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
Drennan Acolyte 9ft feeder fishing rod
When it comes to rods, Drennan’s classy Acolyte family is right up there with the best.
The latest additions to the clan are these two delectable 9ft Feeder models that come in both Ultra (light-actioned) and the stepped-up Plus versions.
The pencil-thin, high-modulus carbon blanks come with three graded push-in quivertips, with all the furnishings and finishes you’ve come to expect to find on top-end Drennan rods.
Both versions are ideal for short-range straight lead and feeder work on natural and commercial fisheries.
TECH SPEC
•Best matched with reel lines from 4lb to 8lb (1.8kg to 3.6kg)
•Two-piece construction folds into a rod sleeve in seconds
•Neoprene rod socks also included
•Supplied with 1.5oz, 2oz and 2.5oz push-in carbon tips
•Extra tips also available
PAY AROUND
£169.99
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Daiwa Tournament SLR Feeder fishing rod range
The most talked about rod-range of 2018, the Tournament SLRs are already winning fans in the feeder market, most notably Angling Times columnist Steve Ringer.
SLR stands for Super Long Range and these four blanks are the next step up from the original Tournament distance models designed for the European market. With natural style and long range feeder fishing enjoying such a boom again in the UK now too, Daiwa has tapped into this market here, with spectacular results.
Built using Daiwa’s latest X45 carbon technology, these rods feature distinctive red butt section artwork, a boat load of power to cast even the shortest 11ft version a long way, and a fantastic progressive curve for playing fish.
The rods were designed and tested by Steve himself, who described the 12ft version as “the best rod ever”. A 13ft and a 14ft complete the range for extreme distance or big river work.
Other features include Fuji Alconite guides, a Fjui reel seat, dedicated 70cm carbon quivers, Bias Carbon V-Joint, an Armlock handle, a hook keeper and a new 1.5oz quiver on the 11ft model.
Granted they don't come cheap but if you want total perfection than you're going to have to pay for it and the £400-plus price tags reflect this.
PAY AROUND
£405 - £472.50
Free Spirit Hi S Carp Feeder fishing rod
If fishing rods came with a pedigree, Free Spirit’s new Hi S Match rods would be pinnacles of the tackle trade aristocracy.
The company’s equally well-connected Hi S Carp rods have long been considered be the best that money can buy.
Free Spirit entered the match, pleasure, and specialist arena around three years ago with its mid-priced CTX range. But it was surely only a matter of time before match rods with the same top-spec build and quality carbon as the Hi S Carp rods entered the fray.
The comprehensive 16-rod Match range first saw the light at last year’s The Big One show, where those that saw them – me included – were wowed by their modern looks, quality fittings and almost frightening transmission of ‘feel’ through the blanks.
All are constructed from ultra-low-resin 40t carbon with woven butt sections. This makes them extremely light to hold, yet extremely strong.
The unique ‘Perdurable’ finish does away with paint or lacquer– it’s just the carbon, which is made to be ultra-resistant to damage and helps the rods to retain their showroom looks.
Hi S Carp Feeder rods (the 11ft version of which was on live test duty) are all fitted with high-end Kigan Z guides along the blanks themselves, while the quivertips bear anti-frap MZ rings that reduce the chances of the reel line or shockleader catching in them and causing a crack-off.
Something else that makes these rods that little bit different is their unique hollow quivertips. These eliminate any flat spots, since there is no abrupt transition from solid tip through to hollow blank – instead you get a seamless, progressive action.
To that lot you can add Fuji skeletal-style reel seats with a cut-away forward finger area, giving added feel and control when playing fish. Carp rod-style abbreviated handles allow easy directional changes when playing a hard-fighting fish close to the net, and ‘fold-friendly’ guide spacing allows you to break down a rod with reel and rig in situ.
Add all that up and you have to agree that Hi S Carp Feeder rods are a bit special.
Not only do they look classily different, they also feel and behave differently in the hand.
