Greys Toreon Tactical Quivertip 11ft 10ins rod live test
Wth daylight hours reduced in winter, many anglers, myself included, much prefer to fish short sessions rather than spend days on end sat in a bivvy and carting mountains of tackle around.
It’s much more enjoyable to grab a rod, a net, a small rucksack and a couple of loaves of bread and wander the banks of your local river searching out a chub or two. The Greys Toreon Tactical Quivertip is the perfect tool for this. It's as versatile as a Swiss Army knife.
There are four lengths available in the range – 10ft 6in, 11ft 10in, 12ft 6in and 13ft – to cater for the needs of every stillwater and river coarse angler. They're just as much at home dishing it out on running water as they are bagging up at your local commercial or lobbing out a feeder on a large natural venue.
For this live test I’d chosen the 11ft 10in version, as at this length it’s a great
all-rounder. It’s just about short enough to creep into tight overgrown river swims, although if this is what you're primarily going to be using a rod for then the 10ft 6in model would be recommended.
This is also long enough to chuck a feeder to islands and open swims on commercials. Unlike most feeder rods, which come with two or three push-in tips, the Toreon Tactical Quivertip comes with five, ranging from 0.75oz to 3oz.
The rod also features a detachable butt grip which not only makes it more compact for storage, but also gives you two handle length options. There are nine lightweight gunsmoke SiC line guides on the rod and six equivalent guides on the five quivertips.
To test the rod I headed off to the tiny River Ise in Northamptonshire. This is a tributary of the River Nene and requires a stealthy approach at the best of times to avoid spooking the resident chub.
The fact that the water was fairly low and clear meant I’d have to be extra stealthy. Tactics were kept simple. My reel was loaded with 5lb mainline on to which I threaded a running link leger stopped by a buffer bead over a small swivel.
A piece of breadflake was pinched around a size 10 hook and cast into a deep pool between two shallow stretches of river. I'd baited the mouth of the pool and a couple of other spots along the far-bank reeds with a couple of small balls of mashed bread.
The first few spots didn’t produce a single knock, but a cast towards an overhanging tree saw the tip tremble before it pulled around in a classic chub bite.The fish was quickly steered away from the branches and, after a couple of jagged lunges, a small chub, was drawn over the landing net.
The next two casts produced a couple more chub of a similar size.
THE VERDICT
At almost £140 there are certainly plenty of cheaper rods on the market. But when you look at what you get for your money I think this rod is worth every penny. If you do a spot of river fishing, as well as the odd session on a commercial carp water, and enjoy feeder fishing for bream, it will cover the lot. And the range of five tips supplied with it really do make it suitable to a wide range of duties.
James Furness, Editor, Improve Your Coarse Fishing
TECH SPEC
Length: 11ft 10in
Pieces: Two
Tips: 0.75oz, 1oz, 1.5oz, 2oz, 3oz
Handle: Full cork
Reel seat: Screw lock
Guide type: SiC
Hook keeper: Yes