Short light rod for river fishing from a boat

[Silverfisher]

I sometimes fish the Thames from my 16 by 3 foot ish inflatable but have yet to really find a suitable rod for the job. Swinging around anything over 10ft is a no go so initially got the tv gear 8-10ft all rounder which turns out makes a good feeder rod but is more like an Avon rod with the float top so that now mostly been confined to normal fishing from the bank. In the mean time I’ve been using an 8ft Korum snapper drop shot rod that is obviously light and has a ok ish action for casting floats and even tiny feeders but is a bit short.

I’ve been looking at 10ft float rods and only really found the JW mirage which is almost worryingly cheap and the tf gear compact commercial which I’m concerned will be a bit heavy like the allrounder with the float top although that may not be the case. There’s the Daiwa ninja but again assume that would be too heavy.

Another idea that came into my head was to try one of the 9ft ish picker or f1 type rods as they maybe ok for both flicking a float and small feeders.

Basically looking for guidance on the float rod options and whether the picker idea is sensible or mad and if not the worst idea any recombinations.

Thanks

 

[Freesolo82]

Sorry can't offer any advice but am interested on your experiences fishing like this, have you caught much? I have seen people in the US lure fishing from a inflatable but never float or feeder. The stretch of the Nene @ Oundle that I fish has a boat/canoe club and you get a lot of traffic in the summer but never seen anyone fishing

 

[Sam Vimes]

After looking for similar for a while, I recently bought a battered 13' spliced tip stick rod to cut down for a beck rod. Even that probably leaves me with a rod that's a smidgen too long for your purpose. I've previously used an 11' Drennan Matchpro Ultralight (better as a waggler rod) and an 11' Drennan Acolyte Ultra.

The one thing that did catch my eye, whilst looking about for a short trotting rod, was the Darent Valley 8ft Specialist Quiver. I make no claims for it as I've never even seen one in the flesh. However, give the description a read before dismissing the notion out of hand. With that second tip being rung for float fishing, it may be right up your street. I would have taken a punt on it if it had been two feet longer and had a screw down reel seat rather than screw up.

 

[DFL]

A 10ft Drennan Puddle Chucker?

 

[Guy Incognito]

Would a Browning CK F1 Wand Rod 8ft be suitable?

Rick

 

[Silverfisher]

Thanks for the replies.

I think the 8ft options wouldn't be much of an improvement on the korum I use at the moment so think id be looking more in the 9ft range for the picker/f1 type rods and 10ft for the float rods.

Sam I did think of a second hand 11ft match pro (I've used the I believe the 12ft which was brilliant) but they are just a little too expensive still to risk a broken tip. Basically the reason for 10ft ish max is that is the clearance between the furthest back rod holders and the bow.

Freesolo it's not something I've done a lot of yet as still figuring things out with the boat and gear and places to launch so thus far I've only had about half a dozen sessions in the couple years I've had it. Basically if I have a whole day free I fish from the bank like anyone else as you have the time to both relax and build a swim but if I only have a few hours I like to get the boat out to do a bit of exploring as can cover a lot more water than roving on foot. Its good for scouting out new spots to fish from the bank or just to fish those I fished spots that are in reachable from the bank. With the limited time on the water and limited gear so far I haven't set the world alight with it but have caught a fair few roach and chub to around a pound backed up with Dave and bleak, mostly on the float.

 

[Silverfisher]

Apologies for the typos I didn’t get the chance to proof read before being beckoned for dog feeding duties haha

 

[Sam Vimes]

Sam I did think of a second hand 11ft match pro (I've used the I believe the 12ft which was brilliant) but they are just a little too expensive still to risk a broken tip. Basically the reason for 10ft ish max is that is the clearance between the furthest back rod holders and the bow.

If you'll excuse the pun, you're in a similar boat to me, but with a foot less to play with. I've never found a 10' rod I was entirely happy with. the 11' Acolyte Ultra was as good as it got. I'd look out for a cheap doner rod that you don't mind taking a hacksaw to. The one I bought was in good nick bar a stinking and rat chewed cork handle. I wasn't going to do the job myself, but I braved the hacksaw and fitted the reel seat and Duplon handle, largely to save a few quid. I've made it much shorter than the majority of commercially available float rod handles, 46cm overall and 34cm behind the reel seat. The handle looks like the illegitimate offspring of a Daiwa Armlock and Browning Sphere. I'm just left to fit a butt cap and have the rings respaced and whipped by someone that knows what they are doing!

