Browning Sphere Zero-GF1 PT Review
Back in April 2017, I got to exclusively live test what was, at the time, Browning’s flagship pole – the 16m Sphere Zero F1+.
For technical carbon innovations, design, lightness, stiffness and its generous spares package it had few, if any rivals. It was, and still is for that matter, a stunning pole, and a strong contender for the world’s best.
So imagine my surprise when, on my annual December pilgrimage to Browning’s German HQ, I was told there was going to be a new and apparently improved Sphere Zero. I didn’t see that one coming!
Sure enough, at 2018’s The Big One show Browning did unveil the new Sphere Zero-GF1 PT+... and what a pole it is!
It packs a little extra ‘oomph’ to handle bigger fish, although it follows very much in the footsteps of its famous predecessor as being a superbly light and stiff pole, aimed at the accomplished match angler who wants the very best.
The new PT+ includes the same full range of unique features that made the Sphere pole so special, and is hand-built from the highest quality Japanese carbon.
The critical middle sections have been strengthened by around 15 per cent, making a small difference to the pole’s overall weight, although its ‘on the bank’ performance is said to be very close to that of the original F1+.
The Sphere Zero-GF1 PT+ includes Multi-kits, which allow top kits to be used either at the conventional 2.5m length or as 1.75m one-piece kits, with no loss of overall pole length. All top kits are pre-fitted with adjustable Duo-bushes, alongside a special version of Browning’s unique Square Ergonomic Pole Protector sections which make fishing at long lengths and in windy conditions comfortable and stable.
Unique Tactile Precision Points are raised areas on the butt sections which can be felt as you ship the pole out. These allow for accurate fishing without looking down for painted lines or numbers, and they act as a ‘stop’ by marking the end of the pole.
Like its predecessor, the PT+ does not specify an elastic rating, and indeed this is no real measure of a pole’s strength.
Suffice to say that in the hands of a skilled matchman the PT+ is perfectly strong enough for all match fishing situations.
Two years ago I took the original Sphere Zero F1+ to Decoy’s Beastie Lake, where it performed flawlessly with some decent carp and barbel to around 8lb – so it seemed only right and fitting to take its successor to the same lake to compare performances.
For those of you who may already own a Sphere, I can tell you that the new PT+ has exactly the same technical features as the original, and a hugely impressive spares package.
Mark’s verdict
The price paid for added strength is that the pole weighs a little more. While this does give more stability in the wind, you do notice a bit more top-end tip weight.
If I’m honest, Browning’s claimed 15 per cent stronger mid-sections felt more than that to me. But bottom line, if I owned a Sphere I would probably invest in the new PT 4th, 5th and 6th sections and use them when really big fish are on the cards.
If, however, you don’t own a Sphere F1, and are in the market for the best commercial fishery pole that money can buy, then you need look no further.
Price: £3,999
For more information please visit: http://browning-poles.com/sphere/zero-g-f1-plus/
Or find a local retailer here: https://www.zebco-europe.biz/en/store-locator/
Browning Black Magic Carp 11M pole review
Now in their third decade of production, Browning’s evergreen multi-award-winning Black Magic poles rank among the most popular of all time.
The originals were no-nonsense tools to cope with large fish using hefty elastics and resolute rigs.
As time moved on, though, all Black Magic models acquired a more modern feel, their added section wall strength making them much stiffer and more robust than their predecessors.
They also handle better, and their top-kit packages are designed in keeping with modern commercial tactics. That said, the Black Magic tradition of performance at an affordable price remains unchanged. And to that end, this latest Black Magic Carp is a proper chip off the old block.
This all-carbon 11m pole is reasonably light at 958g, given that its thick section walls defy ovalling or splitting even in the hands of the most Shrek-like angler. Browning uses the same technology brought into play for its European Hyper Carp models, but with a slightly toned-down linear action that allows it to absorb and cushion pressure, rather than destroy all in its path!
Make no mistake, though, it can really dish out the punishment if need be. That I found out for myself on the live test at Decoy’s lump-filled Oak strip lake in Cambridgeshire.
The fish in Oak are big, very big in fact, with the potential to cause you much grief and lose you a lot of tackle if you don’t come properly tooled-up for the job.
With that in mind, I prepared the Black Magic by cutting 10ins or so off the top of its supplied Power top kit, stiffening it right up.
More importantly, that made it possible to fit it with a large internal diameter PTFE bush.
Next I threaded through what must be the mother of all elastics… Browning’s 30mm Xitan Microbore Rocket Red, which laughably carries a 17-21 rating.
If your car breaks down on your way home from fishing, just take this stuff out of your top kit, tie it on to your bumper and get someone to tow you home.
To see this type of pole perform at its best you have to take it as close to its limits as you dare. I reckoned if the Power top kit could stand the pounding it was likely to get on Oak, using the car breaker’s choice of elastic, then surely it could subdue just about anything else that took a pull at it!
While tying up a suitable rig I had thrown a few handfuls of soaked micro pellets and corn down the margin. Goodness... glancing down, all I could see were whale-like tails waving at me, and feeding vortices large enough to capsize a canoe.
Wondering why on earth I’d tied on one of my favourite floats, I lowered the double corn-baited size 16 hook into the maelstrom.
To quote A Question of Sport: “What happened next?” Well, I didn’t actually see the bite, just an awful lot of bright red elastic between me and whatever was was charging headlong up the pond.
One moment it was slowing down, the next it was coming up in the water and running towards me. Yet there I was, shipping back with nothing broken. Guess what? I had the top kit back in my hand (as you can see from the image, right) and the rest, as they say, is history.
This Black Magic Carp is a great power pole at an affordable price, well capable of dealing with double-figure fish without so much as a creak.
Oh, hang on, it’s the phone. “Hello Sue, yes of course, I would love to come on A Question of Sport... if I can bring my pole!”
Verdict: By my reckoning one of the best Black Magic poles yet, this does just what it says on its butt section – ‘Specialist Carp and Big Fish Pole’.
It’s not the stiffest pole I’ve ever handled, but it doesn’t need to be, as it’s a proper workhorse that will last you for years.
The reinforced joints won’t let you down, it ships well enough, and its 11m length puts you well within reach of the nearside shelf and, on most commercial fisheries, the next vacant platform.
My sole criticism is that I would rather it came with two spare top kits rather than just the one.
Price: £249
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
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