Daiwa TDR Match and Feeder Rods
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£225
These latest top-end Daiwa rods are built from a high-performing new carbon material. Best suited to commercial venues and tactics, the impressive range covers seven rods, all with powerful progressive actions and perfect for speed fishing. All feeder models are supplied with two carbon quivertips of 1oz and 1.5oz.
Shimano Super Ultegra AX Feeder Rods
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£139.99 to £209.99
The distinctive Super Ultegra livery is immediately recognisable, and the rods are much appreciated by match anglers for their outstanding performance and reliability.
Next year Shimano will be adding five new feeder models to the range, and whilst the pokey 14ft versions are probably best suited to the European match scene, the new 11ft Precision model looks and feels ideal for an all-round application.
Daiwa Tournament 11ft Feeder Rod
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£385
Unlike most other participant sports, match fishing gives you the opportunity to compete against world champions if you so wish. You can also use exactly the same equipment that they do.
The accusation ‘all the gear and no idea’ is often levelled at those who invest lots of their hard earned in the best kit that money can buy. However, there’s lots to be said for fishing with tackle chosen by world-class anglers, and 99 per cent of the time, if it’s good enough for them it will certainly be good enough for you.
I have heard the naysayers proclaim that top matchmen ‘obviously’ only ever use their backers’ products, even when they don’t really believe in them. Well, I can’t speak for everyone, but when it comes to the current World Feeder Champion Steven Ringer nothing could be further from the truth.
Here is an angler who knows exactly what kit he needs, how it should perform, and where, when, and how to use it. Compromise is not an option for Mr Ringer – so when he won the World Feeder Champs using the new Daiwa Tournament Pro11Q feeder rod teamed with the largest of the famous TDR reels, the 3012, it wasn’t because someone at Daiwa had forced them on him – they were quite simply the champion’s choice.
Interestingly, though, most matchmen – myself included – would have considered the 11ft Tournament Pro and TDR reel more of a flatbed Method feeder combo for medium-sized commercials, rather than a pairing that could cope with the soft-mouthed skimmers, hybrids, and roach of Ireland’s massive Inniscarra Reservoir.
As I had already live tested this rod and reel, and fished regularly with them since their introduction last year, I was eager to learn what the mighty Ringer had seen in them – perhaps something I might have previously overlooked? So when the opportunity arose I headed down to my local Grimsby Reservoir in Banbury for a taste of what it was like to use a world-beating combination on a venue very different to what I would normally associate with this kit.
The rod, like all Daiwa Tournament Pro models, has a build pedigree second to none. The blanks, made in Scotland, are at the cutting edge of carbon technology, delivering flex and action without compromising accuracy or casting power. There is, though, a pain barrier to go through, and it’s located in the wallet. This rod will set you back around £35 per foot, but if you think of the cost in this way it’s not too bad after all.
The jet black blank with its red-edged whippings simply oozes class. It comes with two of Daiwa’s unique Megatop carbon quivertips, so flexible that unless you actually slam them in a car door you’ll never break one.
But back to the fishing. Set up with an 8lb mainline matched with a 30g open-end feeder to cut through the niggling side wind, the pencil-thin blank seemed close to its maximum casting weight and in my hands it maintained accuracy to a distance of around 40m. That might well be increased in Mr Ringer’s hands, but I sensed the blank was at full stretch. That said, an 11ft rod is never going to break distance casting records, even if it is of the flagship Daiwa Tournament marque.
The real magic happens every time you hook into a fish – the blank’s outstanding forgiveness is a wonder to behold, yet it can shift up several more gears if necessary. Mr Ringer has undoubted sussed out that as long as your hook is big enough, this rod isn’t ever going to wrench it from a fish’s mouth. Yes, it will be every bit as good with natural-water bream, skimmers, tench and roach, as it is with commercial F1s and carp.
Did I miss anything out first time around? I think not. Back then I thought the 11ft Tournament Pro Feeder was the best rod Daiwa had ever produced, and the fact that it went on to become a world beater in the hands of the best feeder angler in the entire world came as no shock.
Tri-Cast Trilogy X4 Specialist Feeder Rod
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10ft-11ft model - £244.99
11ft-12ft model - £249.99
I can’t remember the last time I used a swingtip. For that matter, I can’t remember the last time I saw anyone else using one either.
This retro method that was once synonymous with bream fishing on big lakes and slow-moving rivers seemed to fade away without so much as a whimper, replaced by the more versatile and easier quivertip.
So when I heard that Tri-Cast were producing what they billed as a ‘better-than-ever’ swingtip rod based on the best models from that bygone period, I was half unsure but half excited with dewy-eyed nostalgia. There’s never been anything to beat watching a swingtip nod a couple of times before sailing majestically upwards as a bream takes the bait.