This was instantly apparent on the live test. The two-piece 11ft Carp Feeder rod is so slim in the butt section just above the handle – just 150mm in circumference – that it doesn’t look capable of casting a small float, never mind a feeder. How wrong can you be!
Not only will it chuck 3oz (85g) feeders with some ease, but it will propel them an awfully long way, certainly far enough to cope with most commercial venues.
The rod’s progressive action is equally admirable – the hollow quivertip gives it a seamless curvature, and it has enough power in its locker to cope with everything from F1s on light gear, through to big girls on heavy Method tactics.
The cut-away reel seat allows you to feel every movement of a hooked fish, and while the abbreviated handle may not be to everyone’s taste, it balances perfectly with the blank and is just the ticket for winding up a cast or piling on the pressure when it’s needed.
Mark Sawyer
PAY AROUND
£280 (abbreviated handle)
£300 (full cork handle)
Maver Diamond Feeder fishing rod review
SHORT feeder rods are still very much in vogue on commercial fisheries and the 10ft 6ins version of the new Maver Diamond Feeder rods are no exception.
BUY NOW from £179.99 from Chapmans Angling
Super-accurate on the cast, they can be tucked down the side of a platform out of the wind, and are that bit easier all round to handle when elbow room is at a premium.
Provided you’re not faced with a seriously long chuck, rods like this will cast far enough to put you on the fish on most commercials. And, needless to say, they are ideal for Method tactics in the margins where really big fish are about.
Maver’s latest Diamond Feeder 10ft 6ins rod, in two sections, is the perfect length for most commercial feeder and straight lead tactics.
It’s one of four in the range, all boasting high-modulus carbon, cork handle with EVA casting and thumb grips, low-profile lined ceramic guides and the ever-handy folding keeper ring. You also get three graded carbon quivertips.
Unlike a number of other shorter rods that I have tested, Maver’s 10ft 6ins Diamond Feeder has the casting clout to propel a 30g flatbed Method feeder a decent distance with a fair degree of accuracy. I proved this during a live test at Decoy’s mixed-stock Horseshoe Lake… and before any of you familiar with this venue clamour that this lake hasn’t got a long cast on it, I also spent some time casting different weights and distances on the much larger Beastie Lake.
My findings weren’t all that different from Maver’s recommendations, but in my opinion the blank’s limits are being pushed with anything over 60g (2oz) chucked 60 yards.
To be honest, that’s more than enough power and distance for most day-ticket fisheries. A huge plus point is the rod’s non-locking, progressive action with no flat spots.
As you can see from the picture, it tightens up really quickly from a third of the way down the top section, putting you in command when a fish is at the net.
Despite this the rod is not overly stiff, and you’d need to be really clumsy to suffer many hook-pulls. As Dame Shirley Bassey sang, ‘Diamonds are forever’…and sure enough, this rod’s a keeper!
THE VERDICT
The delightful jet black Diamond Feeder gets a huge thumbs-up from me. It’s everything you could wish for. It’ll cast a fair distance when you need to, it’s super-accurate at short range, and it can be used with a wide choice of weights for tactical flexibility. At just 181g it’s very light, and its progressive action combines controlled pulling power with enough softness to make it suitable for reel lines from 4lb to 8lb, with hooklengths down to 0.12mm.
Mark Sawyer
Frenzee Pro FXT Match+ rod
Frenzee's latest 10ft 6ins Pro FXT Match+ rod, at £78.50, is easily one of the best I’ve used in this modest price bracket.
The two-piece carbon composite blank isn’t made for casting heavy pellet or splasher wagglers to the horizon on big open waters, but it chucks their smaller relatives out very proficiently. What’s more, it’s lightweight and comfy in the hand, something hugely important in a pellet waggler rod. Otherwise, constant casting, along with regular feeding via a catapult, can quickly become an irksome chore rather than the fun pursuit it should be.
