Browning CK Bomb rod review
Regular readers of my tackle reviews will know that I am a big fan of Browning products.
Introducfing short rods for use on commercial fisheries was one of the German tackle company’s many firsts – I could also mention pre-cut and tactically designed pole top kits, longer pole butt sections for better linear balance, and true stated lengths. Not to mention Browning’s flagship Sphere rods, way ahead of their time – the Distance Feeder models are quite exceptional.
But what of the more affordable gear? The latest CK (Carp King) rod range spans 13 models covering everything from a 10ft F1 Micro Waggler through to a Method Feeder rod, and prices start from a very reasonable £54.99.
All models in this new CK range share Browning’s most advanced technical carbon advances, but each fulfils a specific need. For instance, the Method Feeder rod is furnished with low-profile, ultra-low-friction SiC guides for enhanced casting performance, while the F1 rods are 20 per cent softer-actioned than the standard rods, and ideal for use with lighter lines and hooklengths.
One thing they all have in common, though, is that they look fantastic – super-slim blanks are decked out in a classy gloss black livery, and every time I have taken them to the bank other anglers have commented on their stunning appearance.
I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek at Browning’s CK range late last year at a trade show held at the firm’s Bremen HQ in Germany. Light and lively in the hand, with seamless parabolic curves, they made a great initial impression on me.
I asked if I could be sent samples as soon as they became available and, sure enough, they turned up at the Angling Times offices a week or so ago.
Now, live-testing commercial fishery rods in January can be a bit hit-and-miss. The fish ball up in certain pegs, and even when you do find them it isn’t easy.
Undaunted, though, I wended my way to Decoy Lakes with the entire CK range in the back of the motor. I figured that even if the fishing was a bit iffy I could still get an idea of how Browning has developed each model with its own distinctive footprint.
So, with the choice of any model in the range, I assembled the CK Method Feeder, CK Carp Feeder, CK Bomb and CK Wand. I’d be using small cage and Method feeders and a straight bomb.
Think of it as a ‘Goldilocks and porridge’ thing – but rather than ‘too hot, too cold’ it would be more of a ‘too stiff, too soft’ test that ended up ‘just right’.
Surprisingly, the best rod in my opinion for Decoy’s Elm Strip Lake was the CK Bomb rod.
This 10-footer has enough backbone to cast a 30g feeder without it bouncing around prior to the cast, and this is coupled with a sublime softish parabolic, almost through, action when a fish is on.
However, there’s a fair helping of steel to call into play for the odd really big fish, which is just as well, given the eclectic population of Decoy’s strip lakes.
It can also be used to punch a feeder out to 40 yards, should you feel the need. I had the rod threaded up with a 5lb mainline (you could push this to 8lb if you really needed to, or drop it to 3lb for close-quarters work). You would be safe using hooklengths as light as 0.12mm and as heavy as you wanted.
If I were to buy one for myself for my winter commercial matches I would also invest in a Browning carbon quivertip, as the rod takes on a much sharper aspect with one of these at the business end.
Verdict: Although billed as a bomb rod, this Browning CK beauty is no old-school wand, capable only of winkling out silver fish from flooded rivers or canals.
Instead it’s a modern commercial fishery tool with a fair casting backbone and non-locking playing action that can be used for nearly all standard commercial feeder and lead work.
The ultra-slim blank delivers plenty of transmission, and for a bomb rod it has a slightly steely feel tempered by a reassuringly forgiving quality.
Price: £81.99
Browning Black Magic bomb and feeder review
Browning has pulled four inspirational new feeder rods from the hat, at a price that won’t bring on the hot flushes.
The Black Magic quartet is made up of Distance, Stillwater, River and Bomb (live tested) rods. All have a matt black gloss finish with matching whippings set off by classy red and silver detailing. Ceramic lined guides, a good length cork and EVA handle and a secure locking reel seat all add to their aesthetic appeal.
