Stick rod

[Bob Watson]

My old Greys, Dave Wesson stick float rod is going the journey, too top heavy and bought on the advice of an old tackle dealer against my better judgement when the Drennan stick float rod was an option.

I've had a waggle of the Drennan acolyte+ but have heard reports of quite a few breakages so I'm looking for recommendations of other options, bearing in mind it will only be for trotting a stick on rivers where there's a very good chance of a decent chub or barbel being the next customer.

Ta!

[John Milford]

Does your Greys rod have a removable butt cap Bob?

It sounds daft, but adding some weight to balance it's 'tip heaviness' could make the whole rod feel lighter. Worth trying if you otherwise like the action of the rod?

[Bob Watson]

Does your Greys rod have a removable butt cap Bob?

It sounds daft, but adding some weight to balance it's 'tip heaviness' could make the whole rod feel lighter. Worth trying if you otherwise like the action of the rod?

I tried a dry run by wrapping some lead strips around the butt John.

It was going to take far too much.

The rod is an excellent blank but I believe it's been over engineered. The handle is too short, to allow you to pass it across your body easily apparently, there are too many rings to keep the line from sticking to the blank when it's wet. The combination of both make it too top heavy.

If I could a decent rod builder I might be tempted to get a rebuild on it.

[SmellySmelt]

Drennan 13ft specimen tench float rod. I love it, it’s got plenty of back bone too.

[Stewlaws]

I asked the same question Bob .. acolyte was on my radar but these rods are well documented to snap the tips ( some through anglers just tackling up) Drennan have replaced with no quibble which describes it as a build quality issue.

[davelumb]

Does your Greys rod have a removable butt cap Bob?

It sounds daft, but adding some weight to balance it's 'tip heaviness' could make the whole rod feel lighter. Worth trying if you otherwise like the action of the rod?

I tried a dry run by wrapping some lead strips around the butt John.

It was going to take far too much.

The rod is an excellent blank but I believe it's been over engineered. The handle is too short, to allow you to pass it across your body easily apparently, there are too many rings to keep the line from sticking to the blank when it's wet. The combination of both make it too top heavy.

If I could a decent rod builder I might be tempted to get a rebuild on it.

I no longer touch float rods. I hate working on the bloody things. Especially redoing the horribly fine tips!

[Mike J]

How deep is your pocket?
There is a Hardy Specialist 13ft Float going if your into buying the very best thats available. An alternative is the original 13ft Normark that is online for a little less.
I have both but the Hardy has a wider range fishing anything from a 2bb quill to 8gms and above, give enjoyment from a 6oz chublet yet still handle fish to nearly 20lbs.

Ive also got an full length Acolyte, its been on the bank twice!

.

[Bob Watson]

Does your Greys rod have a removable butt cap Bob?

It sounds daft, but adding some weight to balance it's 'tip heaviness' could make the whole rod feel lighter. Worth trying if you otherwise like the action of the rod?

I tried a dry run by wrapping some lead strips around the butt John.

It was going to take far too much.

The rod is an excellent blank but I believe it's been over engineered. The handle is too short, to allow you to pass it across your body easily apparently, there are too many rings to keep the line from sticking to the blank when it's wet. The combination of both make it too top heavy.

If I could a decent rod builder I might be tempted to get a rebuild on it.

I no longer touch float rods. I hate working on the bloody things. Especially redoing the horribly fine tips!

I know Dave, you mentioned it before. I was extracting the urine a little

It's getting consigned to the back of the cupboard, it's already had a repair to a section so resale will be a poor return.

[Stewlaws]

How deep it your pocket?
There is a Hardy Specialist 13ft Float going if your into buying the very best thats available. An alternative is the original 13ft Normark that is online for a little less. I have both btw.

Ive got an unused full length Acolyte, you can guess why its not being used.

.

I bought the hardy marksman specialist float rod on mike's recommendations and now looking for a back up 2nd rod ... Absolute joy to use

[davelumb]

Does your Greys rod have a removable butt cap Bob?

