Middy Muscle-Tech 1150 Precision Carp
This tackle editor has learnt that when Middy calls to tell you about its latest tasty bit of kit – in this case the new Muscle-Tech 1150 Precision Carp pole – it pays to sit up and take notice.
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So, when the new postie threw the aforementioned item on to my desk with a resounding thud, I never feared for one moment that I’d open the tube to find shattered shards of carbon. If anything, my desk would be the injured party.
Sure enough, no damage at all, and no surprises considering the pole employs the new T-Core
anti-shatter technology. It’s as tough as boots, yet surprisingly light for a power pole weighing just 675g at 10.3m and rated to a pec-popping size 20 elastic.
Reinforced section joints, and top kits with reinforced carbon side puller wraps on the second and third sections, further add to the pole’s impressive credentials.
You get a Power 2 kit in the pole and another as standard, with a bonus cupping kit. A Precision F1 2 kit is available separately to fish at a precise 10m length – all top kits fitting on to the third section.
Middy claims its Muscle-Tech has a balance ratio of 17.6 Newtons, which I have no reason to doubt. The only Newton I know anything about is Sir Isaac, who had an apple fall on his head while the tree was being whacked for windfalls by some 17th Century Sawyer with a pole…
Seriously, though, I know Middy has invested a lot of research and development in this pole and is rightly proud of it. So where to live-test the new Muscle-Tech?
Few commercials can boast fish as weighty and numerous as Decoy’s Oak strip lake. One of their favourite tricks is to launch themselves up the lake at the speed of a cat with a banger up its behind, resulting more often than not in broken line, elastic, pole and dreams. I had, though, kitted the pole out with Middy’s Reactacore Hollow elastic, the yellow Saturn size 14-18... hellishly strong, soft at the hook-up stage, but gradually tightening up the more it’s stretched – brilliant.
The new Muscle-Tech soon accounted for a netful of huge fish (see image) that had often been written off as irresistible forces or immovable objects.
Verdict:
If you're in the market for a super-dependable commercial carp pole, then definitely have a close look at Middy’s latest Muscle-Tech 1150 Precision Carp pole. I guarantee you’ll be glad you did.
It’s easy and comfortable to handle, and much lighter and stiffer than you might expect for an out-and-out power pole.
An adequate, though not extensive, spares package gives you a couple of tactical options.
Price: £499.99
Matrix Torque Carp 8.5m Margin Pole Review
A good margin pole always earns its keep on commercial fisheries.
True, it may not see sunlight that often but when the occasion demands, gearing up with an out-and-out brute of a tool will give you something no amount of money, good pegs or pristine bait can – confidence!
Matrix bills its new Torque Carp Margin model as being incredibly strong. After punishing tests on big-weight UK fisheries it’s come through with flying colours.
Measuring 8.5m long with the included Strike mini section fitted, the Torque is long enough for most margin situations where the fish may put some distance between themselves and you. It’s rated to a fearful 20-plus elastic and gets its power from the ultra-durable cross-layered carbon sections used in its construction. This effectively locks in the strength, resulting in sections that won’t creak or budge and inch when you put your shoulder into the fight.
Its supplied Power top kit has an enlarged ceramic side puller slot that’ll take thick hollow elastics with ease. A large tip bore means no cutting back is needed, and the Torque weighs just 490g at 8m, making it perfectly manageable when fished for two or three hours solid. Last but not least, the price is a bit of a snip!
The enduring heatwave might be a bit too much for river fishing but it couldn’t be better for commercials, with big weights aplenty being caught from the margins all around the country.
Magpie Lake at Rookery Waters, near Huntingdon, is one such venue in fine form – so it didn’t take long to pick it as a test venue.
Gearing up with the recently-released Matrix Slik elastic in the 14-16 yellow grade through the top kit, I reckoned a pot of corn and pellet would soon get the carp climbing up the pole. As I poked a rig just inches away from a thick bed of reeds at the full 8.5m length the Torque did feel heavy compared to a lighter match pole, but that’s the nature of the beast.
It’s very stiff, though, with no bounce when shipping out. That means no spillages if you are using a small pot on the tip for feeding, and no annoying tangles when you get halfway out into the swim. Don’t lie, we’ve all been there before!
There’s a lovely finish on all sections to help with shipping and unshipping... full marks so far.
Fish number one was a small stockie mirror that didn’t put up much of a scrap, but the quick bite did show the rapid response of the Torque when hitting sharp dips on the float. It’s as quick as match pole, and that’s impressive for such a powerful beast.
Next drop, a 4lb common was dragged from the reeds in quick time. This was what I’d been waiting for – I didn’t hold back and heaved like billy-o to put maximum pressure on the pole.
It bends nicely (unlike some very powerful poles where a lack of flex can cause them to break), allowing the elastic to do the work while absorbing each run and lunge.
There’s a very ‘solid’ feel to the Torque, which harks back to that confidence I talked about earlier.
I was in no doubt that I could pile more pressure on if need be, and the fish enjoyed a view of the landing net within mere minutes.
Half a dozen more similar-sized fish followed, along with a few stockies, and I was now into the swing of things, knowing how much hammer I could give the pole. The answer – if you ever doubted it – is a lot.
The ultimate test came when I hooked a big carp somewhere other than in the mouth. It charged off at breakneck speed and it was all I could do to hold the pole steady and trust in its strength and power to stop Mr Carp in his tracks. It did, too, resulting in that familiar foul-hooked sideways waggle as the fish was unable to muster any more power against the might of the Torque.
Yes, the hook pulled out of the tail at the net but by now I’d seen and felt enough of the Torque to know it’s going to be a winner!
Our verdict: The size of fish in commercials now warrants a proper margin pole if you’re serious about your fishing, and I reckon Matrix is on to a winner with the Torque.
It’s supremely strong, yet doesn’t fish like a broom handle, and is long enough to reach where you want to be on most pegs. The price is attractive too and won’t be money wasted when a bit of edge bagging rolls round every summer!
Price: £189.99
preston innovations 8.5m Response Margin pole review
Spurred on by the continuing success of its iconic Response poles, Preston Innovations has extended the range to include a new 8.5m Response Margin, the subject of this week’s live test.
This Response beauty comes with two spare pre-bushed, Roller Pulla Power top kits, and together with the one that comes inside the pole, these provide enough flexibility to tackle most margin scenarios.
The pole, which Preston claims to be the highest-grade margin model it has ever produced, uses the same super-high modulus Japanese carbon cloth as the three longer Response poles and, rather handily, the top kits all interchange. This is great news, particularly if you’re already a Response owner.
The new 8.5m Response Margin, though, is obviously a fair bit more ‘robust’ than its longer stablemates. It’s more in its comfort zone subduing angry match-winning margin munters than it is sacking on silvers.
As you might expect of a top-end power carp pole, the carbon cloth from which it is built is applied in a totally different way from its less gutsy amigos. That means added linear power, awesome section wall strength and reinforced, super-reliable joints.
Built like a tank it may well be, but it certainly doesn’t handle like one. It’s as nimble as a sports car, with a fair turn of handling speed courtesy of its superb easy-slide finish.
I chauffeured the pole up to Miracle Baits boss Steve Gregory’s super-popular Rushfield Lakes complex near Lincoln where, pulling into the car park late on a Monday afternoon, I was amazed to find the big fish-dominated Horsehoe Lake angler-free, giving me carte blanche on peg choice.
The downside of such situations is that everything with fins descends on your bait, rather than the just the targeted big fish.
So with this in mind I rigged up with a hard 8mm hard pellet on a hair-rigged lasso, to try and deter the ravenous mini hordes.
Despite my efforts, Plan A failed abysmally as everything from rampant roach to marauding micro carp swarmed around any feed that went in… foulers rubbed fins with fish that didn’t look big enough to tackle an 8mm hard pellet, and it drove me potty.