The carbon composite blanks are fast-tapered to hit the horizon, with the weight of the feeder loading high on the tip section. But it’s not all about casting clout, as the softly progressive, almost through action demonstrates. It offers reassuring cushioning against hook-pulls when targeting soft-mouthed skimmers and bream, or pursuing chub and roach with small hooks and light hooklengths.
Regular readers can’t fail to notice the number of short feeder rods I’ve reviewed of late – am I stuck in a rut? Well, no… I reckon this reflects the massive popularity of feeder fishing these days, and 9ft, 10ft and 11ft rods are especially sought-after.
For commercial fishery work their reduced length helps with casting accuracy, and their progressive action can’t be beaten for targeting F1s and carp.
All this brings me nicely on to the live test venue – the day-ticket Stretton Lakes, just off the A1 halfway between Peterborough and Grantham. This peaceful and fishery has four lakes on site.
These tend to attract pleasure anglers rather than ardent matchmen. The complex does, though, have a rectangular match lake with islands running along the middle, just perfect for very short-range feeder and bomb tactics. What better place to put Browning’s Black Magic C-Picker Bomb rod through its paces?
There’s a choice of 8ft 2ins, 10ft and 11ft lengths, the longest being selected for live test duty.
The carp in this pool show a distinct preference for baits presented on a tiny Method feeder, especially if it’s cast tight into the gaps between the islands. It’s not much of a chuck distance-wise, but the lake does test a rod’s casting accuracy which, in this case, was arrow-straight.
I reckon the blank will cope easily with casting up to 30g (although Browning rates it to 50g). That kind of goes against its ‘bomb rod’ tag, as I reckon ‘lightweight feeder rod’ describes it better. Effective casting distance tops out at around 30m.
However, it’s swings and roundabouts with this rod. Its non-locking fish playing action quite literally makes up for any shortcomings. If I had to criticise anything, it would be the top section that doesn’t blend all that seamlessly with the stiffer butt section, not that this affects its performance in any way.
I should also mention that I’m a lifelong fan of single blaze-coloured quivertips. I don’t like green or yellow, and I wouldn’t normally be seen dead with a banded multi-coloured tip.
I have to say, though, that this is the fourth Browning rod I have live-tested with the red and yellow Euro banded tip. It’s a proper attention-grabber – a bit like the rod itself.
Price: £49.95
BROWNING HYPER CARP METHOD RODS review
Just before Christmas I was privileged to visit Browning’s German HQ and give their four new Hyper Carp Method rods a waggle.
Right away I felt these would be perfect for commercial fisheries back home, although at the time Browning seemed uncertain whether they would be available in the UK. However, I banged on and on to the company to release them, and to send me a couple of samples in for a live test. These the makers eventually did, so now I can deliver my verdict.
Now, Browning’s Sphere feeder rods are among the best money can buy, and these Hyper Carp Method rods are not a poor man’s version of these. They have an altogether different feel and action. There’s enough flexibility in the blank to pan large skimmers and bream without fear of hook pulls – the cushioning effect kicks in high up on the second section. This gives the mid-section a good deal more backbone, which you’ll really appreciate when the rods are being stressed to the limit.
All this and more I was to discover at Clattercote Reservoir, whose resident carp were wide awake and raring to go. My chosen rod from the Hyper Carp Method range was the 12ft version, which I reckon to be the pick of the bunch. With an 80g maximum casting weight, it has the length and three-piece build specification to launch a flatbed Method feeder a very long way. In my hands, however, it felt most at home with feeders up to around 40g.
The guides (including those on the quivertip) have sufficient inner diameter to allow the safe passage of 10lb shockleaders, which you need on most feeder venues requiring a mega-chuck.
Well, I hear you say, there are already dozens of long cast feeder rods on the market. What makes these from Browning so special?
For a start, the Hyper Carp Method will cope with all sizes of carp with some style, yet has enough flexibility to stay in touch with bream and skimmers right up to the net. Distances of 80-100 yards can be reached without you needing to be a tournament caster! And the price is remarkably reasonable for what you get.