The need to feed while holding the rod is a vital element of pellet waggler fishing, and proved a very necessary skill when I was live testing the Frenzee rod on Decoy’s fish-packed Beastie Lake. At 5ft-6ft deep, Beastie is an ideal pellet waggler venue. Sadly, though, it’s often plagued by an annoying side wind sweeping down the lake, making presentation a bit of a mare.
Once the float hits the water, it’s almost instantly dragged out of position by the wind – and carp, no matter how hungry or daft they may be, aren’t going to chase sideways-moving pellets with a life of their own. I started the day by fishing a 6g straight crystal waggler at mid-depth (around 3ft) with a hair-rigged 6mm banded pellet.
The wind was behaving true to type, and although I did foul-hook a few fish which shot off like finned cannonballs, every one of them parted company with me. They did, though, make me appreciate how much power this rod has in reserve, and that’s despite its pleasing through action – you can feel the blank bending all the way through to the handle.
With a few fish swirling on the feed pellets as soon as they hit the water, a change to a shorter, dumpier float, and a reduction in depth to just 12ins, was called for. I could only get bites on the drop, which meant casting and feeding every 15 seconds. Not only did the rod never leave my hands, but I needed lightning-fast strike reactions to zip line from the surface in the blink of an eye. Only then did I connect with the bites.
Neither constraint proved much of a problem for the FXT Match+, which was indeed a comfy rod to hold and quick to pick up line on the strike. But it’s not much use having the right rod if your reel’s not up to the job. This is where Frenzee’s new FMR MK2 3000 comes in. Used with its single handle option, it’s the perfect pellet waggler partner for the FXT.
Its large but lightweight Airlight bail-arm flicked open and closed every cast, and the clutch was soon fizzing as Beastie Lake’s strain of lean, fit carp made spirited runs and fought like fish three times their size. The reel’s double handle is more of an advantage when feeder fishing, helping to balance the reel when setting the quivertip.
THE VERDICT
This is an ideal pellet waggler rod for most commercial carp fisheries. Its through action is capable of safely handling the largest fish without worrying about hook-pulls or snapped lines. It will also cast wagglers up to 15g without a problem, and can be matched with hooklengths as fine as 0.14mm. All in all, for the price it’s one of the nicest pellet waggler rods currently out there.
PAY AROUND
£78.50
Mark Sawyer
Greys Prodigy Apex carp rod
TECH SPEC
Toreon Nano Composite construction
2K-1K high modulus woven carbonfibre blank
Crisp progressive action
Carbon Armour blank finish
Fuji DPS-18 reel seat
Full Japanese shrink wrap handle
The Prodigy Apex is the latest addition to Greys’ best-selling Prodigy range of rods, which over the years have gained a well-earned reputation for incredible performance at an affordable price.
The Apex rods start at £169.99 RRP for the 10ft 3lb model, going up to £200 for the 12ft and 13ft 3.5lb rods. These prices put the rods into the mid-range bracket where you expect that little bit extra for your money as opposed to entry-level rods in the £50-£100 price range.
Greys had sent the 12ft 3.25lb model for us to take out and nowadays this test curve would be classed as a good all-rounder. If you’re only planning on investing in one set of carp rods these will cover most jobs. Although they may be a little overgunned for fishing close in, they’ll still do the job, but they can easily chuck a large lead or PVA bag a decent distance that a rod with a lighter test curve would struggle to match.
We made the short journey to Northamptonshire’s Willowbrook Lake and straight away found a few carp making the most of the early spring sunshine in a shallow bay at the top of the lake. A clump of reeds knocking no more than a couple of rodlengths to the right of the swim revealed fish location after throwing in a handful of corn and broken boilies a rig was flicked towards the spot and the rod placed on the ground.
