Roach rod advice

[iain t]

Am after a rod for Roach, Rudd and small silvers. 11ft to 13ft in length. 99% to use on small ponds. Using 2lb to 3lb main lines. Now i haven't Drennan money, so looking to spend about £60. There must be something decent around that price.
Any advice chaps.

 

[treecutter]

Am after a rod for Roach, Rudd and small silvers. 11ft to 13ft in length. 99% to use on small ponds. Using 2lb to 3lb main lines. Now i haven't Drennan money, so looking to spend about £60. There must be something decent around that price.
Any advice chaps.

I've got a Shimano Perfection Match 420ST Fishing Rod that I'm thinking about selling

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

 

[sam vimes]

There are few enough genuinely light actioned rods out there (new) without having a budget restriction to contend with. I suspect that your best bet will be to buy second hand. However, you may find that the category of rods concerned may still exceed your budget. In your shoes, I'd be looking at the likes of Drennan Crystalights and, if you're lucky, Drennan Matchpro Ultralights.

 

[mikench]

Iain I found a Matchpro Ultralight 12' on eBay at around half price and it is a lovely rod! I bought it specifically for roach and have had carp to 6lb on it unintentionally and it handled both with aplomb! I would recommend it to you. Curiously the seller was based in Hastings!!!!!

 

[iain t]

What about a Series 7 Silverfish Float Rod 13ft?. I know the blank is heavier but on paper seems good.

 

[ian g]

I have had a matchpro ultralight 12 ft and have the 14 ft version , as Mike said the 12 ft seems a lot more capable than the 14 foot version . I'd guess the 13 ft version would be perfect for what you want. I have also had s Series 7 silverfish 13 ft rod . It was a decent rod but a bit more of an all rounder.

 

[tigger]

Sounds like you've had good advice in the above posts.
If it where me i'd look on ebay or/and elsewhere for a second hand matchpro before buying a series 7 rod. I'm not a fan of the series 7 range of rods.

 

[iain t]

Always liked the series 7 rods.. I can get an unused silverfish for For £60

 

[S-Kippy]

Hold out for an Ultralight. Wonderful roach rod

 

[iain t]

Going to hold out for the Ultralight. In the meantime, i have an old Daiwa whisker graphite match which looks like it has a spliced tip. I've never used it since buying from new many, many years ago. Will that do for a while. Can't even remember why i bought it. Must have been cheap at the time or something. Hope it can cope with low mainlines

 

[john step]

I managed to buy a Normark Nova 12 foot rod secondhand for £25. It was their stab at a budget rod but they were still very good. If you can source one, they are very light with a very light action. I use mine for stillwater silvers in the winter when fine hooklinks are the order.

 

[thecrow]

if you're lucky, Drennan Matchpro Ultralights.

2 used on e bay,

 

[iain t]

Can only find one s/h on there

 

[sam vimes]

2 used on e bay,

There's often a lot more than that. The lucky part would be getting one, even a second hand one, for £60. I don't even use my Matchpro any more, but I'd rather keep it than sell it for £60. £60, plus about £15 for P+P might be realistic if ebay and paypal weren't getting a cut.
A quick check of the sold items show that most second hand Ultralights go for more than £60.

 

[sam vimes]

Can only find one s/h on there

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_...ght&_sacat=0&LH_ItemCondition=4&rt=nc&_fsrp=1

 

[Mark Wintle]

There's a Normark Vantage Super Match on eBay at present, a lovely rod that would typically fetch £50 to £60.

I can't help thinking that a budget of £60 for a NEW rod is a bit like saying you've £8,000 to buy a NEW car. Possible but very limiting. If I was after a new float rod on a budget I'd stretch to one of the Cadence rods (About £110 for a 13ft #1 or #2) now the better Shakespeare rods (Mach 3) are no longer available even if it meant saving up for a while. I wouldn't bother with a Drennan as far as float rods are concerned but that's my personal preference.

 

[iain t]

I wouldn't bother with a Drennan as far as float rods are concerned but that's my personal preference.

You'll upset many saying that.
There are a couple of Mach 3 XT rods going on fleebay. One is new at £69 and the other is £50 plus post. Both pellet wagglers

 

[Mark Wintle]

You'll upset many saying that.
There are a couple of Mach 3 XT rods going on fleebay. One is new at £69 and the other is £50 plus post. Both pellet wagglers

From 1974 I always saved up for the best match rods so got to use some very good rods over the years and by the time Drennan started doing match rods I was using Normark ones.

The Mach 3 XT rods to look for are the standard float rods; there is a special 'lite' one that's very good if you can find it.

 

[mikench]

Iain I got my Mach 3 extra lite 13' of the bay and it is a lovely rod for roach and anything bigger which comes along . It comes in a bag, in a tube in a hard case! The Matchpro is a delight but for smaller fish in truth! Either would suit your purposes so be patient and one will surely come up at the right price!!

 

[iain t]

The wife got fed up with me going on about another rod and gave in. Phew, that was hard work this time. So off we trotted to 7 shops in Hampshire and Sussex. Found it hard to find a rod suited to just Silvers and Roach sized fish. Most so called float rods were more for chucking large waggler at distance. Not what i wanted as i have rods that can do that. I wanted a dedicated Roach rod taking light lines from 2lb to 4lb. At the last shop, i compared a Matchpro Ultra and a Drennan Silverfish. I was a close call both seem to have a lovely tip to middle action but the Silverfish just tipped( sorry about the pun) it for me having a slightly softer action. I would have bought the Matchpro if i was after slightly bigger fish.
As the Silverfish rod was ex-display, i had a good deal with the shop owner for cash. I also acquired a broken tip section he had laying about in the back gathering dust. As the shop was not allowed by Drennan to sell the damaged section, i put a brown note into a charity pot on the desk. I will get this made into a spliced tip.
Apparently, a customer brought it in to get Drennan to replace it. Which they did but the customer never returned or answered phone calls. So they still have the replacement in the back for him.
All in all, i walked out with still change from a £100. This bought us both a Maccy D meal.