Rods, Reels & Poles

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. Roach, rudd, skimmers and bream all inhabit the venue. What could be nicer than an afternoon seeing what I could catch with a handful of maggots and sweetcorn, a little bit of sloppy groundbait, and my new set of Garbolino whips?

A Complete Set

The Mustang whips are supplied in a neat little case, each in their own compartment, with a screw-on end cap at the base of each whip and a rubber bung in the top. The set comprises four whips in 2.5m, 3m, 3.5m and 4m lengths. These are all telescopic and supplied with a very thin flicktip. I particularly like the finish on the handles. This has a smooth but easy-grip feel to it, allowing you to manoeuvre the whip quickly and accurately with maximum comfort. It may sound faffy, but I believe that this is really important. If you’re sat there fishing for a lot of fish, it’s essential that you’re comfortable and the tool in your hand makes your job easy. These slick sticks did exactly that!

Whip Action

The tips are incredibly soft, allowing you to use light hooklengths for small fish. I’d happily use hooklengths down to 0.06mm diameter. The overall action was lovely too because most of the whip is super-stiff, with all the action happening in the top two and a half to three feet. This stiff main section allows you to flick the rig out with ease. On the strike, you can quickly pick up the line between your float and whip tip, helping you hit fast bites and speedily swing small fish to hand.

Breaking The Rules

After having a waggle with the whip set, I set about fishing with the 3.5m version, which put me straight down the middle of the canal-style lake. After feeding a few times with some sloppy fishmeal groundbait, I began to get bites from roach and small skimmers. I say small, they were small by commercial standards but at 2oz to 8oz, were great fun on the whip! I was really impressed with the action when a fish was hooked, and despite only having a 0.09mm (2lb) hooklength and size 20 hook on, I never once felt like I was going to crack off. Things started to get interesting when I hooked a skimmer of around 1lb, soon followed by some pristine little stockie carp. These certainly pulled back a bit but the soft, tippy action cushioned every little run and headshake. In the interest of the test, I began to push my luck a little later in the session to see how well the whips handled swinging in bigger fish. Roach to 4oz weren’t a problem and came to hand with ease.

Testing Time

The real test came shortly after this, though, when I hooked something that felt solid! It want absolutely crazy for about 10 seconds; how it didn’t break my light hooklength (or the whip) I don’t know! However, I soon felt in control and, keeping the whip up high, quickly had a 3lb mirror carp beaten and in the net – crazy! I was astonished at how much control I had over the fish, and after the first few mad seconds of the fight, he was easily controllable. I certainly enjoyed a few hours testing these little beauties and would definitely recommend the whip set to anyone in the market for some. For £115, you’re kitted out perfectly with quality tools that proved to be more then just bleak pluckers! In fact, I might have to have a word with Darren Cox to see if they’re allowed to find their way into my rod bag!

Tech Spec Garbolino Mustang Speed Whips 2.5m, 3m, 3.5m and 4m

RRP: £114.99 for the full set

www.garbolinouk.co.uk