 

[Silverfisher]

That could well be an option. I'd like to have a feel of some of the picker rods, seems likely browning or garbelino, to see how light they are and possibly the browning micro waggler, daiwa ninja and maver reality float rods for the same reason. A trip to somewhere like angling direct might be in order as they are as likely to have them as anywhere. I'm not looking for anything near perfect as basically what I'm after doesn't exist, just trying to find something close that'll do the job a bit better than I have at the moment.

 

[Sam Vimes]

One rod does come to mind, if you can find one (it has been discontinued). The Garbolino Altima Match 10'. Some places seem to have renamed them as Carp Waggler rods in an effort to shift them, but that's not what they were known as initially. It's a smidge more through actioned than my ideal trotting rod. However, it's not as beefy or through actioned as a "Carp Waggler" name might suggest. If you aren't looking for perfection, it might do a job for you.

 

[Silverfisher]

I'll take a look at that.

The browning micro wagglers which comes in 9 or 10 foot look quite promising, might have to do a specific post on them to see if anyone has any experience of them. They are quite reasonable around the £55-65 but I would wait until after Christmas anyway in case there's the usual discounts at AD and bobco etc, every little helps and all that!

 

[nejohn]

The Greys Toreon in 10'6 might be worth a look, I had a very quick waggle of all of the range and the felt OK, not to powerful but a little to through actioned for me, but that is just personal taste

Greys Toreon Tactical Rods

Greys Toreon Tactical Rods in stock & Delivery, A range of float rods to suit every serious coarse float angler. The family features rods that allow you to fish smaller rivers and canals right up to the biggest still

www.bobcotackle.co.uk

 

[trotter2]

I had a John Wilson 10ft float rod at one point it was ok did the job,probably not as good as an acolyte ultra but at the price it was given away.
Better than you think at the price I would honestly say. Have a look at one .I used it for small fish Dace,grayling roach on smaller rivers and ponds.

 

[Silverfisher]

Think the Toreon is a little too pricey at the 10ft 6 length, only going cheap at 13ft it seems, especially if the action is as suspected.

The Wilson is an interesting one as his Avon quiver is a brilliant rod worth more than it’s sold for so if it’s the same for the float then it could be interesting, would like to think he didn’t put his name to rubbish. Both it and the browning micro Wagglers do seems the more delicate options than say the daiwa ninja and maver reality so are more appealing.

 

[oldmanriver]

I'll take a look at that.

The browning micro wagglers which comes in 9 or 10 foot look quite promising, might have to do a specific post on them to see if anyone has any experience of them. They are quite reasonable around the £55-65 but I would wait until after Christmas anyway in case there's the usual discounts at AD and bobco etc, every little helps and all that!

No need to start a specific post on them. I have the CK 10ft F1 Micro waggler and CK 7ft F1 Tickler ( added extra modified quiver tip into swing tip carrier). Both rods great for winter silvers in tight pegs. Cheap enough but good enough for important occasional use.

 

[Silverfisher]

That sounds promising, it does sound like the 10ft is lighter than the 9ft so probably is the logical option. 9ft would be easier to fit in the boat but 10ft better in action and that would be the most important thing.

 

[Silverfisher]

Interestingly just discovered the ninja is slightly lighter than the micro waggler blank weight wise, browning doesn’t give any line ratings though so is a little difficult to tell which rod is likely to be lighter action wise. Can probably find a ninja to have waggle of then can decide if it’s worth taking a punt on the browning that I’m leaning towards at the moment.

 

[Silverfisher]

Maver reality is apparently lighter again, getting harder to make a decision as I go here lol

 

[andypet]

Have a look at the 10ft Free Spirit Coarse rods. They start from 9ft and go to 12ft. There's a CFX range and a Hi-S range.

 

[Arry]

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-...0001&campid=5338007792&icep_item=142475279214
there you go... cheap as chips... looks nice too