Tri-Cast Venom Pro Competition 14m
PAY AROUND
£829.99
Owners of Tri-Cast rods and poles don’t just see them just as fishing tools, but as trusted companions on the bank. Indeed, one of my office colleagues has used an Arrowlite carp rod for nigh on 20 years for his margin fishing, and still reckons there isn’t a rod to touch it. That’s loyalty for you.
So I’ve little doubt that Tri-Cast’s latest 14m Venom pole will soon attract an army of starry-eyed followers. After all, the company specialises in the manufacture of composite tubular products (including poles), and is acknowledged as the European market leader in this field.
I wouldn’t claim to know diddly-squat about the scientific side of Tri-Cast’s business – in any case, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that it’s classified information. But one thing I do know is that working with carbons and resins on a daily basis puts the company – the only one in England to actually manufacture carbon rods and poles – right at the cutting edge of material development. That’s why its products improve year by year without fail.
Yes, many moons ago some anglers felt that Tri-Cast poles were overly heavy and a tad unforgiving. But the weight issue, which may once have held water, is an issue no more. These days Tri-Cast poles measure up in all departments to their non-home-grown competitors, and the new 14m Venom Pro Competition is a classic example.
This pole combines high modulus carbon fibre cloths with newly developed resins, resulting in a lightweight, poker-stiff and super-powerful tool. Handily, it shares its top section mandrel with the Iconic Pro and Trilogy Pro 2 models, meaning all the top kits are interchangeable – a very handy feature.
Tri-cast says that the Venom Pro Competition will handle ‘anything that swims on a commercial fishery’. Well, that’s a bold claim to make, but if you discount the occasional matchman in possession of a 25-yards certificate who accidentally performs a backward-facing platform dive, it’s probably not far off the mark. The Venom Pro is said to accommodate everything from skimmers and F1s right through to the largest carp.
That would make it Ronseal in a pole holdall, so to ensure that it could indeed do ‘exactly what it says on the tin’ a trip to a well-stocked commercial was in order. Where better than Peterborough’s Decoy Lakes? On the day of the live test, despite a bitterly cold easterly wind to contend with, anglers were out in force – a sure sign that spring was just around the corner.
Assembling the 10-sectioned Tri-Cast Venom, I couldn’t fail to notice the exceptional wall strength and generous joint reinforcement – forgiving of the occasional user slip-up, but giving no quarter to big, bruising carp.
I had fitted the pole with hollow size 10 elastic, strong enough to handle Decoy’s feisty carp and barbel, but the Venom will actually take a size 20-plus. Its fish-playing action is relentless, and spreads through the top three sections. The pole seems pretty much impervious to windy conditions, and you can safely throw your shoulder into a fish knowing it won’t let you down.
At its full length its stiffness makes hitting fast bites or fishing up in the water an easy business. But what it does best of all is land fish quickly. It’s a bully boy rather than an all-rounder, yet it’s not overly heavy or difficult to manoeuvre. It does exactly what Tri-Cast says it will – handle anything that swims in a commercial fishery.