A few minutes later, the tip hooped round and I was bent into a carp. The rod’s smooth, progressive action easily cushioned the powerful lunges of the fish as it did its best to find sanctuary in the reeds. Ultimately the carp was no match for the power and control of the rod and it was soon sat in the net. The Prodigy Apex has benefitted from the use of Toreon Nano composite material technology. This not only makes the blank incredibly slim and lightweight but also gives it increased strength and finesse. The rod action has been specifically designed to get the best out of modern, powerful, overhead casting styles and the Toreon technology promotes a super-fast tip recovery speed. This gives the rod a crisp and responsive feel normally associated with ultra-high end carp rods.
The sublime woven carbon finish is 2K on the butt and 1K on the tip and features a durable Carbon Armour blank finish. Other features include a Fuji DPS-18 reel seat, stealth black anodised collars, a slim, shrink-wrapped handle and balanced stainless butt cap. If you’re looking at making the step up from entry-level blanks, then the Prodigy Apex rods are worth serious consideration.
THE VERDICT
Not only do they perform great but aesthetically they look the part too. I wouldn’t have been surprised if they had a price tag of over £200, so for £179.99 they are excellent value. Having used the 3.25lb model I can confirm that it is a real jack of all trades and will handle everything from catching carp close in beneath overhanging trees, to blasting out rigs to 100 metres.
PAY AROUND
£159.99
James Furness
Shakespeare Agility Continental Feeder rod
TECH SPEC
Slim carbon blank
Enlarged Zirconium guides
Ergonomically-designed reel seat
Rubber butt cap
Satin matt finish
Maximum mainline rating - 12lb
Recommended maximum casting weight - 5oz
Mono and braid-friendly guides
Shakespeare Agility Continental Feeder rod. This range of continental feeder rods bearing the famous Shakespeare mark is aimed squarely at fans of big, open-water venue fishing.
Designed and constructed to cope with the heaviest of feeders, the fastest of flows and the longest of casts, the rods come in 12ft, 13ft and 14ft lengths and are well-suited to the pursuit of big bream from expansive, deep venues. So why would these rods be of any interest at all to the UK match angler, I hear you ask?
Well I’ll tell you. It was brought to my attention that the 14ft Agility Continental in particular has furtively become one of the most sought-after long-chuck big feeder rods on the market. And not just for targeting stillwater bream either; it’s also rumoured to be very much ‘at home’ on big rivers such as the Severn and Trent. A quick call to Shakespeare revealed my source’s information to be well-founded; the company are currently completely out of stock of the 14ft model, due to an apparent surge in interest. However, the Alnwick-based firm did have the other two lengths in stock, and could get one sent out for live testing purpose immediately.
Although I would have liked to get my mitts on the 14ft model, I wasn’t overly disappointed at it not being available, as I wouldn’t be casting huge distances into really deep water, or using ultra-long hooklengths. A 14ft feeder rod is a highly-specialised tool, and on the rare occasion I have used them - which has been mainly in Holland - they have always felt a little bit alien, so I was more than happy with the 13ft model which I was sure would prove just as good as the slightly longer version.
Two days later the rod dropped on to my desk, and I couldn’t wait to get a look at it. A quick in-office inspection revealed a pleasing matt satin-finished three-piece high-modulus carbon blank. It has been designed with an ‘old-school’ fast-tapering casting action, with more than enough poke through its middle and butt sections to make distance casting a doddle.
Plus, it’s also got a high weight loading point, which kicks in around halfway down the carrier section, meaning it shouldn’t feel wobbly or unbalanced when a heavy feeder is attached to it. Other key features included three carbon push-in quivertips and a superb set of enlarged-diameter Zirconium Oxide guides, ideal for use with all braided and mono mainlines, and certainly wide enough to allow the safe snag-free passage of shockleader knots.
With the river closed season now upon us, I was slightly limited with regards to venue choice, especially as the bream stocks in most of the large acreage open-water venues such as Ferry Meadows are still only just waking up from their winter slumber. However, I knew that the Northants day-ticket lake Rysons was normally good for a few early spring slabs, and as it’s a fair chuck out to the middle of the lake where the fish normally reside, it would prove a fair casting test for the rod.
