Avid Curvex range
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10ft, 3lb test curve £139.99
All others in the range £149.99
Big-carp brand Avid continues to come up with very innovative products, and these four new Curvex rods are bang on the mark, offering the modern carp angler something completely different from the norm.
Teaming an almost ‘old school’ through action with modern materials, these rods – coming in three lengths and four test curves – offer an intense fish-playing experience that allows the angler to feel every shake of the head.
The non-locking action doesn’t sit that well with casting to the horizon – but when you hook a big fish you can battle it with total confidence.
Even so, these two-piece rods have more than enough grunt for all but the largest of open waters.
It’s simply a matter of matching their 10ft, 12ft and 13ft lengths and 2.75lb, 3lb 3.25lb and 3.5lb test curves to your needs.
You can use them with smaller hooks, lighter hooklengths and thinner diameter reel lines without having to worry about hook pulls or painful partings of the way when your quarry makes a last-minute bolt for freedom.
There’s no doubt that finesse pays when the water cools and clears, and for that reason alone the Avid Curvex will appeal to anyone waking up to frost on their bivvy and grass crunching underfoot.
The ‘bend, and then bend some more’ action will also prove useful when big fish need to be played through weedbeds, or reeled in with washing lines of loose weed in tow.
Despite its best efforts you’ll be able to keep a big fish moving in the right direction without fear of breakage.
Other key features include original Fuji reel seats with Japanese shrink-wrapped handles, lightweight SiC guides throughout, anti-frap tip guides to prevent crack-offs, and 50mm enlarged butt guides on the 12ft and 13ft models.
All in all, these rods have the X Factor! It’s ‘four yesses’ from us!
Avid Traction carp rods
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£79.99
Since their introduction a little over nine months ago, Avid’s Traction Carp rods have become the benchmark by which all sub-£100 models are judged.
Built from Reactive carbon fibre wrapped in a matt-finished 3K weave, each 12ft blank offers a unique take on the traditional parabolic action beloved of carpers. A slow build-up of power cushions the runs and lunges of hard-fighting fish, offering greater control when it really matters.
It’s just the sort of action needed for a modern day big-carp rod that multi-tasks.
The original Traction models carried test curves of 3lb, 3.25lb and 3.5lb, covering everything from solid PVA bag and stick work to middle to long-range Method feeder and straight lead work.
I more than proved the point when live testing a pair of the 3lb models last November at a cold and rather uninviting-looking Boddington Reservoir where a whack of 90-plus yards with a 3oz pellet-laden Method feeder was needed to reach its denizens.
You might think that most of the general heavy-duty casting work would be taken care of by the 3lb, 3.25lb and 3.5lb models. Avid’s development team could indeed have been forgiven for lying back on their super-comfy Benchmark bedchairs and feeling a bit smug.
But not a bit of it – enter the new 2.25lb and 2.75lb test curve blanks. Both rods boast the same Reactive carbon and 3K weave as the originals, but they have a slightly softer parabolic action suiting them to smaller waters, more modest casting distances and surface and zig rig tactics.
To test these attributes, what was needed was a medium-sized lake with a healthy stock of big, snippy fish that could be tempted on a wide range of tactics.
Northamptonshire’s day-ticket Willowbrook Lake, jam-packed with handsome fish to almost 30lb, fits the bill. It’s a superb daylight venue, especially if you’re after wetting the unhooking mat without waiting all day for a run.
First up was the new Traction 2.75lb rod, rigged with a 1.5oz inline Avid lead and solid PVA bag full of micro pellets.
The blank took little persuasion to launch its payload to the centre of the lake, close to a man-made floating island. It could easily have been burdened with a heavier lead and tasked with a far longer cast.
The slightly softer 2.25lb model was kitted out with a zig rig and 2oz lead, cast close to one of the numerous lily beds. It handled the weight easily enough, but it’s definitely not a rod with lots of clout. For all zig, surface and margin work, though, it’s ideal.
I didn’t have to wait long for the alarm to sound, as what felt like a decent fish ploughed straight through two weedbeds before I even had a chance to pick up the rod and tighten down the clutch.
Summer carp in shallow water can be tricky enough to cope with on their own, without having half a hundredweight of weed festooned along the line like so much washing. With the 2.75lb blank, it seemed all would be lost.
But deep in the belly of the blank was a core of steely strength with enough pulling power to drag the beast from its lair. The fish, having gone underneath the weed and out the other side, was still snarky about being hooked, but eventually both carp and weed came safely over the net cord.
What more can you say, other than that these rods are fabulous? I also managed two on zig rigs on the lighter model, and would happily add both to my holdall.
VERDICT
Two more sure-fire winners from the Avid stable. The addition of lighter 2.25lb and 2.75lb test curve rods further enhances the comprehensive Traction Carp range. Ideal for smaller waters, but still more than capable of handling very big fish, the heavier rod is perfect for small bags, Method feeders and zigs.
Its lighter compatriot would make an awesome shallow water zig, surface and margin tool.
Avid MSX 3.25lb Carp Rod
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£199.99 (but shop around)
I’ve long been a fan of Avid’s DSK distance-casting carp rods, so I jumped at the chance to live test a pair of the company’s 3.25lb test curve MSX 12-footers.
These rods are just that bit more middle of the road, a little less specialised in their performance and handling than their DSK stablemates, and therefore more versatile and angler-friendly.
That does not mean that they lack power or backbone. Some all-purpose rods would have a job chucking a 3oz lead and solid PVA bag the length of a snooker table, but these two-piece carp catchers go the full distance and then some.
They just do it in a politer, less aggressive manner than the DSKs, and you don’t need a master’s degree in mechanics to make the blank fully compress before it belts out a cast that would not look out of place on a windswept winter cod beach.
As for the finish of the MSX rods, the lads at Avid have pushed out the boat, with nothing short of full custom hand-built assembly and finish. The build starts with a modern 50mm butt guide, followed up the chequered carbon matt-finished blank by a perfectly spaced row of quality lined ceramic rings.
These are held in position by high-gloss black silk whippings, and end in an Anti-Frap tip ring that helps to prevent casting tangles when using heavy or fluorocarbon reel lines. The full Duplon handle carries a retro-style metal hooded screw-down reel seat, tastefully fronted by silver ringed Duplon thumb grips. At the other end of the handle, the etched black MSX insignia contrasts with a discreet white tag name and test curve marking. Understated these rods may be, but buy a pair and you’ll hang on to them more tightly than Gollum does his ‘Precious’.
It’s not all about eye candy, though. Rods in this price bracket also need be able to fulfil their functions as top-end fishing tools, and these do it it with room to spare. Billed by the manufacturers as all-rounders, equally at home with solid PVA bags as with straight leads and big Method feeders, they will handle 4oz-plus weights with no suspicion of feeling overloaded.
The tapered blank of an MSX has a super-fast tip recovery speed, and enough steel in its soul to load a casting weight high up on its top section, enabling the blank to power through a hefty cast with no hint of bounce.
A beautifully progressive action kicks in when the rod is put under pressure, even when battling big fish at close range, and there’s enough grunt left in its locker to cope with locking down and powering up to haul a feisty carp away from potential snags.