I first laid eyes on the Free Spirit range of rods at the Angling 2000 show in April. Only a few months earlier I had read a short piece by top angler and 'tackle guru' Shaun Harrison in one of the carp journals where he predicted that this particular range of rods was going to take the specialist anglers by storm. When I took a closer look at these rods I could see what he meant.
As my main target for the 2000 season was to be barbel I decided that I needed a new rod, which needed to be affordable, flexible and up to the job. After seeing the Free Spirit Specialist at the NEC I decided to add one to my angling collection from Walkers of Trowell, Notts.
The rod is made on a slim, deep brown, blank (yes posers out there - it looks good!), lined with Free Spirits special 'Silicon Lite' rings, full cork handles and a special Duplon screw-down reel fitting. You have a choice of four test-curves - 1 ¼, 1 ½, a special SU (Stepped Up) version for when a bit more power is needed and a 11ft 'snag rod'. This is a shortened version of the 'SU' and gives you a real 'beefy' rod. 
I opted for the 1½ lb test curve as I planned to mainly fish the Rivers Dove and Teme - medium sized rivers. I felt that this would give me the happy medium I needed giving me the strength to cope with the hard-fighting Dove barbel but still be forgiving enough to enjoy catching smaller fish like chub and tench.
All rods, except the 11ft Snag rod, are 2 piece, 12ft rods and the tip ring incorporates a threaded swing/quiver tip thread. However, if you really want to use a quiver tip then you have the option to buy a quivertip top, which includes a separate 2nd section where you can insert a choice of 3 white quivers. Mine came with 2, 2.5 and 3oz quivers enabling you to tailor the tip for each fishing situation.
I did have a few problems with the first set of quivers I bought but after revisiting Walkers I was given a full replacement set and received a wholehearted apology. And what was even better was that I discovered that Free Spirit now offer the option of buying separate additional quivers right up to 4oz, a strength which I have used ever since for those hard fighting Barbel.
The only problem now was that it was the end of April and the rivers weren't open until June 16th! Undeterred by this I decided to have some fun with my new rod and armed with some mixer biscuits and a controller float I headed down to my local lake for a bit of surface fishing. One thing led to another and I soon found myself attached to one of the lakes 20lbs+ mirrors, which had decided to christen my new rod! The rod handled the fight very well and I found that it had a real 'through-action' and I was fully confident in landing the carp even though I only had 8lbs line on. So far, so good…….!
Since then I have used the rod exclusively on the rivers and found that it is well up to the job. It casts well, the action is well suited to all size fish, but there is enough power there to turn a big barbel heading towards that underwater snag or overhanging willow. I have used it both with and without the quiver and found that the rods action is unaffected either way. Whether it's been a chub of just ½ lb or hard-fighting barbel of 9lbs-plus, the Free Spirit handles each fish in a smooth and comfortable way. 
To sum up the Free Spirit Specialist rod, it gives you a fully flexible specialist rod, which is suited to barbel, chub, big bream and tench. I have heard that Free Spirit have worked very closely with top specialist anglers who have certainly added to the quality of this rod.
I feel that the only problem that this new company may have is that they are not yet a big fashionable angling name. Many anglers like to go for the big companies and shy away from the newer, smaller, companies thinking that they offer cheap, inadequate rods. However I am sure that when they take a closer look at the Free Spirit range of rods they will change their minds very quickly. My local stockist - Walkers of Trowell, inform me that the Free Spirit range is outselling every other range of specialist rods. I am so pleased with my Free Spirit Specialist that I have just bought another - need I say more!!
PRODUCT: The Free Spirit Specialist Rod
PRICE: £99.99
OPTIONAL EXTRAS: quivertip top £49.99 (inc 3 quivers) Individual quivers £9.99
