choice of long rod - advice wanted

Hi

Been looking at a long rod for clean-ish ground work, beaches etc. and was taken by the reviews here of the Greys Triplex 16 foot (expensive... stg 200 stg so far) and also taken with the K2 LDC beastie (which is available from Jims of cornwall for stg 169.99,a lot cheaper than Veals!).

Never used anything beyond 13.6 foot before so presume a slow casting style is appropriate - which means it would suit me down to the ground! :wink:

Which would you recommend and why?

and BTW, do they have january sales online?

Kieran u'll hardly notice the difference with the extra lenght. on windy days they are not ideal but just use the standard beachcaster on such occasions. they are all pretty good for what they do so just go for one that best suits what you want it for? as for casting a slow swing can really send the lead away but a quick overhead thump is often as good.

Remember the Greys carry a lifetime guarantee so if you can afford it then for clean ground work it must be the obvious choice.

can recommend the triplex 16ft - had it a year- great buy!

I recommend you also take a look at the Grauvell range of rods. They've been into these rods a lot longer than most. I own a Tektron 4200 (14ft) and am very happy with it. Costs around €250. The HM surf is around €200. It has the same blank as the Tektron but with SIC rings instead of Fuji's.

Paul

Remember the Greys carry a lifetime guarantee so if you can afford it then for clean ground work it must be the obvious choice.

You need to read how the "SO CALLED "Guarantee" works, if you break a tip section say, you have to PAY a fee something like £30 or £40 sterling for a new tip, if that one breaks then you start all over again with another replacement fee. Your own insurance company will do you a better deal than that for a much smaller premium.

Grey's rods are made in China, probably for less than the replacement fee they charge, even if they make nothing on the replacement its still not a TRUE guarantee in the correct sense of the word.

That type of guarantee was started years ago by an American rod company called "AllStar" Personally I don't think its right, just my opinion though.

Tom.

Maybe think of the Blue Metal Xtreme Kieran, Nice Rod for throwing Softish baits a long, long, long, long way.... 8)

Remember the Greys carry a lifetime guarantee so if you can afford it then for clean ground work it must be the obvious choice.

You need to read how the "SO CALLED "Guarantee" works, if you break a tip section say, you have to PAY a fee something like £30 or £40 sterling for a new tip, if that one breaks then you start all over again with another replacement fee. Your own insurance company will do you a better deal than that for a much smaller premium.

Grey's rods are made in China, probably for less than the replacement fee they charge, even if they make nothing on the replacement its still not a TRUE guarantee in the correct sense of the word.

That type of guarantee was started years ago by an American rod company called "AllStar" Personally I don't think its right, just my opinion though.

Tom.

i have to agree about the guarantee tom, i have a supro which has been damaged in the rings etc due to a drop... my own fault i know but because i bought the rod second hand i am not covered by greys cover anyhow! but surely if the rod has this 'lifetime' guarantee it shouldnt matter who the owner is, original one or not!
if they cover the product that should be it! at £30 or so it would still be cheaper than getting a new set of eyes whipped on and refinished etc!

i have found that the new fugi eyes fitted to most of the greys range are not as strong(resisting drops etc) than the last luminous eyes they had.
the supro dropped once and now needs a new tip eye and butt eye with the varnish and high build had to be redone on 3 other eyes as it all seemed to crack and peel off right round the blank at these points!

i have a conoflex highlander fitted with the lumi ones for years, its been dropped etc countless times on the rocks and the eyes have taken all ive had to throw at them

maybe just a one off but something worth considering if thinking of buying a rod with the new ones fitted.

Sort of an off topic comment by me (sorry) but it seems to me that if anyone is going to have a rod/reel combo worth upwards of ?/?200, can it not be put on the house insurance or something, just in case it gets a one way trip to the deep blue, gets walked on etc. Indeed, could you not put a value on all your kit and get it insured?

Sandman,

Well brought up point, answer is YES!!! they can, not a problem with your normal house & contents insurance.

The only time they (The Insurance Company) wont pay out is " if your rod breaks bringing in a fish" that makes sense to me, then the manufacturer should jump in, as the rod has not done what it was intended for, right.

Years ago I had my car stolen with a heep of tackle (mostly reels) in the boot, my insurance paid out in full, it was then that my broker explained how fishing tackle insurance works.

Hope this helps.

Tom.

Most of my stuff is in the reasonably 'cheap and cheerful' category, as befits my casting ability. But I intend to improve and then upgrade the gear as necessary, so it's something worth looking into, given the cost of a decent rod and reel these days.

