Maver Invincible 215 14.5m pole

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Invincible 215 13m RRP £799.99, SSP £599.99
onInvincible 215 14.5m RRP £935, SSP £699.99

NEVER before have so many power poles been available to those fishing commercials – then again, the carp in most fisheries of this type aren’t exactly wasting away.

So Maver’s launch of the third generation of its Invincible pole at the recent Big One tackle show was understandably well received. Me? I couldn’t wait to get out on the bank to see just how well the 14.5m version (it’s also available at 13m) would shape up against some quite literally stiff opposition.

The original Invincible, which I live tested about eight years ago, was as strong as an ox… except for the top kits, which didn’t always stand up to the strain. Maver, of course, addressed that problem with the introduction of high performance Powerlite Power kits, which come ready-slotted and bushed for use with the Invincible 215.

These will take more stick than Tony Blair at a WI meeting, and for my money they rank right up there among the best top kits available.

As for the live test, as luck would have it we have a fishery not a million miles from the Angling Times office which is spot-on for use with this type of pole. The day-ticket Kingsland Reservoir, just outside the outside the village of Coates in Cambridgeshire, is home to some proper units. As man-made lakes go, this one is deep, very deep in fact, which means that the fish are most easily targeted in the margins.

However, once the sun comes out they also really enjoy being up in the warmer water, and like all commercial carp they are hugely attracted by the sound of pellets hitting water. Love or loathe this tactic, it does make them highly susceptible to a spot of furtive dobbing. Okay, I agree, it’s definitely not cricket, but I defy any match angler to tell me he hasn’t dropped a bait on the nose of the odd cruiser at some time… enough said!

It doesn’t take an awful lot of skill to pick out the larger specimens, and as long as you single out a fish that is swimming away from you, so it can’t see either the pole or the baithanging from it, plonk a bait just in front of it and it’s pretty much odds-on it’ll get snaffled.

The problem with dobbed fish from an angler’s point of view is the shock factor –a hooked fish reacts with lightning speed, running hard and fast and putting immense strain on your kit. Elastics, rigs and of course the pole itself all need to be up to the job. Maver’s bright orange 12-20 Hollow elastic is great for taming big fish in open water – it has a nice soft starting point but powers up quickly when you need it to, at the net.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that elastic of this diameter could be fitted into the Powerlite top kit without cutting it back. This, matched with a 0.17mm hooklength and heavy-duty size 16 hook, I was confidenty would handle just about anything that swims.

So what of the Invinclibe, which will set you back just a penny under £700 of your hard-earned? Well, for a serious power pole it’s not poker-stiff or particularly quick at it tip, and I found it much easier on the back muscles at 13m than at its full 14.5m.

Those minor points aside, it’s one hell of a whopper-stopper. The extra weight oozes strength and stability, especially when it’s being fished in a side wind. The joints are tougher than reinforced rhino hide, while the section walls offer more support than Madonna’s pointy bra.

Maver has got this pole absolutely spot-on. It will graft all day like a shire horse, but unlike those gentle giants you won’t need to feed it when the sun goes down.