Up Close: Drennan Vari-Weight Swimfeeders - 25/02/2010

All were weighted with either a strip of lead on the side or a weight at the bottom. If anglers wanted more weight they had to fit something heavier in the form of clip-on leads or dead-cow leads. Ever since it launched its first blockend feeder in the 1970s, Drennan has been a leading innovator in swimfeeder design but these new designs have surpassed anything the company has previously produced. These are very versatile, traditional, flat-weighted blockend feeders that come in four sizes and they’re all very neat and streamlined.

Many feeders today have a plastic body sitting high above the lead weight, which allows flow to get underneath and creates big gaps where line can get snagged. The weights on these new designs, however, fit into a channel inside the feeder. The feeder weights can be adjusted, not only for casting efficiency but also to perfectly balance against the flow of the river. No more dead cows, saddle leads, cutting lead, sticking lead on or basically wrecking a feeder just to make do.
Each pack of two feeders contains one light and one heavy model, with two different-sized weights inside each. These allow you to weight the feeder to your exact requirements with nine different weight combinations. If you want to add even more weight you can simply slot another one or two weights inside above the side shelves and on top of the existing two, which then gives 18 permutations per feeder! Okay, they won’t be ‘fixed’ but we’ve done it with the two largest feeders and doubled the weights to 80g and 100g respectively.

VARI-WEIGHT FEEDER RANGE

• Mini 12g & 20g (permutations from 4g up)
• Small 18g & 30g (permutations from 6g up)
• Medium 24g & 40g (permutations from 8g up)
• Large 30g & 50g (permutations from 10g up)

Verdict: This brilliantly designed range takes feeder fishing to a new level.

RRPs: Mini and small £2.70 per pair; medium and large £2.90 per pair.