My set-up involved using a 10lb fluorocarbon shockleader, tied to a 0.10mm braided mainline, with a 40g distance cage feeder at the business end of things. The first task was to lay the table, so I made a dozen quick casts to the lake centre using a big cage feeder loaded with pellets, groundbait and dead red maggots. The blank hardly flexed during the loosefeeding process, with the mainline hitting the clip easily on every cast and the shockleader fairly sizzling through the rod’s enlarged guides. The blank’s casting action is best described as clean and crisp, but if I were to be hyper-critical I’d say it’s maybe a little on the heavy side. However, with minimal recoil, I knew it would be no bother at all to achieve extreme casting ranges.
An hour later the rod’s tip trembled, followed by the unmistakable steady pull-round as a big slab picked up the treble maggot hookbait. Two minutes and two big head shakes later we parted company when the hook pulled out. Unfortunately, this scenario unfolded three more times before a change to a larger hook and a longer hooklength remedied the problem. Quite simply, the blank’s power can be a little overwhelming when used with smaller hooks, but when coupled with wide gape hooks from a size 14 and upwards, the problem pales into the background.
To summarise, the rod has superb distance-casting credentials and is available at a snip of the price of most distance feeder models. As well as being an awesome tool for tackling large stillwaters at home and abroad, it would make an excellent rod for targeting all fish species on our larger domestic rivers.
THE VERDICT
This 13ft Agility Continental has power with a capital P to burn. Originally designed for the European feeder angler, the rod is ideal for big open-water UK venues, and is also sure to find favour with many river anglers, especially where hefty feeders up to 5oz and strong lines up to 12lb are needed. Price wise, for a long-range heavy feeder rod, it’s the best by some margin of those currently available on the market.
PAY AROUND
£74.99
Mark Sawyer
Korum's new range of feeder fishing rods
Pleasure and big-fish brand Korum has launched a range of three-piece feeder rods that are sure to be a huge hit. The eight-strong collection features models ranging from 11ft to 13ft, and covers all short, medium or long-casting ranges. The rods are perfect for all types of feeder fishing on both rivers and stillwaters and have maximum casting weights running from 45g to 180g.
11ft Feeder 45g
Ideal for lakes where feeders need to be cast accurately at short or medium distances. A versatile rod with a line rating of 4lb-8lb, it is supplied with three 2.65mm colour-coded quivertips: orange (light), yellow (medium) and red (heavy).
PAY AROUND
£44.99
12ft Feeder 45g
Described by Korum as a ‘fantastic all-rounder’ with plenty of backbone, it has
a 4lb-8lb line rating, and comes with three 2.65mm colour-coded quivertips (light, medium and heavy).
PAY AROUND
£44.99
12ft Feeder 60g
A rod with more power for casting larger feeders and making longer casts. It has
a 6lb-8lb line rating and comes with three 2.65mm colour-coded quivertips (light, medium and heavy).
PAY AROUND
£44.99
12ft Feeder 90g
This rod is for large feeders and long casts, but it retains enough tip sensitivity for silverfish work. Ideal for medium-paced rivers, it has a 6lb-10lb line rating and comes with a trio of 3.3mm colour-coded light, medium and heavy quivertips.
PAY AROUND
£44.99
12ft Feeder 120g
The most powerful 12ft model in the series. A good option for fast water, but with a sensitive tip action that allows plenty of options. It has a line rating of 6lb-8lb and comes with three 3.2mm colour-coded quivertips.
PAY AROUND
£44.99
13ft Feeder 120g
As with the two other 13ft models in the range, this rod has a slightly more powerful tip for improved casting distance and accuracy. It has a line rating of 6lb-10lb, and comes with three 3.2mm colour-coded quivertips.
PAY AROUND
£49.99
13ft Feeder 150g
More power and a faster casting action make this rod ideal for when long casts and heavy feeders are the order of the day. Great for large, open stillwaters and fast-paced rivers. Carries a line rating of 6lb- 10lb and comes with three 3.2mm colour-coded (light, medium and heavy) quivertips.
