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trotting rod

Stephen Scaysbrook

Stephen Scaysbrook

Senior Member & Supporter
Is the Drennan Acolyte plus 15ft float rod up to trotting for barbel??. I've heard people say they use them but I own one and I'm not sure. You could say go and try it but it's an expensive way to find if its not.
 
Hi Stephen
I have heard some say yes it is, but my own experience with a 14' Acolyte Plus is no it isn't. Even with large chub fighting through the strong flow (Hants Avon in winter) and heading towards undergrowth on the far bank I find it hard work and a bit daunting.
Maybe I am not using the full capabilities of the rod but I am a little disappointed that it is not as powerful as I thought.
But others will disagree.
Mike
 
Hi Mike
I also have the 13ft compact plus and found this can struggle with decent chub on the river Dove Which is kind of why I asked the question.
As I said in my post its not as if I want to just take a chance a £200+ rod.
I've been looking at the Korum Glide 12 to 14ft and at around £80 I would be willing to chuck and see. I do have a greys prodigy specimen float but it only 12ft long and would like something a little longer (I think)

Thanks for your reply and it'll be interesting to see where this tread goes.
 
I've got a 13' plus acolyte and I do use it successfully for barbel on the upper Lea but I'd think twice if larger fish were a possibility.
However, I ended up buying a Drennan Carp waggler when I broke the tip on my Salmon trotting rod. It's more than capable of handling barbel of any size as you'd expect of a rod designed for carp match fishing. Not sure if there's a 14' but it's a nice rod. Also it's the compact concept, not that expensive at the time.
 
The acolyte plus does not struggle with the biggest of chub at all in small rivers I’ve landed stacks of them on mine on tiny rivers. Don’t be frightened to put the pressure on. Barbel are obviously a different animal.
It will land them I’m sure but you’ll need both space and skill to do so.
The rod is rated to 6lb line so don’t over gun it with much stronger and you’ll not risk an expensive mistake
 
Pete Collins said:
Have a look at the new 2022 Daiwa connoisseur pro 15 foot power float ....have just ordered one so hopefully will handle the odd barbel now and again bit cheaper than the acolytes too
Click to expand...
Yeah I bet they are lovely rods for that job.
Connoisseurs were always great. Bit more stepped up on line recommendation too.
I was going to get one myself but bought a spectron xp 14 footer off a member here which is ideal for barbel
 
Hope its up to the job Rich ... the new rod will be getting an outing on the wye in early august .....fingers crossed I can give it a good test :)
 
I noticed the guy that presents the Korum LOTB series advocated the Glide, but he didn't have that rod recently and made do with a standard barbel rod...the Allrounder as a makeshift float rod, and it worked well.
I wonder if we get a bit sniffy over what rod for a type of fishing?😏
 
I finally got my hands on (borrowed) a 15ft Acolyte Plus towards the end of last season and had three outings with it on the Dorset Stour at Throop. Had plenty of chub including a few 6's but no barbel on it. It handled those chub like a dream. Always with a centrepin and, as is my typical approach, feeding and trotting a prodigious distance, preferring to try and feed the chub into an area well downstream of me. I loved it! Ended up acquiring one for a reasonable price and can't wait to use it particularly in a couple of areas requiring trotting well across.

For comparison I have a Korum 12ft/14ft Glide, had plenty of big chub and a couple of barbel (8lbs+) on it. Not that keen on it at 14ft (too "awkward" for my liking) but at 12ft it's a much better set up and a useful tool. But it's not the first rod I reach for when I'm off trotting. For many, many winters that honour has been with a pair of ancient 13ft Youngs Power Float. I often set up one with a big balsa and the alternate with a short/fat waggler.

Those rods have handled countless winter chub over many years, plenty of 6's and few 7's up to 7:11, all on the float. Had more than my fair share of barbel to 11+ interrupting the chub fishing in that time as well. Then there's the odd sea trout and salmon that take a liking to the bait every winter (don't always land all of those!). Typically 5lb Drennan Float Fish or similar Harrell mainline using small hooks 18s/20s single/double maggot/caster.