It sounds daft, but adding some weight to balance it's 'tip heaviness' could make the whole rod feel lighter. Worth trying if you otherwise like the action of the rod?

I tried a dry run by wrapping some lead strips around the butt John.

It was going to take far too much.

The rod is an excellent blank but I believe it's been over engineered. The handle is too short, to allow you to pass it across your body easily apparently, there are too many rings to keep the line from sticking to the blank when it's wet. The combination of both make it too top heavy.

If I could a decent rod builder I might be tempted to get a rebuild on it.

I no longer touch float rods. I hate working on the bloody things. Especially redoing the horribly fine tips!

I know Dave, you mentioned it before. I was extracting the urine a little

It's getting consigned to the back of the cupboard, it's already had a repair to a section so resale will be a poor return.

I thought you might have been having a giggle.

It's always surprised me how much weight is needed to balance out a float rod. Does make a difference though.

Preston Innovations do some nice rods. Not that I'm an expert on float rods.

[Chris Hammond]

How deep is your pocket?
There is a Hardy Specialist 13ft Float going if your into buying the very best thats available. An alternative is the original 13ft Normark that is online for a little less.
I have both but the Hardy has a wider range fishing anything from a 2bb quill to 8gms and above, give enjoyment from a 6oz chublet yet still handle fish to nearly 20lbs.

Ive also got an full length Acolyte, its been on the bank twice!

.

What sort of money is it please Mike?

I currently use either my Shimano Technium or Greys Extreme for river float work or a very old Daiwa float rod for lighter stuff. The former two are a little over gunned and the Daiwa has too many eyes for my liking so I'm interested in finding something else.

I was thinking of at least 14ft though so I can use it for long trotting.

[Stewlaws]

Hi Chris ...the hardy marksman specialist float rod was discontinued in 2011 I understand, I paid £375 delivered, the resale on these rods are strong, but look around and they do pop up. Some are marked as just Hardy rod and therein lies the possibility of picking up a bargain... Not everyone is aware of the true value.

[Daniel]

Cadence 14' rods are superb, as are the 15' rods, anything longer is going to feel tip heavy.
I'll use 14' most of the time because of the better balance, the 15' comes into play if i need to fish further out, depth, or if it's windy.

[Bob Watson]

Cadence 14' rods are superb, as are the 15' rods, anything longer is going to feel tip heavy.
I'll use 14' most of the time because of the better balance, the 15' comes into play if i need to fish further out, depth, or if it's windy.

I've heard good things about them I'd need to handle one before committing to buy though!

[Daniel]

Cadence 14' rods are superb, as are the 15' rods, anything longer is going to feel tip heavy.
I'll use 14' most of the time because of the better balance, the 15' comes into play if i need to fish further out, depth, or if it's windy.

I've heard good things about them I'd need to handle one before committing to buy though!

If you're on Facebook, join their page and ask if they have a rep anywhere near you.

[Kev Berry]

Cadence 14' rods are superb, as are the 15' rods, anything longer is going to feel tip heavy.
I'll use 14' most of the time because of the better balance, the 15' comes into play if i need to fish further out, depth, or if it's windy.

I've heard good things about them I'd need to handle one before committing to buy though!

Ive got 3 Cadence rods ....fantastic rods and I would say as good as Free spirit ones.
14ft #3 if you expecting big chub or barbel to appear
15#2 is fantastic roach rod with the backbone to handle big fish as well
You wont be disapointed Bob

[BillCollins]

How deep it your pocket?
There is a Hardy Specialist 13ft Float going if your into buying the very best thats available. An alternative is the original 13ft Normark that is online for a little less. I have both btw.

Ive got an unused full length Acolyte, you can guess why its not being used.



.