A change to two big pieces of worm merely served to encourage wasp-sized perch, which had stayed out of the way but now joined in the feeding fiasco. Then, out of nowhere, my half-hearted swipe at yet another sideways movement of the float saw the No14 Preston Hollo elastic disappear from the pole-tip at a rate of knots – so fast, in fact, that I’d have bet on another foul-hooker. Not until the elastic had all but bottomed out did I realise the Response had barely any curve in it. It was as stress and strain-free as a dormouse on tranquillisers as it and I battled what seemed to be a double-figure carp.
The lightness, agility and all-round pleasing handling belied the awesome stopping power packed by this poker-like 8.5m pole.
How big that fish was I will never know – as is often the case with foulers, at the point when I started stripping elastic from the Roller Pulla top kit my unseen opponent made a bid for freedom, and the hook pulled. However, it had provided me with enough of an insight to tell that the latest Response is, as Preston claims, by far the best it has ever produced.
As the evening progressed, a few more proper fish were duly hooked the old-fashioned way – in the mouth – and netted within a few seconds, proving that Preston’s latest carbon offering is not a pole to be messed with.
Our Verdict:
The 8.5m Preston Response Margin is a quite outstanding margin pole, offering everything you’ve come to expect in the way of fish-stopping power, super-tough section walls, and reliably smooth anti-ovalling joints – not to mention an easy-slide finish and top-notch handling. Well balanced, light and rigid, with an ultra-responsive tip speed, it feels quite unlike your normal margin pole.
If you already own an M50, M70 or M90 you’d be mad not to have the Response Margin in your holdall to tackle snag pits and big brawling fish.
Price: £269.99
FRENZEE PRECISION FXT 6E POLE Review
I had two very good reasons for wanting to get Frenzee’s new flagship pole in my sights.
Having live tested the awesome powerhouse FXT Edge pole a couple of seasons ago, then handled the original 16m Frenzee Precision FXT long pole, I was keen to pinpoint any improvements made.
Equally important to me, my old Essex County team mate Jon Whincup, a man with more big match wins under his belt than Alex Ferguson, has been banging on about how damn good the new FXT 6E is. He recently wielded one brilliantly to brush aside a very talented Decoy winter league field, myself included!
So arrangements were made to live test the Precision FXT 6E at Decoy’s fish-stuffed Six Islands Lake. However, rather than ask Frenzee to send along a shiny new pole, I thought it would be much more interesting to get the man himself to come along with his well-used example and talk me through why he thinks it’s the bee’s knees. He did, after all, have plenty of input into its design.
Okay, I hear you say, as a sponsored Frenzee angler surely Mr Whincup is bound to sing the pole’s praises. Fair comment!
However, this quietly spoken and very modest giant of a man, who has trousered more match winnings in a single season than anyone else in the history of our sport, wouldn’t use anything he wasn’t 100 per cent satisfied with, and much the same can be said for all the top boys!
Plenty of banter set the tone of the test. Which one of the seven dwarfs was the height my seatbox set for? Then, of course, ‘Whinny’ just had to single out the only pole rig in my entire box with a bent stemmed float and a slightly dodgy hook.
This was always the Essex County way – everything perfect, nothing left to chance. Jon had lost none of his perfectionism.
He told me that significant improvements in wall strength have been made to all the butt sections, which I know first-hand cannot be ovalled or squashed in the hand – basically they are bullet-proof.
This does increase the overall weight, but there’s a case to be made for slightly heavier poles performing better in the wind, as they are inherently more stable.
However, the new FXT 6E is pleasingly crisp and responsive at its tip-end, making easy work of connecting with fast bites and controlling short line rigs, even at its longest lengths.
The super-slick finish kicks in from its third section, helping to slide the pole through the hands faster than a soapy stoat.
Precision marker points, equally spaced along every section from the fifth downwards, definitely make it easier to judge fishing and feeding distances. Another big plus point is the ‘one top kit does it all’ side-fitted Eeze Glide arrangement. This certainly helps to simplify which elastics to carry.
That said, it’s also worth noting that the new light-coloured ‘Stubby’ No1 kits that fit on to the second sections are also available. These pre-bushed 3.2mm, 4.3mm and 5.2mm tips provide you with a wickedly stiff top kit that’s just the ticket for F1s and big carp alike.
Our Verdict:
Clearly, this is a pole for all seasons, built to last and able to withstand as much punishment as you care to dish out.
A bagger’s delight, it’s every bit as much at home being used at its shorter lengths to plunder nearside cover for margin munters as it is splashing shallow rigs for F1s up in the water.
Actual lengths are on the generous side – 13.1m (13m stated), 14.8m (14.5m) and 16.5m (16m). Weights are 1,055g, 1,305g and 1,520g respectively.
For my money, it’s more of a top-end commercial pole. However, as Mr Whincup was quick to point out, he’s won plenty of silver fish matches using his.
Price: £2,799
browning xitan advance 716L 16m pole review
Browning's third generation flagship Xitan Z16L pole is a bit special – hardly surprising, considering that the Xitan range (starting in 2008 with the Z3 and Z4 models) has been a pace-setter ever since.
The company was the first to introduce long butt sections, pre-cut and bushed top kits (and top-kit package choices) – not to mention factory-fitted side pullers.
Now, anglers in the upper echelons of match fishing tend to stick with their favourite make of pole… or rod, or reel, for that matter. I have half-a-dozen or so mates who all own Xitan poles. They love them to bits, catch loads of fish with them, and rarely break sections in the process. They think these poles are brilliant, and nearly all these characters have upgraded their Xitans every time a new model appears.
I was lucky enough to have a quick waggle with a prototype Advance Z16L late last year when I visited Browning’s Bremen factory, and for my own reasons I was desperate to get out on the bank with the finished product. Here’s why...
Let’s not pull any punches here, this is a top-end flagship pole costing around three grand, not cheap by anyone’s reckoning. But here’s the rub. Browning already has a top-end flagship pole in the Sphere Zero, that I rate as one of the top three poles in the world today. The Sphere is a bit dearer than the latest Xitan, but not by much. So I was intrigued to find out how, if at all, the two flagship poles differ.
As far as top kit, spare and short fourth sections and mini extensions go, both come with more than enough to divvy up among your friends. The real clue to how and why these two exceptional poles are completely separate entities became apparent even before I wet a line.
It just so happened that I had a Sphere Zero pole in the car with me as I pulled into Steve Gregory’s Rushfield Lakes car park. Putting this, and the Xitan, together, it’s apparent they are built on completely different mandrels.
As for performance, the Xitan Advance Z16L would make a perfect all-rounder but is the ultimate pole for commercial carp fishing. Its long sections impart a real feel of sturdiness, enhanced when you fit the square-sectioned ergonomic pole protector.
It’s also clear that Browning has used the experience gained from developing the Sphere to make the Z16L significantly lighter and stiffer than any previous model, without sacrificing any of the strength and reliability that Xitan poles are renowned for.
The Z16L is a true length 16m pole without the need for mini-extensions or extra-long top kits to reach its full length. With its pole protector fitted it measures 16.7m, and, with further extensions available, that can go up to 18m.
The Z16L package also includes a radical new multi-length top kit design, which allows the same kit to be used as a conventional 2.6m two-piece item or as a one-piece kit of 1.95m – perfect for F1s, fishing shallow or when using short elastics for silver fish.
Even when taking the one-piece route the pole still reaches a true 16m. The pre-bushed and side puller fitted Multikit it comes with is an ultra-stiff top kit that should meet your every need in the elastic department.
Our Verdict: On the day, I handed the Xitan Z16L Advance over to Steve Gregory, a Sheffield lad who has caught as many big carp on a pole as anyone you’ll ever meet. He certainly doesn’t mess about!
