Sonik SKSC Commercial Feeder 10ft Review
The Sonik Sports brand is very familiar to pursuers of big carp, less so to commercial match and pleasure anglers.
All that is set to change, though, as the company is about to introduce an impressive new rod collection dubbed the Sonik SKSC commercial range.
The six rods comprise 9ft, 10ft, and 11ft Commercial Feeder rods, and three Pellet Waggler rods in the same lengths.
I’d originally intended to live-test a matching pair for both disciplines, but a recent spell of cold weather had well and truly put paid to fishing up in the water using pellet waggler tactics – so it was a case of feeder or bust. I chose the 10-footer.
However, before we move on to the bank, let me tell you a bit more about Sonik’s new SKSC range.
The rods have been thoughtfully designed, and are nicely constructed to meet the basic needs of the pleasure or match angler. They have modern, progressive fish-playing actions with plenty of backbone, making them ideal for commercial carp – a bit of added steel provides enough grunt to tame the odd zoo creature.
The slim, two-piece equal-length blanks are built from a high-grade 24 tonne carbon cloth and furnished with quality titanium oxide lined guides and a screw-down reel seat with EVA thumb grip. The decent length handle is a cork and EVA combo.
I’ve left the best bit till last – the price. If you want performance on a tight budget, you’ll need to fork out just under 40 quid!
So, what’s the rod capable of? It’s the ideal tool for short to medium-range casting, comfortably chucking 45g weights 40 yards-plus. Anything more and the rod will start to overload, which affects distance and accuracy.
It will handle mono reel lines between 5lb and 10lb, and can be safely used with hooklengths down to 0.12mm and hooks as small as an 18.
I kicked off the live test at Horseshoe Lake on Steve Gregory’s Rushfield complex, using a 30g flatbed Method feeder loaded with micro pellets, and a banded 6mm pellet hookbait – which proved to the liking of a string of stockie carp and F1s.
Although bites were at times quite savage, the fish responsible for whipping the rod’s top section round were at best bantamweights. However, I can happily report that nothing came unstuck as I quickly reeled them in – the 10ft SKSC has more than enough tip cushioning to deal with smaller fish without pulling hooks, even when you’re bagging.
A change to a lighter feeder, so as not to spook the fish, and a larger 8mm pellet hookbait cast down the margin, came up Donalds!
Two commons, one just over 10lb, put a serious bend in the rod, allowing it to show its full fighting curvature.
As you can see from the brilliant image captured by Angling Times staff photographer Lloyd Rogers, all the power in the rod is loading from just above the mid-section area, proving the blank’s steely resilience. In my book, that makes it the ideal commercial carp Method feeder rod.
Price: £39.99
Sonik Gravity X
RRP from £249.99
The boffins at Sonik are proud of this flagship creation, and they have every right to be.
Made from NanoAlloy, these rods are incredibly slim yet massively powerful. The recoil on the tip is also lightning-fast to boost casting capability.
With titanium guides and some striking blue cosmetics, these rods deliver the perfect blend of looks and performance.
Sonik SKS 12ft Black Carp Rods
PAY AROUND
£69.99
It isn’t very often that you can second guess the fate of a rod even before you have had the opportunity to wet a line with it. But in the case of the latest 12ft SKS Black carp rods from Sonik the writing was on the wall from the moment I removed them from their bags.
These new rods are available in three different test curves of 2.75lb, 3lb (as tested) and 3.2.5lb and I was to test the 3lb version.
Without putting to finer point on it, as long as they didn’t burst into flames when attaching a reel, or melt upon contact with water, I knew that the live test would be a mere formality.
Why is that? Well, simply because these rods deliver perfectly the type of appearance that every modern day-ticket carper would want. They simply ooze with an array of aesthetics that marries ultra-cool respect with incomparable value for money.
The push-over jointed two piece blanks are finished with a sleek but durable matt black, with six classy double-legged black-lined SiC guides. These include a 50mm butt ring on both the 3lb and 3.5lb test-curve models, as well as an anti-frap tip guide. The rod’s super slim abbreviated handle has a black laser etched butt cap, with 14cm of Japanese shrink wrap fitted neatly above that.
Moving up the handle there a special Sonic DPS reel seat with matching black hood and collar, and just above that a line-friendly side mounted custom Sonik line clip. Yes, all in all and from any angle you care to look at it, the Sonik SKS Black is a good looking tool with a custom built designer specification but at a high street price.
Despite all this, I obviously needed to have a wave about over water with the two 3lb test curve models that Sonik had sent in for review. So on a beautifully sunny early spring afternoon I set about extracting a fish or two using an array of methods, from number one lake at Makins Fishery in Warwickshire, a very popular day-ticket carp water that contains fish in excess of 30lb.
With the fish showing themselves near the surface, a zig rig with an 8ft hooklength was the first method to be used. The SKS rod cast the 1.5oz bomb with ease, and the blank’s forgiving tip was ideal for this type of method. The other rod was set up with a 2oz lead, and small solid PVA filled with pellets. Although it handled this well enough, the softness of the progressive actioned blank revealed itself with a little post cast wobble, which will cut down its casting potential slightly. However, it would still be more than useful with a 3oz lead and single-bait set-up at up to 75 yards.
My personal recommendation would be to go for the slightly more back-boned 3.25lb model, if you want casts of 100yd or do a lot of bag, stick, or method feeder fishing.