Colmic Force H1 Slim Margin Pole
PAY AROUND
£199.99
Walking the vast halls of this year’s Big One show, one pole grabbed my attention more than any other – the Colmic Force H1 Slim.
At first glance I thought it was a super-long landing net handle, so thin was the diameter of the butt section. When top match angler Jamie Masson told me it was actually a margin pole, I had to check to make sure it wasn’t April Fools’ Day.
The slim profile of the 10m Force H1 is indeed thinner than some landing net poles I’ve used in the past, but Jamie was keen to stress the raw power that this pole packed.
Picking one up and having a waggle it felt light, well balanced and perfectly usable as a pole for fishing open water at short range as well as being a tool for margin monsters.
But how has Colmic managed it? We think that Continental tackle manufacturers don’t have a clue about gear needed for the UK but the Italian company has some of the best British commercial carp anglers on the case including Mr Masson and Parkdean Masters champion Jamie Wilde. Forget a lightweight pole that will fold in half at the first sign of a carp. The H1 is built to do one thing – stop a double-figure carp in its tracks.
Made from full carbon using Colmic’s Pro Force technology with titanium reinforcement in all the right areas, you just know that the pole won’t give at the crucial moment and I couldn’t wait to get cracking with it! In readiness for the warmer summer weather a pole was despatched for testing and geared up with some serious elastic.
Just handling the pole gives you confidence, as each section has a solid feel about it with little give under pressure. It looks and feels strong.
Heading to Westwood Lakes’ Kingfisher Lake, at full length the H1 put me within striking distance of the platform next door, flanked by lush reeds in around 2ft 6ins of water.
Now the pole isn’t light at 10m and nor should it be. This is an out-and-out power pole with plenty of weight to back up its strength, but how many times do you fish at this range in the margins? Not often, and around half that length often suffices. At 6m the pole is very light and manageable.
Nor is it a poker. True, there is a lot of stiffness, but the super-strong Power top kit has enough flex in it to prevent breakage when a big carp runs, and there’s enough bend to hit sharp bites quickly, but not so much that it wobbles like a diving board at the local pool.
The provided top kit is pre-bushed and features a side puller system, while inside the pole is a Match kit that can easily be turned into a Power kit by throwing away the slim No1 section. There is no cupping kit, so perhaps that Match kit may need sacrificing to make one.
Fishing big baits like double worm and corn, the lake produced carp and also big bream and tench – a very different proposition which the pole handled superbly. At no point did it bend alarmingly and leave me wondering if Colmic had any spare sections in stock owing to an imminent explosion of carbon.
The only negative I can think of is that you’ll have to shell out for extra top kits but in all honesty, one kit is enough for fishing the edge and the pole also comes with a short extension to fish that little bit further out.
Fish with the H1 and there’s no creaking or straining of the sections when a fish is hooked – this power pole laughs at big carp and then gives them a big cosh over the head.
VERDICT
I’ve handled many poles claiming to be powerful down the years but nothing comes close to the H1. It’s well made, impressively strong but still light and very, very fishable. Confidence in fishing cannot be bought, so they say, but having this pole in your bag when the time comes to fish the margins will go a long way towards giving you that in spades!
Mark Sawyer