I left him while I had a walk round the lake, all the while keeping an eye on what he was doing with the precious Xitan.
His verdict on the pole couldn’t have been better if he’d owned and fished with a Xitan for years, and was just what others had told me: “Brilliant!”
Price: £2,999 (16m UK set)
Daiwa’s new Yank ‘n’ Bank Pro Power pole review
Spurred on by the success of its iconic Yank ‘n’ Bank rods and poles, Daiwa has extended the range.
Among several new items, the 14.5m Pro Power Pole is the subject of this week’s live test. It comes with enough spare top kits to cover every commercial fishery scenario and is built around the same fast-taper mandrel as the new 13m Power Yank ‘n’ Bank pole, with sections that fully interchange with the current 9.5m Yank ‘n’ Bank model.
The Pro Power pole is designed to be that little bit more robust than its stablemates and is built from the same high-modulus carbon fibre cloths as many of Daiwa’s far more expensive poles.
However, the cloth from which it is cut has different specifications to give added power and awesome section wall and joint strengths.
Built like a tank it may be, but it certainly doesn’t handle like one – it’s as nimble as a sports car, with a fair turn of handling pace.
I discovered that and much more while testing the pole at Miracle Baits boss Steve Gregory’s super-popular Rushfield Lakes complex – although with the car’s temperature gauge reading minus two, it was never going to be an easy day. Ice was forming at an alarming pace across the surface of Canal Lake and I found my confidence rapidly ebbing away.
However, this L-shaped lake is jam-packed with fighting-fit carp, which put up a devilish scrap even in the coldest of water conditions.
I rigged up with a 6mm disc of punched bread set to fish at dead depth in the deepest water – no feed, just the hookbait.
Just to make things even more interesting, it started snowing (that Beast from the East again!).
Luckily, before hypothermia could disable me, the float gave a little waggle and disappeared from sight. Oh joy! With a lightly-set No8 hollow elastic streaming from the pole-tip, the fish charged straight underneath the ice.
I was reminded of something my Angling Times predecessor Dave Woodmansey once wrote – he described a carp pole as having ‘enough pulling power to drag a snarling Alsatian from its kennel’. This time around it was a very angry carp that needed extraction.
Playing a decent fish underneath ice will exert an awful lot of stress on a pole. You need to keep piling on the pressure, but you can’t see where the elastic is going – all you know is, you need to keep it and your rig line well away from the razor-sharp edges of that ice.
At this point you learn the strengths and limitations of a pole. And I can happily report that the new Yank ‘n’ Bank Pro Power does exactly what the name suggests.
Should you have a recalcitrant Alsatian that needs dragging out of its kennel, get yourself a Yank ‘n’ Bank Pro, tie some hefty elastic to the dog’s collar, and give it go. Trust me, the dog will move first!
Price: Expect to pay around £765
Our Verdict: the 14.5m Pro Power is a chip off the old Yank ‘n’ Bank block. It has many of the build qualities of its thoroughbred Daiwa stablemates, and it comes with a more than handy selection of top kits and accessories. All this makes it an outstanding one-stop commercial weapon, quite capable of delivering a super power play performance both down the margins and at longer range.
Drennan Acolyte Pro pole 16m Review
After four successful years as Drennan’s best-selling flagship pole ever, the Acolyte hands the reins to the Acolyte Pro.
The newcomer, designed from the ground up, will handle everything from carp and F1 bagging on commercials to whipping out silverfish on natural lakes, rivers and canals.
Five-times World Champ Alan Scotthorne has been heavily involved in its development, as indeed he was with its predecessor, and with more than 12 months of rigorous field-testing on every conceivable pole venue, you can rest assured the new Pro won’t disappoint.
The changes are more significant than mere cosmetic tweaks, as can be the case with flagship models.
Like cars, poles are to some degree slaves to fashion, and some manufacturers prefer ‘go-faster stripes’ to genuine technical innovation. Not Drennan!
Advancements in carbon technology have given the Pro greater section strength and improved linear rigidity without any significant difference in overall weight at any length.
The major change, though, is the use of an updated mandrel for the No5-No11 sections of this perfectly balanced powerhouse of a pole. However, owners of the original Acolyte pole wishing to upgrade need not fret, as existing top-2, top-3 and top-4 kits will all still fit.
True, the new pole’s butt sections are fractionally wider, but less than a millimetre’s increase in diameter is barely noticeable. Drennan, in fact, says the change improves tip end recovery.
This, I have to say, was quite exceptional, as I discovered while live testing the pole on Decoy’s Six Islands Lake. Having fished with the original Acolyte I feel I can cut straight to the chase.
The Pro is a very different beast from the original. It’s a hell of a lot meaner, with improved section wall strengths coupled with hexagonal patterned reinforced joint ends. And there’s little, if any, post-strike movement.
But it’s when you hook something that pulls back a bit that you really appreciate the Acolyte Pro.
It’s downright powerful, but not in a pokey, over-gunned way. Steely strength with subtlety is what it’s all about, making it bang on the money for any UK venue you care to mention.
Our verdict: Yes, the new Acolyte Pro is another beast entirely from the original pole, but only in a good way. Teamed with lightweight Drennan A top kits, it shows superb silverfish form.
Its core of steel instils confidence in the user to take on the largest fish, and it’s more than up to commercial bagging tactics. This is Drennan’s best pole to date, perfectly combining a modern build with top-end performance, and multi-venue versatility.
Price: £2,995
Drennan D-S7 Combat Carp 14.5m pole review
THE PACKAGE
• D-S7 Combat Carp 14.5m pole (including standard Drennan top-2 kit) • Two top-2 Carp kits • Double 2 Carp kit • Double 2 Ghost Carp kit • Top 2 Cupping kit• Two reversible mini-extensions (fitting 13m and 14.5m and sections
6 and 7) • Five Roller Cones • Extractor rod
• Five Skid Bungs • EVA nose cones • 36 PTFE bushes • Six intermediate bushes • 40 Side Puller Beads • 250ml pole pot • Extra Cupping kit adaptor • Drennan Visi Case
• Drennan 4-6 tube holdall
Launched around 2003, Drennan’s Series 7 range of rods, reels and – of course – poles has become a benchmark name for classy fishing kit at affordable prices.
With superb design, quality fittings and Drennan’s deserved reputation for durability and reliability, it’s little wonder the Series 7 range is so popular.
Its designers have the happy knack of keeping their finger on the pulse of the latest tactics and reacting quickly to market trends in rods and poles – in other words, Drennan gives its customers exactly what they want, when they want it.
All this brings me nicely on to the latest member of the clan, the D-S7 Combat Carp pole – the abbreviation, obviously, stands for ‘Drennan Series 7’.
This is a modern style of pole with a true 14.5m length, ideal for bagging match carp on commercial fisheries. It does have more than one string to its bow, though, being light and responsive enough to target silver fish too.
Many manufacturers claim their poles combine equal degrees of strength and finesse, but few actually achieve this. However, the Drennan development team are experts in both areas, and having fished with the D-S7 Combat Carp at a mixed commercial fishery I wouldn’t refute their claims.
And so to the live test at Decoy, where sport at the fish-packed Willows Lake was somewhat slower than it should have been. A nasty side wind didn’t help, doing its damnedest to wreak havoc with my presentation.
This, I hasten to say, wasn’t the fault of the D-S7, which remained straighter than a fireman’s greasy pole. It was more down to the lightness of my rig, and the fact I was trying to lower it tight up against a reed bed at 14.5m on a very short line.
The odd F1 and skimmer hung itself on my hook, demonstrating the pole’s balance at full length, and a faultless shipping performance.
Even when I had to break down twice, due to lack of room and poor swim selection on my part, there was no discernible bounce, and the sections came apart easier than I would have expected with a brand-new pole.
