Up Close: Maver X-elle and 131 Poles - 28/01/2010
Some anglers will laugh very loudly when they see one of Maver’s new pole releases for 2010.
Why? Because it’s pink, and pink isn’t normally associated with fishing or fishing tackle. But – and it’s a huge but – this hasn’t been designed for male anglers, it’s been designed to make pole fishing more female-friendly! And we think it’s a huge step forward for angling. Whether female anglers will want to be singled out like this remains to be seen, though.
Unfortunately – or fortunately – the pinkness doesn’t extend all the way down the pole, and unlike the rest of the Maver pole series even the 11.5m section has no graphics.
If the colour of the graphics is purely done for show, then the main criteria for pole design has to be performance. The 131 Competition and the X-elle are the same pole but with different paint jobs. Costing £535 at RRP they come at 13 metres as standard but for anglers wanting extra reach a 1.5m extension is also available in the appropriate colour. You can expect to pick up the poles for around £399 each. The spares packages for the poles are also identical and include two power kits, one cupping kit and a mini-extension alongside the match kit supplied with the pole.
Although the supplied spares package may indicate that these poles are commercial-fishery biased, we’d certainly disagree. At 13 metres they’re everything you’d want them to be. Whether you’re fishing on canals, rivers or for carp on commercials, they certainly outperform their price tag. The 131 is at the lowest end of the Competition 2010 series but if you bear in mind its price it’s probably one of the best.
As with all of the Maver poles in the Competition range, these benefit from Reglass technologies including Nanolith Carbon, Teflon Joints, Fusion Sections and Anti Friction System. If you’re on the way up the pole fishing ladder – whether you’re male or female – and require a pole that won’t restrict your ability, then these should be somewhere near the top of your wish list.
Verdict
A different idea that may set a trend for ‘female’ poles in the UK? Colouration aside, these poles are very good for the money.
Price
- The RRP for both poles is £535
