Preston Innovations Mini 11ft 6in Power Carp Rod
Joe Carass takes a look at a new addition to the Preston Mini rod range that is not quite so mini!
The Mini range of rods from Preston Innovations has been one of the biggest success stories in fishing tackle in recent years, and if you walk around any commercial fishery in the country you are sure to see some of the rods on the bank.
The range has, however, now been extended to cater for the huge variety of commercial fishing available in the UK. A recent trend has seen matches fished that require a long-distance approach; venues such as Barston Lakes in particular regularly see distances of 80 yards plus needed to reach the fish. Initially anglers turned to the Preston Dutch Master rods to reach the mark but the actions weren’t quite right for playing the F1s, carp and skimmers that make up the weights. This is where Preston got its thinking cap on to combine the power of the Dutch Master range with the beautiful fish-playing action of the Mini rods… and the 11ft 6in Power Carp was born!
I must admit that when I picked the rod up I questioned whether it would be able to cast a feeder the suggested 80 yards, as the action felt the same as a 10ft Mini Carp. However, I was told that the middle of the rod has an immense amount of power and once the rod is compressed it will let fly!
Despite my misgivings I decided to give it a go at Barston and chose to sit on Peg 32, which is just off the island. I didn’t fancy a cast to the island as I felt I might not get too many pulls, so I opted to cast along the side of the island. This meant a chuck of 75 turns of my 5000-sized reel into a strong headwind.
When I sat down I didn’t think that a rod of this length would have the backbone to comfortably cast a feeder the distance. However, as soon as I attached my 45g long-stemmed Method feeder, baited it up and launched it out I knew that this was one hell of a rod! It hit the clip every time with ease and I must say that it would have chucked another 10 or 15 turns comfortably, and further still if there hadn’t been the wind.
It wasn’t long before I had a bite and on my second cast, in fact, I was into a bream of about 3lb. The rod performed much better than I’d expected and the soft tip action cushioned every lunge! On a difficult day in poor conditions this rod helped me catch fish that would have otherwise been out of reach.
In my opinion this rod is awesome! Fair enough, it won’t be suitable for the real monster chucks at Barston, where around 100 yards are required, but for anything up to 80 yards, which, let’s face it, is a lot more realistic, it will perform perfectly.
I can see me using the Power Carp an awful lot this year, as not only will it be good for distance work but it also has the right action for shorter 30yd to 40yd casts and has that fantastic fish-playing action associated with the Mini rods.
RRP: £169.99
Website: www.prestoninnovations.com
The Mini range of rods from Preston Innovations has been one of the biggest success stories in fishing tackle in recent years, and if you walk around any commercial fishery in the country you are sure to see some of the rods on the bank.
The range has, however, now been extended to cater for the huge variety of commercial fishing available in the UK. A recent trend has seen matches fished that require a long-distance approach; venues such as Barston Lakes in particular regularly see distances of 80 yards plus needed to reach the fish. Initially anglers turned to the Preston Dutch Master rods to reach the mark but the actions weren’t quite right for playing the F1s, carp and skimmers that make up the weights. This is where Preston got its thinking cap on to combine the power of the Dutch Master range with the beautiful fish-playing action of the Mini rods… and the 11ft 6in Power Carp was born!
I must admit that when I picked the rod up I questioned whether it would be able to cast a feeder the suggested 80 yards, as the action felt the same as a 10ft Mini Carp. However, I was told that the middle of the rod has an immense amount of power and once the rod is compressed it will let fly!
Despite my misgivings I decided to give it a go at Barston and chose to sit on Peg 32, which is just off the island. I didn’t fancy a cast to the island as I felt I might not get too many pulls, so I opted to cast along the side of the island. This meant a chuck of 75 turns of my 5000-sized reel into a strong headwind.
When I sat down I didn’t think that a rod of this length would have the backbone to comfortably cast a feeder the distance. However, as soon as I attached my 45g long-stemmed Method feeder, baited it up and launched it out I knew that this was one hell of a rod! It hit the clip every time with ease and I must say that it would have chucked another 10 or 15 turns comfortably, and further still if there hadn’t been the wind.
It wasn’t long before I had a bite and on my second cast, in fact, I was into a bream of about 3lb. The rod performed much better than I’d expected and the soft tip action cushioned every lunge! On a difficult day in poor conditions this rod helped me catch fish that would have otherwise been out of reach.
In my opinion this rod is awesome! Fair enough, it won’t be suitable for the real monster chucks at Barston, where around 100 yards are required, but for anything up to 80 yards, which, let’s face it, is a lot more realistic, it will perform perfectly.
I can see me using the Power Carp an awful lot this year, as not only will it be good for distance work but it also has the right action for shorter 30yd to 40yd casts and has that fantastic fish-playing action associated with the Mini rods.
RRP: £169.99
Website: www.prestoninnovations.com
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