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The cult of the John Wilson Avon.

Chris Jones

Chris Jones

Senior Member
Why is the John Wilson Avon so revered? Am I the only one that just doesn't get it? I had, probably still have somewhere, one of the original part duplon handled jobs and thought it was terrible. Not light enough in the quiver for smaller stillwater fish and not quite man enough for any rivers I fish. I seem to remember standing on the butt many years ago and hardly batting an eyelid. Considering some of the junk gear I've managed to form a bizarre emotional attachment to I'm amazed that it left me so cold.

What am I missing? Does it owe an awful lot to the fact that it featured so heavily in Go Fishing? :confused:
 
John Wilson - legend. The Avon Quiver - awesome. Proud owner of a pair of the 11-13' versions offered by Masterline. Wouldn't sell them. Won't sell them - stick your Harrisons up your . . . . .
 
Well, let's just say that when a fishing pal of mine back then, who was the Marketing Manager of Masterline, somewhat hesitantly put the rod that his firm was about to launch into my hands, wordlessly saying "It's yours, Paul...", I merely set it up, waggled it about for probably less than a minute, then handed it back to him with a "Fancy a pint?".
 
Missed a trick there Paul! Bet my original ( could have been Boote ) Avon Quiver fetches more at auction than your average Chimera - no matter who has wrapped it! ;)
 
The man at Masterline was quite honest: "It's mass-produced, poorly finished Far Eastern-made tat, Paul, but it's sure to sell in the thousands...".

Even then I could "do" smart-arse, probably merely saying to him "I'm sure it will.".
 
Well I got four or five of the Wison's, and they are fine just as long as we are not too wrapped up in image, they have passed the functionality test many times for me, they have accounted for barbel over 11lbs whilst 'Chubbing' and many Chub and Carp (of the river dwelling types:))

I have the original rod, but I bought it with a screw down reel seat, reel slippage on the early rods have always been a problem 'tis true. The early blanks were 'dead' too and suffered from a gaudy finish. But there have been improvements and the newer rods are on a par if not better than similar priced rods.

Masterline have put their manufacturing with a large American manufacturer (name escapes me) so even more improvements can be expected.
Masterline HQ just up the road from where I live, a modern building that administers not manufactures which is a pity, the old place at least did make something:(
 
Chris, you say not light enough for small still water fish well the answer is in the name, Avon. It was never intended for small fish. My original has a full cork handle and a spigot joint, and the second one I bought had a duplon grip and a put over joint. For me they have to be the most versatile coarse rod ever. I have had Barbel to 12.5, Carp from H.Avon 18.2, Carp from a lake 18.5, bags of Bream from the Shanon, and last week I got them out for a Tench session at a Chichester pit and had 10 with the best going 8.2.
I am not saying they are the best Barbel, or best Tench rod, but they are well capable of handling most fish in the 4 to 20lb range. They were never made for small fish or very big fish.
 
Started off with 2 john wilson barbel systems.
Thought they were great as was best i had used.
But over the few years had a lot of rings replaced,they dont bend back into position very good if caught on a branch.
Snapped the avon top and thought the masterline sevice was shocking the worst company i have ever had to deal with.
When i did managed to get to through to them they said £40 for the avon tip but dont do green now it will be grey.I said only paid £65 pound for rod they said you got that cheap.They did send out 1 cork thing that screwed reel on,as they said they were a defect with them after mine split but both had split and they sent one.
Bought 2 berkley F1 and must say for a budget rod with the 3 tips has to have been the best rod for price.They still in top notch condition.
Had a go with the wilson rod again and it was shocking compared.
i sold the wilsons 2 weeks ago for a £10 each
Cheers
phil
 
The green ones with dark red whiping on the eyes were the best versions of these rods. The newer 11ft-13ft grey versions dont have the same feel to them.

Definately a nostalgia thing for me;first barbel, biggest barbel, first Blenheim tench, biggest perch, chub and bream. They are not a patch on my decent rods they're bit tacky looking, nasty eyes, rubbish reel seet but I will always own and use one; they are fun rods.
 
Mine was a green one with the abbreviated handle, a cracking bit of kit for it's time and it's cost. I had hundreds, probably close to a couple of thousand middle Severn barbel on mine all caught using 2oz Drennan oval blockend feeders crammed with maggot and hemp.
I think it is very unfair to try and measure these bits of old gear against the stuff which is available today for similar money.
 
What you have to remember is that when the Avon Quiver was launched, how many barbel rods were there on the market? Very few and they cost a bomb.

For a reasonable price you could buy a sturdy rod that was multi function and for a long time I thought that if I could only own one rod for all my fishing, this would be it. Sure they had faults but they did a job and did it well.

Nowadays I use a selection of many rods and they all have their place in my armoury. All are better quality and all are nicer to use but, if push came to shove, the Avon Quiver would have caught most of the fish that my present rods have done.

I'm also surprised to hear that someone had difficulty with Masterline's after sales service. The were/are based in Tewkesbury and when I took a damaged lure rod to them to see if they had something similar in their range, they gave me a choice of two and let me have the one I picked free of charge. Can't say faired than that.
 
caught my first ever Barbel on a Wilson Avon about 15 years ago at Bredwardine. Mainly use it for surface fishing for Carp now and it's landed fish to 31lb 6oz. Most recently took it to Spain and caught lots of small fish. Like others have said there not as good as some other rods but i doubt i'l ever part with mine.
 
mines looking it's age now, around 94/95 time,it even has the old sliding reel fittings, make a good chub rod i reckon, never used the quiver tip bit, as new, i've caught all sorts on mine even a double pike.
 
I bought one of the originals and is still my prefered rod for small rivers like the Kennet.
Im so fond of this rod I recently bought another from ebay.
 
I waggled one about when they were released and then went back to using the now ancient 11' 1.25 Harrison Blank rod, or my Tricast 12' 2lbTC for serious swims!
 
One of the funniest things I have ever seen was watching my brother playing a carp on the canal with a barge fast approaching, when he managed to loosen the reel grips on his J.W. avon (old school version, not a screw reel seat) and promptly drop his reel in the margins. After a lot of difficulty and swearing and no help from me as I was far too busy laughing, he got the fish in, but I don't think he's been too keen on the rod since then.
 
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