The live test, I’m relieved to say, proved that the Hyper Carp Method rods are every bit as good as I’d hoped, and then some.
Once I got used to the blank’s fast taper action I was hitting the reel clip with a loaded 30g feeder at around 80 yards every time from a seated position, while standing up and giving it a proper whack I was getting past 90 yards. That was using a 4000 sized reel without a shockleader. I was left wondering how much further I could push its muscular cousin – the 12ft Hyper Carp Method Distance rod, with its £149 price tag – if it were fitted with a big reel and a shocker! This beast will chuck a 100g feeder with ease.
Back to the rod on test, and its fish-playing action proved remarkable. Even when subjected to huge pressure from proper lumps it showed no signs of locking up. After a few bream had put in an appearance not a single fish of either species was lost – which, as any Clattercote regular will tell you, is impressive.
Our Verdict
The Hyper Carp Method is the best rod of its kind and at its price that I have ever handled.
Okay, the multi-banded Euro colours of the quivertips may not be to everyone’s liking. But I’ll tell you this – you certainly can’t miss them which, to be fair, is the general idea.
This was one of the best live test days I have ever had, made even better by the presence of Mark Eves and Phil Ringer, who are highly entertaining, class angling acts.
Price: £139 (but shop around and you’ll find it cheaper)
Browning Black Viper Mk 2 13ft Review
The latest feeder rods bearing Browning’s Black Viper name are aimed more towards those who fish big open-water Continental venues than at your average UK commercial angler.
But did you really think I’d bother testing a rod of no use to anyone here in Blighty? Negative!
Within the range are three Black Vipers that I’m sure will appeal to the ever-increasing band of anglers who target bream, skimmers and even the odd carp on wide expanses of water such as Peterborough’s Ferry Meadows or Barston Lake in the West Midlands.
The trio in question are the 12ft 80g, 13ft 100g and 13ft 140g versions. In three sections, they are made from quality high modulus carbon fibre, and their good old-fashioned, slightly stepped-up action makes them deceptively powerful and accurate casting tools. This is especially true of the 13ft 140g rod being live tested (the 140g spec refers to the maximum weight it will comfortably cast).
All three rods perform equally well on still and slow-moving waters, and despite their fast action the carrier section is soft enough to enable the use of small hooks and lightish hooklengths without fear of fish losses.
This is a key factor when choosing a decent bream rod. You don’t need it to send cold shivers down your spine every time a proper bin-lid nods its head en route to the landing net, and in this respect the Black Viper is decidedly non-venomous!
In my book, Browning has been ahead of the game for the last couple of seasons in the design and construction of distance casting rods for bream. And regular readers of my tackle reviews will know of my fondness for the German firm’s outstanding (if rather expensive) top-of-the-range Sphere models. These are arguably the very best distance bream rods on the market.
Not that any of the Black Viper Mk 2 rods are the poor man’s Sphere – anything but, and with prices from £199.95 to £239.95 they will cause a sharp intake of breath as you hand over your hard-earned.
On, then, to the live test, and although the big-bream venue Ferry Meadows is basically at the back door of the Angling Times office it’s a tad out of form at present. Instead, a trip to Rysons Lake in Northamptonshire was hastily arranged.
This lake has two floating islands at around 65 yards and the fish drift between these. More often than not it’s a case of laying down a decent carpet of bait and waiting for the bream, which run to around 8lb, to turn up.
This tactic provided me with ample opportunity to test the rod’s casting accuracy and weight loading capacity. My large feeder packed full of groundbait, pellets, worms and dead reds weighs the best part of 4oz (113g), more than a decent test for a rod rated to a 140g maximum.
I got the feeling that the Black Viper was right on the line at 4oz, but that said, it went the distance. And once the feeding cycle was complete, it fairly sizzled out a loaded 35g feeder against the reel’s line clip.
Bites are detected via one of three supplied carbon push-in quivertips. The gaudily painted blaze and white tip ends may not be to everyone’s taste, but they show up well enough.
