Maver Invincible 215 14.5m pole

PAY AROUND

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.

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.