I recently purchaced 2 carbonactive mini carp feeder rods, here are my opinions they may be helpful to anyone considering buying these rods
Firstly they a 3inches under 10ft and not 10ft as the manufacturer suggests. They are well built nice looking rods. Soft touch reel seat, very firm hypalon front grip and rear with cork in the middle. The rings are sic very well sized and spaced, first 5 are double legs. 3/4oz and 1oz tips seem to be fast tapered, 2oz is slow taper glass. The heavy and superheavy tips are carbon. The rod is heavier in weight than I had imagined but it is not too heavy. The action is nice, there is power in the butt section and it is non locking. I personally will not be using any more than 3lb main line on the rod and I think that 6lb is too heavy, ideal 2lb to 4lb main line with small 1000size reel, I use shimano 1000 stradic. The rod would handle most carp but it is not an animal and best suited to lighter lines.
Overall it is a nice light ledger rod for small to medium distance casts using lighter line classes, the size of carp you target is up to the indivdual. Probably a fraction over priced for what it is.
Been fishing with the carbonactives a few times now, caught carp to 10lbs. Rods ideal for 2lb main line. Super smooth when line is being taken from the reel by a fish. The 3/4oz quiver tip is super sensitve no bite is left undetected. These rods are very similar to shimanos stradic bomb 9ft6inch of more than 10yrs ago. Makes me wonder if rod manufacturers have really progressed much in the last 10yrs.
Juz, first point is why didn;t you post all of this info to the editor and he could have put it into a proper product review appearing on the fornt page. There's enough there.
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Ok, you say "I think that 6lb is too heavy" and you recommend lines between 2 and 4 lbs. Now you say you caught carp to 26lbs - on 4lbs line?
That's some doing and I would have thought no matter how good the rod was, for a 26lbs carp it's a bit undergunned. It would be nice to know what problems you were having with the quiver tip, specifically.
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One last question, do you have to kill the carp you catch in Oz? Or is that just in the Murray?
Woody, I fish only 2lb main line on these rods and yes all the big carp were caught on this line. The line is mono and it is called Ande, made in Germany. I have photos of all the fish too, all were released. The fish are a huge challenge on such light line but it can be done, I am not the only one. I bought these rods from Leslies of Luton, after much research and discussion with tackle shops, I was advised they would handle 6 to 8lb line, no way. 2lb is nice 4lb ok 6lb too heavy. (just my opinon)
Some of the quiver sections were bent and some had very badly bound rings, I had much trouble getting replacements, Prestons are next to useless, Leslies was very good, if it was not for them I would have got no satisfaction.
In Australia it is illegal to return carp alive to the water, if you are caught you will be fined. It is a rediculous rule and I do not follow it. Carp are by far the best freshwater fish we have in southern Australia but unfortunately most people hate them because they do not taste good. In my area all the angling species are introduced fish, (carp, tench redfin trout and roach) and without them we have nothing. The people who manage fisheries in this country have no idea. The Murray has a lot of carp in it but there are much better places to fish for bigger fatter carp, more like your ones. The attitude toward carp is slowly changing.
I've been using one of these rods for about a year now and have had none of the problems mentioned by JUZ.
Depending where I'm fishing and the size of fish I expect to catch I use it with between 4lb and 8lb. I've had lots of carp, tench and chub on it, including carp to 18lb. The rod has a lovely all through action that enables it to handle this range of line strengths.
It is a joy to use and has given me a great deal of pleasure this year.
Like all the Carbonactive rods it has unexpected strength.
I mentioned the rod in a recent issue of Coarse Fisherman in a slot discussing rod length. This is what I had to say:
"Quivertip rods, again, are generally 11 - 12ft, with the latter being the popular length. If you’re whacking out a method feeder to 50 yards or more then the 12ft rod is an advantage, but for closer work the 11-footer is much better. In fact, for some time now I’ve been using the 10ft Carbonactive Mini Carp rod from Preston Innovations and it’s been a revelation as far as enjoyment has been concerned. You can cast the feeder or bomb with more accuracy, see the bites more easily due to the tip being closer to you, and playing the fish on this shorter but still powerful rod is just a sheer delight. I’ve been choosing waters to fish to suit this rod just so I can have the pleasure of using it. A great chub rod too, where extra length isn’t needed, and especially in near-bank swims where you have to poke the rod into confined areas."
18lb carp, 8lb main line, correctly set drag = extremely bent carbonactive with no power left to give, surely? Rod would be bending in the handle.
The shimano 9'6'' stradic bomb rod of over 10 yrs ago is nearly as good, pitty they stopped making it.
Everybody is looking for something different out of a rod and has different ideas as to what line rating a rod will handle, I prefer a rod to have a bit of guts in the but section to maintain height and a certain amount of control.