The real beauty of this Black Viper, though, lies in its ability to cast a long way and deliver a big soft-mouthed bream or skimmer safely back to you.
To that end it’s one sassy snake.
Our Verdict: Another absolute belter of a bream rod from Browning. Ideal for all stillwaters, I rather fancy that its casting prowess and cleverly cushioned softness will also endear it to those who line the banks of Norfolk’s River Yare every summer.
Sturdy low-profile Fuji K-guides, a full cork handle, and enlarged quivertip eyes (to allow for the smooth passage of shockleaders) combine to make the Black Viper Mk 2 another class act from the Browning stable.
Price: £239.95
Check out the video below for a closer look!
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
Browning Commercial King2 Medium Pellet Waggler rod
QUICK FIX
Top section: The top section of the rod has
a quick tip action with a fast recovery rate. This allows you to make longer and smoother casts.
Fittings: High-quality line guides are used throughout, producing super-slick casts no matter how great the diameter of your line.
Blanks: Made from ultra-slim high-modulus carbon blanks, they have two equal lengths so that they are ideal for carrying ready made up.
Action: The rods have a perfect parabolic non-locking action which is ideally suited to commercial fishery carp of any size.
Handle: The new Commercial King2 rods
are designed with shorter cork handles so that they can be more easily manoeuvred around the angler’s body.
PAY AROUND
£69.95
Browning has revamped its range of Commercial King rods.
The latest models retain many of the build characteristics of the originals – slim carbon blanks, two equal-length sections and a responsive, progressive action.
However, Browning has further refined its best-selling UK range with improved cosmetics, beefed-up casting prowess and a tweak to provide a little more power through the mid-sections.
All this has been accomplished without Browning significantly hiking up its prices, which something to be applauded.
So, with the summer sun in full water-warming mode and carp cruising about all over the surface of nearly every lake I have visited in the past two weeks, it made perfect sense to take a closer look at Browning’s latest Commercial King2 Pellet Waggler rods.
These 11-footers come in Medium and Power versions, the latter boasting around 15 per cent more stiffness and power for situations involving bigger fish, or casting heavier floats up to 30g.
My chosen test venue, The Pool at Fields End Fishery in Cambridgeshire, is noted for its mixed stocks, so I chose the Medium model with a maximum casting weight of 20g. This is ideally suited to lighter floats, hooks and lines.
Assembling the rod, it’s immediately apparent that this is quality kit. At only 175g, it’s nicely balanced, with a super-quick tip action and fast recovery. That means it doesn’t wobble around much, making long, smooth casts easy to achieve.
My float choice was the small flighted John Bonney model that comes free on the front of Angling Times this week. It flew across the Pool to a range of 25m with no effort. The slightly reduced handle length made feeding with a catapult equally effortless, and that made very short shrift of what can otherwise be a rather tiresome ‘feed and cast’ routine.
Feeding little more than half-a-dozen 6mm pellets every 20 seconds or so, it wasn’t long before dark shapes were coming in to feed as soon as the pellets hit the water. But, as often happens on a well-fished venue, as soon as the float splashed down, they high-tailed it out of the swim.
The answer to this fishy conundrum is to feed twice, immediately before and after casting. You will also need to feather the line, so that the float lands with a gentle kiss on the surface. Get it right, bites will be savage. You now need to get them out of the killing zone as quickly and quietly as possible, by keeping the rod low, simultaneously reeling and pulling back.
For this you need full confidence in your rod, and reel for that matter, keeping the fish moving without pulling the hook, breaking the line or having the fish charge back through the feeding shoal. Basically you are pushing your kit to it limits, and it needs to respond and perform in equal measure.
This latest Commercial King2 Medium Pellet Waggler rod does exactly that. The added bit of muscle Browning has added kicks in as the blank approaches full parabolic compression, but its non-locking action provides enough of a safety factor for you to be able to dish it out without fearing the worst.
