As the summer heat raises the water temperature, carp in commercial venues move up in the water, and that’s the time to get the pellet-waggler rod out. The trouble is, many of the rods out there can be a little on the long side when tackling small waters where you are casting short distances, making it difficult to control the flight of the float.
Middy has come up with a tool that will deal with the problem – the 10ft White Knuckle Carp Waggler. It’s a two-piece rod, rated for lines up to 10lb, and a quick play with it in the office indicated that it has a smooth, progressive through action and plenty of power on board to play fish. It also has the feel of a rod that can cast an 8g-plus float to a longer distance. But what is it like to catch fish with?
I set the rod up with an 8g pellet waggler and set off for a local water, which responds to the tactic. Before fishing in anger I decided to test the sort of distance I could reach with such a short rod. The conditions were a little on the breezy side, but I could comfortably hit 40 metres with the weighted float and a 6mm banded bait on board.
After feeding a mark at about 25 metres for 15 minutes or so with half a dozen 6mm pellets, I made my first cast. There was certainly no issue with being able to cast accurately, but the wind forced me to recast a little more frequently than I would have liked. Ten casts later I got the first bite, a small fish of about 2lb, and it was at this point I discovered that the rod had a pretty stiff tip action, as the fish put very little bend into it.
Take note of the line rating of this rod – 10lb main line and 8lb hook link. I certainly wouldn’t fish too light, especially at distance, as the effort needed to strike home the hook, would, I believe, result in a breakage. In all honesty, I don’t really think it’s an issue, as the rod will happily cope with bigger fish on 8lb-plus lines. I certainly wouldn’t fish any lighter if 5lb-plus fish were the target!
This is a cracking little rod, which in my opinion would benefit from a shorter handle if a Mark 2 version were to hit the market. However, it easily handled the small carp I bagged during the session. And for the price, it’s well worth a waggle in your local tackle shop.
For more information on the White Knuckle Carp Waggler rod, and all of the Middy range, visit www.middytackle.com.
| Middy 10ft White Knuckle Carp Waggler Rod £44.99 Sections: Two Line rating: 10lb main line, 8lb hook link Contact: www.middytackle.com |
