TF Gear Banshee carp rod
PAY AROUND
£59.99
TF Gear’s latest 10ft Banshee carp rod is said to be able to catch carp from just about any type of venue.
In test curves of 2.75lb, 3lb and 3.5lb, the blanks are built from quality carbon fibre and furnished with premium grade silicone-lined guides and screw-down custom DPS 18 reel fittings.
The fish-playing action is progressive, and these rods look as if they are built to take a lot of stick.
TF Gear Delta NT Rods
PAY AROUND
£109.99 a pair
The attractive ‘buy one, get one free’ offer on these excellent carp rods means you can pick them up from a squeak over £50 apiece.
But, far from being entry-level fodder that’ll merely do the job until you can afford something better, I reckon even experienced anglers will be happy to fish with these professional, high modulus carbon blanks.
The slimline, fast-taper, 12ft, two-piece rods have a lovely, crisp feel about them and cast well to around 70 yards with reel lines of between 10lb and 15lb.
There are six versions to choose from. Opt for 2.75lb, 3lb, 3.25lb or 3.5lb (50mm butt ring) test curve variants. There are dedicated Spod and a purpose-built Marker model to complete the set.
Prices range from £109.99 to £129.99 for two rods, depending on test curve.
The lighter 2.75lb and 3lb options are tailor-made for typical, compact carp venues where you need to cast leads up to 3oz with small PVA bags or stringers.
Distance demons or anglers launching heavier PVA loads should go for the stronger 3.25lb or 3.5lb options.
The minimal cosmetic satin grey blanks are dressed with sturdy silicone guides and secure DPS screw-lock reel fitting. At just 15mm, the end of the shrink-wrap butt section is ultra-slim.
Strangely, this slim diameter proved my only gripe with the rod. It’s so thin that it sometimes seems hard to grip securely when you’re going for the big cast.
I chose to fish the 2.75lb test curve model (£109.99 for two) and teamed my two test rods with TF Gear’s 10 ball bearing Speedrunner 8000 (RRP £49.99) Freespool reels loaded with 12lb mono.
The rod has a lovely progressive action that’s perfect for the kind of mid double/low 20lb fish that many runs waters and small pits are full of these days though, in open water swims, it will happily land far bigger specimens on any venue.
I fished a 2.5oz Method feeder at a comfortable 60 yards but could have gone further if I’d pushed it. The rod coped beautifully with carp to low doubles, but had plenty of power in reserve for bigger fish.
TF Gear Classic Nan-Tec 12ft Feeder
PAY AROUND
£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!
TF Gear Project X Carp Rods
PAY AROUND
£79.99 for two rods
Buy one of these new, big-value carp rods and you get a second one free. It’s supermarket mentality but it makes sound financial sense.
There are seven different, two-piece, 12ft rods in the Project X range and they’re all priced between £79.99 and £89.99 for a pair.
Choose from 2.5lb, 2.75lb, 3lb, 3.25lb or 3.5lb test curves, and there’s also a matching spod rod and a marker rod.
Over the last five years, sub-£50 carp rods have become incredibly good value but there are still some absolute dogs out there that you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy.
I’ve fished with a lot of these entry-level rods and I couldn’t have asked much more from the 2.5lb test curve Project X rods I chose to fish with.
The two rods cost a total of £79.99 through mail order specialists Total Fishing Gear and I matched them with 50-size TF Gear Airlite Free Spool reels costing £29.99 apiece.
For a total financial outlay of just £140, I don’t think any carper –of whatever ability – can quibble with the quality and value for money that this twin rod/reel deal offers.
If this is the maximum amount of cash you have to spend, you’ll struggle to better it and still walk away with kit that actually works.
The matching rod/reel combos certainly look the part. That shouldn’t be important, but it is, and you won’t be the subject of sniggers of derision from your fellow anglers.
The slimline, matt black, carbon blanks have minimal graphics and are dressed with good, strong, three-leg lined guides and simple but sturdy screw winch reel seat fittings.
This rod suits my style of fishing down to the ground. It isn’t a poker-stiff casting machine incapable of bending with the kind of mid-double/low-twenty size fish I normally catch on day-ticket runs waters.
Instead, it will happily deliver a 3oz lead and a small PVA bag over the 30-70 yard ranges I typically fish at, while still bending sweetly from tip into the top of the butt section under load.
I caught some cracking, scale-perfect commons to 14lb during testing and warmed to the rod’s pleasing action.
The rod feels easily capable of landing 30lb fish on 15lb reel lines, while still remaining mellow enough to give sport with smaller ‘bread and butter’ fish.