I was also impressed with the rod’s ability to deal with fish other than carp. During the live test some pretty hefty ide decided to have a go. These are not exactly cage fighters, but can be welcome weight builders in matches.
Their lolloping ‘fall-over’ swimming action means they are effectively dragged towards the net – hook-pulls happen all too often when using carp-style pellet waggler tactics. But not with this rod. It handled everything from near-double-figure carp, through to heavyweight ide and big roach, with aristocratic disdain.
VERDICT
I really liked the original Browning Commercial King rods, rating them right up there with many of the best models then available.
These latest rods look, feel and perform with every bit as much style, but with a little more bite.
Improvements to the cosmetics and furnishings give them an expensive top-end look which belies their very sensible price tags.
Mark Sawyer
Browning Sphere 10ft Bomb rod
TECH SPEC
Length: 3m (9ft 10ins)
Sections: 2
Max recommended casting weight: 50g
Spare quivertips: 0.5oz, 0.75oz, 1oz, 1.5oz.
Weight: 133g
PAY AROUND
£249.95
Those who regularly read my tackle review pages will be aware that I have been raving about Browning's top-of-the-range Sphere Feeder rods since first clapping eyes on them a year ago.
I adored them at first sight, and was bowled over by their lively, springy and steely feel and seamless non-locking parabolic curves. Live-testing them has proved to be nothing short of stupendous. They have casting power to burn, with recoil-less rigidity matched with a high weight loading area that will propel a feeder or lead a very long distance, even in the hands of a 'standard' distance casting angler like myself.
But - and here's the best bit - somehow the technical boffins at Browning have been able to produce blanks which blend all of that sizzle-factor with an almost imperceptible finesse which only comes into play when you hook a fish. Clever eh?
Faults are hard to find, other than the weight of their price tags, but they are right up there among the best.
Plaudits aside, there was one model left in the Sphere range that I had been waiting patiently to live-test, until the leaves started falling from the trees.
In the comfort of Browning's showroom, this rod felt ideal as a cold-water commercial-fishery tool, ideal for targeting F1s using light lines and small hooks, as well as being able to cope with the odd bigger fish. So as I tackled up on Decoy's unit-packed Beastie Lake, I was hoping for a live test encounter which would live up to my ambitious expectations.
I wasn't disappointed. The first thing you notice is that the blank has a long butt section at 5ft 2ins and a short a (3ft 4ins) carrier section, although when one of its four 23ins glass quivertips are fitted the two sections become equal length, making it easy to carry around as a ready-made.
Browning rates the rod as optimised at around 30m casting distance, which for me was under-gunning its true potential somewhat. My chosen peg was opposite an island end with a paddle type aerator as an added feature. My guess would have been it was around at least a 50m chuck, well above the rod¹s rating, and made even more difficult by the somewhat less than streamlined shape of the 20g pellet feeder I had tied on.
Not a problem! I even had to feather the line a little to avoid an overcast, and once clipped the rod hit the distance every time without fail. All very impressive, but not as impressive as what went on over the course of the next few hours. It¹s called Beastie Lake for a very good reason. Barbel, carp and F1s all grow fat healthy in this fabulous lake, and the Sphere handled them all with consummate ease, even when I had a dabble down the margin.
The resident barbel know every root-end and snag, but the rod pulled them away quickly and cleanly without a creak of complaint. I purposely over-loaded the stress-factor by pulling directly from above in an attempt to make the blank rotate, which in turn makes the guides twist out of alignment but they stayed die-straight throughout the ordeal.
I went through the card with this rod - maggot feeders with small hooks and 0.10mm hooklengths, pellet feeders with heavier lines and hair-rigs, straight lead and pellets - it was faultless. It would happily cope with main lines or braids from 4lb to 8lb and will cast up to 30g weights easily enough. Plus, you can use it with light lines and small hooks as its soft action is very forgiving, so hook pulls are kept to a minimum.
