TF Gear Delta NT Rods — Angling Times

PAY AROUND

£109.99 a pair

The attractive ‘buy one, get one free’ offer on these excellent carp rods means you can pick them up from a squeak over £50 apiece.

But, far from being entry-level fodder that’ll merely do the job until you can afford something better, I reckon even experienced anglers will be happy to fish with these professional, high modulus carbon blanks.

The slimline, fast-taper, 12ft, two-piece rods have a lovely, crisp feel about them and cast well to around 70 yards with reel lines of between 10lb and 15lb.

There are six versions to choose from. Opt for 2.75lb, 3lb, 3.25lb or 3.5lb (50mm butt ring) test curve variants. There are dedicated Spod and a purpose-built Marker model to complete the set.

Prices range from £109.99 to £129.99 for two rods, depending on test curve.

The lighter 2.75lb and 3lb options are tailor-made for typical, compact carp venues where you need to cast leads up to 3oz with small PVA bags or stringers.

Distance demons or anglers launching heavier PVA loads should go for the stronger 3.25lb or 3.5lb options.

The minimal cosmetic satin grey blanks are dressed with sturdy silicone guides and secure DPS screw-lock reel fitting. At just 15mm, the end of the shrink-wrap butt section is ultra-slim.

Strangely, this slim diameter proved my only gripe with the rod. It’s so thin that it sometimes seems hard to grip securely when you’re going for the big cast.

I chose to fish the 2.75lb test curve model (£109.99 for two) and teamed my two test rods with TF Gear’s 10 ball bearing Speedrunner 8000 (RRP £49.99) Freespool reels loaded with 12lb mono.

The rod has a lovely progressive action that’s perfect for the kind of mid double/low 20lb fish that many runs waters and small pits are full of these days though, in open water swims, it will happily land far bigger specimens on any venue.

I fished a 2.5oz Method feeder at a comfortable 60 yards but could have gone further if I’d pushed it. The rod coped beautifully with carp to low doubles, but had plenty of power in reserve for bigger fish.