Matrix Horizon 11ft Carp Waggler rod review

Now that spawning is well and truly out of the way, commercial fishery carp are properly on the munch, and can be seen cruising the upper layers, picking off morsels passing in front of their noses.

It’s now that pellet waggler tactics start to come into their own, especially on venues dominated by big carp. But these fish, it seems to me, have learned the knack of feeding on the periphery of loosefed pellets. 

They actually shy away from anything that hits the water with a resounding ‘plop’ – a total reversal of how the original pellet waggler tactic came into being, when noise would draw fish into the swim. 

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Anyway, to keep pace with that development, more modern tactics involve the use of lighter, clear, fully-loaded wagglers. 

Few things are more satisfying than building a pellet waggler swim. Start feeding little-and-often and provided you are reasonably accurate with a catty, the fish will gain confidence. Get it right and they’ll soon be swirling at the pellets every time you feed… all of which tees me up nicely for this very modern new float rod from Matrix. 

Matrix doesn’t brand this a pellet waggler rod, preferring to call it a ‘Carp Waggler’. This reflects the rod’s all-round pedigree, rather than it being a one-trick pony.

The super-slim two-piece blank’s equal-length sections allow it to be brought to the water ready made-up, saving time. It’s also incredibly light, being built from an ultra-high-modulus carbon cloth. 

Key build features include premium grade slim ceramic guides that allow great distances to be achieved even with light lines and floats. There’s a unique detailed weave print on its butt section, and a tiny side-fixed keeper ring, which is a bit ‘Marmite’ in my opinion.   

The Carp Waggler’s 11ft length lends itself perfectly to use on small and medium-sized commercial pools with casts up to 35m. I reckon it’s at its best casting floats weighing from 3g to 10g, with reel lines from 4lb to 8lb. 

The blank has a parabolic, almost all-through fish-playing action to deal with everything from tiddlers to Titans. That perfectly suited the few hours I spent tempting a selection of carp from Decoy’s Elm strip lake. 

With a niggling side wind to contend with, I spent the first hour or so of live-testing chopping and changing my way through any number of sizes, shapes and styles of waggler. Eventually I settled on a short crystal finned version carrying enough weight to cut through the wind arrow-straight. 

The rods can actually cope admirably with floats from 3AAA right the way up to 10g. 

In addition, thanks to the blank’s hollow tip section, it generates sufficient tip speed to instantly lift line from the surface, making hitting the quickest of bites relatively easy. 

The hollow tip also offers a fair degree of recovery, giving it more casting potential than a spliced rod. Just one word of warning – in my opinion this isn’t a rod for heavy splasher-type wagglers, and certainly wouldn’t be up to coping with a big whack against a headwind. It simply doesn’t have the backbone for that. But for 90 per cent of commercial waggler fishing it will do just fine.

What the Matrix Carp Waggler does have going for it in spades is an ability to cope with very big fish on light gear, when its parabolic/through action takes on a superb lunge-absorbing curve. It works as a perfect cushion, preventing hook pulls and snap-offs. 

There's nothing not to like about this latest Matrix Horizon offering. It’s light and comfortable in the hand, casts straight and true, and has more than enough casting power to hit the 30m mark. Ideal for floats, and fish of all sizes, it’s a true commercial fishery all-rounder with a very high standard of build that is more than matched by its performance.

Price: £129.99

Matrix Horizon 10ft Carp Feeder rod Review

Matrix says its new Horizon Carp Feeder rods were developed to cope with the ballooning size of carp in modern match waters.

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Mark Pollard has had lots of input into the design of all four rods which, despite being as strong as Shire horses on steroids, deliver a progressive action.

There are 9ft, 10ft (on test) 11ft and 12ft versions to choose from, depending on how far you want or need to cast. One thing in common to all is three graded push-in carbon quivertips of 1oz, 1.5oz and 2oz test curve. 

The fast-taper high modulus carbon blanks are quick off the blocks when it comes to line pick-up and casting accuracy. 

All have equal-length sections for ease of transport, a uniquely detailed weave print on their butt sections and decent length cork and EVA handles. Incorporated into these are screw-down reel fittings, while the blanks are furnished with low-profile ceramic-lined guides and a keeper ring as a finishing touch. 

The 10ft Carp Feeder, my Horizon rod of choice for live test duty, is primarily a tactically flexible feeder and straight lead tool and, as such, is likely to sell well. There’s no maximum recommended casting weight, but by my reckoning you’d be safe with anything up to 40g. 

The same goes for the line rating (or lack of it), but again, for me, anything between 4lb and 8lb would be fine – just the job for any commercial fishery whose carp have failed to sign up for Weight Watchers.  

I needed to get the Horizon Carp Feeder rod to a water where bites come readily to a variety of tactics, so where better than Buttonhole Lake near Wisbech, in Cambs?

A swim opposite a paddle aerator gave me something to aim at in open water, while a large island away to my right would challenge the rod’s distance-casting prowess.

A standard inline 30g flatbed Method feeder flew 30 yards arrow-straight and bang on target. Once I’d clipped up, I reckoned it would hit 50 yards with just a bit more ‘push-pull’ on my part, but around the 40g mark the rod began to show its casting limitations. However, towards the end of the session I was still chucking a 30g feeder a good 65 yards-plus. On commercials that’s equivalent to hitting a six out of the ground at Trent Bridge!

What the Horizon has going for it is a superb action, which has obviously come in for some serious scrutiny and field-testing from the Matrix consultancy team. Sweet as a nut, back of the net, and more fun than a day at the fair, it’s just perfect for the job. 

The rod bends exactly how, when and where it should, and has more than enough backbone to heave a reluctant lump over the rim of the landing net. 

As you can see, this beast gave me a proper run-around, especially when it tried with all its might to get its head underneath the platform. 

I don’t need to say much more about how flexible a backbone this rod possesses – look at the image and drool at its fast, progressive fighting action.

Our Verdict: 

The latest Matrix Horizon Carp Feeder rods look, feel and fish just right, with a very high overall level of performance. 

On the commercial fishery front, they have just about enough flexibility to be used for carp of all sizes, plus big F1s.

The 10ft model is ideal for Method, maggot and pellet feeder work, and would be equally at home throwing straight bomb set-ups for bigger fish. 

It’s worth noting that all the Horizon quivertips are interchangeable with those on Matrix Horizon XC and XS models. 

Price: £139