The rod that arrived was labelled the Trilogy X4 Specialist Feeder. In truth it is a multi-purpose feeder tool, coming complete with two separate top sections.
One of these can be used with the supplied 1oz or 1.5oz glass quivertip, while the second is completely dedicated to the swingtip, of which two are supplied. One measures 11 inches with a medium-stiff right-angled rubber connector making it ideal for most fair-weather fishing conditions. For windy conditions, the shorter 8ins swingtip is better. In fact Tri-Cast refers to this one as their ‘wind beater’ model.
So accompanied on the drive by the soundtrack from The Who’s Quadrophenia album from the late 1970s - when swingtip fishing was all the rage - I was really getting into the vibe and looking forward to some proper bream action at the majestic Ferry Meadows complex just down the road from the office
This is prime swingtip territory, consisting of two large windswept lakes full of ‘proper’ bream and millions of skimmers that needed a fair chuck to catch. I also had some inside information from deputy editor Kevin Wilmot - permanent peg 101 on the Gunwade Lake was apparently the place to be!
Now for the uninitiated amongst you, using a swingtip can be best likened to attempting to fish with a broken rod end. It doesn’t feel quite right, it certainly doesn’t look right and for the opening hour of the live test it just wasn’t right.
Hitting the reel clip with any sort of consistency seemed nigh-on impossible, partly due to my own rustiness with the job in hand. But slowly, I got used to the feel and action of the rod and with confidence growing, accuracy and casting at distance became more acceptable. Never has the phrase practice makes perfect been more apt than when applied to using a swingtip!
Tri-Cast has been quite clever with this rod’s design as it has enough stiffness through the swingtip section to cope with the additional weight and movement caused by attaching a tip to it. The high-modulus carbon blank has been built with enough backbone to cast a decent sized fully-loaded feeder while a bonus is that this mid-sectioned casting power has been combined with a sweet parabolic fish-playing action.
The Trilogy X4 is never going to be a long-cast tool but then it doesn’t need to be. It’ll cope with hand-sized skimmers up to huge dustbin lid bream with equal aplomb.
The only unanswered questions are why and when you would use a swingtip? The answer to the first question lies with the way that bream feed. They upend to pick up bait and at this point you will get a solid enough indication on the tip.
However, now is not the time to strike. This is when ‘sitting on your hands’, so well described by the master of the swingtip, the late Ivan Marks, comes into play. Wait until the fish starts to right itself and then moves off. The swingtip moves slowly and inexorably toward its horizontal plane, and it’s at this moment that the bite becomes unmissable. Using a swingtip defines this movement in a way which no other bite indicator will; it is visually exciting and something which all natural venue anglers really should experience.
Where would you use it? Well, the method was invented by Boston matchman Jack Clayton for use on slow moving bream waters such as the Rivers Witham and Welland where a forward-facing rod was perfect for pointing through gaps in the nearside weed as well as ‘reading’ those bream bites. And the same holds today. In fact, Peg 101 on Gunwade was a tightly-enclosed swim and ideal for the swingtip if you didn’t fancy wading several metres into the lake.
The only drawback with a swingtip I think of would be for very long casts, which are better suited to a quiver. However, for moderate, easy casts, or chucking down the middle of a slow river, this rod comes into its own.
Maver Genesis Black Ice Xtreme Distance Feeder
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£94.99
The lads at Maver bill these as ‘the ultimate rod for long distance feeder fishing’ and boy, you can’t half hit the horizon with them!
They’re available in six different XD (Xtreme Distance) types from a 12ft XD, 3.5oz casting capacity model, RRP £94.99, to a monster, 13ft XD, 5oz+ casting capacity variant with a price tag of £99.99.
Extreme 100 yard-plus ranges with large payloads are a definite reality in the right hands with these power-packed blanks.
Between them the six models will cover every job from putting a Method feeder further than your neighbours on sprawling stillwaters like Drayton Reservoir where distance wins matches, to the largest rivers.
Launching 5oz feeders for floodwater barbel on the Trent or Severn and cranking back powerful ‘beards’ against the current will be a doddle with the heavier models.
The rods have a recommended reel line rating from 4lb to 10lb but I think the heavier models will handle much more.
Each rod has a traditional three-piece design consisting of a mega-powerful butt and middle section, plus a quivertip carrier section and four, graded, push-in quivertips to give a good range of bite registration.
I chose to test the 12ft, 150g model (RRP £99.99) and teamed it with a Maver Tica Sportera GR4507 freespool reel (RRP £64.99) loaded with 10lb mono.
If, like me, you plan to blast a heavy rig into the next county it’s imperative that you incorporate a shock leader – in my case, 30ft of 25lb mono to soak-up the shock impact of casting to prevent potential crack-offs.
Quivertips supplied were rated at 1oz, 2oz, 3oz and 4oz and, with the 3oz tip in place, I opted to fish an old-fashioned frame Method feeder which, when loaded weighed a good 3.5oz and looked like a mini-coconut!
