I am looking for a longer pole and would like some advice. I currently have a 14.5 Map Carptek Commercial carp pole (http://www.cheshirefishing.co.uk/shop/mappoles.htm#compower) (which is a bit heavy and not very stiff at 14.5) and I also have a Black Magic III which I am very impressed with but lacks the reach sometimes but is such a pleasure to use I don’t tend to get the Carptek out.
I tend to fish commercial carp ponds mainly and target the carp! So 20 hydro elastic rating is the target rating for those bagging up summer days

So the quandary I have at the moment is do I go for the 11m Syntec Black Magic Unlimited weighing in at 565g at 10.75meters at £350 and get a few 1.5m extensions weighing in at 155g and £150.
Heres a table to show my thoughts


BMU 10.75m 565g £350
Extension 1 12.25m 753g £500
Extension 2 13.75m 941g £650
Extension 3 15.25m 1.129g £800
Extension 4 16.75m 1.317g £ 950

So there we have a 16m pole weighing in 1.4kilos under a grand. But its not all about the weight theres also the balance. Don’t think I would go for four extensions. But two to three extensions sure do look good on paper

So what’s your thoughts – other options

I think you may have a problem trying the 2,3,4 extension route in that most poles are designed to a length in this case 10.75 metres and although adding one section is OK beyond that the balance goes. There are some poles that can be extended a lot but aren't these in the minority?

I think it comes down to the fact that you can't have a very strong stiff pole at 16m that is ultra light without paying a lot of money, and even then the qualities are conflicting - strength v. weight & balance v stiffness. There are poles for £1000 that will be a better option that what you have described. Your best bet may be to go to Go Fishing at the NEC in late March and compare the poles & talk to the experts and see what is out there? As you are talking about next late spring/summer there's no harm in waiting.

same from me Karl, you get what you pay for.

In my opinion, if your looking to fish 16M of pole comfortably only the very top of the rage jobs are any good

Thats for that guys its more or less what I expected. Going to the NEC does make some sense too then I would imagine I could try the poles out at their lenghts easily.
So I will probaly be looking at £1500+ for a decent one as the last thing I what is to buy a cheaper one then find its hard work at full lenght

I got one of these

http://www.jp-tackle.co.uk/product_info.php/cPath/22_43/products_id/57


And they are fantastic, i brought it from that shop as well and i phoned them and got it even cheaper than that and free 24hr shipping thrown in as well, it is very comfortable at 16m still rigid and it fills you with confidence knowing if you bump into somthing abit weighty its coming in ok.