The four push-in glass quivertips are rated 0.5oz, 0.75oz, 1oz and 1.5oz which helps to provide it with sensitivity and durability.
Although it carries a bomb rod tag, the Browning Sphere model shouldn¹t be thought of as an old-school whispish wand designed for winkling out silvers from flooded rivers or canals. It¹s a very modern model with the casting backbone and parabolic fish playing action required for nearly all standard commercial fishery feeder and lead work.
The pencil slim blank has a superb transmission and steely feel, perfectly matched with the forgiving softness that is a hallmark of the Sphere range. If you¹re into the commercial fishery scene then you owe it to yourself to have a closer look.
Browning Commercial King Micro Waggler 9ft rod
PAY AROUND
£49.95
Fish on commercials are in the mood for food. They’ll pounce on virtually any bait, and even the crudest tactics will catch them.
But all too soon, as autumn arrives, everything changes. To succeed in cooler water a polished and more refined style of angling is needed, and you need to think very hard about your fishing to carry on reaping the rewards.
Finer lines, smaller hooks and smaller baits are all part of the equation, but to match the finer end tackle you need a suitable rod– and this is where Browning’s latest Commercial King Micro Waggler puts in an appearance.
With its abbreviated length, this nine-footer is obviously tailor-made for short-range casting on small commercial pools and snake lakes, rather than wide expanses of water.
But don’t let its lack of inches mislead you into thinking it’s probably a bit too short to handle anything weighing more than a couple of pounds.
The super-lightweight (160g) two-piece carbon blank dishes out more than enough clout to cope with the odd beastie or two.
Ideally, though, the Micro Waggler should be paired with a 2500 or 3000 sized reel loaded with a good sinking 4lb mainline, and used in conjunction with wagglers weighing no more than 15g. With such a set-up, the rod would be ideal for all maggot and 4mm-6mm pellet hookbaits with appropriately sized hooks and hooklengths.
The pencil-slim blank has a fabulous action that allows it to bend through most of its top section, with plenty of power feeding in via the middle and butt, just perfect for putting carp and F1s on the float in their place.
When it comes to playing and landing bigger fish on a shorter rod you’ll be pleasantly surprised – the reduced length seems to give you more leverage, and quickly brings them within easy range of the net.
Casting accuracy is good too (leaving aside ‘operator error!’), making it ideal to work with in typical parrot cage swims hemmed in by reeds.
In the right hands it will cast 35 yards-plus but, as you might expect, line pick-up at this distance isn’t the fastest.
This rod is at its brilliant best when presenting a waggler with precision just beyond your pole line.
We tested our sample rod at Decoy Lakes’ very scenic Willows Lake which is jam packed with F1s, with the odd bigger fish to keep them company. These larger carp have seen it all before, and can prove frustratingly difficult to nail. The best way is to feed 4mm pellets little and often – these fetch them up in the water pretty quickly. Then it’s a case of picking out your target, taking aim, and landing the banded bait right in front of the fish. Sooner or later one will turn and swirl on the bait, giving an instant and very often explosive take – exciting stuff. It’s really dobbing with a waggler, and patience and accuracy are key.
Now I can’t vouch for your patience, but I certainly can vouch for the casting accuracy of the Browning Micro Waggler!
VERDICT
This tiny waggler rod may seem a bit of a specialist tool, but when it’s too windy for the long pole it comes into its own. With its unerring casting accuracy it’s also ideal for far-bank snake lake work.
Mark Sawyer
Browning Sphere Feeder M 3.90m rod
PAY AROUND
£249.95-£399.95
Browning’s new Sphere rods are aptly described by the European tackle giant as being ‘from a different world’.
Made from the very highest quality carbons, every aspect of their design is engineered to produce a finished product that is as near perfect as it can be.
The Sphere blanks are said to be the slimmest and lightest high-modulus carbon rods available, and features include superb ultra-low-friction ‘skeleton’ SiC guides throughout, plus an ergonomic, weight-reducing handle which transmits more ‘feel’ through to the angler.
