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Short rods

Adam Wylie

Senior Member & Supporter
Hi all what's your opinions on using short rods for Barbel Fishing ?
Nash Scope, Century CQ etc. 9' ,10'
 
Personally I rove alot, explore and like making my own swims. I get in hard to reach places where barbel wil hold on the near side margins. Smaller rods are better for this, but I appreciate some of the older gents might not be able to do that. Really this is the only suitable time for a smaller rod, all other times I will use my 11' Torrix.
 
I tried using a "7ft Stalking Rod" on the Teme years ago. The first 3 barbel I hooked took me into nearside snags, so I sold the rod on. Short rods are great to use (accurate to cast with/easing access through bushes & foliage etc) but not so good at playing and controlling a hooked and angry barbel ... especially when there's nearside snags, and even more especially when you have the fish directly in front of you. That's my experience.
 
When I am using short rod for barbel, I prefer to use stronger one, say 2lb with progressive action, so I can really control the fish.
 
I had a three piece yateley angling barbel stalking rod once and it was lovely apart from the fact it didn't suit a lot of my angling. Where short rods failed to deliver for me is that most of my fishing is swinging the bait out and gently lowering the rig in. 9 foot is just too short for this. Something to consider.
 
I can think of situations where it would be handy for a one off to have something a bit shorter than the typical norm but these aren’t common for me and I’ve always loved 11 footers for as much as I can possibly get away with.
 
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