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TC

Personally I would opt for 1.5lb TC on the Swale.
I am a great fan of enjoying the fight and rarely go above 1.75lb.
I mainly fish the Hants Avon, Dorset stour and Wye but have fished some huge European rivers.
My Harrison 1.5lb TC have landed Barbel over 14lb with no problems.
I know lots of people will advise 2lb+Tc but unless you want to launch a huge weight great distances I would just back lead to the bank with the same rods!!
 
Keith Humphreys said:
Personally I would opt for 1.5lb TC on the Swale.
I am a great fan of enjoying the fight and rarely go above 1.75lb.
I mainly fish the Hants Avon, Dorset stour and Wye but have fished some huge European rivers.
My Harrison 1.5lb TC have landed Barbel over 14lb with no problems.
I know lots of people will advise 2lb+Tc but unless you want to launch a huge weight great distances I would just back lead to the bank with the same rods!!
Click to expand...

Like the idea of using a lighter rod of 1.5lb TC, but can find one of the shelf. Before I spend big bucks on a custom build.
 
Hi Neil,

For the Swale I would go for a 12ft 1.75 test curve.

Often there are high banks, and much bank side vegetation to deal with.
Also the river is often up and down (needs some water at the moment! :)
From a personnel point of view you would at times struggle with anything less.
 
Bob Gill said:
Some thoughts on TC which might be useful:

https://barbel.co.uk/site/vbulletin...hat-test-curve-read-gary-bb-king-staddon.html
Click to expand...

Very interesting article but the point about a match rod having more power than a higher TC through action rod leaves me asking one question - what about the line? One should be using balanced tackle which, with a match rod, is only say 4lb bs whereas the higher TC rod will take 10 - 12lb. Surely, more power can be exerted with the higher TC rod when playing the fish and it is our aim to land it as soon as reasonably possible?

Recent experience has shown that it is possible to land a big barbel on match gear - my mate had a 13+ fish from the Dorset Stour when trotting for chub using a match rod and 2lb hook link - but it took over 20 mins to land and a further 5 minutes or so to recover before being safely allowed to swim off. On standard barbel gear, that fish would have been landed in say 5 minutes and would have recovered more quickly....

Is the point that a stiffer rod has more ultimate power than a softer rod. That sounds right but leaves the issues of hook pulls or snap offs when on a short line so yet again there is a trade off between using a stiffer rod and a more through actioned one.

Thoughts anyone?


Dave
 
I agree with the author of Bob's article link that test curves are often misconceived by some, and would argue that a double figure barbel can be landed as quickly on a 1 1/4 tc rod as with a 2 1/4 tc in most conditions.
A powerful setup is as unlikely to haul a big barbel upstream through thick streamer weed as is something lighter. The emphasis has to be on how the fish is played and whereabouts you intend to land it, i.e. either think ahead and position landing net downstream or use a roving net ( when rolling for instance) and not letting the fish take control.
Rolling rods average 1 1/2 tc and the user is often placing the bait amongst a jungle of ranunculus.
A new acquisition last season was a 14' stepped up float rod with recommended lines 2-8lbs. The rod has handled both double figure barbel and salmon with ease,... the salmon took 6 or 7 minutes when it took a bait meant for chub on 2.4 hook link.
Another way of looking at test curves is imagining how difficult it would be to pull for a break using a balanced 1lb tc rod and 4 or 5lb bs line at 90 degrees to the tip!
My favoured ledgering tc is 1.5 with medium action on the Stour rising to 1.75 on the Avon during normal conditions and depending on required bait presentation,... if it takes a slightly stepped up rod to cast a heavy lead to where I want it so be it but I don't get tunnel vision with some of the over gunned rods sold for barbel.
 
People are way too hung up on test curves. In isolation, they don't give the full story on a rod anyway, but so many people believe that they tell you all you need to know. Without knowing anything about the action of a rod, test curve ratings are all but useless.
 
I guess the only real use of a TC is to give an indication of fully loaded (i.e. casting to the horizon with the rod at maximum compression) casting weight. TC in lbs = maximum lead weight in ounces e.g. 3lb TC = 3oz lead. As previously stated within this thread, rods can lob much heavier weights but not a full on distance cast.


Dave
 
This is a subject that my wife always fails to understand and refuses to believe that an angler needs at least 6 different rods for each species!
In truth, I think that when manufacturers apply tags to rods its just to encourage us to buy more.
If I had to choose just one rod for all my barbel fishing it would probably have to be an Avon type at around 1.25 tc, medium action and lightweight leaving me to fish accordingly. Fortunately that's not the case.
 