Between them the seven Sphere Feeder models cover every possible aspect of feeder fishing, from lightweight two-piece silverfish models through to 4.2m (13ft) firm-actioned rods capable of handling heavy leads in raging torrents.
Browning claims the rods will add yards to your cast, yet remain responsive enough to safely play soft-mouthed fish like skimmers and withstand the thumping head-shakes of really big bream without fear of hook-pulls.
That is quite some claim. I have seen and used many really good bream rods in my time, but nothing has ever been absolutely perfect – until now, that is!
From the moment I first handled these rods in Browning’s German factory I knew they were a bit special. The first clue to their excellence came during a conversation I had with Bob Nudd at this year’s Big One show. Bob excitedly handed me one, proclaiming: “This is the best feeder rod I have ever seen.” Praise indeed from a five-time World Champ with a lifetime of match and festival wins.
Recent sellout match attendances at open-water bream venues such as Peterborough’s Ferry Meadows had brought me a spate of ‘which rod?’ emails. These, along with questions from anglers on the bank asking about distance feeder rods, were all the excuse I needed to ask Browning to send in a Sphere for review.
This they duly did, and I received a 3.90m (12ft) three-piece Feeder M that I was assured would be ideal for long casting to big bream in open water.
Now, let’s clear one thing up, these rods are eye-wateringly expensive, with prices from £249.99 right up to £399.99, so you would expect them to be more than reasonable. However, they do come with four matching push-in tips which offer the ultimate in bite detection.
Settling into permanent peg 127 on Ferry Meadows’ Overton Lake, it was time to get some bait in. Clipped up at a modest 60 turns on the 4000-sized reel, the rod delivered a fully loaded 30g feeder bang on to the spot every time. Even a niggling headwind did nothing to affect accuracy or distance.
After 20 minutes of constant casting to get some feed out, I unclipped the reel, tied on a heavier feeder and unleashed the beast – ‘awesome’ is the only the word that does this rod justice.
The power kicked in through the middle section, the carrier was virtually recoil-less, and 90 turns later the feeder was back in my hand. Now I wouldn’t claim to be the best caster around, probably only just better than average. But never before had I chucked a feeder so far with so little effort.
But would this rod prove too stiff to play a big bream on? We’ve all been there – up pops the feeder, the bream starts shaking its head, and the rod doesn’t cushion the weight of the feeder being tossed around, so out comes the hook.
It’s the saddest sight in match fishing, staring at an empty landing net head with a big swirl behind it.
Suffice to say, this rod handled the situation with consummate ease – every fish was brought to the net early, apparently increasing the likelihood of a hook-pull, but everything stuck fast.
I could go on and on about the virtues of this rod, but I’ll leave you with this thought… don’t buy any other distance feeder rod until you have seen a Sphere.
VERDICT
Without doubt these Spheres are the best rods Browning has ever produced. Casting with breathtaking performance and accuracy, they have unequalled fish-playing powers, and are aesthetically unlike any others. If the rest of the Sphere Feeder series is anywhere near as good as this 12ft medium test model than Browning has created something out of this world.
Mark Sawyer
Browning Commercial King 8ft F1 Wand
TECH SPEC
Length: 8’/2.45m
Sections: 2 + 3 Tips
Casting weight: 2 – 4 lbs
Travel length: 1.27m
Weight: 150g
PAY AROUND
£59.99 both models
If you feeder fish snake lakes that don’t require massive casts then this wicked little rod should have your name on it. And here’s why…
Browning has further improved and refined its Commercial King Rod range to include these two gossamer 8ft Carp and F1 Wands, both of which eradicate hook-pulls while having the capability to land any big bonus fish.
The pencil-slim, through-actioned blanks bend all the way from their tips through to their cork handles. The F1 model, on live test duty, has the more forgiving action and is rated at around 20 per cent softer than the slightly beefier Carp Wand.
I favour short rods with actions like this because they can transmit every flick and flutter from fighting fish of all sizes, yet effortlessly cushion the most fragile hooklengths and tiny hooks.
