Tony Curd heads to Bury Hill Fisheries in Surrey to check out Okuma's Ceymar XT Match reels which deliver high performance and durability at an affordable price.
Match Fishing’s David Haynes takes two new waggler rods from Rive for an outing.
Rive? That’ll be seatboxes then.
Well, yes, but not this time. The French tackle giant now has so many more items of tackle worth serious consideration than ‘just’ seatboxes.
The WorkHorse! Matt Godfrey takes to the bank of Aston Park Fisheries with one of the latest top-end poles from Sensas…
During the autumn I met Mark Downes at Barston Lakes to look at the new range of Sensas poles. I’m always straight in at the deep end on days like this, and I was no different this time. “Show me the best and most expensive one in the range,” is normally my opening gambit. This year, that’s the 895.
Shakespeare’s Superteam SC3 range of rods stands for ‘Super Commercial’ 3. They’ve been specifically tailored for commercial fisheries and Shakespeare says: “It’s an affordable and highly versatile rod range that will not fail to impress.” Alex Bones takes them out on the bank.
If you’re after a great pole at a great price then you must give the Catana some serious thought.
We loved this pole when we tested it as it offers stunning performance and a good well-thought-out package. Supplied with two top kits, mini-extension, tubes and competition holdall. RRP: £299 SSP: £199 .
David Haynes takes Middy’s margin-busting Shock Stikk for a spin.
I think it’s fair to say I have never used, or even seen, anything quite like the Middy Shock Stikk, and I think I should admit I probably had the same preconceived ideas about it as many others may have. I imagined it would be a pure hauling tool for getting big fish to the net as quickly as possible with little consideration for their wellbeing.
Well, it’s not.
Blink And You’ll Miss It!
Match Fishing magazine’s chief sub editor David Haynes recounts a tale of loss, and rejoices at the return of a faithful friend.
After doing this fishing stuff for a good many years you think you pretty much know what to do and what not to do, until something comes along and catches you out… In a match at the famous Glebe fishery recently I should have been prepared for the ferocity of some of the carp bites – I’ve seen the tip go round here a few times before, and I know that when they want the bait they take it… and how! I was fishing a bomb and pellet at a gentle lob’s distance, and having cast out and set the rod in the rest I turned round on my seatbox to reach something behind me. I wasn’t clipped up and the clutch on my Team Daiwa 3012D reel was set lightly, so I was a little confused by the splashy gurgling noise coming from where my rod had just been.
Spinning round, I saw it bounce into the lake and motor off away from me.