Fishing the three-acre Pit at my local Fields End Water Caravan Park Lodges and Fishery at Doddington near March, Cambs (01354 740199) I could reach any swim on the water.
The feeder blank is one of the stiffest I’ve ever used, but you can wind it up with very little effort to catapult the payload impressive distances. Carp fight hard at this venue but the rod tamed fish almost into double figures with impunity.
Tri-Cast XRS Short Method Feeder
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£159.99
This 10ft, two-piece Method feeder rod is more than a match for big commercial carp.
The ultra-light blank made from XRS (Xtra Reinforced System) carbon will fish lines from 2lb to 8lb and land double-figure fish with ease.
Supplied with two colour-coded push-in glass quivertips rated at 1.5oz and 2oz, the remarkable blank will happily fish everything from 0.5oz straight leads to 4oz feeders.
Frenzee Match Pro FXT 9ft Feeder
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£49.99
This petite 9ft two-piece feeder and straight lead tool makes casting and rod placement much easier in parrot cage swims.
Its short length also lends itself well to being used down the edge. The Match Pro FXT packs a fair punch, and is more than capable of holding its own in a fight with a big fish.
The low-profile lined guides help to give the blank an expensive appearance, and it comes with one spare push-in-quivertip.
Korum 12ft All-Rounder
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£49.99
This extremely versatile all-round rod has a classic Avon action which is perfect for all short-range stillwater tench and bream. It also lends itself nicely to surface carp fishing tactics. The blank’s beefy through action helps to make it equally at home chasing big chub and barbel on rivers. A true ‘jack of all trades’, it will handle lines from 4lb right up to 12lb with equal aplomb.
Korum 12ft Quiver Rod
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£49.99
This 12ft quivertip rod is slightly more versatile than its two stablemates. An ideal tool when fishing for barbel, chub, tench or carp, it would make a superb roving river rod, and would suit beefed-up stillwater applications too. The rod comes with 1oz and 2oz carbon quivertips and has a manufacturer’s line rating of 4lb-10lb.
Greys Prodigy TXL Specialist Feeder
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£99.99
The delightful through action on this rod means it isn’t an out-and-out casting rod, but it’s lovely for playing fish on at normal range.
The 12ft, two-piece blank will easily cast a maximum 2.5oz load over the standard distances river anglers tend to fish at – around 30m – 50m, but the forgiving action means you can fish right down to 2lb hooklengths with size 18 hooks in low, clear summer conditions.
The three glass quivertips that come with the rod give a nice range of bite sensitivity but you can transfer a surprising amount of fish-playing pressure through the nice, slim blank when you hit a good fish.
Two-piece construction makes it good for carrying ‘made-up’ in a quiver and big bore guides help free passage of leaders.
Shimano Alivio AX Barbel Classic
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£79.99
Twin-tip rods are always popular with IYCF readers because they can cover a multitude of jobs, so we thought we’d slip one in here.
This new, Olivio AX Barbel comes in a choice of 1.5lb or 1.75lb test curve and, typical of Avon-style rods, it will happily cover close/medium ranges, but struggle to go further due to the softish middle. The upside is that this action will put a big smile on your face when playing a decent fish.
It comprises an Avon-style ‘donkey top’ for floatfishing and touch legering duties and a quivertip carrier section with three push-in tips.
The heavier of the two 12ft rods is the better choice for larger fish or when extra distance is required.
Preston Innovations Dutch Master 12ft 8ins
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£199
A great rod for normal river conditions when you need to cast a feeder far with a high degree of accuracy.
The three-piece rod has a steely butt section to generate casting power but retains a nice, smooth fish-playing action. This allows the angler to safely put the power down on big fish like chub and barbel while remaining mellow enough to prevent hook-pulls in smaller, softer-mouthed silver species.
A lightweight blank makes it a joy to use and the three supplied push-in quivertips give a good range of bite indication, especially when delicate bites need to be identified and hit, rather than waiting for pull-rounds or massive drop-backs.
There’s a seven rods in the range from 10’ 8” to 14’ 2” in length.
Preston Innovations Competition Heavy Feeder
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£129.99
A great rod for fishing feeders up to 3oz in normal river conditions, or when there’s a bit of extra water on.
This professional-looking piece of kit is perfect for feeders in the 1.5oz-2.5oz bracket, but it will throw a little more weight if required.
The high carbon blank sends feeders flying good distances with minimal effort, while the quivertips supplied mean you can spot delicate bites, or fish rod-in-the-air style for big slack-line drop backs.
Generous-sized guides on the supplied quivertips allow for the clean passage of shock leader knots and help prevent blockage with debris build-up on the line when the river is carrying a bit of rubbish.
This rod forged a fine reputation for landing big carp on the commercial pools.