Only problem is, if I have to put down the value of the tackle on the insurance, Mrs Sandman will probably notice it, and lets just say that there is a difference between what I pay for tackle and what I say I pay for it - as you do... :oops:

have got a replacement rod on house contents insurance before, no problems, no questions asked. didnt have to state fishing tackle or value on the policy.
just asked what kind of rod it was, then they put me onto their fishing tackle claim agent and i had a new rod by the end of the week!

Sandman,

You tell Mrs Sandman that your pulling a fast one on the insurance company just in case you have to make a claim. whatever way she takes it your only letting her see how smart you are 8) 8) 8)

I had a mate back in England who's wife heard me say how much I paid for a reel, she butted in and said " you should have got Kevin to get it for you, his only cost half that" :lol: :lol: :lol: they're divorced now :lol: :lol:

Tom.

Kieran, if you are willing to shell out 400 euro (!!!!), then take a look at the Century Carbon Metal SRE (Sea River Estuary). It got excellent write ups in both Sea Angler and TSF last month. Henry's fishing tackle are selling the slightly smaller model for 405 i think. I know it's a lot of money, but you will be getting a TOTR rod that will last for donkeys years.

If only I had 400 euro to spare!

Mb.3 recently bought one of the K2's, I had a cast with it and liked it a lot. As he said you definitely wouldn't think you were holding a 16ft rod, and a simple thump sent the lead a long way. Definitely worth considering, and I don't think it cost him an arm and a leg either?!!?

Hi Steve

Thanks for that - 400 EURO, what do you think I'm made of man - in January after Christmas! :shock: :wink:

I have seen K2s of various options available for around 150 to 200 sterling and there is one second hand available up north for 100 sterling, which is mighty tempting. I might yet have a nibble at that...

I have also been offered the opportuinity of testing some rods for Irish Angler, which I am looking forward to (sadly I think you have ot give them back to maintain your objectivity but such is life)!

The new editor has some really excellent ideas and I suspect you will see additional sea angling material and a lot more specifically irish content when he takes over... and more detailed information...

Many thanks for all the advice so far. Keep it coming.

BTW Hewetsons have a 16 foot triplex for 369 EURO, reduced from 469 EURO! I shall say nothing...

:shock: :lol: :wink:

Surely if you were allowed to keep all rods you tested, that would avoid any bias building up :?: :lol:

Haa! I like the way you're thinking.... let's just say that I was promised this testing lark more than once before so I believe it when I see a rod! That said if you ever do see a review it will be what an average angler and not a master distance caster can do with a given rod...

In respect of the original item, i.e. what long rod would you recommend... currently I am using an OTG cast most of the time, the odd overhead thump (well lob cast really) when I am facing deeper water, never really use a pendulum cast or other aerialised casts. I do want to fish further out, in particular I have hankering after the Cod in Clew Bay! There are good fish out there, in numbers off the charters in the summer but damned if I can land one from the shore (except on the north coast).

I'm not keen on soft rods, mainly because I learned to cast with an old Shakespeare so I am used to stiff blanks, and secondly becasuse the wind in Mayo makes any tippy rod (especially a long one!) useless for bite detection, even with braid as a main line. I have 500 yards of PowerPro 20 lb b/s ready to go, so looking for the right rod and reel combination.

What do people think ofthe K2 blue metal - no sellers reviews! :wink:

"I think if you're targetting cod, bite detection will be less of an issue than having the whole mess pulled over.

I've been looking at some of the longer rods myself as the lazy man's quick route to bigger distances.

Far as I see, the 15, 16 footers are really only for OTG casts (unless, as John Holden put it in Nov Sea Angler article ""you are 8 ft tall"") and most of the euro rods are rung for fixed spools.

I did see that before Xmas all the Penn dealers were trying to flog off the Penn Powerstix, of which there is a 4 piece 15 footer in fixed spool or multiplier configuration, with a choice of an original 525 Mag or a fixed spool for about ?155 sterling, which I thought wouldn't be bad.

Decided to give it a miss for now as I don't think I've maxed out the possibilities of my current setup and more to the point, the Minister for Home Affairs, who has a keen interest in my piscatorial expenditure, would not be impressed."

[m.b3]

Kieran i have a K2. use it for light stuff. would not recomend it as a cod rod, it is a nice crisp rod with a through bend. casts very well with a good fixed spool. one for the calm days i think.

Last edited by m.b3 on Thu Jan 05, 2006 7:30 pm, edited 2 times in total.

another posible set up would be one of the penn ppt anacondas with either a fixed spool or multiplier?