Middy Reactacore XQ-1 10m pole review

AS ANGLING Times tackle editor I fish quite a lot – because testing rods, reels and poles, unless I’m beside the water, isn’t really going to mean much, or give you any idea of how they’re likely to perform.

I only mention this because of late, whether I’ve been out fishing weekend matches or testing new gear, it’s become abundantly clear that we have a lot of new anglers in our midst.

There they are, all perched on shiny new seatboxes or immaculate fishing chairs, waving around newly-acquired poles and rods and, more importantly, all catching a few fish. It’s wonderful to see, and I hope the trend continues for the rest of the summer and beyond.

When wearing my official Angling Times regalia I always try to have a quick chat with anyone who looks even remotely like a new angler. I’m not being pushy, I just like to see how they’re getting on, maybe give a bit of bait away, or chat about rigs and tactics. 

Let’s face it, talking fishing is easy, but by its very nature our sport is quite complex. Things like spooling line on to a reel, or what hooks and bait to use, are taken as read by the seasoned angler, but they’re not obvious when you’re new to the game.

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On the right lines

That said, having spoken with quite a few chaps and chap-esses, it seems most have been well advised by their mates on the kit front. Tackle shops too, to their credit, are sending people to the banks with the gear they need, without having them over.

Fishing tackle that comes at a sensible price is what most newbies are looking for, which is where this week’s live test item, Middy’s new Reactacore XQ-1 10m pole, hits the spot.

In my opinion it’s absolutely perfect for the rookie pole angler looking to spend a few hours bagging decent-sized carp on their local commercial.

Price-wise it’s bang on the money, and it’s tough enough to withstand the odd over-enthusiastic moment or two. Rather handily it comes with a couple of spare top kits, and it’s not heavy or unwieldy, which is a big bonus if you’re not used to handling a pole.

Off to the lake

The live test was on Decoy’s day-ticket Lou’s Lake, just the sort of place to cut your teeth on the pole. On warm days you can get bites up in the water, down on the deck and at all points between, not to mention the margins. Nor are the carp in this lake particularly fussy about what they eat, so little more than a tin of corn and a bag of pellets will suffice.

Most importantly, Lou’s has stable and level fishing platforms, with plenty of flat open ground behind you to position your pole roller – as a rule of thumb, around four paces behind your seatbox will be spot-on.

You could thread pretty much any size or type of elastic you wanted through the XQ-1’s top kits, but I kicked off the session up in the water, using a middle of the road 10-12 hollow elastic in conjunction with the short Phantom (grey coloured) top kit that comes inside the pole. 

The Phantom top kits

The Phantom top kits

I also rigged up the spare Margin Phantom top kit with a super-heavy 20-24 hollow that would hopefully seriously test the pole’s section strength and pulling power later in the day when I targeted the margins.

Heavy elastic would test the pole’s strength

Heavy elastic would test the pole’s strength

In truth is it hasn’t got quite the rigidity needed for slapping shallow rigs up in the water, but it’s stiff enough to allow you fish shallow comfortably enough using a catty and pellets. At its full length, just under 10m, it didn’t feel top-heavy or suffer the dreaded top kit pole droop.

The super smooth S-Slide finish made handling quick and clean, and it fairly sped over the roller. It didn’t suffer from sticking section joints, nor did they come apart other than when I wanted them to.

To assemble sections without pushing them on too far or hard, slide them together, give the uppermost section half a turn to the left or right and they’ll lock together but come apart again easily when required.

Middy Reactacore XQ-1 10m pole sections

Middy Reactacore XQ-1 10m pole sections

Having caught quite a few half-decent fish shallow, it was on with the heavy elastic top kit to see if I could drag a margin munter from its lair. No problems, and I didn’t think there would be, as the top kits carry a 30 elastic rating. 

One thing that makes the new Middy Reactacore XQ-1 stand apart from any other pole I have fished with at this price is its stiffness. Most power poles of this ilk have an action that spreads across the top four or five sections, and I’m sure that readers have seen lots of bendy pole shots on these pages.

However, take a longer look at the inset pole image and you’ll see that this model stays straighter than the road to perdition when a fish is hooked – basically it’s very, very strong.   

