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New rods

G

Gareth Cullen

Member
Hi all hope your good
I'm looking at treating myself to a set of custom built rods, I'll be fishing the wye and my local the taff which has barble to 18lb and there are a few carp present also. The taff is very much like the wye being Rocky and snagy in areas so need a rod with some backbone and was looking at the Harrison torrix specialist in 12ft 2lb or 2 2.5 what would be your recommendations
Cheers
 
I'm sure Gareth you'll get lots of great updates from everyone here and they'll be much better placed than me to advise as I'm more an all rounder at fishing. There are so many good rods out there so depends on your budget, and whether you expect the rod to be OK in all river conditions. For me I only fish 1 rod on the rivers, so have a 1.75 lb TC version and 2.5 lb TC version that covers my requirements and caters for both normal/low water and flood water conditions.
In my case and I'd set my budget at £300 a rod then I went for Mark Tunleys Dark Carbon versions of the test curves mention. They are set-up in more "Barbel style" with Cork and ring patterns but that's just the current trend in river fishing. In time this will probably change and we'll see more carpy rod set-ups on the river bank as I use my river rods for the ponds/lakes as why wouldn't you. I'd certainly give the Dark Carbon a thumbs up for me and they were £100 less than an equivalent in the Harrison Torrix/Chimera.
 
Gareth Cullen said:
Hi all hope your good
I'm looking at treating myself to a set of custom built rods, I'll be fishing the wye and my local the taff which has barble to 18lb and there are a few carp present also. The taff is very much like the wye being Rocky and snagy in areas so need a rod with some backbone and was looking at the Harrison torrix specialist in 12ft 2lb or 2 2.5 what would be your recommendations
Cheers
Click to expand...
12ft 2lb Freespirit Hi S
If your having them built then there are a multitude of rod builders ...
Mark Tunley
Vic Gibson at Johnson Ross ...
hope that helps 🎣😎
 
https://johnsonrosstackle.co.uk/fre...e-spirit-seeker-spirit-barbel-12ft-225lb.html

Have a look at these.. They do a range of test curves so should find something to suit.. I have the Free Spirit Barbel seeker in 1.75tc and find them much better than the Hi-s ( which I've also had) and much cheaper plus if your having them built and like the look of the Hi-s you can have them made to look just the same..Mine was custom built but all I changed was the the handle which I had made a bit shorter and a keeper ring added..
 
If you have to go down the custom route fair enough, but flinging out feeders or leads on such rivers don't call for expensive gear.
Korum 1.75 or 2.0 t.c 12 ft rods 4000/5000 reels all in about £400. The barbel are not fussy.
 
Gareth Cullen said:
Hi all hope your good
I'm looking at treating myself to a set of custom built rods, I'll be fishing the wye and my local the taff which has barble to 18lb and there are a few carp present also. The taff is very much like the wye being Rocky and snagy in areas so need a rod with some backbone and was looking at the Harrison torrix specialist in 12ft 2lb or 2 2.5 what would be your recommendations
Cheers
Click to expand...
I have Torrix 12' 2.25 that are my go to allrounders . . . for the majority of the WAvon in normal conditions they are probably a little over-gunned (although as a carp angler used to stiffer rods they don't feel it) but having the ability to lob out 5oz feeders / fish a rising river / bully fish away from snags when needed is a benefit IMO. Lovely playing action with reserves in the butt for monsters . . . won't be changing them anytime soon . . .
 
Gareth Cullen said:
Hi all hope your good
I'm looking at treating myself to a set of custom built rods, I'll be fishing the wye and my local the taff which has barble to 18lb and there are a few carp present also. The taff is very much like the wye being Rocky and snagy in areas so need a rod with some backbone and was looking at the Harrison torrix specialist in 12ft 2lb or 2 2.5 what would be your recommendations
Cheers
Click to expand...
A 2.25 tc rod will find a snag just the same as a 1.25tc rod. There is so much interpretation on ‘ backbone’ and ‘ power’ but really it boils down to how much weight you want/ need to cast to fish effectively
Actions are again very personal - no rights or wrongs - Torrix are different to Chimera as they are to Dark Carbon- 11’ feel different to 12’
I have 2lb x 12’ Torrix and have fished the Wye quite a bit and it would be a decent starting point but my go- to rods are 12’ x Chimera 3
Why - they are perfect for casting 3-4oz loaded feeders to the opposite bank
And on the Wye I would be casting a lot in a session and the rods take a lot of stress - casting and retrieving feeders and weed and the occasional fish👍
They balance well with a 6000 reel which again helps with longer casts and cranking heavy feeders
But for a ‘heavier’ rod they are still fun for playing fish and great for barbel at the net as they bend through the action
Look to floods and they will still lob a 6oz feeder without the tip section folding over as weed builds up
A great all-rounder and they hold their value if you decide they are not to your liking and want to sell on
Neil is right and there are loads of good factory rods that will do the job well but custom built probably represent a better investment but take advice from the rod builder as less is often more when it comes to ringing , reel seats, tippings etc
Just my experience on certain sections of one river
Where I can I fish as light as I can - currently enjoying a 1.25 x 12’ Torrix as I can use 30-40g feeders which is all I need
 
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