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New rods

P

Paul Verity

Senior Member
Has anyone done any recent research on current available rods ? I am in the market for a new pair but can not determine what constitutes value for money v' s budget v' s paying for the brand. Any opinions gratefully received. Thanks in advance
 
Blimey Paul, this will be very subjective. You’ll get as many variations as there are brands and a few more....I’ll start the ball rolling. For general work I would recommend the Free Spirit Barbel Seekers (old version) or the Free Spirit Advanced Specimen. (Might have got that the wrong way round! Might be Specimen Advanced) Both are 1.75lb TC. For big river and flood work the Free Spirit Hi S Big River which is about 2.25lb TC. The only research done by me was going thru’ numerous other rods before I found what I liked! If I’d listened to my long time pal, I would have had the Seekers a lot earlier than I did and saved money along the way :) I started out with Wychwood Rogue 1.75 TC which were very much a budget rod but I liked ‘em, I also had Fox Barbel Plus 1.75TC and wish I hadn’t sold them. I should have put better rings/guides on them and for me they would then have been perfect.
 
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Paul.
Are you looking for custom built.
For example Torrix blank circa 600 a pair
Are you looking for mid range quality branded at circa 300 a pair
Are you looking at budget rods at circa 150 a pair.

What river type are you mainly going to use the rods for. Big and spate rivers, medium or small.

How often do you fish?
How important is the action you prefer.

And are they planned as rods for life?
 
Graham I am probably in the mid range, I fish small to medium size rivers Nidd, swale ouse and wharfe with the occasional trip to the wye. I fish tight snaggy swims so I need a rod that won't bend double at the crucial netting time. I have the old style neoteric twin tips that i like but are 10years old plus and tired.
Not necessarily rods for life. I use between 1 and 4 times a week
 
Well I reckon the Barbel Seekers as suggested by Bill a good bet.
I have never needed to go beyond 2tc even though lots of Thames Wye Severn fishing.
If in snags the clutch setting is more important as in reality the difference between free movement of the rod top is faily minimal tc wise more to do with how quickly a rod comes into power and where you hold it!


I have Torrix rods but the difference between that in 2lb and a 2lb tc Big River Wychwood is major.

I reckon the 2lb Wychwood could land a shark.
The only minus for FS IMO is the weight if doing any rolling.
I would ignore softer rods like Fox.

Cheers

Graham
 
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I recently bought two pairs of fox royales in 12ft 1 3/4lb and 2 1/4lb and they're good rods for the money, I'd put them just above budget class at around £70 - £80 each. I can recommend them. I bought them for "rough work" where I wouldn't fancy using my favourite rods!

I did however make a mistake as I could have bought a pair of fox duo-lite twin tip, 1 3/4 - 2 1/4lb and got an extra pair of butt sections for slightly more money but better rods.

But my favourite barbel rods are my DLST Harrison Chimeras, 1 3/4lb but over £400 for a pair!
 
Paul Verity said:
Graham I am probably in the mid range, I fish small to medium size rivers Nidd, swale ouse and wharfe with the occasional trip to the wye. I fish tight snaggy swims so I need a rod that won't bend double at the crucial netting time. I have the old style neoteric twin tips that i like but are 10years old plus and tired.
Not necessarily rods for life. I use between 1 and 4 times a week
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I've been using a Nash Scope 9' rod since the beginning of the season and been impressed with it.It's ideal for tight swims with overhanging trees.Mine is a 2.25 TC,they also do them in a 1.75 TC I believe.
 
Daiwa Theory are good value for money as are the fox rods. I believe Korum are about to release a new Neoteric.
 
Off the shelf rods? No better than Fox imo, wouldn't buy Prodigy !! some adverse comments about these rods. But remember folk are likely to endorse their own purchases as a recommendation.
Some good reports about Daiwa Theory too, so ditto Clive.
 
Paul , I would always say buy the best you can afford . If I was in your position I would , if possible, go for a custom build something using a Harrison blank , they are top quality . New prices may be prohibitive so I would wait it out out and see what comes up second hand . The only off the shelf rods I have consistently heard bad things about are Greys . The off the shelf rod that I have owned for years and has tackled hundreds of barbel from little streams to flooded rivers was made by Fox
 
Paul Verity said:
Oh ok. Thanks for the feed back. Anyone had any greys prodigy on twin tips 1.75 & 2.25?
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I've got 2 of the Greys prodigy PB barbel rods in 2.25 TC for the Trent and at the risk of endorsing my purchase have got to say that they are excellent,accounting for some decent fish,Greys after sales is also first class-I trod on one of mine and broke the end section,Greys replaced it foc.
 
So Fox seem to have a following, and rightly so, the only Fox rods I own are a pair of the old Barbel Plus, on the green blank, twin tips if you need a quivering experience, perfect action that seems to suit most conditions, be it a small river or the Severn. Actually bought them here on the Classified section , so probably not liked by all.:rolleyes:
 
Steve Walker said:
I've got 2 of the Greys prodigy PB barbel rods in 2.25 TC for the Trent and at the risk of endorsing my purchase have got to say that they are excellent,accounting for some decent fish,Greys after sales is also first class-I trod on one of mine and broke the end section,Greys replaced it foc.
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That's it Steve the potential to snap tips...but at least they have in place a free replacement service. Grey's are synonymous with quality, but of course they manufacture Far East now, as do most companies, apart from Harrison.
 
Ok, here's my 'spanner in the works' :D I own Harrison rods and a couple of well pimped Free Spirits (Hi S SU), but my favourite rods by far (got 5 rigged) are Nash 'The Specialist' (barbel) Tri-Tips. I've paid between £50 and £80 a piece to them. They are 'hen's teeth' in availability now, but they'd be 100% my 'rod of choice'... without question.
That said my advice would be, first decide exactly what you want from the rod(s) : where they'll be used, what style of fishing, what you're likely to catch, what action you prefer, what tc, single/twin/twin+quiver (quiver for barbel :O ) etc. To me handle length is important ... I don't want more than an inch of butt behind my elbow, it's a waste of rod length unless you're casting over 25m IMO. Then there's handle material, number of line guide legs (and lining material : ok for braid?) When you've decided on all this then visit a shop and try to get the ok to run some line through a few models and decide which 'feels' right to you. It's a personal thing.
Lastly, take you time ... don't rush into buying something that you feel is 2nd or 3rd best. Maybe wait 'til after Christmas, you may have a bit more cash to spend, and more 2nd hand rods will be on the market. A second-hand 1st choice is MUCH better than a 2nd choice new rod.
 
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