I had also fed a margin line against the reeds, in hindsight rather too far away for comfort. However, the pole comes with two reversible mini-extensions. One, at 60cm, fits on to the end of the sixth or seventh sections and the other, at 64cm, fits on to the 13m and 14.5m sections, giving that bit of extra length when needed. I found this particularly handy when targeting that margin swim.
The pole has a more than generous selection of spares, and all its top kits are fitted with the Drennan Roller Cone side-slot puller system – in my opinion the best there is.
That spares package consists of two Double 2 Carp kits, one for use with shorter lengths of elastic and perfect for margin and up-in-the-water work, and the other with a light grey Ghost tip, also ideal for shallow water tactics.
You also get an array of skid bungs, nose cones and Roller Cone accessories, PTFE bushes, a cupping kit and cups… in fact with this package you’ll be armed with everything you need for carp combat.
Our Verdict: In my opinion by far the best pole Drennan has released in the Series 7 range. Easy to use, it’s a pleasure to fish with and would make a perfect addition to any keen club or pleasure angler’s holdall. The depth and quality of the spares package lends itself to all types of venue, and helps to make it an outstanding pole at its price.
Price: £599
Daiwa Power Carp 13m pole review
When I first heard that Daiwa was launching a 13m Power Carp pole I wasn’t sure which of its best-selling ranges it would join – Tournament, Team Daiwa, Match Winner or Yank-n-Bank.
As it turns out I was wrong on all counts. The newcomer is a stand-alone model with a very modest price tag. This puts it within reach of the newbie pole buyer who fancies a crack at some really big commercial carp, and wants to do it with a branded Daiwa pole.
This is quite a shrewd move by Daiwa, the leading seller of poles in the UK and reckoned by most discerning match anglers to make the best top-end models. Over the years I’ve lost count of the conversations I have had with people whose very first pole was a Daiwa. ‘Once a Daiwa man, always a Daiwa man (or woman)’ is not far off the mark.
So, if you choose to tread the jewel-strewn Daiwa pole path, what performance and build can you expect from this latest 13m, nine-sectioned model? Well, clearly power, strength and reliability are written large on the specification sheet.
Beefy anti-ovalling joints and super-tough sections give the impression of the pole being bulletproof. Its brawny fighting action spreads across the top five sections, leaving the angler in no doubt as to who’s in charge.
Rated to a 20 elastic, it can be used with heavy hollows and generates enough fire-power to see even the largest commercial fish wave the white flag. Having this unbridled stash of munitions at your disposal does come at a price – but in this case, not a particularly high one.
Yes, it’s undoubtedly easier to fish with at 11.5m than at 13m. But it remains reasonably well balanced and easy to handle at its full length, and there’s no hint of a droopy stick of rhubarb when all sections are put together.
A bit of post-strike bounce and wobble doesn’t interfere all that much with the pole’s action, which remains more than angler-friendly considering all that pulling power.
Weighing in at 1,250g, it isn’t the lightest power pole I’ve ever handled. You need to adopt a good firm posture on your seatbox, with the pole’s downforce weight spread over your knees or across a bump bar, then it won’t feel uncomfortably heavy.
Although the Power Carp is designed to be a cold steel ‘they don’t like it up ’em’ sort of weapon, Daiwa has been clever enough to throw in a few sweeteners – so along with all that power come pleasantries such as alignment arrows, which ensure you are always using the pole at its optimum stiffness.
Pre-bored side puller carbon reinforcements on the second sections are nice enough, although I have to say that it’s high time all Daiwa top kits came with factory-fitted side pullers as standard.
A pleasing slide-easy matt tape finish makes for speedy, painless shipping, while a super-robust mini butt comes as standard and fits into the eighth and ninth sections, giving that little bit more length if and when you need it.
Live-testing this type of pole is not always that simple – to get the best from it you need to subject it to some serious grief without actually smashing it to pieces.
However, the first couple of pegs on Decoy’s Beastie Lake are fringed by a huge bed of Norfolk reed that houses many of its largest residents. Barbel and carp abound here, and both need a fair degree of persuasion to quit their lairs.
So, rigging one of the Power top kits with a size 16 hollow elastic, and attaching a 0.18mm line and size 16 hook baited with a banded 6mm pellet, fight-time was here.
A steady stream of carp and barbel close to double figures were duly extracted with the minimum of fuss and bother, and the pole did its job faultlessly. Who could ask for more?
Our Verdict: Pretty much as its name suggests, this is a no-frills pole that won’t win any beauty contests. But then it doesn’t need to. It is what it is, a reliable branded Daiwa pole with a more than half-decent spare top kit package, at an absolute steal of a price.
Mark Sawyer
Price: £299
Browning Hyper Carp Brutale Review
Browning's 6m-long Brutale margin pole is the toughest member of the Hyper Carp family.
All are built to cope with the stresses and strains of tackling French ‘Carpdrome’ venues where the playing and landing of 20lb-plus carp on the strongest of tackle and heaviest of elastics is the name of the game.
The four-section Brutale, as its name suggests, is a proper ‘take no prisoners’ weapon, quite capable of taming the largest carp under any conditions, in any swim.
The ultra-strong pole comes ready to fish with no cutting back of the tip section required, while an unlimited elastic rating gives you some idea of its fish-stopping qualities.
For those of you that may already own a longer or higher spec Browning Hyper Carp pole, however, it’s fully section-compatible with all five of its family members.
It’s difficult to know just where to live-test a pole of this ilk – double-figure carp are more of a happy coincidence that turn up late on in matches than a regular occurrence, unless you’re a
boilie-bashing bivvy dweller.
If you fall into that category, of course, you are hardly likely to be even vaguely interested in the merits of this pole, other than to use it with great big baiting spoon attached to the end for carpet feeding the margins!
One of the best big-fish waters I know of is the Oaks strip lake on the Decoy complex. The lakebed is paved with elastic-stretching brutes averaging over 8lb, and each one you hook seems to be even angrier about it than its predecessor.
Big baits always sort out the better fish, so lowered gently into the margin went two cubes of gravy-dripping catmeat on a size 12 hook. Surely a ditch-pig of a carp would oblige?
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before the thick-bristled float disappeared and out flowed yards and yards of size 14 hollow elastic.
The pole, which to be fair isn’t at all brutal, just dead strong, is surprisingly light at just 285g, and comes up nicely on the stiff side of rigid. It is neither clumsy, bendy, nor top-heavy when it comes to playing fish.
The section walls, of course, are as tough as a gendarme’s riot shield, as are the super-resilient reinforced carbon joints – but the Brutale is definitely not over the top in any department.
The Verdict: Don’t be fooled by the name, this isn’t a scaffold pole wrapped in carbon. Yes, of course it’s strong, but in a Bruce Lee rather than a Chuck Norris sort of way, and it can be comfortably used all day long without resorting to a back brace. Big fish from snaggy swims are what the Brutale is all about, and faced with such power, even double figure carp tend to come quietly…
Price: £149
Daiwa Tournament Pro XLS 16m
FEATURES
• Choose between More Power or More Match kit packages
• Integral taping system on
sections 5, 6 and 7
• Diamond Satin slide-easy paint on sections 8, 9, 10 and 11
• Supplied with Air XLS holdall
Arguably the most iconic pole of all time, Daiwa’s legendary Tournament Pro has been refined to meet the exacting demands of modern match fishing.
The new Tournament Pro XLS combines reliability you can stake your life on with a proven track record. Such is its reputation that if you draw next to someone using one it’s a racing certainty that you’ll be in for a tough match – as long the workman is even half as good as his tool, that is.