This is a very strong affordable pole

This is a very strong affordable pole

Price: £275 (but shop around)

Daiwa 13m Power Carp X pole bankside test

IT WAS feeling like an awfully long time since I’d been out to live-test some new kit.

So when lockdown restrictions eased, I couldn’t get back out there fast enough to put a new pole from the all-powerful Daiwa stable through its paces.  

The car’s satnav was programmed to home in on Izaak Walton fishery in Chebsey, Staffordshire, a five-lake, fish-filled venue that I hoped would be perfect for providing the elastic-stretching action I needed to give the 13m Power Carp X a proper workout. 

I knew that the venue’s Bottom Lake in particular was paved with hard-fighting carp, including some well into double figures – the perfect adversaries – so after choosing a peg I began setting up my kit in the early summer sunshine. 

But I wasn’t here to get a tan. I wanted to see just how good the pole, which carries a pretty reasonable price tag of £425, would be at dealing with the fishery’s resident stock. 

In a world where a top-end pole can easily set you back several thousand quid, the look and feel of budget-priced models can leave you a little underwhelmed.

But I was feeling  hopeful. This new all-carbon offering from Daiwa certainly looked the real deal, with its classy black livery giving the impression of a bit of kit costing three times as much. 

The package is pretty impressive, and the pole comes supplied with a mini reversible Phex section which, when fitted into the end of the butt (eighth) section, takes it to its full 13m length. 

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Alternatively, it can also be fitted into the end of the 11.5m (seventh) section to provide a bit of extra length, as well as acting as an elbow guard, preventing the section from being cracked or snapped  if you’re occasionally a trifle heavy-handed on the strike.

My initial impressions were that the Power Carp X certainly looked and felt like a powerful pole that would be perfectly at home at just about any commercial carp water. 

But never mind the looks,  what does it fish like, and how does it handle? These must always be your primary concerns when choosing any new pole, whatever your budget may be.

Well, as the name suggests, the Power Carp X is primarily designed for catching big fish using heavy elastics – in my opinion up to a maximum size 20, or the ever-popular Daiwa red Hydro. 

I chose to fish it at its longest 13m length, and while not the lightest pole on the market at 1,245g, it was remarkably easy to handle. Its rigidity and section stiffness were particularly impressive. The shipping out process was an entirely wobble-free experience, and I managed to get my tip-fitted pole pot out to the spot without any premature spillage whatsoever. 

Feeding 8mm pellets and fishing the same on the hook, it didn’t take all that long for a few greedy carp to turn up in the swim for a nosebag. 

As it happened, the first bite of the day turned out to be a foul-hooker, which is always a sure sign that you’re feeding too much, so I cut back what I was putting in by half.

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As many of you will know through experience, foul-hooked carp take off at an alarming rate of knots and can often be pole-breakers, especially when that unbridled first burst of acceleration is backed up by body mass. 

To begin with it was a case of holding on and hoping that this wasn’t about to become the shortest live test of all time. 

With the heavy hollow elastic streaming out of the tip, the pole hooped over and I suggested to my cameraman Tony that maybe now was the time to take a shot before everything came to grief amid a shower of carbon shards. 

How wrong I was! Although I couldn’t yet start shipping back, the pole and its robust elastic started to slow the fish’s initial run, and inch by inch I gained ground until the pole’s side puller top-2 kit was safely within my grasp. 

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Now the roles were reversed. I stripped the elastic slowly at first, piling the pressure on to the fish, which eventually came up tail-first and was safely scooped up into the mesh of the pan net. 

Not quite cricket, I know, but the encounter had certainly proved the pole’s mettle and instilled in me a huge degree of confidence in its abilities. 

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I’m confident that’s just what you’ll discover too if you invest in the Power Carp X which, in my honest opinion, represents astonishing value for money.

Price: £425 (but shop around and you may find it even cheaper)

Maver Signature Pro 821 pole review

Pulling into Decoy Lakes in Cambridgeshire for the latest live tackle test, I was glad that I’d layered up my thermals. It was a decidedly frosty start to proceedings, but as I unloaded the usual mountain of tackle from my car, I knew that before too long the venue’s prolific stocks of hard-fighting carp would be giving my circulation a much-needed boost.

I was there to put Maver’s new flagship pole, the 16m Signature 821, through its paces. Damson Lake – my focus for the day – is stuffed with small carp to around 5lb, as well as plentiful numbers of feisty F1s, so I knew that the pole would be getting a thorough workout.