They allow an angler to present really light rigs to finesse bites from shy-biting winter F1s and skimmers that have seen it all before, and they more than justify the asking price for use on hard winter commercials, where you might be fishing for just half-a-dozen bites in a match. Their reduced length allows you to easily tuck them out of harm’s way down the side of a platform, well out of the wind.
The F1 Wand is built to fish with reel lines of 2lb-5lb, while the Carp model can handle slightly heavier mono from 3lb-8lb, with appropriate hooklengths, but I wouldn’t go much below 0.10mm even with the F1 version.
I paired my test rod with a 4lb mainline that blended sweetly with the two-piece, 8ft blank. Three fine glass quivertips of 0.5oz, 1oz and 1.5oz come with each rod. These will register delicate bites while still managing to accurately throw feeders and bombs of up to 2oz. Reduced length rods are reckoned to give much greater accuracy over long ones when making the short-range casts required on many commercials these days. They’re also definitely easier to use in tight swims hemmed in by vegetation.
I took the test rod to the prolific Greensands snake lakes fishery near Sandy, in Bedfordshire, to fish a small 15g flatbed feeder loaded with dampened 2mm pellets and fine fishmeal goundbait with a 6mm hair-rigged banded pellet and size 16 hook.
The first thing you notice is how light the Browning Commercial King F1 Wand feels. The next is how easy it is to cast overhead, plopping the feeder accurately hard up against the far bank, or features such as islands or aerators, at distances from just beyond pole range to around 30 yards. On many day-ticket venuesbeing as little as 12ins off target makes all the difference between a good day and an average one.
No worries – it’s my bet that with this pint-sized belter sitting on your rod rest, you’ll be bang on the money every chuck.
VERDICT
This super pair of 8ft Wands from the Browning stable are ideal for commercial snake lakes and small pools. The F1 model, in particular, would be hard to better for this kind of fishing. It would make an exceptional winter maggot, feeder and small-hook F1 tool.
Mark Sawyer
Browning Quantum Specialist Magic Perch Rod
PAY AROUND
£47.99
A recent trip to the Browning factory near Hamburg left me staggered at the sheer choice and volume of drop shot tackle now available. We Brits look to be catching up fast on the Continentals in our understanding of this specialist lure fishing technique, and judging by the number of anglers I see jiggling soft plastics from canal towpaths, not to mention the amount of drop shotting kit in tackle shops, we should soon be a major force to be reckoned with.
But just what have those Germans got that we haven’t – other than footballers who can win penalty shootouts? On the drop shot front, quite a bit really – but the good news is, nearly all the kit is available at retailers with Browning accounts.
My rod and reel pairing for this live test is not only exceptionally pretty to look at, but highly affordable – and the combo does all that’s asked of it.
So, enter the Quantum Magic Perch. This two-piece carbon, epoxy-coated rod comes in 2.1m, 2.4m and 2.7m versions. My choice for canals would be its shortest incarnation, which rather handily happens to be this week’s live test model. Its graphics are top-notch – who could resist the realistic perch scale design along the butt section? More practically you can add braid-friendly SiC guides, full cork handle, low-profile concealed lockable reel seat and cut-away thumb and forefinger recess which put you directly in contact with the blank.
The rod, according to Quantum, is tailored more towards light spinning than drop shotting, which is reflected in its 3g-18g casting weight parameters. This means it has enough backbone to chuck a fairly large lure around, but this is very much a bespoke perch rod. To that end the blank has a fairly soft progressive action with a fair bit of give in the tip section.
A stiffer-tipped rod seems to help impart the required jagging movement that makes imitation baits wiggle, and this one has an awful lot going for it. Nicely light in the hand at just 134g, very easy to manoeuvre around obstacles thanks to its short length, its cork abbreviated handle is warm and comfy to hold, even on the coldest of days.
The best bit, though, is the price – at just £47.99 it’s a steal.