I bought the hardy marksman specialist float rod on mike's recommendations and now looking for a back up 2nd rod ... Absolute joy to use

Tastes vary, don't they..?..
I was given a Hardy 13ft Specialist float and a 13ft specimen feeder some years ago. Some of the most overrated tat I've ever used and that goes for both of them. A hefty price tag too for Chinese stuff and not even good Chinese stuff at that...but they did have 'Hardy' printed on them . The only bit of quality was the Fuji rings and aluminium reel seats, the blanks were like something probably thrown out the back at Harrisons. I gave them both away at different times and also realized why I got them for free. I've no idea if they were ever used afterwards, but I'd imagine that the feeder rod in particular could have doubled up for a bit of beach fishing.
I had a 14' Acolyte Plus until recently, nice rod and I had no trouble but there's lots of rumours so I sold it when I had a chance.
I have 2 Sportex Exclusive 14ft'ers, the 'match' and the NT (power) version, now that's proper kit...

[cookiesdaughtersdad]

How deep is your pocket?
There is a Hardy Specialist 13ft Float going if your into buying the very best thats available. An alternative is the original 13ft Normark that is online for a little less.
I have both but the Hardy has a wider range fishing anything from a 2bb quill to 8gms and above, give enjoyment from a 6oz chublet yet still handle fish to nearly 20lbs.

Ive also got an full length Acolyte, its been on the bank twice!

.

I had a play with an old Normark, fabulous thing and shows what could be done all those years ago!

Cheers,Alan

[Chris Hammond]

Hi Chris ...the hardy marksman specialist float rod was discontinued in 2011 I understand, I paid £375 delivered, the resale on these rods are strong, but look around and they do pop up. Some are marked as just Hardy rod and therein lies the possibility of picking up a bargain... Not everyone is aware of the true value.

A bit too steep for me tbh Stew. I'm a bit rough on my tackle so it would soon end up worth very little.

Not meaning to hijack Bob's thread but I would get more use out of a very short rod for the tiny jungle banked streams I'm currently interested in. Something no longer than about 4ft. I'm thinking maybe a cheapo brook fly rod?.

[Mike J]

How deep is your pocket?
There is a Hardy Specialist 13ft Float going if your into buying the very best thats available. An alternative is the original 13ft Normark that is online for a little less.
I have both but the Hardy has a wider range fishing anything from a 2bb quill to 8gms and above, give enjoyment from a 6oz chublet yet still handle fish to nearly 20lbs.

Ive also got an full length Acolyte, its been on the bank twice!

.

I had a play with an old Normark, fabulous thing and shows what could be done all those years ago!

Cheers,Alan

The original Normark blanks were made in Japan by Diamaru, the same people also made the Sage RPL blanks and the Johnathan Jones Sea Trout rods.
The NMB144-3S is the 12ft rod & NMB156-3S the 13ft. Diamura also made the blanks for the early Normark Microlights and the 2000 and 3000 series.
Probably the most exclusive Normark is their NCQT quiver tip which has storage for the spare tips inside the handle.
An NMB156-3S was around £80 new, a good example can now fetch £250 but it is the 2000 series Titan that is the rod in the greatest demand with prices now beyond £600.

.

[cookiesdaughtersdad]

How deep is your pocket?
There is a Hardy Specialist 13ft Float going if your into buying the very best thats available. An alternative is the original 13ft Normark that is online for a little less.
I have both but the Hardy has a wider range fishing anything from a 2bb quill to 8gms and above, give enjoyment from a 6oz chublet yet still handle fish to nearly 20lbs.

Ive also got an full length Acolyte, its been on the bank twice!

.

I had a play with an old Normark, fabulous thing and shows what could be done all those years ago!

Cheers,Alan

The original Normark blanks were made in Japan by Diamaru, the same people also made the Sage RPL blanks and the Johnathan Jones Sea Trout rods.
The NMB144-3S is the 12ft rod & NMB156-3S the 13ft. Diamura also made the blanks for the early Normark Microlights and the 2000 and 3000 series.
Probably the most exclusive Normark is their NCQT quiver tip which has storage for the spare tips inside the handle.
An NMB156-3S was around £80 new, a good example can now fetch £250 but it is the 2000 series Titan that is the rod in the greatest demand with prices now beyond £600.