So why would Daiwa even attempt to fix something that clearly isn’t broken? The fact is, the 100 per cent UK-built Tourney Pro has been re-worked with cutting-edge carbon advancements. These include integral taping on its fifth, sixth and seventh sections, a Diamond Satin slide-easy paint job on sections eight, nine, 10 and 11, and extended length 13m, 14.5m and 16m butt sections – albeit by only 10cm in each instance.
Despite these improvements from Daiwa nothing particularly earth shattering has happened to the overall feel of this, its latest incarnation. Instead, minimal advancements add in small increments to the pole’s overall performance.
Elongated butt sections help to shift the pole’s fulcrum point further down towards the butt, reducing its downforce. This means more responsive handling, with a more rapid tip speed and recovery rate. The latest Diamond Satin slide-easy finish on the larger sections makes shipping in or out at any length a super-slick operation, so long gone are the days of the infamous Tourney Pro ‘sticky squeaky’ effect.
Integral taping on the top sections sees them fairly rattle through your hands, something to make the silver fish speed freaks hug themselves in delight.
But the new model isn’t all about shipping speed, as proved on the live test at Decoy’s carp-rich Six Islands Lake. Pinging pellets long is currently the in method at Decoy, so that’s just what I did.
At 13m (nine sections) there is no mistaking that this pole is a chip off the old block – just a stiffer, quicker, easier-to-handle chip! The unmistakable steely feel of the original is still there as you ship it out to 14.5m, and at its full 16m it remains a joy to fish with.
Feeding accurately with a catty, using a short-line rig and holding the pole was not a problem, despite a nasty side wind. Its linear rigidity and balance is up there with the very best.
Its strength comes through in abundance when you lean into a fish that doesn’t wish to go in the direction you want it to. It also seems that Daiwa has sorted out the irritating joint-sticking that had been known to accompany its new poles. Not once during the test did any section even threaten to come apart, and they came together with a reassuring swish.
When the Tournament Pro was introduced in 2004 it came with six spare Match and Power top kits and cost £3,999. This latest version has exactly the same price tag, but you have a choice of eight Match or Power kits, making it even better value for money than the original, the performance of which it matches and then surpasses.
Price: £3,999
Angling Times Says: The go-to top-end pole for discerning match anglers, the latest Tourney Pro has improved technical specifications and spare kit packages. A true all-rounder in every sense, it’s more than capable of snatching silvers at speed, bagging commercial carp, or running a long line down a river. It’s an iconic pole with a proven track record which, just like a fine wine, only improves with age.
Mark Sawyer
Maver Signature Pro 900 fishing pole
COMMERCIAL PACKAGE
16m pole fitted with Match kit
10 Powerlite Power kits, slotted & bushed
Cupping kit and cups
Bi-Conical Mini Extension
Fighting No4 and No5 sections
Two No4 sections
Short No4
Holdall and tubes
STANDARD PACKAGE
16m pole fitted with Match kit
Four Powerlite Power kits, slotted & bushed
Two Match top-4 kits
Two Match top-3 kits
Cupping kit and cups
Bi-Conical Mini Extension
Fighting No4 and No5 sections
Short No4
Maver is poised to introduce three new Signature Pro poles to its portfolio, including the Flagship Signature Pro 900.
This 16m marvel has everything you could wish for, and then more besides. Quite simply it’s the most beautiful pole ever to come out of the Reglass factory in Italy. The most technically sophisticated Maver pole of all time is graced with a strikingly elegant black Suncore anti-friction finish that allows you to ship in and out at speed in all weathers.
This unique finish incorporates toughened epoxy resins and Nanolith technology for added durability. For the technically minded, the Signature Pro 900 is built from new STER resins interwoven with an incredibly fine honeycomb metal structure that’s ingeniously impregnated into the pole’s surface. In everyday angling speak, the end result of this is super-strong section wall strength.
This flagship model, as you might expect, comes with a very comprehensive kit package that includes the quite superb Maver Powerlite Power top kits. These substantially reduce the pole’s overall weight while contributing perfectly to its overall rigidity and strength. This makes it man enough to tackle 99 per cent of modern commercial pole fishing scenarios.
For heavier, hollow elastics the Powerlite kits are reinforced with additional carbon banding and come ready fitted with a quality PTFE side puller slot. They also have factory-fitted internal PTFE bushes, and feature Magic Step and Fusion carbon technologies.
It doesn’t stop there – the pole’s third, fourth, fifth and sixth sections all boast Maver’s innovative Teflon joint system that helps cut down on carbon-to-carbon friction and reduce wear. The Pro 900 also comes with fighting fourth and fifth sections, which are built to withstand the stresses of fishing down the edge, or when short-range paste or pellet tactics are called for.
A more than useful Bi-Conical mini-extension can be fitted on to the ends of the larger butt sections to avoid possible elbow damage, and – as with nearly all the latest top-end poles being sold these days – the Pro 900 comes with a choice of Standard or Commercial kit packages. Searching around the net, I find that Benwick Sports in Cambridgeshire has the pole available with a bespoke river kit package too.
So what sort of performance can you expect from a 16mm carbon tube that’s going to set you back around £2,999.99 of your hard-earned? Well, obviously it’s as stiff as a frozen snake, and every bit as good at its full 16m as it is at shorter lengths. The lightweight Powerlite top-2s provide an instant response with little discernible tip recoil – the snake awakes, making the pole viper-quick at the business end.
Although I spent a few hours catching carp and big F1s from Decoy Lakes’ picture postcard-pretty Willows Lake, it struck me that the pole’s superb shipping qualities, ease of joint breakdown, tip-speed, lightness and balance would have been well suited to running a long line down a river. Don’t take that to mean that it’s not powerful enough for commercials, because it so is!
Maver has undoubtedly thought long and hard about where and how this pole should perform. Basically it’s beautifully balanced, as rigid as an Eskimo’s flagpole, and blessed with an enviable lightness and ease of movement that would run Darcey Bussell close in the deportment stakes.
Response is crisp and there’s strength to burn, basically putting the new Maver Signature Pro 900 among the top 10 poles currently available.
THE VERDICT
Once again Maver has come up trumps with its best-ever pole. The carbon build is almost frightening in its complexity, but at the end of day this is a very serious piece of match fishing equipment that rightly earns a place among the world’s best.
Ideal for commercial and natural waters, it is a true all-rounder, more than capable of turning in a highly polished performance in any situation.
PAY AROUND
£2,999.99
Mark Sawyer
Browning Zero-G F1 Plus 16m pole
THE PACKAGE
16m Sphere Zero-G pole
1m Sphere extender section
Square ergonomic pole protectors
Reversible pole protector to fit sections 6 and 7
13 x 2/1 Sphere Duo 3.9mm and 4.5mm Multikits
Two short C/3 sections
Full length D/4 section
Cupping kit
Xitan multi-pocket holdal
The new Browning Sphere Zero-G F1 Plus 16m is a simply stunning fishing pole.
As ever, Browning is ahead of the game when it comes to pole-building, and full marks to whoever came up with ‘Tactile Precision Points’. These are raised areas on the butt sections that you can feel as you ship out, enabling pinpoint accuracy when feeding and fishing without the need to look down for painted markings.
Then there’s the ‘Multikit’ top kit that can be used conventionally at 2.5m or as a 1.75m one-piece kit without any loss of pole length. To those clever innovations you can add a new metre-long Extender butt section which either takes the pole up to its full 17m, or offers different length options when fishing against islands or features. Finally, special versions of Browning’s unique SEPPS square pole protector sections make fishing at longer lengths and in windy conditions stable and safe.
The Sphere is built from the highest quality Japanese carbons to provide the optimum marriage of weight, stiffness and strength. No wonder Browning claims it will out-perform rival flagship poles in all these respects. As you can see from the image, the pole at its full 16m length is beyond poker-stiff. And on one of the wildest, windiest, wettest days of the year the Sphere still turned in a blistering performance.
