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The new Harrison specialist blank

Huanzhou Zhu

Huanzhou Zhu

Senior Member
Saw this posted by Mark Tunley today, never handled the aviator blank before, but looks nice. Looks like this is their new flag ship blanks.
 

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The ability of my Aviator Flex to both cast and play fish nicely is almost hard to believe. They're still enjoyable to catch a 6lb tench on despite being rated at 3lb 2oz. Sometimes when playing one I've thought, this would be amazing if they did a scaled down version. It will be interesting to see how they compare.
 
A fellow member on my syndi' has some Aviator carp rods, he let me "have a chuck" with them a few years ago when they were still new to him.

I was quite reserved about hitting it big but I was surprised, as was he, about the distance I achieved and I'm no distance caster at all. I've been talking myself into and back out of a set for years.
 
They’re listed as having a “medium” action and Mark Tunley suggest the action is similar to the dark carbon blanks he uses. I don’t know what that is though :)

The Carpers speak highly of them as rods that cast well but are forgiving under the tip although there seems to be a difference in the action between rods at 12’ 12’ 6” and 13” from what I read on the forums.
 
Like Christian mentioned the Aviator Flex is a really nice rod so I use them not just for carp but also for when I fish for tench and bream in local lake that has them over 10lb. They don't feel like a 3lb 2ox TC rod unless you need them to be so am comfortable fishing at all ranges. They are rods from Mark Tunley so the new offerings at lower TC's would be great as well.
Maybe I should get that letter off to Santa now?
 
Yes the Aviators have been around a fair while now in Carp rods. My Aviator plus's are a little firmer on the cast than the Torrix 3.25 although to be fair most of the time I only cast 40 yards! Occasionally I will fish 80 - 100 so it will be interesting to note the difference to the Torrix 3.25 that I have used for years. I have only just bought the Aviators so too early yet to draw any firm conclusions.
It will be interesting to see the action of the specialist range. Personally I still prefer my Chimeras to the Torrix so won't be hurrying to buy anymore rods. I have far too many already!
 
I think if Harrisons, have gone too the lengths of designing and building a mandrel to manufacturer these blanks then actually building said rods and testing them.
That they are going to be as good as the avons, torrix's. and chimeras.....
Maybe even better??..

Let's see...
 
As always they look stunning
He does state flagship range but they are a bit cheaper than Torrix/ Chimera?
MT had the exclusive rights to Dark Carbon and I’m sure this is described as medium action.I have one and it’s a lovely rod but you don’t see a lot of them for sale so I’m guessing it hasn’t been a huge seller despite being quite a bit less in cost than Torrix, Avon or Chimera but I wonder if them being plain blanks ( no carbon weave) put people off aesthetically?
Aviator might fill this ‘gap’?
They will be a fantastic barbel rod for sure.
 
Paul Richardson said:
As always they look stunning
He does state flagship range but they are a bit cheaper than Torrix/ Chimera?
MT had the exclusive rights to Dark Carbon and I’m sure this is described as medium action.I have one and it’s a lovely rod but you don’t see a lot of them for sale so I’m guessing it hasn’t been a huge seller despite being quite a bit less in cost than Torrix, Avon or Chimera but I wonder if them being plain blanks ( no carbon weave) put people off aesthetically?
Aviator might fill this ‘gap’?
They will be a fantastic barbel rod for sure.
Click to expand...
I have a MT Dark Carbon in 1.75 and 2.5 TC and use them for Barbel and other things so they are a great rod. Maybe not seeing them in Second Hand market mean it's something people keep hold of and appreciate as I certainly do and think they were good value. The new Harrison Specialist is tempting but is it really a much better than a Dark Carbon. I'd like to know but can't justify the spend myself.

I wonder if they're much like the car market and having a Skoda compared to a VM Golf/Passat/ID*. Same specifications really but one has a name and badge (the Carbon weave) but really they're just the same. I prefer my Skoda anyway and will therefore stick with my Dark Carbons.
 
Carl Massey said:
I have a MT Dark Carbon in 1.75 and 2.5 TC and use them for Barbel and other things so they are a great rod. Maybe not seeing them in Second Hand market mean it's something people keep hold of and appreciate as I certainly do and think they were good value. The new Harrison Specialist is tempting but is it really a much better than a Dark Carbon. I'd like to know but can't justify the spend myself.

I wonder if they're much like the car market and having a Skoda compared to a VM Golf/Passat/ID*. Same specifications really but one has a name and badge (the Carbon weave) but really they're just the same. I prefer my Skoda anyway and will therefore stick with my Dark Carbons.
Click to expand...
I think that's a good attitude. I have bought Aviator Carp rods but really so far, it is early days, I cant see much, if any, difference to the Torrix Carp rods. For the fishing I do I think I actually prefer the Torrix as they are easier action.
Same as the Torrix specialist. I bought those but prefer the Chimeras! There's a good case for sticking with what you know and like.
I won't buy the Aviator specialists. 👍
 
I am a self obsessed Harrison hoarder - pretty much use Aviators exclusively for all my carp fishing and these include 10' 3.25's / 12' 3.2 Flex and 13' 3.5 Aviator Plus which all have different roles (bait-boat work / general small-mid water / range rods). However it will take a lot to prise me from my 12' 2.25 Torrix & 13' 2.75 Chimera 4 barbel bashing tools . . . . .the actions / ringing patterns are all unique to each rod and are arguably personal to the end user in terms of what they and the rod can do. Not sure how much advantage an Aviator blank will bring over the outgoing TOTR models . . .I had the 12' 3.6 Aviator Plus (before replacing with the Flex and adding the 13' version) and whilst they were nice enough to play big fish on, were an absolute pig to cast consistently with . . . .will be interesting to hear what the feedback is on the new lower tc ranges!
 
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