I wanted to get peoples view on this as I think my rod is a little to heavy and I was looking at alternatives.

It does though depend on your river. For the smaller rivers I think a short rod would come in really handy, but for the larger rivers you need the length out there to stop line drag happening.

Anyway my first no cane choice is at the moment a J W Young Trotter.
http://www.jwyoungs.co.uk/ytr1300.htm

I realise this all academic really. A reasonably fast actioned rod is all that is needed. But hey talking about these things is all a part of fishing!

__________________
Carl

http://www.wandlepiscators.net/
http://teiseangling.co.uk/index.htm

TOMORROW THE TRENT COULD BE YOUR FISHERY! When are YOU going to JOIN THE ANGLING TRUST?

i know a lot of people bleet on about spliced tipped rods for trotting etc ,but with todays carbon blanks any light to medium waggler / match rod will do ,heavier match /carp wagglers are better for heavier floatfishing for barbel or carp etc

all you really need is a light but responsive progressive /tip actioned rod ,best thing is too try a few in a shop if you can with your reel on it ,as sometimes even though a rod is a great float rod ,it can feel quite different too different people

the youngs rod does look nice ,and designed with centrepins (with modern reel foots) in mind ,but be warned not all reels might fit it ! and is best too try one first if you can ,because of the reel fitting used
and not that expensive really compared too some of the "match" rods out there.and the back up service from masterline (if they still own the brand) is really good ,with excellent customer service.

Carl,

I know that a couple of the Wands guys have the JW Youngs trotter rods and they really like them. They've got Okuma and Adcock Stanton centrepins.

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Cheers,
Lawrence

Hi Carlos,

IMHO the best trotting rod that was ever made was the Shakespeare Mach2 Boron; I treasure my 13' as I've never held anything better. They appear on fleabay regularly but most will need re-whipping

If you want something longer to improve line control for stick float work, you won't get anything better than the Harrison 15'. I've just ordered one!

Hope that helps

Cheers, John

Mmm I was thinking of 'compact' rods. Good old Matt Hayes has a new range of compact rods. 8' - 10'.

__________________
Carl

http://www.wandlepiscators.net/
http://teiseangling.co.uk/index.htm

TOMORROW THE TRENT COULD BE YOUR FISHERY! When are YOU going to JOIN THE ANGLING TRUST?

The best match float rods were always made by Normark. I still have a few of them - equally good with a 4ozs roach or a 4lbs chub.

Also, forget the centrepins - you can do equally well and handle a broader variety of conditions with a fixed spool reel.

Charlie

__________________
From the Idea grows the Dream

www.jamarqui.co.uk

I'll second that, the Normark stuff was superb.

For stick & waggler work I always used a closed face reel, I found them easier to get on with especially for trotting.

Hmmm, this takes me back.

I agree that Normark made the best rods (especially their feeder rods) but having owned most of 'the classics' (I wish I still had them!) I'd still say that the Mach 2 was the best stick-float rod ever. I cut 6" off the butt and put 2oz of lead inside the blank, and it's the fastest / crispest rod imaginable!

I always used an Abu 501 / 506, but I'm a recent convert to the 'pin, but I think that you need a reasonably powerful flow to make the 'pin come into its own. Horses for courses I guess!

They're still in business, aren't they? Although I did hear that they don't have a UK distributor at the moment, which seems rather odd.

I've always heard very good things about the Preston Sentient rods too. Anyone got any first-hand experience of those?

The benefit of an open or closed face fixed spool over a centrepin are all about versatility - you can use them in less flow, you can cast a lot further and you can fish wagglers which would be pulled under by the drag from a 'pin.

I've not done much grayling fishing but I can imagine that quite a few shallow venues would be much more suited to the waggler than any sort of top and bottom float.

Charlie


PS. There's a Titan 2000 13 footer on eBay right now, which was my stick float rod of choice, 12 footer for waggler.

__________________
From the Idea grows the Dream

www.jamarqui.co.uk