I fish the Swale a lot but am no expert.
I fish with a host of different rods in different test curves and have landed good barbel( which for the Swale is an 8-9lb fish) on everything from a Drennan Puddlchucker to a 2 1/2lb T/C Chimera and everything in between.
A lot depends on the swim you're in.
For example there is a chuck I like that is tight to a large sunken willow that is an absolute hit and hold, locked up job that suits the stronger Chimera rods( 2 1/4 _ 2 1/2TC) as once hooked you cannot give the barbel an inch or it's gone into the snag regardless of line and rod - the rod acts as a powerful shock absorber but is perfectly balanced as it is through action. There is also plenty of power to pull the fish away from the danger into open water, once you turn it.

However further downstream you can get away with a 1 1/4 or feeder rod as the river is more open and less tree lined, and I would never think to use the heaviest rod in these swims in normal conditions.

A couple of the guys I fish with are hugely experienced Swale anglers and in the last season they have scaled up to Dave Lumb Chimera 3 - 2 1/4" T/C - again these are very through action so not bad on hook pulls put will suit summer and winter fishing( heavy flow, leads and feeders)
The biggest reason they prefer them is the extra power on hand to stop barbel diving into nearside snags and willows once hooked. They previously used 1 3/4 TC Chimeras and claim to have had several bonus fish last season that they feel they would have lost without the extra ooomph
Don't know is this helps?
Whatever you get have fun.
 
My go to rods on the Swale are Dave Lumb Chimera specialists in 1 3/4lb test. But at over £200 a pop each not cheap for a pair.

I recently bought a pair each of Fox Royales in 1 3/4lb and 2 1/2lb and can really recommend the 1 3/4 for nearly every eventuality on the Swale. Cheap enough too!

I'm in the same camp as Chris regarding TC's, they're not a true representation of a rods power or action, merely a close guide IMO!
 
Agree with you there Bob that the DL rods aren't cheap and it just goes to show how preferences differ and there is no right answer
I have the 2 1/4 Chimeras and love them but I've just received a 1 3/4 Chimera so will be great to put that to use.
The argument I use with my wife is that arguably a hand-built UK made rod is more of an investment than an off the shelf rod, and when I croak then I have a legacy for my daughters that will be worth a few quid:):)
No - she doesn't believe me either.

I have a Fox Royale in 1.5 which is the best chub rod I have used, I also have a Fox 2 1/4 which is a lovely rod for the money and has landed pike to just under 25lb!
 
I use a free spirit 10ft bank creeper which is rated at 2.5lb tc, i normally fish a rod length out most times so casting isnt an issue and although the tc seems high for a barbel rod it is a "softish" 2.5lb tc and handles very nicely
 
Agree with Chris Jones here, each rod has its own particular curve, a 1-3/4 lb , say , Chimera, could be a whole different rod to a 1-3/4lb Shimano.
In fact I have a pair of 1-3/4 lb tc Shimano Barbel XT's, I know, they are old rods, but they have had next to no use at all because even with the strongest tip section they bend like Spaghetti. I actually had a Barbel on one of them, and managed to land it, after an epic struggle , there was no backbone in the rod at all, I now use a pair of Fox Floodwater duos, only because I regularly fish a really snaggy rock infested stretch of river that needs a strong rod to get big fish up in the water and quickly away from the rocks and snaggs.Other anglers who fish the same stretch either use similar rods, or 3lb tc Carp rods, and for exactly the same reasons as I.

The Shimano XT's, when used with one of the quiver tip sections are fine for Bream,and when used with the mid powered tips were good for Tench in fact they should have been rebadged and I am sure that more would have been sold.

So , not every rod is suitable for every situation, match the rod to the venue and all will be good... so long as you can afford it !

Dave
 
As has been said, test-curves can be misleading - it's the action of the rod which is most important, imo. Compare a Harrison Torrix 1.75, Chimera 2 1.75 and an Interceptor 1.75 - all completely different rods.

I use 1.75 Interceptors (my favourite rods) for tench and bream, a 1.75 Chimera 2 for barbel on smaller rivers or larger rivers in slower flows, and 2.25 Chimera 3's for the Trent.

If I had to pick just one rod from the above 3 as an all-rounder it would be the Chimera 3. The action is phenomenal, despite being a powerful rod, there is so much cushioning in the butt section that I've never had an issue with hook pull. Personally I'm always rather be overgunned than undergunned when fishing for barbel.
 
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