Can someone convience me to by this rod? Or maybe discourage me?

Simple - do you fish fast flowing water for barbel? Or do you fish very snaggy water for barbel? Or do you catch a lot of big barbel 10+lbs.
If you do - buy it. Best damned barbel rod around, but it is strong. if you're only going to catch small barbel, say up to 6 or 7 lbs in clear open water then its a bit over gunned. There's a review on it and both Stuart Heard and myself have put down points, sometimes we fish together.

Thanks Jeff. I am targeting big barbel (but do not get a lot of them as it usually happens). I like fast flowing water and presence of snags! It may sound a bit weird but I really do.
I am actually trying to get a decent tackle for my snag/hit and hold fishing.
Heard a lot about that rod but never even put my hand on one.

Which rod are you after:- the Chimera specialist No 1 @ 1.5Ibs TC or the Chimera specialist No 2 @ 1.75Ibs TC, both great rods and can be customised to your needs.
Contact www.harrisonrods.co.uk for imformation on customisation and dealer outlets list

I have visited the site.
Thanks for response.
Need more clues. How does the rod actually perform and so on.
Is it worth customizing it?

The 11'.6" version doesn't have a stated TC, but around 1.75lb. What Dave has said applies to the latest models. The one I have is perfect and I wouldn't know of anything I wanted customizing, except a gold plated reel seat :-) It even has a keep ring, which I wish all rods had.

Performance wise, I had a very good fight out of a 5 lb-er, the tip worked really well, but best I've managed on it was 8lb in fast water. Then it was superb, but nowhere near fully stressed. My other fish this year have been taken on a Fox, which is good, but....and I use it mostly in daylight.

Improve your coarse fishing this month looks at the pros and cons of approx 10 barbel rods under £100. Their best was Greys Prodigy at £99.
Rods reviewed were:-
Shimano Nexave Barbel Classic
Badger Des Taylor Specialist Barbel
Fox Barbel Special
Maver Larford Specialist
TFG Whisper Big River Barbel
Browning Syntec Barbel
Wychwood Twin Tip Barbel
Daiwa Pro Barbel PB-Z2134
John Wilson Avon Quiver System
Greys Prodigy.
It may be worth having a look at the article. I can offer no further help as I am not a Barbel fisherman

Hi Adam I fish a little river in Oxford called the Windrush which is fast and shallow with small deep holes and weed everywhere. Here the barbel scream off to the nearest cover with great strength as soon as they get hooked and you can not afford to give any line because of the weed so I hold the spool for the first couple of seconds and let the rod do the work.This rod (11"6') will bend to the butt if you push it this way and it will stop big barbel in their stride. This is the only river that I use this style on and I am yet to lose one.What more can I say it really is a great rod.

Told you Stuart had one and liked it. You're looking more like your father every day, Stuart! :-)

And I feel it!:)

See what I mean forgot the - in the :-) lol!

Ive got a pair and cant fault them for heavy floodwater fishing. Just waiting for the autumn floods to get em out on the Ribble , soooooon I hope.
Ive one std and one custom built ( handle and pommel to my requirement) both 11ft 6 original chimeras.
List price is £150 rrp but by shopping round it is possible to get one for £10 - £15 less than this. If you want a powerful floodwater / snag rod this is the one i would recommend!!

jim

We all wait for that rainy week or two to come!
I went to Leslies, the other day, to get something and I had a look at one, got to feel it, put a bend on it and guess what...

...got myself Xmas present! Tried it same day! Blanked but love the rod!!!

Thanks to all for the feedback!!!

by the way....
cracking rod for zander too!
Had a 10lb 5oz pike on it as well-pleasure to play any fish on that rod though!!!

must be mad myself, but isn't all about that 4 us maniacs???

chimera 11ft 6", slim handle unobtrusive finish 3 legged rings, exlent build quality, will stop any Boris that swims nuff said!!!

Having caught a number of good barbel on the Trent up to 10 1/2 lbs on these rods, I would say that the Chimera is the very best for big river barbel that I have ever seen.

And as a rod for Fenland Pike - absolutely ideal.

Dug this one out,are you on commission Ron?

No, but he's trying hard, Fred.


Another one to look at now is the Sulis range. Goes under the H-Design by Harrisons. Lovely rods though.