Matrix Horizon 14ft Feeder Rod
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£199.99
This is an absolutely awesome rod when it comes to distance casting with the heaviest loads!
Designed especially for long-range fishing on the largest rivers in Europe, it will send up to 5oz into the next county.
Built on top quality high modulus carbon blanks, using advanced taper designs, it retains a sensible fish-playing action.
The rod has a short butt section with a long spigot joint. This increases the stiffness and raw casting power at the base of the rod enabling massive distances to be achieved. The middle and tip sections of all models are longer than normal rods, which improves fish-playing action and also helps transfer the power from the base to the tip of the rod.
It comes with 2.5oz and 4oz carbon quivertips with large, low friction guides for use with shock leaders.
Middy 4G Baggin Distance Feeder
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£149.99
This amazing rod is capable of being fished at 8ft, 11ft 7in and 12ft 7in and built to perform on all waters from tight commercials to big rivers.
The lightweight, super-slimline blank is totally deceptive because the lads at Middy give this rod an official maximum reel line rating of 14lb!
Recommended casting weights are 1oz to 3oz and, in 12ft 7in format, it will easily propel a feeder or bomb over 70 yards.
While the lower section has a steely feel, it retains a fair amount of finesse in the tip section for those days when it’s necessary to spot and hit shy silverfish bites, rather than letting them hang themselves.
The unusual blank is made up of a short dolly butt, 1ft dolly section, middle section and quivertip carrier. Shop around for a more pocket-friendly price!
Shakespeare Agility 12ft Power Feeder
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£59.99
Regular readers will know I’m a huge fan of Shakespeare’s excellent value Agility rod range, and this one is a real gem.
You’re getting a lot of rod for your money and, if you want to hit big distances on a budget, try one. I think you’ll be impressed.
The blank bends progressively from tip through to the top of the powerful butt section and will deliver feeders weighing up to 3oz over 70 yards.
The larger diameter guides are designed to maximise casting distance and allow the free passage of shock leader knots for the big, power casters out there.
The three push-in quivertip supplied mean this rod is good for a wide range of bite detection duties from spotting tiny twitches to full-blooded drop-backs.
Tri-Cast Trilogy X Feeder
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£259.99
This is an awesome casting machine capable of blasting a 4.5oz feeder over huge distances.
The outstanding class of the high carbon Trilogy X is reflected in its price tag but, if you can afford the best, you’ll need to look at this one before buying.
The 13ft 6in rod is officially classed as a ‘Heavy’ feeder incorporating more power in the middle section for all you horizon hitters. However, with the lightest 3.5oz carbon quivertip in place, it still retains a surprising degree of sensitivity when catching smaller species.
It’s fitted with large diameter guides throughout to enable the use of shock leaders and reduce the danger of debris blocking the end eye.
There is also a slightly lighter, Medium/Heavy 13ft version available.
Daiwa Proteus 12ft Feeder Rod
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£64.99
A solid buy here for a rod bearing the premium Daiwa badge!
The 12ft Proteus has a responsive tip action with the three-piece blank offering a progressive increase in power the further it loads down the blank.
This action generates casting power through the bottom half of the blank while the top provides loads of cushioning when you connect with a nice chub or barbel.
The blank is a tad thicker in girth in the butt section than some others on these pages, but it performs sweetly enough under load.
The lads at Daiwa give this rod a line rating of between 2lb and 8lb, so it’s perfect for big rivers and commercial carp work on the larger man-made pools where you might have to hit a distant feature like an island or aerator.
TF Gear Classic Nan-Tec 12ft Feeder
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£99.99
This is the rod I exclusively use to belt a 50g Kamasan Black Cap maggot feeder across the River Trent in summer and I’ve landed barbel to 12lb on it plus a 21lb common carp!
The Nan-Tec Classic is a brilliant rod with the ability to cast a fair distance (although it is not an out-and-out casting machine) while remaining sensitive enough to feel the fight from smaller species like roach.
I fish a tough, 8lb reel line and 6lb 12oz or 7lb 6oz breaking strain high-tech hooklength with three maggots on a size 16 or 14 hook, and catch everything!
One session on the Middle-Trent I landed 13 different species – bullhead, gudgeon, ruffe, roach, dace, bleak, perch, eel, jack pike, skimmer bream, proper bream (to 6lb), chub (to 4lb 4oz) and barbel (to 8lb 12oz).
Buy now and you even get a free TF Gear Airlite fixed spool reel worth £29.99!
Daiwa 12ft TDQ Medium Power
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£149.99
Coming up with a good bream and skimmer rod can be a perennial pain for designers – a carbon blank with the power to launch out a feeder and the softness to not pull a hook out is a rare bird, but one of the better and more affordable rods of this ilk is the Daiwa 12ft TDQ medium power. It’s progressive playing action would also make it a more than useful winter F1 and carp tool.