An assortment of big F1s and carp from Decoy’s Beastie Lake never stood a chance against my short line pellet tactics. Interestingly, Browning doesn’t specify an elastic rating for the Sphere. Instead the company claims that it should cope with any situation where a conventional top-end pole would be the tool of choice.
In case you think Browning’s reticence on the subject is a bit of a cop-out, you can forget any notion that this pole is all six-pack with no real poke. Rigged with hollow size 10 elastic through the 1.75m top kit, it coped admirably with hard-fighting F1s and carp to around 6lb, even as it was flung around unceremoniously by the gale-force wind.
What’s more, due to lack of space behind me, it had to be unshipped twice before I netted the fish. Potentially very tricky – but the Sphere’s non-stick joints, over-wrapped and banded on its high-wear sections, made the task a doddle. There were times during the live test when my heart was in my mouth, notably when the wind blew with such gusto that the pole took on a snake-like shape. With a decent fish attached to the business end it was being put under severe stress, but I had no need to worry.
I wouldn’t suggest that this pole is ideal for crunching out a netful of really big fish. Instead the Sphere has sublime poise, balance and lightness at any length. Arguably stiffer than any pole currently on the market, it has an instant response tip speed with minimal visible recoil or bounce. No wonder many top UK match anglers have splashed out the cash in return for near-perfection – the Zero-G really seems to defy gravity!
THE VERDICT
Other than having to send it back after the live test, there was nothing I didn’t like about the new top-end Sphere Zero-G pole. It’s stunningly stiff, quick and lightweight at 16m. It ships like a dream, and the Tactile Precision Points along the butt sections really do what they claim to. The square pole protectors add an extra dimension when you’re fishing long, or in strong winds, providing you with something comfy, strong and reliable to hang on to.
PAY AROUND
£4,399
Mark Sawyer
Daiwa Match Winner Competition C5 16m fishing pole
TECH SPEC
All Match Winner poles developed using the same mandrels plus section alignment system
Top kits pre-bushed with UK-made PTFE bushes and pre-bore wrapped for side pullers
Slide Easy matt paint on cosmetic sections
Daiwa ITS tape finish on sections 5, 6, 7, 8
All poles come with high-grade mini extension fitting sections 9, 10, 11
Supplied with cupping kit and cups, holdall and tubes
Daiwa Match Winner Competition poles. A new range unmistakably from the Daiwa stable with butt sections resplendent in the eye-catching silver livery we've come to associate with its flagship Tournament and Airity models.
Staying in line with their thoroughbred counterparts, all new Match Winner poles have fully interchangeable sections. This lessens pain in the wallet area, should you wish to upgrade to a higher spec pole. Daiwa hasn’t skimped on the spares packages either – even the 13m introduction-level C1 comes with two Power top-3 kits, a short Daiwa Phex extension (giving the pole a tad more length than stated), and a cupping kit.
The top-of-the-range 16m C5, the pole on live test duty, is supplied with a whopping four Power top-3 kits; a Match kit inside the pole; cupping kit; two mini extensions that fit on to the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth sections; and a Phex mini extension that takes the pole to its true 16m length. All models are fitted with 3mm (Match) and 4mm (Power) pre-cut pure PTFE bushes, and boast pre-bored wrapped areas for fitting side puller kits. Considering the classy carbon build of these poles, and their generous spares packages, they’re actually a bit of a bargain!
With prices starting at just £499, going up to £1,199, there’s a model to suit most pockets. If you shop around, I bet you can find them all for less than the RRP, too. So much for what you get, but how a pole performs on the bank is what really matters. Where better to start than at the top of the pile with the Matchwinner C5?
This resilient pole has areas of reinforcement only where they are required, keeping the weight right down. This means the fourth and fifth sections, which get the most use, are also the strongest. This is what you might expect from any pole with a price tag of over a grand. But the C5 Competition has that little bit extra – it oozes class, elegance and poise, and reminds me very much of my very first Daiwa Tournament X pole.
Steely rigidity is backed up with superb balance and handling speed to knock out silverfish at a rate of knots. Of course, there’s also ample power to deal with carp of most sizes. This I discovered during the live test at the superb day-ticket Stretton Lakes complex just off the A1, north of Peterborough. The pole does dip a bit at its full 16m length, but not enough to pose a problem. It’s really good at 14.5m, even better at 13m. The two short mini-extensions allow for plenty of tactical flexibility, and as they are thicker-walled than the sections, they will avoid breakages when fishing at shorter ranges.
THE VERDICT
One of the best all-round poles I have handled for some time, Daiwa’s Match Winner C5 Competition comes with a good spares package, plenty of add-ons, and mini-extensions that suit it perfectly to modern day-ticket venues. For my money this 16m pole is reminiscent of the original Tournament X, which is held in dewy-eyed awe by many of the UK’s top matchmen.
Mark Sawyer
PAY AROUND
£1,199 (C5)
Preston Pro Type Carp fishing pole
TECH SPEC
14.5m pole
4 x Roller Pulla Power kits
Cupping kit
Cup and adaptor
Half-extension
Weighs 1,100g at 13m
Preston Pro Type Carp pole. If I had £700 of my own money to spend on a pole I might agonise over which one to buy.
But one thing’s for sure – Preston Innovations’ latest 14.5m Pro Type Carp would be high on my shortest of shortlists. Most of my fishing these days is done on commercials, so I need a pole with an abundance of big-fish stopping power. Nor does it end there. Because I fish all year round, and most places I frequent have healthy stocks of fast-biting F1s that come into the reckoning as the winter draws on, my weapon of choice needs to be stiff and quick enough at its longest lengths to cope with delicate short-line/long-pole-and-pellet tactics.
That seems like a very tall order, unless you’ve got a couple of grand to splash out on a flagship pole. Realistically you can’t expect to buy much more than 14.5m of balanced and user-friendly power pole for under a grand. But it’s not all bad news – most commercials these days respond best to margin, two-plus-two or 13m approaches. A 16m pole is simply not needed. What you want is something well balanced, easy to ship, and fully at home with delicate rigs, light elastics and short-line work.
Naturally, then, Preston’s new Pro Type Carp is right on my radar – it will deliver all that and more. Its lower mass carbon build increases its strength and responsiveness and it feels good in your hands even at its full 14.5m. It boasts reinforced butt sections and joints, section alignment arrows, and an Easy Ship finish that slides through your mitts like a greased grass snake. A generous spares package includes four spare ready-fitted side-elastic Roller Pulla Power top kits, cupping kit with cups, and a half-extension that fits on to its 13m and 14.5m sections.
So, on to the live test at golden peg 6 on Decoy’s Lou’s Lake – the one that wiped the floor with the rest of the field during the recent Winter League final. However, under leaden Cambridgeshire skies whose dark clouds seemed to delight in stopping off to dump a cocktail of rain, sleet and snow over me, it seemed an unlikely place to sit and catch a few. The exposed forward-facing corner peg was being buffeted by a hacking side wind, making rig presentation, feeding and even at times hanging on to the pole something of an ordeal. But when I got it right, plenty of bites were to be had.
At 13m, the pole’s rigidity and unquestionable section wall strength gave me the confidence to lean into the wind, holding fast against the blustery conditions.Even when it was being blown about, the pole-tip remained stiff, and was responsive enough for me to connect with most bites. Most of the carp I caught were in the 4lb-6lb bracket, good weight-builders. And catching them was where the new Pro Type Carp really excelled itself. Look at the main picture and you’ll notice that there’s little linear movement other than along the top four sections. This makes shipping back with a fish on a quick and stress-free operation.