PAY AROUND
£54.99
13ft Feeder 180g
With a casting weight of 180g, this powerful rod will comfortably launch feeders beyond 100m. Boasting large-diameter guides, it can also be safely used with shockleaders. It has a line rating of 6lb-10lb, and comes with three 3.2mm colour-coded (light, medium and heavy) quivertips.
PAY AROUND
£54.99
Greys Toreon Tactical Float and Feeder rods
Greys has an impressive track record for iconic fishing rods – names such as Prodigy, Platinum and Air Curve are all instantly recognisable to big-fish anglers who demand the best.
So when news broke of a new rod range aimed at the serious coarse angler I just had to get my hands on a couple. The full Toreon Tactical family features four quivertip rods at 10ft 6ins, 11ft 10ins, 12ft 6ins and 13ft.All come with five graded carbon push-in quivertips. There are also five float rods in lengths of 10ft 6ins, 11ft 6ins, 12ft 8ins, 13ft and 15ft. Combine these with the quivertip rods and you have a rod arsenal able to tackle every imaginable venue, from tiny ponds to raging rivers.
Built from high modulus, lightweight Toreon nano-carbon, all rods are amazingly strong and responsive, and furnished throughout with quality lightweight gunsmoke SiC guides. Detachable cork butt grips allow for compact storage and variable handle lengths. These will be a blessing on the longer rods, giving more casting clout to those who like to whack it out a bit. The two rods on test, an 11ft 10ins quiver and an 11ft 6ins float model, should between them cover most ‘middle of the road’ situations and deal with everything from big commercial carp to shy-biting silvers. This in itself is quite unusual in an era when most modern coarse rods are built to do a specific job.
I would suggest, though, that if (after reading this review) you are interested in owning a Greys Toreon Tactical rod, you take a closer look at the full range before making your choice with so many rod lengths and recommended line strengths there will be something perfect for every fishery you may visit during the course of a season. Bearing that in mind, I took the test rods to a mixed fishery, the superbly well attended and blissfully peaceful day-ticket Wold Farm in Northamptonshire (www.woldfarmfisheries.co.uk). When the float dips or the tip goes round on Wood Lake you can never be too sure what’s having a nibble on the other end – it’s a kind of aquatic Bingo.
Starting on a 3AAA insert peacock waggler with a lightish 0.11mm hooklength and size 18 hook baited with double maggot, the 11ft 6ins two-sectioned rod soon put a few roach and half-decent skimmers into the netThe blank is crisp and responsive, with the backbone to cast big floats (including pellet wagglers up to 15g) without a hitch. Unfortunately, I didn’t catch anything hefty enough to test its anti-locking action, but for silvers alone it’s just about light enough to put a bend in the tip. The 11ft 10ins Toreon Tactical quiver rod was tested rather better as a run of pastie-sized carp took a liking to my bread disc hookbaits. The feisty little fellows showed plenty of spirit, but the blank’s flat spot-free action shrugged off their struggles and they were soon peering through the mesh of my keepnet.
It’s more than capable of handling medium-sized Method feeders, but although Greys rates its maximum casting weight at 185g (6oz-plus) that’s a tad optimistic in my opinion. I particularly liked the five blaze-coloured carbon quivertips which add to the rod’s versatility and help prove its worth as an all-rounder.
THE VERDICT
If you’re a journeyman coarse angler looking for a ‘one rod does it all’ bank side companion, then one – or perhaps two – from the new Toreon Tactical range are more than likely to be sliding into your rod holdall soon. Quality and performance are virtually guaranteed from Greys, one of the UK’s longest-surviving tackle companies with a fine history of producing hard-wearing, long-lasting and thoroughly satisfying fishing rods.
