Middy The Works 11ft 3in Pellet Waggler Rod - 08/09/2009
A budget-busting carp float rod comes under the watchful eye of editor Kevin Wilmot.
I always think it’s a good idea to test a product without any preconceptions about its price. Such was the case with the new Middy The Works Carbon Pellet Waggler rod, which I used for the first time at Makin Fisheries recently. Lake One on Phase One of the complex was my port of call and you’d be hard-pressed to find a fishery whose carp are much wiser. Most of the fish weigh more than 4lb and with the pellet waggler being the favoured way of catching them, it was the ideal opportunity to put the rod through its paces. I had no idea how much it cost. All I knew initially was that my 6ft holdall was only just big enough to take the two sections. It transpires the rod measures 11ft 3in and is described as ‘carbon composite’. This means that it isn’t 100 per cent carbon, it also contains another material, in this instance probably glass-fibre.
The addition of glass-fibre helps keep the price down, but it also makes it a heavier and softer rod. The weight certainly wasn’t an issue for me with the rod measuring only 11ft 3in, while the softness, I think, is an advantage with the pellet waggler. The harder you pull, the harder a carp pulls back. Play them right on a softer rod and you’ll land them faster.
After assembling the rod with a 5g pellet waggler, I noticed the handle diameter was a little greater than what I’m used to, but this posed no problems at all. The screw reel fitting was chunky and reliable. Casting wasn’t an issue either, and when I hooked a fish on my very first cast, I was able to see the action of the rod against a hooked fish.
Lake One has a lot of weed in the margins – annoying, ‘stringy’ stuff that attracts a hooked carp like a magnet – and sure enough, just as the ‘mirror’ was coming to surface, it dived and that’s when I could test the rod’s power. Hidden power is an over-used expression when describing fishing rods, but now I know what it means. I gave the rod more ‘heave’ than I really should, but do you know what, the carp was stopped in its tracks. The rod bent alarmingly throughout its length but the fish was soon in the net. At 6lb, it was followed by several of its brothers and sisters. Believe me, this particular budget rod produced a performance that was far from cheap.
Middy The Works 11ft 3in Pellet Waggler Rod
RRP: £54.99. Shop around and you will find this rod for as little as £39.99.
