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Tench rods

D

Danny Browne

Member
afternoon fellas,

long term lurker, first time poster here, and have seen that a number of you use Free Spirit rods and I’m In the market for some new tench rods for larger gravel pits, mostly the bawburgh complex at present. Considering either the S or the hi-S SU models or a Harrison chimera 2. I’ve had a cast with the chimeras and know their capabilities but I’m curious about the FS rods. Anyone use them for their tench fishing? Casting capabilities of 60-70 yards or so is needed at times?

One of the rods I’m using at present is a fox Kevlar and that’s about perfect for the job and easily hits the distance required, but they make crazy money for used rods so thinking of getting something new instead. How do the FS compare to the Kevlar?

thanks for the assistance :)
 
Yeah I’ve seen those, thanks. Both look like nice builds too

actually brought a pair of chimeras off eBay last summer that turned out to be in terrible condition and even had someone’s name on them which wasn’t mentioned on the listing. Got my money back but it was a hassle, pitfalls of eBay I guess. Nice blanks though, good casters and everyone I’ve spoken to talks highly of them.
 
I will be using my fox kevlar for tench this coming spring, now I have a pair. Just because it says Barbel doesn't mean you cant use it for other species. The 1.25 top should be great.
 
They are perfect for it, though I use the 1.75 top. If I could get another two in either perfect condition or at a decent price I’d be chuffed with them.

its casting potential that concerns me most, but if the Kevlar can throw a 45g maggot feeder 60 yards I’m sure the free spirits will too. Expensive mistake to make though
 
I have a Chimera 2 which I use almost always for Barbel, but I have used it for tenching and found it did a good job.

I much prefer my beloved 1.75 Interceptors though which are perfect for my tench fishing requirements. They will cast a 50g maggot feeder very accurately to 50-55 yards, a 35-40g maggot feeder to around 70 yards and a 1oz bomb to around 90-100 yards if required. Compared to the Interceptor, the Chimera 2 is a bit more powerful and better at punching out a heavier feeder into a wind I thought, and overall a better casting tool. But there is always a trade-off and the Interceptor has a more forgiving butt section and therefore better with lighter hooklengths (I'm confident using 3-4" of 0.19mm Reflo on helicopter rigs) and is the nicer fish playing tool, imo. As a barbel rod however the Chimera 2 would win hands down.

Another blank well worth a look at is the Harrison 2.25 Specialist. Basically a specialist version of the ballista/multi-carp blank. A more than capable casting rod, but with a really nice playing action.
 
Tbh I'd try and get another Fox Kevlar and use those. There are times when scaling things right down with tench will get you bites, so having the 1.25, 1.5 and 1.75lb tops would prove very versatile.
 
It's bit hard to tell on eBay due to a distinct lack of them in recent years. What's the going rate for a Kevlar or Kevlex?
 
It’s hard to tell due to a lack of them, as you say. Personally think £150 for a near new one would be about right, but with eBay it’s impossible to tell.
 
Chris Jones said:
It's bit hard to tell on eBay due to a distinct lack of them in recent years. What's the going rate for a Kevlar or Kevlex?
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I had a kevlex (burgundy red blank with heavier tops) it was a really nice rod and the reel seats are imo nicer than the kdps Fuji jobs. The rings weren’t particularly great mind and let it down a bit. They were fine till you knocked them they don’t take much to bend and they only straighten so many times (I’m not rough with my stuff at all but I managed to knock a few).
if that rod was fitted out with Alconites it would of been a game changer.
price nowadays for a clean kevlex Kevlar is probably in excess of £200 - 220 now.
I wouldn’t pay that for one mind if I was spending that sort of money on a second hand rod it would be a very nice Harrison or free spirits that a builder had lovingly put together with quality fittings.
the one on eBay is at £148 at the moment and imo that’s about as much as I’d spend on one personally. I’d maybe go to £160.
 
Thanks gents. I did wonder if £150 might be an optimistic buyers hope. The few I've seen in the last few years seem to have been a fair chunk more expensive (whether they've really sold for the asking price is another matter entirely). I have a single Kevlex in my hoard. The original intention was to buy a second to make up a pair. Unfortunately, whenever I had spare cash, they invariably went for well in excess of £200. These days, I barely fish for barbel, at least with full on barbel gear. I've rather taken my eyes off the ball with regards to what the going rate might be. It's just another rod in the might sell pile.
 
Richard Isaacs said:
I had a kevlex (burgundy red blank with heavier tops) it was a really nice rod and the reel seats are imo nicer than the kdps Fuji jobs. The rings weren’t particularly great mind and let it down a bit. They were fine till you knocked them they don’t take much to bend and they only straighten so many times (I’m not rough with my stuff at all but I managed to knock a few).
if that rod was fitted out with Alconites it would of been a game changer.
price nowadays for a clean kevlex Kevlar is probably in excess of £200 - 220 now.
I wouldn’t pay that for one mind if I was spending that sort of money on a second hand rod it would be a very nice Harrison or free spirits that a builder had lovingly put together with quality fittings.
the one on eBay is at £148 at the moment and imo that’s about as much as I’d spend on one personally. I’d maybe go to £160.
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Agreed, but if you already have Kevlex then it makes sense to get a matching pair. Matching rods aren't needed for river fishing when your under arming most of the time, but when legering at range it's a whole lot easier to be bang on the money with your casting when using matched set-ups (muscle memory?), that's my experience anyway.
 
Joe Winstanley said:
Agreed, but if you already have Kevlex then it makes sense to get a matching pair. Matching rods aren't needed for river fishing when your under arming most of the time, but when legering at range it's a whole lot easier to be bang on the money with your casting when using matched set-ups (muscle memory?), that's my experience anyway.
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I agree entirely.
It makes perfect sense to pair up with matching rods n reels In all situations where multiples are required. It’s just hard graft when that second rod comes round once in a blue moon and ends up costing a small fortune. 😂
 
Chris Jones said:
It's just another rod in the might sell pile.
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It’s only ever gonna go up in value chris the rarer they get so you’ll certainly do ok if selling it and certainly don’t have to rush.
Yeah £200 plus is the norm for clean complete examples.
the kevlex extreme i always thought was more useful to my fishing than the Kevlar having the 1.5 section in the armory but someone wanting to do a bit of perching or chubbing might want a Kevlar with the 1.25 more players section.
 
Aye £150 would be cheapish with what they sometimes go for, but that’s the max I’d really pay.

a set would be great, at present I use an 11ft torrix, a shimmy tribal specialist and then a Kevlar rod, all very different rods. My brothers ocd hates it lol
 
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