Mark Sawyer
PAY AROUND
£99.99 - £129.99
Browning Commercial King Tickler fishing rods
These tiny wands are called Ticklers – did Ken Dodd invent them so his Diddy Men could go fishing?
Well, oddly enough, no. These pint-sized single-sectioned Carp and F1 models are the latest additions to Browning’s popular Commercial King range. There’s nothing new about short or indeed single-sectioned rods, and few would argue against their having a place in the modern commercial match angler’s rod holdall. That is just where you can tuck your Tickler after a match, and very easily at that.
Simply remove the quivertip, place the hook into its retainer and reel up any slack line. Then it’s just a matter of folding the reel handle flat before sliding the rod into its slim, protective tube. There are no bands, sleeves or broken tips to worry about – the rod can be taken down and put up again quite literally in seconds.
For live test purposes I carried both versions to my peg at Monkhall Fisheries in Shropshire, ready made-up inside a standard rod bag containing five tubes plus a few mini pole extensions (and if you’re wondering about the blue colour of the water, it’s from a fish-safe dye used to keep weed growth to a minimum). Just to have them so close to hand and ready to use without the need to transport yet another rod holdall to the peg further endeared these rods of restricted growth to me. Yes, obviously they have their limitations, but for ease of transportation and convenience they tick my box.
The pair consists of a surprisingly substantial Carp Tickler model with a 50g (1.7oz) maximum casting weight, suitable for reel lines up to 8lb, and the lighter F1 rod with a casting weight of 35g (1.5oz) for reel lines up to 6lb breaking strain. The Carp Tickler has enough clout in its progressive fish-playing action to cope with specimens of 10lb-plus, while its lighter F1 counterpart shares the action while remaining just about light enough to handle small hooks and fragile hooklengths without risking hook-pulls or breakages.
During the live test, I fished for carp in deep water with the Carp Tickler set up with a 0.75oz straight lead and hair-rigged bread discs. I rigged the F1 rod with a 20g Drennan Carp feeder, size 18 hook and double maggot for fishing in shallower water up against an island.
During the session the wind got up from nowhere and, within seconds, wickedly cold snow flurries were driving across the lake. It really was ‘batten down the hatches’ stuff, but my fishing didn’t suffer at all, as the shortness of the rods had allowed me to tuck the rod-tips right into the bank. I hit every bite, and even when I had the brolly up I could still see the quivertips. As a bonus, I found I could net fish without having to negotiate the canopy of my brolly.
THE VERDICT
Well, I must admit to being completely sold on these new Browning Ticklers. I really liked the concept – packing away and setting up rods has never been easier or more lacking in fuss and drama. Being able to stick them inside my pole holdall was another big plus point. I found the Carp Tickler a little on the heavy side, and although I wouldn’t hesitate to use it for summer Method feeder margin work I would probably furnish myself with a pair of the F1 Ticklers for winter commercial fishing, preferring their softer cushioning action.
PAY AROUND
£79.95
Daiwa relaunches its Powermesh Specialist fishing rods
Daiwa has reintroduced its famous Powermesh rods which, back in the day, had a reputation among carp anglers for being cutting edge.
The latest seven-strong collection includes a dedicated 2.75lb test curve barbel rod for float and feeder use. The float rods come in 13ft, 14ft and 15ft lengths and are well suited to heavy waggler and deep-water slider work using reel lines from 3lb-10lb. A crisp action makes them ideal for long-trotting with Avons and big stick floats on fast-flowing rivers for chub and barbel.
The three feeder models (11ft 6ins, 12ft 6ins and 13ft 6ins) all come with quivertips of 1.5oz, 2oz and 3oz test curves, and would seem to be as much at home with open-end feeders for summer tench as they would be tempting winter river chub using maggot and bread feeders.
With casting weights of up to 50g, 70g and 90g, respectively, each rod is built to take lots of stick, reflected in the use of high-grade carbon cloth with a 1k carbon weave along the butt sections for added resilience.
