A Kind Of Magic!
Tom Scholey joins Bob Nudd on the banks of the River Yare to try out a very special piece of kit!
Bob spent a long time designing this latest tool to do a demanding job!
I have always read with envy about the weights that are caught on long pole to hand tactics in Ireland. Indeed, in the glory days of the 1970s and 1980s weights in excess of 200lb of roach were recorded from some of Ireland’s more prolific waters, and still today, pole to hand tactics figure on many festivals. Sadly, most of the fishing that we have on offer here in the UK rarely calls for such demanding tactics, and for this reason I am largely unfamiliar with them. One man who does know his onions when it comes to this kind of fishing, though, is Bob Nudd – and because he was instrumental in designing the original iconic Black Magic pole, I thought it made sense to ask him to not only talk me through this latest offering from the Browning camp, but also offer some advice on how best to use it.
Mustang Speed!Matt Godfrey gives Garbolino’s hot new whip collection a workout they weren’t expecting…
To test this latest range of whips I could have easily gone on a canal to catch gudgeon, or a river to bag a few bleak. But would that be a real test? Probably not. I wanted to put a little pressure on these beauties! I decided to break the rules a little and, although these whips are designed for catching large numbers of small fish, I took them to my local Barby Banks Fishery. This venue is home to a big head of carp well into double figures, but it’s also full of other fish that are rarely targeted.
All-Round Power… Matt Godfrey hits the bank with the latest mid-range weapon from Frenzee.
I love getting out on the bank with what I like to think are mid-range poles. The reason? Simply because they are what I have used for a lot of my own fishing, and very often still do. That’s why I was very excited when the FXT Precision Power pole from Frenzee arrived in our offices.
Our editorial assistant, Jake Fowles, takes Middy’s new Xtreme M3 out to test it. Can it really handle a No30 elastic?
When I arrived in the DHP offices to find the Middy Xtreme M3 pole sat on my desk I wasn’t too sure what expect. A pole rated to a No30 elastic (I wasn’t aware elastics went that strong), dubbed the ‘Animal Tamer’. I almost certainly expected a near-unusable piece of kit.
Matt Godfrey takes Preston Innovations’ brand-new Response Carp 16m pole to the bank to tame some surface-lurking monsters!
Last month I had a phone call from Preston Innovations brand manager Scott Geens. Immediately after picking the phone up, I could sense excitement in his voice. “I’ve got something here that you might like, and I’d love you boys to get out on the bank for an exclusive with it. ”
My ears instantaneously pricked up.
Match Fishing editor Tom Scholey takes a look at a very special range of rods, Daiwa’s Airity X45s.
I must admit to being massively sceptical when I was asked to consider the possibility that a rod might actually be ‘better’ than Daiwa’s Tournament range.
I love these rods and have been steadily building a collection when my budget has allowed. Indeed, I have written on these pages before about how I consider the 10ft Tournament to be the nicest rod of its kind that I have ever used.
Excellent Excellence From Tri-Cast!
Joe Carass gives the brand new Tri-Cast Excellence Pro a test with a difference!Long-term readers will know how much I like Tri-Cast rods and poles. The company makes some of the very best carbon products on the market and when it is due to release a new flagship pole, I always get excited.
The last flagship, the Trilogy Pro 2, was without doubt the best pole the company had produced. If it could improve on that then we were going to have a serious piece of pole on our hands.
•High-modulus carbon blank
•Supplied with ¾oz and 1oz tips
•Designed for short casts and today’s commercial waters
RRP: £70
www. fishmatrix. co. uk
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