New Maver Apocalypse pole just the job for the novice

Pole anglers in the UK have never had it so good when it comes to the extraordinary choice of well-built yet affordable tools at their disposal.

This indisputable fact was further emphasised this week when I got my hands on Maver’s new Apocalypse 13m pole and put it through its paces at a local fishery stuffed full of hard-fighting carp. 

With an asking price of a penny under three hundred quid (and that includes a spares package of three power top kits), this exceedingly robust pole would make the perfect companion for the would-be commercial pole angler. And unlike many other beginners’ or entry level poles, this new Maver creation retains enough stiffness and rigidity even when used at its full length to make it an enjoyable and easy fishing experience.

Okay, so it isn’t the stiffest pole you will ever own, but it is light and unproblematic to handle, it ships back and forth readily, and most importantly of all, it has the strength and resilience to cope with any overly-exuberant handling techniques that can, and do, occur when you are learning how to polefish. Indeed, the flexibility of the pole will allow for the odd mishap, without everything ending in tears, tantrums, and splintered sections.

By utilising a mixture of differing grades of carbon in the construction process, Maver has not only been able to create an ultra-strong pole that will withstand the odd knock and bump, it also has more than enough wall strength in each of its nine sections to withstand the rigours of the most hectic of ‘bag-up’ commercial hauling sessions.

Traditional pole ‘weak spots’, such as those often found on the end of the section joints, have all been given extra reinforcement. Plus, and this is a really nice touch on an entry-level pole, each of the sections has been clearly marked with an alignment arrow that ensures the pole is always assembled with the build spine correctly in position, meaning that the pole is always being used at its stiffest.

Elasticating the pole is easy enough even for a novice. To rig-up the three sectioned match kits, the easiest way is to simply remove the telescopic tip from the second section and fit a size 4 Maver Match This internal PTFE into the end. The section is just about long enough to be fitted with a small bung and used on its own with lighter elastic set-ups up to around a No10. Or, for much heavier set-ups that might be needed for commercial carping, the second section can be used in conjunction with the third, with the elastic threaded through both.

The two-piece power top-2 kits that are supplied with the pole will all need a little bit of trimming back. The easiest way is just to trim them to the same length as the match kit second section. If done this way, all three of the spare kits will be roughly the same length. If you really wanted to use a beefed-up size 20 hollow-type elastic, you will need to cut the second section of a power kit back even further until it takes at least an internal size six 4.2mm bush. The pole should be able to handle bigger elastics of this size, you will just need to take things a little bit slower and be a little more careful when undoing the sections.

Just a few hours’ fishing on a gloriously autumnal day convinced me that the Maver Apocalypse is one the very best poles for a newcomer that I have ever handled. Stiff and light enough to be used all day long at 13m without any problems, the section wall strength provides the user with massive confidence in the pole’s ability to handle just about anything that swims.