As you’d expect from Daiwa, the classy non-flash matt-black blanks are of the finest quality, with full cork handles, original Fuji DPS reel seats, stainless steel guides with lightweight LS ceramic rings, and hard-wearing aluminium butt caps. All these work together to give the rods a pleasing custom-built aesthetic look.
PAY AROUND
£107.99 to £125.99
Quantum PT Accurist Spin fishing rod 2.03m
Light lure fishing has captured the imagination of UK anglers to an amazing degree in the past two years.
This has seen an influx of tackle rarely spotted in British tackle shops as most kit designed to fish this style had been the preserve of European, American and Japanese anglers. One such manufacturer of fine lure fishing tackle is Quantum. Offering a huge range of different rods to cover all styles of lure fishing, it was towards the lighter end that I looked to test.
The rod, a one-piece Quantum PT Accurist Spin is available in five different weights and lengths – from the shortest 1.98m (rated at a casting weight of 7g -21g) to the longest, two-piece 2.55m (CW 12g -74g) model. The 2.03m (CW 3g-12g) model I tested is a one-piece blank. This makes the rod more responsive when fishing lighter jig heads and hard baits, as there is no joining spigot to reduce the ‘telegraphing’ of the ‘working’ lure through the blank and into the angler’s hand. This is further enhanced by its new and improved build using lightweight HSX54 graphite construction.
The handle is made from EVA and features ergonomic grips on both the reel handle and butt section. Weighing only 95g (just over 3oz) it is perfect for using all day without fatigue. All lure rods are rated between Very Fast through to Soft. This rating indicates the stiffness of the blank and how quickly it will recover after casting. Basically, the faster the rod, the less the tip shakes and wobbles after casting!
Very fast rods are inclined to feel a bit like ‘broom handles’ while soft rods are great for playing small fish, but lack the butt power for casting distances. I found the Quantum PT Accurist Spin to be Fast, and combined with the light Casting Weight rating of 3g-12g, makes this rod a bit of an all-rounder for fishing light lures.
To put the rod through its paces and to test its versatility, I decided to both drop shot on my local river Nene, before going to the other extreme, vertical jig fishing into depth of 70ft on the mighty Rutland Water, the biggest man-made lake in Europe. For drop shotting, the river was not in the greatest of trim, quite dirty and carrying an extra 2ft on its normal levels. This worked in my favour in some ways as I needed to use a drop shot weight of 12g to hold station in and around the river’s various features.
With a handful of small perch and one getting on for a pound, the rod coped admirably with the prevailing conditions. For part two, it was on to a boat on a bitterly cold Rutland Water. Faced with depths of over 100ft in some areas, it is often necessary to use jig heads from 30g up to 50g. But, as you are vertical jigging – dropping the lure off the rod tip, and not casting – a light, fast rod like the Quantum PT Accurist Spin is ideal for targeting massive shoals of 1lb-4lb zander.
The heavy jig heads enable you to keep bow in the braid to a minimum, so you are able to work the lure correctly and ‘keep in touch’ with the bait while bouncing it along the bottom. On a slow day, with a few missed bites, the best fish of the test was a 5lb 9oz zander, taken in around 70ft, a few yards off the pumping tower. It put up one hell of a scrap from such a depth, but was easily tamed.
VERDICT
I would class this rod as decribed ‘on the tin’. It is a lighTt spinning rod, a little heavy for pure drop shotting and notquite heavy enough for some of the larger soft plastics and hard lures. But, as a light, middle-ground rod, it is brilliant. Having a very ‘tippy’ action, but with plenty of grunt in the bottom end, it is a lure rod that will serve you admirably whether you’re targeting bigger perch, zander or up to double-figure pike. It’ll certainly be in the boat on my next Rutland trip!
Mark Parker
TECH SPEC
Length: 2.03m
Casting weight: 3g to 12g
One-piece blank
Weight: 95g
Multi-coloured CNC EVA handle
Hook-keeper ring
Sic Fuji guides
PRICE
RRP £129.95