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Retractable rods??

Chris Fogg

Chris Fogg

Senior Member
I'm going to be fishing and new spot, it's a bit of a walk and very overgrown. I'm thinking of going down the retractable rod route mainly so I can strap it to my rucksack for the walk and make it easier once there with the overhanging trees etc.
Has anyone used them for Barbeling and any you'd recommend? Ideally 10ft and around 2lb tc. Cheers
 
Chris Fogg said:
I'm going to be fishing and new spot, it's a bit of a walk and very overgrown. I'm thinking of going down the retractable rod route mainly so I can strap it to my rucksack for the walk and make it easier once there with the overhanging trees etc.
Has anyone used them for Barbeling and any you'd recommend? Ideally 10ft and around 2lb tc. Cheers
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Hi Chris,
I’ve used the Nash scopes in both the 10ft 2 1/4lb test and the 10ft 1 3/4. I’ve never had any issues with either of them. They are only really used when I’m trying to nick a few hours somewhere on short family breaks as they fit in the car boot without dropping the seats.
They are definitely easier to carry around smaller overgrown rivers and if you get a full sleeve it’ll save the line getting snagged up. The discontinued aqua atom 10ft single sleeves for me are the best, as you can fit a net and banksticks in the side pocket. You’ll probably pick a decent one up second hand if you’re patient.

Hope that’s of some help.
 
Harrison Avon 4pc? Comes in at an extra foot and half a pound less on the TC than the desired spec, but lovely rods.

Never owned a retractable/telescopic rod than I’d trust with anything more than a little bit of rock fishing on holiday, etc. But never done any research to see if there’s anything more upmarket for the job…
 
Edward Gilbert said:
Hi Chris,
I’ve used the Nash scopes in both the 10ft 2 1/4lb test and the 10ft 1 3/4. I’ve never had any issues with either of them. They are only really used when I’m trying to nick a few hours somewhere on short family breaks as they fit in the car boot without dropping the seats.
They are definitely easier to carry around smaller overgrown rivers and if you get a full sleeve it’ll save the line getting snagged up. The discontinued aqua atom 10ft single sleeves for me are the best, as you can fit a net and banksticks in the side pocket. You’ll probably pick a decent one up second hand if you’re patient.

Hope that’s of some help.
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That's great, thanks mate.
Never used a rod with a retractable butt section before, I'll check out a second hand scope rod. Did have a quick look at them, their guides seem to be on the wrong way round! What that all about? 😄 trying to be different i suppose.
 
Alex Warren said:
Harrison Avon 4pc? Comes in at an extra foot and half a pound less on the TC than the desired spec, but lovely rods.

Never owned a retractable/telescopic rod than I’d trust with anything more than a little bit of rock fishing on holiday, etc. But never done any research to see if there’s anything more upmarket for the job…
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Trouble is when moving swims and I want to fold them down the 4 sections could be a nightmare.
Yeah wouldn't want a fully telescopic rod, I'd imagine them to be crap! Figured the retractable butt section wouldn't be too bad.
 
Chris Fogg said:
That's great, thanks mate.
Never used a rod with a retractable butt section before, I'll check out a second hand scope rod. Did have a quick look at them, their guides seem to be on the wrong way round! What that all about? 😄 trying to be different i suppose.
Click to expand...
I quite like them, I always tended to avoid Nash tackle, apart from the fang twister hooks. The rings being reversed are apparently to help stop tangles on the cast.
Can’t say I’ve noticed any difference in using them. The blanks are nice though and enjoyable playing fish on.

Sonik have brought out a newish specialist xtractor retractable, so that may be worth a look at a tackle shop.
 
I've got a Sonik Specialist Xtractor 10', 2lb test for similar reasons to yourself. I've caught a few barbel and chub with it and it appears to be a very capable rod. With the telescopic butt section it packs down to a very manageable length for moving between overgrown swims.
 
Not much help I know, but sea boat match anglers use telescopic boat rods , from about 10 ft to 14 feet long .They are quite fine in the tip and more like a freshwater rod.I have seen them in use and can say 100. % that they are very capable and handle fish in excess the size of run of the mill barbel with ease. Only problem is that they are a bit brightly coloured.
I was always of the opinion that fully telescopic rods were a gimmic but changed my mind after watching them in action .
If I needed a rod for your purposes Chris I would take a look around . Continentals also use telescopic beach rods to good effect.

Dave
 
I use the 12ft 1.75lb Korum Xtnd telescopic rods (they are also available in 2.25lb) on the Trent. For the money I think they are great (I know korum products arent everyone’s cup of tea). Recently looked at the 10ft Sonik telescopic rods and, again, for the money they seem really good. With the Nash rods they stopped production of the lower test curves so it will be a case of picking them up off of eBay.

Both Korum and Sonik products usually get heavily discounted by Angling Direct, so it’s worth keeping an eye on their websites for some bargains.
 
I’ve used the same rod (Korum Opportunist XTND) now and again for barbel and it works OK. Similar reasons to yourself; set up but telescoped down when moving through a jungle swim. It’s also been useful lobbing a bait under a tree that I couldn’t reach fully extended. A few notes:
- they’re fairly poky for their TC (although I’m more used to softer rods)
- the guides are like carp rods, they’ll look big compared to your typical barbel rod (not that it makes a difference)
- they’re also minima guides which seem to be marmite.
 
I've used Korum Opportunist XTND for the last few years and really like them.
 
I sometimes use a nash scope 10ft 2.25 test. It is a very versatile rod to the extent that I often use it for trotting a float!
It is very convenient to transport and does make life much easier.
I also have a pair of 10ft 3lb test fox explorer TI rods which I haven't actually used yet. They are lovely rods and again they will be convenient to carry. Another excellent feature with the explorer rods is that you can fish them at 8ft or 10ft....brilliant.
 
Have stopped using all my 11 foot rods and now only use my sonik xtractor 10 foot’s specialists. Brilliant little rods for the money.
 
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