quiver , worst bit of kit I ever had, the tip section snapped when winding in a Bream, not a big bream either . The company supplied a new tip section, and the same thing happened again same place .
I wrote to the comapny, they replaced the tip section again saying it must have been a faulty batch, I did not give it a chance to snap a third time and moved it on, in fact I swapped it for another rod, I hope the new owner had more luck with it than I had .
I have only ever snapped 3 rods in my life, a Zipplex Bullet when Pendulum casting , which was replaced without a murmur, and the Masterline above, so I dont think it was me being heavy handed .

I had no taste for any more JW rods snapping so I bought a Shimano rod for the same use, it never murmured and still performs perfectly after many years use.


Dave
 
Not for me, Clive.

My Old Wilson has turned into a bit of a 'Trigger's broom' over the years but now Im left with 2 butt sections that dont properly fit the 2 remaining top sections that I've got🤪
 
David Craine said:
Years ago I owned a John Wilson Masterline Avon Quiver , worst bit of kit I ever had, the tip section snapped when winding in a Bream, not a big bream either . The company supplied a new tip section, and the same thing happened again same place .
I wrote to the comapny, they replaced the tip section again saying it must have been a faulty batch, I did not give it a chance to snap a third time and moved it on, in fact I swapped it for another rod, I hope the new owner had more luck with it than I had .
I have only ever snapped 3 rods in my life, a Zipplex Bullet when Pendulum casting , which was replaced without a murmur, and the Masterline above, so I dont think it was me being heavy handed .

I had no taste for any more JW rods snapping so I bought a Shimano rod for the same use, it never murmured and still performs perfectly after many years use.


Dave
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I used mine for about 14 years. Landed barbel to 12lb 8 and carp to 20lb 15. Only problem I had was after about 10 years the varnish started coming away around some of the rings but I just picked off the loose stuff and bodged a bit of varnish on myself.

Edit; only just noticed you had the Avon quiver. Mine was the barbel quiver
 
I bought one of the early bottle green Masterline versions second hand in the late 80s (can't have been any later than '88. At the time, there was a posh model with a cork handle and sliding bands. There was also a cheaper version with about 8" of Duplon and sliding bands. Of the many hundreds of rods I've had over the years, it was probably the one I liked least. In retrospect, the Shakespeare Omni Carbon Match float rod I had at the same time was dismal. However, I was happy enough to use it, unlike the John Wilson rod.
 
Chris Jones said:
I bought one of the early bottle green Masterline versions second hand in the late 80s (can't have been any later than '88. At the time, there was a posh model with a cork handle and sliding bands. There was also a cheaper version with about 8" of Duplon and sliding bands. Of the many hundreds of rods I've had over the years, it was probably the one I liked least. In retrospect, the Shakespeare Omni Carbon Match float rod I had at the same time was dismal. However, I was happy enough to use it, unlike the John Wilson rod.
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Nothing to do with sensible, but everything to do with sentiment.
 
David Craine said:
Years ago I owned a John Wilson Masterline Avon Quiver , worst bit of kit I ever had, the tip section snapped when winding in a Bream, not a big bream either . The company supplied a new tip section, and the same thing happened again same place .
I wrote to the comapny, they replaced the tip section again saying it must have been a faulty batch, I did not give it a chance to snap a third time and moved it on, in fact I swapped it for another rod, I hope the new owner had more luck with it than I had .
I have only ever snapped 3 rods in my life, a Zipplex Bullet when Pendulum casting , which was replaced without a murmur, and the Masterline above, so I dont think it was me being heavy handed .

I had no taste for any more JW rods snapping so I bought a Shimano rod for the same use, it never murmured and still performs perfectly after many years use.


Dave
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Been there,done that! When I first got into fishing solely for barbel the first rod I bought was the John Wilson Avon Quiver.The second barbel I hooked on it on the Swale broke the solid avon top section.Again this was replaced and I continued to use it for a couple more seasons due to having a young family and couldn't afford an upgrade but it never really "felt" right.Progressed to Shimano and Fox now but it's still in the loft somewhere.Will it be classed as a vintage rod now?
 
Just remembered as I was logging off.As I say money was tight for us at the time and wife not happy with me spending that amount on that rod.She hardly ever watched the John Wilson program when it was on but for some reason watched one with me just after I'd bought it.He was fishing a small river if I remember correctly and to prove how close in you can catch pulled a chub out on a long willow cane with a length of mono atached.Thanks John! It took me ages to explain that I needed a rod and not a stick.
 
Adrian Mitchell said:
Just remembered as I was logging off.As I say money was tight for us at the time and wife not happy with me spending that amount on that rod.She hardly ever watched the John Wilson program when it was on but for some reason watched one with me just after I'd bought it.He was fishing a small river if I remember correctly and to prove how close in you can catch pulled a chub out on a long willow cane with a length of mono atached.Thanks John! It took me ages to explain that I needed a rod and not a stick.
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My first rod was made from bamboos stick, not a fancy cane rod, just raw stick. Like the one in the photo.
 

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Have two jw rods somewhere and even though they are not the best i caught my first Bristol Avon fish on one as well as numerous doubles and it never let me down once. So even though there are much better rods out there i still have fond memories of this rod when i started my barbel journey.
 
Hi I have two of the river 11/13 deluxe quiver, great rods, I have one which is full cork handle and has literally been used once for sale, £50 should a member want it.
 
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