The Preston Roller Pulla top kits that are part of the package are faultless, and can be matched to any type or size of hollow elastic within reason. At its longest 14.5m length it isn’t quite as rigid and quick as it is at 13m, but it’s more than fishable, and would make a great commercial fishery weapon for most match and pleasure anglers
THE VERDICT
Across the board, this second generation of Preston Pro Type poles has much improved build specifications and spares packages over the originals. The new Pro Type Carp is designed solely for use on commercials – stiff but not overly heavy, with good section wall strength. It’s also exceptionally well balanced for a power pole and not at all top-heavy, and it ships flawlessly. The Roller Pulla side-fitted top-2 Power kits that are part of the package are ‘must haves’ and suitable for most elastic sizes.
Mark Sawyer
PAY AROUND
£699.99
Colmic Airon F66 16m fishing pole
TECH SPEC
Colmic Airon F66 16m pole
Eight EC200 top-2 kits
Force-4 section
Three mini half-butt sections
Cupping kit
Holdall
I've fished with Colmic margin poles and rods on several occasions, but until recently I’d never had the pleasure of wielding one of the company’s long poles.
Yet there’s a huge fan club among matchmen for its Italian-made Jolly Floats and Nuclear hooks, not to mention the iconic 16m Colmic X5000 pole and latterly the Airon F55 poles. Its successor, the F66, is on live test duty today. This flagship pole is a hot topic right now on virtually every match fishing website. It’s a full-blooded 16m competition tool, reputed to be able to handle anything thrown at it (almost literally). Light yet ridiculously strong, thanks to high-spec materials and a clever section design, it’s well balanced, with a responsiveness to hit the quickest of bites and the rigidity to tame big fish in less time than it takes you to read about it.
So far so good, but why drain your wallet to the tune of around £2,600? That’s the shop-around price tag, by the way. Live testing a pole of the F66’s pedigree wasn’t easy. It’s so far ahead of what you might reasonably expect it to do; it’s difficult to find a suitable test venue. But nothing ventured, nothing gained, so it was off to the day-ticket Cuckoo Canal Lake at Townsend Fishery near Wisbech.
This is a typical snake lake where fishing just down the shelf in a couple of feet of water in the cold, or tight against the far shelf in warmer weather, will always be a rewarding experience. Both tactics call for just a few inches of line between pole-tip and float, when a gentle lift will set the hook without spooking feeding fish. To do this perfectly requires a pole without bounce or wobble along its top sections.
There needs to be enough mid-section poke to move fish out of the swim without too much of a commotion, and you should be able to lean into the butt sections without fear of them going snap, crackle or pop. Well, in all my years of tackle testing I have never handled anything so uncompromisingly stiff at its longer lengths than the Airon. You feel as though you could lift a decent-sized fish straight out of the water and on to the bank, never mind into a waiting landing net.
These bullish properties are further enhanced by a unique mandrel design in which the 100-tonne, superbly rigid butt section with graphics is installed behind the No8 section to take it to 13m. For a 16m pole, add section No9 behind the butt section, effectively extending its length, and providing it with the added backbone and balance that the superior 100-tonne carbon-built section instils. The pole’s joints are all superbly well reinforced, with enough wall strength to make Hadrian wish he’d used carbon instead of stone.
As for the downside – such as it is – the pole does feel a little wider in diameter on its butt sections than some others, but with all that unbridled power it’s an unavoidable consequence I could easily live with. It still handles superbly, and despite my mini-mitts I never found it uncomfortable to manoeuvre around the swim, even at 16m.
THE VERDICT
Without a shadow of doubt the Airon F66 is THE big-fish pole of the moment, and should be your weapon of choice if you are the least bit reckless when it comes to striking, handling or playing then netting big fish. It will take far more punishment than most flagship models and still come back for more. The Airon is being promoted as an all-rounder, but if you intend to use it for silvers I suggest you invest in a couple of the relevant top kits readily available for this pole from Colmic.
Mark Sawyer
PAY AROUND
£2,999.99
Preston Pro Type 510 fishing pole 16m
PACKAGE
16m pole
Four Roller Pulla Power Kits
One match kit inside pole
One Kupping Kit
One half extension
PAY AROUND
£849.99
The eagerly-awaited second generation of Preston Innovations’ Pro Type poles has arrived.
The new 210, 310, 410, 510 models – plus a dedicated carp pole – boast many impressive new features, while retaining many of the positive characteristics that made the originals so popular among match anglers. These latest poles are lighter, stiffer and more responsive than these, and are said to be stronger and even more rigid. Anglers will welcome reinforced butt sections, section alignment arrows and an Easy Slide finish, while an improved spares package includes pre-fitted PTFE top kits, roller bushes and protective tubes.
The 16m top-of-the range 510 model on live test duty comes in at under a thousand quid, with a suggested price of £849.99 – not to be sniffed at for a 16m pole these days – and having surfed the net I can confirm that it’s available even cheaper if you shop around a bit. It’s got a comprehensive spares package, and comes with enough top kits to make it multi-venue- friendly straight from the holdall.
You get a spare Match kit, ideal for light elastics and silvers, as well as four Roller Pulla Power kits for normal commercial fishery use. To that little lot you can add a Kupping kit with Kups and a handy half extension. Ideally suited to the keen club angler, this pole is very much at home on the smaller ponds, pools and snake lakes that most clubs favour for their matches, where match-sized carp, F1s and silvers are the targets.
With that in mind, the new 510 was taken for its day’s trialling to the picture-postcard Monkhall Fishery (www.monkhallfishery.co.uk). Set in deepest Shropshire, its five lakes are carved into the south-facing side of a rolling valley, with a superb scenic backdrop to your fishing. If you want a day away from road noise, walkers, bikers, boats and general irritations, this is as peaceful a venue as you will find. It also has a café and a small caravan park, and caters for bed and breakfast guests.
Anyway, back to the real reason for my visit. The 10-section 510 pole comes in three pieces – a 13m butt section containing seven sections, including the Match kit which comes with it, plus 14.5m and 16m parallel extensions. During the trial all joints fitted together really well, and came apart without fuss first time, every time. This was despite the wet weather, which often proves the undoing (or the reverse!) of many new poles.
Fished at its longest 16m length there were no annoying knocks, squeaks or cracking noises, and every one of its section arrow- aligned joints felt strong and reliable for the long haul. The Easy Slide finish was clearly evident and played its part in the wet. Shipping damp rain-spattered sections often proves sticky and tricky, but not this time. The 510 handles with a silky smoothness that belies its lightweight price.
At its 13m length it’s fairly stiff and certainly quick enough to hit fast-biting F1s and silvers. However, I wouldn’t be telling the truth if I said it handles as sweetly at 14.5m and 16m as it does at 13m. I did, though, fish quite happily with it at 14.5m for most of the live test.
If I owned this pole I would choose my elastics with some thought to the length of its top kits, especially when coupled with hollow elastic. From a size 14 upwards there’s a slightly top-heavy feel reflected in the handling, especially when you have a pot sitting on the top kit. But if you aim at hollows from a size 12 and under, and solids above that, you won’t go far wrong. I haven’t checked with Preston's about the Pro Type 510 maximum elastic recommendations, but I’d have no qualms about threading a solid 16 through one of its Roller Pulla top kits.
VERDICT
A great improvement on Preston’s original Pro Type poles, this new top-of-the-range 510 boasts plenty of key add-ons such as section alignment arrows and an Easy Slide finish. Absolutely bang on the money for the keen club match angler, it’s usable at its longest lengths and would be every bit as good at bagging carp as it would at snatching silvers. What’s more, the spares package doesn’t need further investment to make the pole compatible with a host of venue types.
Mark Sawyer
Daiwa Yank 'n' Bank 950 Power Margin pole
PAY AROUND
£225
FEATURES
Top kits
The pole comes with three Power top-2 kits with 4mm internal diameter tips and second sections that are fitted with a carbon-reinforced area to drill and fit side-puller kits.