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This latest offering is a proper top-end bit of kit, and at just under two and a half grand, I know that many of you will be thinking ‘I could go on holiday with the family for a lot less’. That’s probably true, but the fact remains that a few short weeks later you’d be back, sat on your seatbox in your peg, using your same old pole, enviously eyeing the sleek carbon being wielded by the angler in the next peg along.

The Signature 821 may well fit firmly into the object of desire bracket, but in many respects it represents great value and, believe it or not, in the long run could end up saving you money.

Impressive add-ons

First up, unlike many poles on the market, the 821 comes complete with a mightily impressive spares package that includes no fewer than 11 top kits and a cupping kit, so you won’t have to shell out a penny more on post-purchase extras going forward.

You also get two short four sections, two Bi-Conical extensions to fit sections 6-7 and 7-8, plus clever little Pole End Protectors that fit into the ends of the 11m, 13m and 16m butt sections to stop them from splitting. Fit them with skid-bungs and they’ll perform even better. All these kits come with pre-bushed PTFE tips and side puller slots, too. The savings keep adding up.

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Serious stopping power

After setting up in a peg that had served me well in recent matches, it was time for me to start the session.

With a pair of rollers in situ, pole sock in place, and with two top kits fitted with No6-No8 hollow and heavier No10-No12 elastics, I tied on the appropriate float rigs. The heavier of my two set-ups, using the single section Power Kit, was perfect for any big fish that might turn up down the margin to muddy the waters.

This kit has a much wider PTFE bore size than the standard commercial kit, and is designed for use with really beefy hollow elastics up to a 20. Incidentally, match up the single-section Power Kit with the short four section supplied, and it handily comes out at the same length as the two-piece Commercial Kit. This Power Kit stiffens the whole pole up, but you do obviously lose a little length.

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There, though, the similarity between the two top kits ends. The Power and short fourth combo is the ultimate whopper-stopper, but doesn’t throw the pole out of balance the minute you ship out past 11m. For catching hippos on steroids, this is just the ticket!

All-round ability

The lighter elastic set-up in the Commercial Kit is a pure joy to use, and it will easily handle up to 8-14 Dual Core elastic. Striking and tip recovery are lightning quick and that, plus the steely linear rigidity and lightweight feel it exudes, make this pole a seriously impressive bit of kit for all styles of commercial fishing. 

As if that’s not enough, the Suncore anti-friction surface on the pole allows even the most ham-fisted of pole anglers to ship in and out with consummate ease throughout the session, even when being used at the pole’s longest 14.5m and 16m lengths.

During my four-hour morning session on Damson Lake, it performed every task I asked of it with absolute aplomb. Bite after bite was met with a crisp strike, and I didn’t lose a single fish to a hook-pull. 

I finished with a superb net full to bursting with small carp – the like of which I wish I’d landed the last time I fished a match at the venue. Then again, I wasn’t using the Maver Signature 821 on that visit!

Maver is a company with a rich history in producing excellent poles in all price brackets, and classic marques such as the Jurassic Carp, Super Lithium and Elite ranges are well-known and loved by all, from pleasure anglers to world champs.

Pound for pound, in spite of its high asking price, the Signature Pro 821 is a stand-out performer and looks sure to follow those legendary bits of kit into the pole angling hall of fame.

Price: £2,499.99

Prestons Protype X300 14.5m pole review

While back I tested one of the original Protype poles from Preston Innovations and was highly impressed with it.

So when the new X300 arrived I was keen to see how much better this upgraded version would be.

At a penny under £750 it will never break the bank of the most prudent of anglers and has all the trimmings of a pole double that price tag in terms of top kits and features.

The X300 has been designed for the pleasure or match angler who never gets the butt sections of their pole out of the bag, hence the 14.5m length that’ll reach the far bank of snake lakes or islands on most commercials fisheries or handle up in the water scenarios in the summer.

On its website Preston is keen to stress the strength and response of the X300, but how does it measure up in reality?

The only way to find out was to give it a thorough going over, and the F1-packed Swallow Lake at Westwood Lakes, near Boston, was the venue of choice. The plan was to fish shallow at the full 14.5m to test rigidity and response on the strike, then have a crack at the margins to see how the pole handled ‘proper’ carp!

