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New Normark Rods

I've just been lucky enough to get hold of a pretty much pristine Mark 1 14ft Normark Avenger
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with spotless bag.

Happy bunny.
 
At 14ft the avenger is as heavy as my 15ft daiwa rod which I thought was a bit on the heavy side as far as modern rods go.

I'm surprised at that, I expected them to be more inline with the drennan acolyte rods.
 
Ian Woods said:
At 14ft the avenger is as heavy as my 15ft daiwa rod which I thought was a bit on the heavy side as far as modern rods go.

I'm surprised at that, I expected them to be more inline with the drennan acolyte rods.
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Yeah, it’s the same weight as the 15ft daiwa, and less powerful I assume? I believe this is due to the extension. My experience is that the rod with an extension tends to be heavier, you may also noticed that the 12ft is heavier than the 13ft
 
Jon Frisby said:
I'm not overly worried about weight, it's how it feels in use with a suitable reel attached. What Daiwa 15 do you have Huanzhou?
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I’m with you there 100% jon the only weight in a float rod especially on the longer side that I’d be interested in is sections separately

I took a 215g float rod, made it 185g and it was horrible I had to put 15g back into the handle to make it feel much nicer and lighter on the nose end.

Judging a rod on gross weight figures tells you next to nothing.
 
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I think the power version of the daiwa conny 14ft model is 205 grames.
I've no idea how powerful the Avenger 14ft rod is, but it wouldn't surprise me if the conny has the edge on it.

I'm certainely not slating a rod i've never even seen (in the normark avenger) i'm just saying I would have thought the latest models would be a lot lighter.

Regarding rod weights, I never used to give a monkeys about the weight of a rod, but having used the acolytes for some time now I really do notice the difference when I use a another make of rod which is heavier.
When I use a 13ft acolyte plus it feels much nicer than the 13ft acolyte specimen...mad as that may sound.
For me the lighter rod makes trotting a float a much better experience in numerous ways.
 
Ian Woods said:
I think the power version of the daiwa conny 14ft model is 205 grames.
I've no idea how powerful the Avenger 14ft rod is, but it wouldn't surprise me if the conny has the edge on it.

I'm certainely not slating a rod i've never even seen (in the normark avenger) i'm just saying I would have thought the latest models would be a lot lighter.

Regarding rod weights, I never used to give a monkeys about the weight of a rod, but having used the acolytes for some time now I really do notice the difference when I use a another make of rod which is heavier.
When I use a 13ft acolyte plus it feels much nicer than the 13ft acolyte specimen...mad as that may sound.
For me the lighter rod makes trotting a float a much better experience in numerous ways.
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The power version of conny is a really powerful and well balanced rod, I tried it in the shop another day and very impressed.

I also feel the light rod is much nicer when trotting, it just makes things much easier. The weight of the rod do matters, even it is well balanced.
 
In my head I wonder why 12 - 14, then I could be wrong.... 12 for commercial fishing and 14 for big waggllers, sliders and bagging at distance on rivers. I'd certainly like one, but it would be hard pushed to beat my Daiwa spectron 14 sm2. ... then again I'd probably get one for the hell.of it....
I certainly will be having a good look at em.
 
Jon Frisby said:
Daiwa spectron 14 sm2.
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The latest 14 ft power float from Preston is extremely similar to an Sm2xp in terms of stiffness and action type.
I was reserved about the minima guides on it but so far they’ve been golden.

As a slider man yourself Jon, it would be worth a look because 4 turners are gonna fly through those big bore guides effortlessly
 
Richard Isaacs said:
The latest 14 ft power float from Preston is extremely similar to an Sm2xp in terms of stiffness and action type.
I was reserved about the minima guides on it but so far they’ve been golden.

As a slider man yourself Jon, it would be worth a look because 4 turners are gonna fly through those big bore guides effortlessly
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Rich, I hope the guides stand up for you when you get back on the bank and start catching some of the larger fish that you usually do.
It will be interesting to hear how the tip guide and butt guide stand up to numbers of hard fighting fish.
My scope rod has minima guides fitted, but the tip guide is a lined fuji anti frap guide so thats fine.
The butt guide has marks on the inside of it where the line runs over it, and I can actually feel them if I run my finger nail over them.
I also had a korum rod with minima guides, the line sliced through the liners of the minima guides which cut my line.
I sent the rod back for a replacement and a short time into my fishing and the same thing happened with that one so it was also returned for a refund.

Personally, I have no faith in minima guides and prefer normal tried and tested lined guides by a country mile.
 
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Ian Woods said:
Rich, I hope the guides stand up for you when you get back on the bank and start catching some of the larger fish that you usually do.
It will be interesting to hear how the tip guide and butt guide stand up to numbers of hard fighting fish.
My scope rod has minima guides fitted, but the tip guide is a lined fuji anti frap guide.
The butt guide has marks on the inside of it where the line runs over it, and I can actually feel them if I run my finger nail over them.
I also had korum rod with minima guides, the line sliced through the liners of the minima guides and cut my line.
I sent the rod back for a replacement and a short time into my fishing and the same thing happened with that one so it was also returned for a refund.

Personally, I have no faith in minima guides and prefer normal tried and tested lined guides by a country mile.
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Same experience here, I had line cut into the minima guides as well.
 
Ian Woods said:
Rich, I hope the guides stand up for you when you get back on the bank and start catching some of the larger fish that you usually do.
It will be interesting to hear how the tip guide and butt guide stand up to numbers of hard fighting fish.
My scope rod has minima guides fitted, but the tip guide is a lined fuji anti frap guide so thats fine.
The butt guide has marks on the inside of it where the line runs over it, and I can actually feel them if I run my finger nail over them.
I also had a korum rod with minima guides, the line sliced through the liners of the minima guides which cut my line.
I sent the rod back for a replacement and a short time into my fishing and the same thing happened with that one so it was also returned for a refund.

Personally, I have no faith in minima guides and prefer normal tried and tested lined guides by a country mile.
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You’re right mate I do need to give it a better test before being completely satisfied. It won’t be used on the nene ever. I don’t believe it’s up for that as strong as it feels but I do hope to get it out on the middle and maybe some sections of the tidal Trent this coming summer.
If the guides let me down I’ll not be buying another.
Would be a shame if they do as it’s an absolute beauty of a float rod to trot with. Certainly one of my favorites
 
I've used braid through my minimas for the last 2 yrs and have no issues.
But mine are the black shadow tryptic braid safe....
Exceptional 💫
 
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