I'm very attached to my Young's and they will still be in the quiver this autumn/winter but I firmly believe the Acolyte 15ft Plus will be my rod of choice in a few months time. I should add I like to stand up, preferably in the river, often wading to access a less accessible spot, and trot all day long. The weight and "balance" of the Acolyte when paired with a choice of pins (I tried half a dozen different pins during those three sessions), is one of the factors high on my list. I'll be 69 this winter, a full days trotting is knackering and takes me a while to recover. Hopefully the Acolyte will prolong my enjoyment for a few more years yet!

PS: I looked at the "equivalent" Cadence rod range for quite some time and was tempted. But they and the Acolyte were sort of in the same price range I was prepared to pay. The Acolyte won on all factors.
 
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Neil Smart said:
I noticed the guy that presents the Korum LOTB series advocated the Glide, but he didn't have that rod recently and made do with a standard barbel rod...the Allrounder as a makeshift float rod, and it worked well.
I wonder if we get a bit sniffy over what rod for a type of fishing?😏
Click to expand...
I don’t disagree that you don’t need a specific rod type to catch fish on your desired method but it makes a massive difference if you can tick important boxes.
I absolutely love trotting a float.
More so than any other method of catching fish and yes over the years I’ve used many a contraption to do it and caught.
I would say your statement ref the rod is probably more true for any other type of course fishing before trotting a float simply because the style of rod contributes heavily to the success of obtaining bites.
Presentation is absolutely key and I’ve always looked for both length and guide stand off to aid with that. Keeping line mended behind a float especially from a bank and keeping wet lines off blanks are really important for getting a float to go down at the pace you want it to. I often hold back a float in the “bite zone” and this can be a right ball ache with a 12 ft specialist rod particularly from a bank.

I personally believe all good trotting rods have fast tips. Yes even the big fish rods with a more through action should still have a decent fast tip with fast recovery because let’s face it we don’t always hit big fish and fast tips will help hit everything.

Finally and probably most importantly is weight. I don’t need to elaborate on that at all as we all know how light a float rod can be and acolytes are probably one of the best in this area. You can literally hold em all day without any fatigue.

Browning did a wonderful thing by giving us back our spliced tip and putting it into a rod actually capable of landing big fish…… genius!

Shame about the £400 price tag but hey… maybe one day.
 
I agree with all of that Rich, and especially with trotting where you need a fast tip and line pick up. But if we don't always have the ideal tool to hand no need to fret we normally have something to use. Probably my old Fox twin tip would do a reasonable job rather than say a Torrix.
Perhaps if you have a spare 5 minutes today you could knock up a
prototype dual float / barbel feeder rod.😕
 
Neil Smart said:
I agree with all of that Rich, and especially with trotting where you need a fast tip and line pick up. But if we don't always have the ideal tool to hand no need to fret we normally have something to use. Probably my old Fox twin tip would do a reasonable job rather than say a Torrix.
Perhaps if you have a spare 5 minutes today you could knock up a
prototype dual float / barbel feeder rod.😕
Click to expand...
Torrix actually wouldn’t be a bad shout Neil as it is tippier than most typical barbel rods.
Your foxs with the quiver spliced tips would be better still but the rings would be a nightmare being so close to the blank.
You are absolutely right though, not having the dedicated rod certainly shouldn’t stop anyone. I used to do it as a kid on the swale with a donated 11ft solid fiber glass rod. I think it was an old pike rod. Bright yellow with orange whippings solid steel guides it weighed a metric ton. 🤣
Used to catch afew too. Don’t think I could go back to that rod now mind. My back and arms simply wouldn’t cope
 
Richard Isaacs said:
Torrix actually wouldn’t be a bad shout Neil as it is tippier than most typical barbel rods.
Your foxs with the quiver spliced tips would be better still but the rings would be a nightmare being so close to the blank.
You are absolutely right though, not having the dedicated rod certainly shouldn’t stop anyone. I used to do it as a kid on the swale with a donated 11ft solid fiber glass rod. I think it was an old pike rod. Bright yellow with orange whippings solid steel guides it weighed a metric ton. 🤣
Used to catch afew too. Don’t think I could go back to that rod now mind. My back and arms simply wouldn’t cope
Click to expand...
My float rods consist of Drennan 14ft ultralight Daiwa match, Drennan Tench, and a few bits I have used the Tench, and its ok albeit on the short side. Just worried about explaining to Maria why we need to shell out 400 quid on a faster tip action. Plus she is aware that anything I buy with Barbel on it is a total waste of money.😁
 
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