First impressions of the X300 are a reassuring solidity to each section. They’re very strong, with no give, but when slotted together the overall weight is surprisingly low for such a powerful pole. Before fishing I gave the pole a waggle at the full length, and while there’s a little wobble at the top end, it’s nothing to get stressed about.

Kicking off with banded pellet, it was easy enough to slap the rig or lift and drop one-handed while feeding with a catapult. First bite, and an F1 dragged the elastic out of the top kit, hooping the pole over. It didn’t get very far, though.

The power soon kicked in and fish number one was in the net. Two dozen more followed in quick succession, most of which produced a bite that needed striking at. Just a lift of the knee would set the hook. Try that with a pole that’s unbalanced and the whole thing would just wave up and down with no chance of hooking the fish.

Fortunately, the X300 has plenty of balance and enough stiff ‘spine’ to crisply lift the rig into a fish, but there’s also enough give in each section to let fish power off without any danger of a hook-pull. Slowly but surely I was enjoying fishing with the X300!

With enough fish in the bag at long range, I moved back to 6m and carried on bagging shallow. At this length the pole was even better and super-fast on the strike, a real carp cruncher whether up in the water or using meat or corn on this short line. To be frank, many anglers opt to fish as close in as they can for speed and comfort, and the X300 is just as perfect on a ‘top kit and two’ line as it is at the full 14.5m.

I’d love to say I caught a raft of units down the edge, but those F1s wouldn’t let them! 

The peg was solid with them at 5m down the edge but, with reeds and sedges to contend with, the pole made short work of gently encouraging hooked fish into open water. So, with shallow, short and the margin boxes ticked, how about the spares package?

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It’s pretty damn good for the price, with a pre-bushed Match top-2 inside the pole and four of Preston’s Roller Pulla Power top-2 kits fitted with 3.7mm internal PTFE bushes and boasting the Roller Pulla system in the side puller slots for total control over hooked fish. There’s also a same-length Kupping Kit with two Kups and adaptors, all in a Protype X300 holdall.

Yes, the X300 is a bit of a belter and a true all-rounder for fans of commercial carp fisheries.

Is it better than the original Protypes? Good god, it knocks them into a cocked hat! 

If you’ve got £750 to spend on a new pole and do a lot of heavyweight carp fishing throughout the year, forget about shopping around – go get the Protype!

Package details:

• 14.5m Protype X300 pole with a Match kit fitted inside

• 4 x Roller Pulla Power top-2 kits featuring 3.7mm internal PTFE bushes

• Kupping Kit with Kups and adaptors

• Protype X300 pole holdall

• Price: £749.99


Middy’s XM-10-3 Review

Twenty years ago, the words ‘entry-level pole’ would conjure up images of a several metres of distinctly floppy carbon.

The response on the strike would be measured in minutes, not seconds and its overall weight would soon see you booked into hospital for a hernia repair. 

Thank goodness that things have moved on since then!

Nowadays, if you want a basic quality pole that will do you proud over many seasons, there are plenty to choose from. Derbyshire company Middy is arguably at the head of the pack when it comes to no-nonsense tackle at a price you can’t argue with.

Of course, Middy manufactures top line kit too, but it has always had an eye on the beginner who works on a limited budget but still expects functional tackle that won’t let them down when they hand over their hard-earned.

The XM-10-3 pole is yet another Middy gem. Part of the much-talked about Reactacore range, the XM-10-3 is available in three different packages from 10m to 13m, each one having more top kits the more money you spend. 

At the classic entry level is the 10m pole with two top kits... one Match and one Carp. All, in fact, that the newcomer to pole fishing will ever need.

Weighing 692g at 10m, it’s not a brute to fish with all day and, like all poles in the Reactacore range, the XM-10-3 is built using Middy’s Quad carbon technology and Maximus wrap joints to add strength to those vital areas on each section. 

A new Spineline aligner system ensures maximum rigidity when lined up correctly, and the use of Foam Dome Top PS on the No4 and No5 sections is a nice touch to reduce wear and tear on section ends. It looks the part, too, with smart black, white and gold livery. 

