PAY AROUND

£94.99

On September 5, five Carp Waggler, five Carp Feeder and two Multi-Feeder rods from Free Spirit will hit the tackle shops.

All use the company’s tried and tested CTX specification, which has proved so successful in its carp and barbel rods.

The 40 tonne carbon blanks’ Bi-Axis weave makes them exceptionally light and immensely strong, and their brilliant paint and lacquer-free Perdurable finish is impossible to mark.

Other key features include reduced length handles (although the stepped-up SU Waggler and BW Feeder rods retain long handles for distance casting). The action of all the new rods gives an even build-up of power from tip down to butt, more than enough to stop powerful fish on light gear without the blank bottoming out.

Fast forward to the Oaks Strip at Decoy Lakes, near Peterborough. An early numbered peg at the top end of the Oaks, with the wind off my back, would in all likelihood prove to be a good testing ground for the CTX 10ft Carp Waggler rod.

Fitting the two sections of the rod together, it immediately struck me how slim and light it is. It doesn’t feel or look like an ordinary pellet wag chucker, either, being almost reminiscent of the featherweight old-school rods we used for squatt fishing on the Grand Union Canal.

There’s enough whip in it to be used with floats weighing as little as 3AAA. But the elfin 10ft blank still has more than enough poke to propel a waggler headlong into the strongest of winds.

This I discovered when, mesmerised by its all-round casting, fish playing and handling, I walked the rod round to the other side of the lake where my work colleague Ben Fisk was
live-testing a new margin pole.

Ben, one of the best young match anglers in the UK, is normally a man of very few words. But after just a few casts, and a couple of lucky early mug fish, he turned to me and asked whether he could ‘borrow’ the rod for his forthcoming weekend matches.

That alone should tell you how good the CTX 10ft Carp Waggler is.

VERDICT

Well, occasionally you just don’t see something coming. The comfort of its handling, the tip speed, faultless non-locking parabolic action, classy guides and woven carbon blank make this by far the best 10ft waggler rod we have seen, and at a price that won’t cause credit card meltdown. Go to your nearest tackle shop and have a look at one if you think I’m kidding.