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
Middy Xtreme M3 Animal Tamer pole
TECH SPEC
Lengths: 13m Xtreme M3 Animal Tamer
Two extra Power-2 kits
One 2-Portal mini butt
Carry case
Two elastication kits
Pull-It side wraps on 3rd and 4th sections
Size 30 Elastic rating
PAY AROUND
£549.97
Landing double-figure carp on the pole is always a challenge. But it’s one that’s becoming ever more commonplace as the cyprinids in our commercial fisheries continue to grow fatter and fitter on a high-protein diet of pellets, meat and boilies.
To stand any chance of safely banking one of these turbo-charged leviathans, your kit needs to be up to the task. Any weak points in your set-up will be exposed, making landing a ‘Barney Rubble’ almost impossible.
So, it’s no good having the latest whopper-stopper elastic fitted through your pole’s top kit if the pole itself isn’t up to the job. What you’re looking for from a pole is rock-solid section joints and section wall strengths, matched with loads of powerful playing action across its top 5-6 sections.
Middy’s brand new pole, the Xtreme M3 Animal Tamer, certainly fits the bill. In fact, it is purpose built to cope with heavyweight hauling, a statement that’s underlined by the fact that the manufacturer has given the pole a gargantuan maximum elastic rating of 30! This goes some way to proving just how much confidence Middy has in this new model, the top pole in the Xtreme Animal Tamer range.
On the technical side, the carbon technicians at Middy have built the M3 Xtreme using the latest G-Pulse carbon cloth, matched with a Proximate Helix construction. In layman’s terms, this means that the pole is blessed with a superb parabolic fish-playing action, and a rock-solid section wall strength, while Middy’s Silk-Slide finish makes for easy shipping pole wahtever the weather.
The new Xtreme M3 also comes supplied with a twin portal mini extension, which comes in very handy when you need that little bit more length, as well as adding an additional safety factor when the pole is being used at shorter lengths. It also has a decent spares package, which includes two extra side Pull-It power top kits, plus two elastication kits, and a carry case.
But the good news doesn’t stop there, because for those who enjoy their margin fishing, the new 4m M1 Xtreme Animal Tamer pole can also be fitted directly into the M3’s fifth section, offering you even more flexibility – and spare sections – should you need them, and it’s hardly likely to break the bank with an expected asking price of just under £50.
In use, the pole is remarkably lightweight, considering just how much pulling power you can call upon, and while I wouldn’t label it as being rigid at its full 13m length, it certainly won’t leave you with the veins in your neck sticking out like knotted ropes after a few hours of bagging up.
The M3 is ideal for commercial fisheries, and is every bit as strong as its manufacturer claims, plus its striking silver graphics give it a seriously cool top-end look.
Unfortunately, during the live test I didn’t manage to nail a ‘proper-un’ for the cameras, but a procession of stockies certainly provided me with enough confidence to know that should I have hit into a lump the outcome would have been Tackle Editor one, margin monster nil.
VERDICT
Another sure-fire winner from the Middy stable. The top-of-the-range 13m M3 Xtreme Animal tamer, which boasts a 30 strong elastic rating, is more than capable of handling the largest commercial carp. Its good looks are matched with solid no-nonsense performance and ease of handling, placing it among the best poles of this ilk and price.
Mark Sawyer