An opinion off the bank is all well and good, but how does the pole actually handle when something big and angry is having a go at the other end? The carp and F1s of Westwood Lakes were about to find out as I picked Kingfisher Lake at the Lincolnshire complex for the test.

Packed with carp, F1s, massive ide and some surprise tench, bream and barbel, the lake is the classic mixed commercial fishery that the XM-10-3 was built for.

Warm weather made fishing shallow a sensible option and one that would also test the performance of the pole when striking at fast bites and shipping and out quickly. At 10m, the length is just about right for this type of fishing and after ladling in plenty of maggots, the first big F1 of the day ripped the elastic out.

The pole bends pleasingly but not alarmingly. You’re always in control and there’s a shedload of power in each section to make pulling hard-to-get fish out of danger safe and simple. Each section wall is made of strong stuff and I defy you to break one, however cack-handed you may be.

A string of quality F1s, big roach and even crucians were landed with the minimum of fuss, and for a pole in such a low price bracket, the balance and stiffness were a bit of a revelation. 

Initially I feared the worst, but needn’t have. Shipping out is easy, lifting and dropping the rig into place equally so and the reaction on the strike, although not lightning-fast, is plenty quick enough for picking off finicky F1s.

Of course, you may well not use the XM-10-3 for fishing shallow and I reckon that for general sport with baits on the bottom at a little shorter range than the full 10m it’ll be a winner. 

Strong, balanced, light in the hand and with a couple of top kits (one Carp and one Match) supplied, it’s plenty more than you could ever ask for at the price! 

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Verdict

If you’d offered me this pole when I began fishing many moons ago I’d have had your hand off! For the asking price it really is outstanding, and will catch you many thousands of pounds of carp in years to come.

Middy has put plenty of thought into the XM-10-3 rather than churning out a bit of a broom handle, and those neat little touches and design features all add up to a quality bit of kit. If you fancy beginning pole fishing or want a good back-up for days when heavyweight carping is on the cards, you have to give this the once-over.

RRP: £375 but shop around for best price


Preston Innovations Edge Monster margin pole review

There’s an old saying - ‘you get what you pay for’.

If you buy something on a budget then you shouldn’t expect it to perform as well as more expensive kit. But every now and again an item comes along that makes a mockery of this phrase. The latest pole from Preston Innovations being one such creation.

The 8.5m Edge Monster Margin has been designed to hook and land big fish at short range with ease. It’s much more than just a heavy handed power tool, though. Strength is certainly one of its many attributes and if any carp in your local fishery takes the hookbait when this pole is in use then it is likely to be on the end of a losing battle. 

The walls of each section ooze muscle power and no matter how much force you exert when trying to get the upper hand against your quarry, you can rest assured you aren’t going to suffer breakages, even when using the thickest elastics.

Hook a fish close to a snag and you’re going to need quick reactions to prevent it from delving into the maze of sunken branches. In order to do that you need a pole that slides through your hands in a quick and fluid manner. The gloss finish on the butt section and mini extension does exactly that and the transition into the rest of the sections is smooth. Put simply, you can ship the Edge Monster Margin back in a flash, rain or shine!

More often than not the weight of a margin pole is compromised to gain the necessary strength but that isn’t the case here. This is a lightweight tool that could be held in one hand for long periods with minimal effort, even when using it at its full 8.5m length.

While the name suggests it is built for bagging enormous mirrors and commons from the margins, it is also a brilliant piece of kit for those taking their first novice steps into pole fishing.

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Dropped sections and other slightly clumsy accidents are commonplace when you’re new to the game but the pole won’t splinter or snap as a result of these mishaps. 

All of the sections are interchangeable with Preston’s Protype range of poles making this ideal for spares if you own one.

If all that isn’t enough then the price is going to seal the deal. A pole that is strong, lightweight, has a brilliant finish and is packed with built-in features for less than £150. Wow!

Preston Innovations has a reputation for raising the bar when it comes to new launches and the company has continued that trend with the Edge Monster Margin.

Verdict: I’ve become used to tackle companies bosses waxing lyrical about their latest tackle and on some occasions the reality doesn’t match the hype. The team at Preston Innovations told me pre-test that the Edge Monster Margin would be strong, lightweight and easy to ship. It’s fair to say there was no exaggeration. It ticks every box and gets a big thumbs up from me.

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. 

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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

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.