Rod recommdations

[Mattassociated]

Hello all , I'm looking for a new float rod for tench fishing in the margins on lift method but has been known to pick up carp to mid doubles in the margins and is quite snaggy. I have used Avon rods but not too keen on them for float fishing .

Does anyone know which is a stronger rod ?

The drennan acolyte 11' carp waggler

Or

Drennan Specialist X-Tension 13ft Compact Float.

I know the Acolytes are very light rods and very nice I owned one in the past . I'm thinking a 11ft may be better in the margins .

Cheers

 

[warrington63]

Shimano Beastmaster.

 

[Mattassociated]

Shimano Beastmaster.

Thanks but I was asking due to my local tackle shop being a drennan agent and not stocking shimano rods .

 

[Arry]

Korum do some nice specialist float rods

 

[Mattassociated]

Korum do some nice specialist float rods

Yes the do and I've owned quite a few but the float rods do seem quite heavy to say a acolyte but for the price I bet there be quite good .

I've got a bit of money so I thought I spend on a nice rod that last me years to come , being 35 plenty of fishing years left .

 

[Arry]

A carbon rod heavy... at 35 years old....????
I'm 64 and still use split cane.... tchohh...!!! the yoof o t'day...

 

[DFL]

If you decide on the Drennan waggler take a look at my ad in classifieds

 

[TiggerXFM]

Drennan tench float rods still come up for sale regularly on ebay.
My personal favourite is the super tench model.

 

[nejohn]

When I fish in a similar style I tend to use a pellet waggler type rod and they seem to work quite well as you are fishing at close range so don't need super quick line pick up and a softer tip helps cushion the initial run. There are absolutely loads of rods on the market that would work for you as just about every manufacturer makes these type of rods. The ones I generally use in order of preference are 11' Rive Commercial soft action waggler rod, Garbolino G max 11'6 light commercial waggler rod, Tri-cast 10'6/11'6 XRS, Team Daiwa 11'6 pellet waggler, Maver MVR 12' pellet waggler (I use this if the general fish size is slightly larger) and in really tight pegs a 10' Shimano speedmaster. On the occasions when I feel a longer rod would be more useful it would be either a Maver 13' nanolith or a Normark Titan 2000. It really all depends on your budget as you can get a rod that would do a half decent job for as little as £50 or you could go for something like a top of the range Daiwa for £300 but the best thing to do is go into a tackle shop and see if you can try a few of the ones recommended on here and see which suites both your style of fishing and your pocket best. Personally I would not buy blind based purely on online recommendations as what could be one persons all time favourite rod might be the rod from hell for someone else as we are all different

 

[richox12]

I was just going to say, if you want a short powerful float rod then a Pellet Waggler should fit the bill nicely

 

[TiggerXFM]

As much as I like my acolyte carp waggler rod, I think it’s a little to quick to bend round if fishing the margins for tench. Tench often use chub tactics and dive for the margin weed/reeds etc so the stiffer mid section of my tench rod is better suited for this scenario….imo.

 

[rd115]

How about something special and having a Harrison GTI built up?

 

[Mattassociated]

This is what I was thinking , what is the gti like ? Will it stop carp into higher doubles ?

 

[nejohn]

The Gti's are nice rods but they are starting to become a bit dated and could do with an update as the blanks were developed about 30 years ago. The spliced tip version would be a definite no if you are looking to stop the occasional high double but the SU version may be ok but is only available in 13 & 14 ft. If you are looking for something a bit special the Hardy supero's are very nice and often come up second hand. The Guru Aventus rods are also pretty special as are some of the top end Daiwa's and Browning's, I would also not discount Tri-cast as they make some very good float rods that would suit your purpose. Then you have the rare stuff like Rive RC range and the top end colmics but good luck getting your hands on one of those

 

[Mattassociated]

The Gti's are nice rods but they are starting to become a bit dated and could do with an update as the blanks were developed about 30 years ago. The spliced tip version would be a definite no if you are looking to stop the occasional high double but the SU version may be ok but is only available in 13 & 14 ft. If you are looking for something a bit special the Hardy supero's are very nice and often come up second hand. The Guru Aventus rods are also pretty special as are some of the top end Daiwa's and Browning's, I would also not discount Tri-cast as they make some very good float rods that would suit your purpose. Then you have the rare stuff like Rive RC range and the top end colmics but good luck getting your hands on one of those

What about the Hardy torrix rods ?

 

[nejohn]

What about the Hardy torrix rods ?

Do you mean Harrison Torrix rods ? If so they would certainly not be my choice for float fishing at close range. Personally I would choose a rod that was good for the majority of fish that I was likely to catch rather than the largest fish that was in the lake as the chances of catching the odd big fish are much less than the chances of catching one of the average sizes fish. If your main quarry would be tench and smaller carp with the slight chance of a large carp coming along then a carp rod would be the wrong choice. For me it is far better to match it with what you are more likely to catch and if a larger fish does come along then deal with it by taking your time. Personally for what you describe in your OP I would definitely suggest a float rod of some description and a pellet Waggler type rod would fit the bill as it would deal with the odd large fish if they came along

 

[johnfranks]

I use a Maver MVR 12ft pellet waggler, had carp up to 14lbs on it no problem. Think I paid 49 quid for it new.

 

[Zerkalo]

I have the Maver MVR 12' Pellet rod too but when I want something more stepped up I use my Grey's TXL 1.25lb Twin Tip. I'd be looking at something like that, one of the specialist rods about that test curve for snag fishing for big fish.