Elastic Rating
The new Yank ‘N’ Bank 950 has a manufacturer’s elastic rating of 20. This means it can be used with Red Hydro and the heaviest of hollow elastics when big carp are the target.
Wall strength
Despite its ability to absorb heavy lunges, each section of the pole has a virtually impenetrable wall strength. This makes it ideal for heavy hauling tactics on commercial fisheries.
Section aligner arrow system
Each joint is marked with alignment arrows. Keeping these straight helps to align the pole’s spine, providing optimum performance at all times.
Graphics
The new Yank ‘N’ Bank 950 pole has had a makeover for 2016 and now has the same graphic style and colour as Daiwa’s top-of-the-range Tournament range of poles.
Finish
Each section is finished with Daiwa’s Easy-slide paint job that makes shipping a quick and smooth operation in any weather conditions.
So far 2016 has been a bumper year for the release of margin poles.
A trend has been to replace an ‘old school’ all-through action – which sees the pole bend like a tree branch – with a far stiffer, more aggressive build that relies heavily on the elastic to absorb lunges and bring in fish.
Such new-breed margin poles, with improved linear rigidity, faster tip speed and superior
all-round handling, work best for big fish in snaggy swims.
However, with an appropriately matched top kit the old-fashioned bendy poles allow anglers to tame hefty commercial carp in the margins, and have worked a treat for years, saving the shattering and explosive end of many an expensive carbon section.
This nicely sets the scene for the introduction of Daiwa’s latest
Yank ‘n’ Bank 950 Power Margin pole, launched 10 years ago and now in its third incarnation.
Lifetime Daiwa rep Simon Wheeler can lay claim to coming up with the name Yank ‘n’ Bank, and although it’s not a lot to show for 25 years of service to the firm it seems to make him happy!
The new 950 Power Model is definitely of the old school bendy persuasion, but has undergone a full cosmetic and materials makeover. The silver-on-black graphics on the 8m and 9.5m butt sections remind one of Daiwa’s top-end Tournament poles, giving it a thoroughbred look.
It boasts numbered section alignment, top kits with pre-bore reinforcements for drilling and fitting pulling kits, and decent-sized 4mm internal tips – although fitting larger hollow elastics (it’s rated to 20-plus) does mean trimming a bit off the tip ends.
The new Yank ‘n’ Bank is reasonably light, with pleasing handling qualities, but in reality it’s all about the power. Its seven super-strong sections have impenetrable wall strength that almost beggars belief when they are put under severe pressure.
I found this out while live testing the pole in a quiet corner of Six Island Lake at the Decoy complex near Peterborough. The large carp and barbel in the margins here are far from stupid, so you need to present a bait tight into the bank or against a feature. In this swim it happened to be a paddle aerator.
I was not taking any chances with these doughty denizens, rigging up a beefy 16/18 elastic with a matching take-no-prisoners pole rig. I would rather not have a single bite than get one, only to lose the fish.
Tipping a potful of pellets and corn tight against the reeds at the back of the paddle, it didn’t take long before the mettle of the new Spank the Plank was put to the test. A full-throttle bite was met head-on with a pole-tip travelling in the opposite direction, and there could be only one winner. The fish was dragged unceremoniously out of harm’s way and into open water.
Time and time again the pole performed the fishy equivalent of dragging a reluctant Rottweiler from its kennel, and as my confidence in the Yank ‘n’ Bank grew apace, even barbel were won over in the twitch of a whisker.
VERDICT
Daiwa’s latest Yank ‘n’ Bank has all the outstanding hallmarks of the originals, and plenty more.
It’s super strong, and is safely usable with the heaviest of elastics. Its ability to soak up punishment is truly impressive, if a tad daunting at first. But once mastered it’s a dangerous commercial fishery tool – think of it as a Lightsaber, and may the Force be with you.
Garbolino UK5 Procarp Match 13m pole
PACKAGE
Top kits: Three Power Lite Puller kits fitted with PTFE Pullers; Power Lite top-2 kits
Extras: Half-reversible multi extension to fit 11.5m and 13m sections; Two-piece Potting Kit and Pots; 10 PTFE bushes with large internal bores; Deluxe holdall
PAY AROUND
RRP £999.99, SSP £799.99
A few months ago I live tested Garbolino’s stunning new UK4 Power Carp pole. This basically backs up the company’s iconic G Max Power Legion, the first pole ever to be launched with a built-in puller kit.
The UK4 pole excelled under the spotlight – well balanced with power to burn – and proved capable of putting together big weights in double-quick time.
So when the opportunity arose to take another of Garbolino’s new UK Carp poles to the bankside for a workout, I jumped at the chance. However, before you join me at Stretton Farm Lakes for the live test, allow me to explain a little about this five-strong collection.
Poles are available to suit everyone’s needs and pockets, starting with the entry level 13m UK7 ProCarp, yours for under £500. It offers strength and rigidity, and is very easy to handle.
The UK6 ProCarp comes in at around £675, and has a super slip-and-slide finish which makes it easy to ship in and out in all weathers.
You can use it at its full 13m all day long without getting weary.
The already live-tested UK4 Carp Power should be on the radar of all serious bag-up merchants.
It’s as powerful a pole as anything I have ever handled, but its balance and rigidity make it a real joy to fish with.
So that just leaves us with the ‘on test’ 13m UK5 ProCarp Match. This pole is claimed by its manufacturer to be the stiffest and lightest of the new series.
To achieve weight reduction Garbolino has used higher grades of carbon-fibre cloth, but with special attention paid to all the key section stress areas and joints. This is exemplified in the super-strong ‘anti-ovalling’ female joints with reinforced areas picked out in blue – they are tough as old boots.
The pole also has impressive wall strength. Having put the squeeze on all nine sections, it’s obvious to me that most of its power is generated from the bottom three, which are nothing short of brutally uncompromising. It will take a lot more than the odd mistimed or overly enthusiastic strike to put so much as a dent in them.
All joking aside, there’s plenty in power in reserve even when you’re really leaning into this pole, which makes it fishable in the unruliest of weather and ideal for any open water venue affected by the wind.
It didn’t take much to keep my rig perfectly presented as a pleasant summer breeze ruffled the surface of Stretton Lakes’ day-ticket carp pool.
The UK5 coped effortlessly with a splasher rig, flicking the light float over with ease and speed every time without causing the pole-tip to smack down annoyingly on to the surface.
It was also nicely responsive when used in conjunction with a full-depth rig, allowing a full potful of pellets and corn to be shipped out without spillage.
Later in the day, and with the larger carp muddying the margins, a change to a heavier rig saw plenty of lively action and a healthy bend in the pole, which by then had come through the day ticking all the right boxes.
VERDICT
This Garbolino offering represents great value for money in a very popular sector of the pole market.
It’s very comfortable to fish with at its full 13m length, with enough clout to be used safely with heavy hollow elastics, and it comes with an enviable spares package which includes a reversible half extension to fit both the 11.5m and 13m sections.
Drennan Red Range 8m Margin pole
PACKAGE
Two roller cones
Extractor rod
Cupping adaptor
Polemaster pole pot
Side pull beads
Skid bung
PAY AROUND
£89.95
Drennan has just released this true length 8m Margin pole under its popular Red Range banner.
The six-sectioned pole has been designed to cope with the stresses and strains of commercial fisheries and is said to handle match-sized carp up to double figures with consummate ease.
With plenty of strength and power, the take-apart pole is excellently balanced, making it easy to fish with at its full 8m length all day long.
It comes with two 2.3m Margin top kits pre-fitted with 5.4mm Super Slick internal PTFE bushes, and ready to elasticate straight from the bag.
The kits also feature factory-fitted side pull slots, so you can take advantage of Drennan’s superb super-smooth side pull system that makes playing fish a stroll in the park by allowing you to control the amount of elastic your quarry can pull out.