Can anyone tell me the differnce between a medium/heavy feeder rod and a "barbel" or avon rod? I won't buy a rod that is labelled up as a barbel rod (I know it's stupid, but i don't like being pidgeon holed and I use my rods for all species) but I am unsure as to the ratings of heavy feeder rods and the like and whether they have the same sort of power. At the moment I use 1 1/4lb avons for all of my tench, barbel, bream and chub fishing but I feel these are slightly under powered. To step up requires buying "barbel" rods or something like the greys specimen (doesn't have a quiver tip section so not ideal)but would a heavy feeder with the heaviest tip give a similar action for stillwater legering ie// bite alarms?

I have a shakespeare eclipse super heavy feeder, this has a stiffish quiver tip but when a decent fish is on, the rod doesn't bend through to the but, so there is a bit of backbone further down the rod which is handy if you want to put a bit of pressure on!

I also have a shimano technium super specialist avon/quiver. The avon tip bends through virtually to the but, and like you mention nasty it doesnt feel fully up to the job when a decent fish is hooked in a swim where you might need to put the pressure on.

It is a nice rod to use but hasnt got as much backbone as shaky!

Have a look at a few heavy feeder rods, take a reel with 10Lb line and set the rod up in the shop.

I think Daiwa and shimano do 'proper' barbel feeder rods for under £60 mate, theres no need to get stung these days!

Greys now do there Prodigy Barbel in a 2Ib model with quivers.

http://www.greysfishing.com/products/products.php?rid=35&sec=3

Greys Prodigy Barbel

stick with your 1 1/4 ld tc mate , i like you use mine for all types of fishing & have never had a problem . do you think a bream is going to give you a decent fight on a 1 .75 / 2 lb tc rod & 10 lb line. i dont now about you but that is what i go fishing for. i would only use a 1.75 / 2 lb rod for barbel in a snaggy swim.

Kevin, the bream I'm fishing for run well into doubles the tench go to about 9 1/2lb and there's carp to over 35lb. It's a very weedy gravel pit and a fair old cast can be required at times. The barbel I'm going for also run well into doubles and there is carp to 27lb in the stretch and again it is quite a weedy bit of the river but casting is not an issue. I don't want to go in undergunned in case I do latch into a good one but equally so I don't want to use carp rods and lose the enjoyment of playing the fish, as you quite rightly say, that's why we go fishing. I think maybe a 1.5lb t.c. may be the best bet. I'm thinking about buying a pair of prodigy specimens that have a 1.5 and a 2lb tip but that leaves me with no quiver tip.

If you do not want to use hangers when targeting the bream and tench. You could always use sidewinders which clip onto the rod and act like a quiver. I can highly recomend the Specimens also take a look at the Specialist also these come with a 1.25 & 1.75Ib T/C if you want something a little lighter.

Cheers Bryan, I do tend to use hangers when fishing the stillwater, it's more the river that i want the quivertip for. I suppose fishing for the barbel there i could get away with just fishing the avon top and waiting for the 3 foot twitch but i like to have a bit more sensitivity because of the chub that are present. Also I find on the quivertip that when the twitching stops my meat has probably gone!

You could always use a sidewinder i belive these are available in river strenths now. Though may not be by Polaris i will have to check with my local shop.

Why not fit a screw tip so you can use the screw in quivers made by Drennan. In fact i prefer thsese as they do not effect the action of the rod as a built in quiver does.

The indicators are called Tipstrike they come in 2 diffrent sizes Stillwater and Specimen & River