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Which off the shelf float rod? Opinions please :)

John Parker

John Parker

Active Member
I'm thinking about getting a float rod - Inspired by an upcoming trip to Hay-on-Wye (which will rule out full custom)

I'm likely to be doing some wading and trotting and I don't really have a suitable rod for this.
I'm looking for something that will be a good all rounder - Ideally capable of handling a barbel, as well as comfortable to trot for multiple species with. I'd quite like to catch some Grayling...

Suggestions welcome please!
 
Personally I use a 13’ Drennan extension , works well for me had some decent barbel and chub on it, , I there not everyone’s cup of tea, but there decent rods for the money
 
I bought the 14' Daiwa Connoisseur power float fairly recently. Maybe a little OTT for the Grayling, but it handles the Chub and Barbel pretty well. I don't find it heavy or awkward to use. Having said that, I only use it for trotting on the Trent for Barbel. It's teamed up with a Daiwa TDR 4012.
 
John Parker said:
I'm thinking about getting a float rod - Inspired by an upcoming trip to Hay-on-Wye (which will rule out full custom)

I'm likely to be doing some wading and trotting and I don't really have a suitable rod for this.
I'm looking for something that will be a good all rounder - Ideally capable of handling a barbel, as well as comfortable to trot for multiple species with. I'd quite like to catch some Grayling...

Suggestions welcome please!
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I have recently bought a 14ft Acolyte specimen.......its very versatile handles barbel beautifully and im also very happy using it for silvers......
 
Barry Peck said:
I'll second the Acolyte specimen ... lovely rod for all species .
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I'll echo you and Lee, imo they are the king of the float rods past and present.
I got one of the latest normark avengers recently, and again, jmo, the acolyte speci blows it away by a country mile. I would also recommend the acolyte plus which is slightly less powerful but I never had a problem catching barbel with it.
 
I have the Drennan Acolyte Specimen in 15 ft and the Tricast John Allerton among others. The Acolyte Specimen's have had issues with snapping but other than that they're fantastic rods! I had one snap just about 8'' above the handle and I've heard of 4 others going on forums. I have a replacement now and I will be using it because they are lovely to use, but for an all round rod the Allerton is better IMO, had a couple of doubles on it and it's a better silvers rod too.
 
The Drennan Acolyte Specimen seems like a good shout then!
The other one that I was looking at is the Mark Tunley MK1 13½' 1.50tc Specialist Float - Has anyone had both of these to offer an opinion?
 
I use a Mark Tunley 13 1/2 Specialist Float for Barbel on the Wye Thoroughly recommend it. Had Barbel to over 12lb on it and it handled them really well. Plenty of power in reserve and light enough to comfortably hold all day I’ve used other rods in the past including Drennan xtension Float and a Free Spirit Power Tamer and in my opinion the Mark Tunley rod is way much better. And the real beauty is it closes down to a 12ft two piece which means I can take it with me in the rod case with my lead rod.
 
Just to throw a spanner in the works, I really am taken back by the new Preston supera x 14ft power float rod rated to 8lb main lines.

I hammered the life out of mine last winter putting loads of chub on the bank to 6lb 13oz seen here
IMG_8305.jpeg

In closed season I took it to a commercial tench and crucian lake a couple of times where it dealt very comfortably with plenty of of tench to 6lb and the odd rogue carp to 11lb and this summer it’s had a couple of barbel on. One of which was a shade over 10lb on the river nene.

It’s got a great progression in the action, very strong blank with nice bending resistance until required. The tip is relatively responsive and would probably fair ok with grayling and finer tackle but certainly for me it wouldn’t come close to replacing my spheres for that game.

Don’t dismiss this rod from your short list. Definitely get out there are try some before buying.
 
Richard Isaacs said:
Just to throw a spanner in the works, I really am taken back by the new Preston supera x 14ft power float rod rated to 8lb main lines.

I hammered the life out of mine last winter putting loads of chub on the bank to 6lb 13oz seen here View attachment 36172
In closed season I took it to a commercial tench and crucian lake a couple of times where it dealt very comfortably with plenty of of tench to 6lb and the odd rogue carp to 11lb and this summer it’s had a couple of barbel on. One of which was a shade over 10lb on the river nene.

It’s got a great progression in the action, very strong blank with nice bending resistance until required. The tip is relatively responsive and would probably fair ok with grayling and finer tackle but certainly for me it wouldn’t come close to replacing my spheres for that game.

Don’t dismiss this rod from your short list. Definitely get out there are try some before buying.
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Always good to have more options!
 
My favourite is a 13' Prodigy TXL Specialist float, not sure if they're still available? Just acquired a Preston Innovation 14' Absolute which I haven't yet had a barbel on but impressed by the way it handles small carp. It's also a better tool for silvers/grayling.
 
John Parker said:
Are there any particular length rods that I should be looking at?
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Ultimately only you can decide what length is going to suit your fishing best.

Up until buying the Preston I predominantly used 4 different lengths 3 of which are used less commonly than the one I go for most of the time. 11,13,15,17.
the 11, 13and 17 are not used as often and in 75% of cases my go to length is 15ft. It works for me and gives me what I need from a float rod in the typical case scenarios where I trot.

As you are buying 1 rod to do lots of things you might want to look at something around 14ft.
It’s not going to be a lot of use on small Becks and streams or around low hanging trees and it’s not going to be great at holding a far bank trotting line with a howling down stream wind to contend with, however you’ll find it covers most stuff in between just fine and will be very comfortable to hold for long periods of time.

Again I can’t stress enough. Go pick some up and see for yourself. It’s all very well asking which is best at this but what I like and what I think is best isn’t necessarily going to be something you like. They are all completely different and you shouldn’t buy one blind. Take your reel too.
 
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