.

The one I held was a 13ft waggler I think, priced at around 250, very VERY nice rod!

Cheers, Alan

[RayB]

Does your Greys rod have a removable butt cap Bob?

It sounds daft, but adding some weight to balance it's 'tip heaviness' could make the whole rod feel lighter. Worth trying if you otherwise like the action of the rod?

I tried a dry run by wrapping some lead strips around the butt John.

It was going to take far too much.

The rod is an excellent blank but I believe it's been over engineered. The handle is too short, to allow you to pass it across your body easily apparently, there are too many rings to keep the line from sticking to the blank when it's wet. The combination of both make it too top heavy.

If I could a decent rod builder I might be tempted to get a rebuild on it.

I no longer touch float rods. I hate working on the bloody things. Especially redoing the horribly fine tips!

Snap, and some of them did Dave..

[RayB]

Cadence rods a very good, i use a couple of there tip rods but for the money I would recomend a Shakespear mach3 13ft, fantastic rod for the money..

[Sean Roberts]

I have an oldish Dave Harrell 13/15ft (two different butts) spliced tip stick float rod and wouldn't swap it for anything, I also have a 13ft Acolyte plus and have only used it 3 or so times, always feels like it going to snap in the tip section.

[bencarvosso]

I've used the acolyte for mullet and never felt it was going to snap. Prob not enough back bone for them but still going strong

[Mike J]

I've used the acolyte for mullet and never felt it was going to snap. Prob not enough back bone for them but still going strong

Agreed, I had a decent river bream on mine and although it went round a long way but never felt like it would break. For whatever reason it just feels (to me) in the hand that its overly floppy when compared to my other float rods.

Just off from a few hours trotting

.

[BillCollins]

I've used the acolyte for mullet and never felt it was going to snap. Prob not enough back bone for them but still going strong

Agreed, I had a decent river bream on mine and although it went round a long way but never felt like it would break. For whatever reason ot just feels (to me) in the hand that its overly floppy when compared to my other float rods.

Just off from a few hours trotting

.

Without knowing anything about their reputation, my Acolyte was one of the nicer float rods I've used and being a Plus it had a little bit of backbone and winched bream to 7+ up from 20ft while fishing the slider from the boat, but....... there was always that niggling thing in the back of the mind that I could hear a Snap! at any second and I would never bother trying to get a section, with the rod then just being thrown in a corner and left there. So, when a friendly face appeared on the horizon looking for that exact model and agreed to a fair price, I decided not to pass up the occasion..

[cookiesdaughtersdad]

This thread has given me the urge to do some trotting again.
A nice rather wealthy neighbour gave me a 13ft Diawa Tournamx rod some time ago, decent bit of kit I think, certainly feels ok, its a waggler rod. Upon putting it together it turns out the top joint is a bit on the tight side, I feel wet and dry may take to much off so what should I apply to make it slip in and out a treat?

Cheers, Alan

[BillCollins]

This thread has given me the urge to do some trotting again.
A nice rather wealthy neighbour gave me a 13ft Diawa Tournamx rod some time ago, decent bit of kit I think, certainly feels ok, its a waggler rod. Upon putting it together it turns out the top joint is a bit on the tight side, I feel wet and dry may take to much off so what should I apply to make it slip in and out a treat?

Cheers, Alan

Give it a few strokes ( ) with a candle, it might just improve it that bit...

[cookiesdaughtersdad]

This thread has given me the urge to do some trotting again.
A nice rather wealthy neighbour gave me a 13ft Diawa Tournamx rod some time ago, decent bit of kit I think, certainly feels ok, its a waggler rod. Upon putting it together it turns out the top joint is a bit on the tight side, I feel wet and dry may take to much off so what should I apply to make it slip in and out a treat?

Cheers, Alan

Give it a few strokes ( ) with a candle, it might just improve it that bit...

Thanks ,Bill I'll try it but who told you I had candles?

Cheers Alan