drennan 17ft acolyte rod

[sis the roach]

just watched the drennan video alan scotthorne testing out the 17ft acolyte rod on the river seven at shrewsbury after him saying what better control it gives you with the extra lengh using a stick float does this mean all 13ft 14ft 15ft rods are obsolete how light and versatile the rod is he was fishing in perfect flat calm conditions

 

[peter crabtree]

I fished with my mates 17' Acolyte last week, I found it pretty heavy, after half an hour I'd had enough.
There again I'm a 10 stone weakling...

 

[xenon]

Have the accy ultra 15ft. , which feels like a regular 13 ft. think the extra 2 ft would be a step to far, weight and balance wise (but not used it so cannot say for sure)

 

[sam vimes]

I do have a 17' Acolyte. For anyone that finds it heavy or unbalanced, I'd suggest that you avoid every other 17' rod, and quite a few 15' rods, like the plague. I've never handled a lighter or better balanced 17' rod, and I've tried and owned a few. I'd never used a 17' rod before that I was entirely happy having "in hand" for more than two or three hours without a break. Fortunately, I rarely fish really long sessions, but I have managed a good five hours with the Acolyte.

 

[dicky123]

Sam. I love my 14' Just recently I watched a Drennan video of the 17' being put through it's paces on the river Throop. He lost 2 fish out of 4, not a good advert for the rod in my view.

My own view is this, a company makes a good rod, like the 14' that now has an excellent reputation with many people. Then they add more rods to the range, but they new quite hit the spot the 14' has. All sorts of reasons why, but it's often the way. I own a 15' and compare to the 14' it feels a lot heavier, good balance is the other part of the puzzle. But just my own thoughts.

Have to agree the extra length is very handy. What size and weight of reel also makes a difference too. My new centreline weighs in at 11oz. Fixed spool is 9oz. What do you use Sam out of interest?

Rich.

 

[sam vimes]

Sam. I love my 14' Just recently I watched a Drennan video of the 17' being put through it's paces on the river Throop. He lost 2 fish out of 4, not a good advert for the rod in my view.

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The Dave Theobald video? It's not a 17', it's a 15' Plus. However, my reaction is somewhat different. It would have been very easy for them to edit the losses out. I'd rather see an honest reality. The difference being that I don't see it as any particular indication of rod's failings, just a "that's fishing" scenario. Besides, I'm rather familiar with both 15' Acolytes and know that there's no issue with either model. Until watching the video, I was rather puzzled that someone might want to take a 17' Acolyte to a big chub venue. To my mind, it wouldn't be a particularly sensible choice. During the closed season, I've pushed mine a bit more than I'd ever expect to on the river. I've given it a whizz fishing for gravel pit tench. It coped, just as I'd expect it to cope with the odd decent chub on a river, but it won't be my fist choice when specifically targeting either.

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My own view is this, a company makes a good rod, like the 14' that now has an excellent reputation with many people. Then they add more rods to the range, but they new quite hit the spot the 14' has. All sorts of reasons why, but it's often the way. I own a 15' and compare to the 14' it feels a lot heavier, good balance is the other part of the puzzle. But just my own thoughts.

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I don't really get 14' rods. For me, they are neither nowt nor somat. If I had to buy just one length of rod, it would be 13'. Given a choice of any other length, the next choice would be 15'. In a ridiculous horde of float rods, I have just one 14' rod. The only reason I bought it was to complete a set of, long discontinued, rods that I'm especially fond of. Whilst I'm happy for you that you think the 14' Acolyte is the cream of the crop, I don't for one moment believe that it is intrinsically superior to Acolytes at other lengths. That's not to say that 14' isn't the perfect length for you, and maybe others.

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Have to agree the extra length is very handy. What size and weight of reel also makes a difference too. My new centreline weighs in at 11oz. Fixed spool is 9oz. What do you use Sam out of interest?

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Depends on the rod in question. The lightest fixed spool (Stradic Ci4+ 2500 FB) and centrepin (Hardy Conquest) I have come in at the 8oz mark. I consider these too light for most 15'+ rods. Only the lightest and very best balanced 13' rods can wear them comfortably. The heaviest I use regularly is around the 12oz mark, though I do have the odd closed face reel that comes in at a fairly hefty 14oz. 10 to 12oz reels are the ones I'm most comfortable with, unless the rod is 10/11'. I don't get the obsession many have with tiny reels (sub 2500) or really light reels. Unless a rod is exceptionally well balanced to start with 10oz is as light as I'd want for anything but 10 or 11' rods.​

 

[tigger]

Funny how we all have such varying opinions on stuff.
I find the extra foot of lenght the 14ft rod has on the 13ft can make a huge difference in use.
I find the biggest plus side of having the extra foot in length is when fishing across river on a windy day (mainly when the wind is a downstream one) and trying to keep your line behind your float so as to keep it trotting on track and not have line pulling it across the flow.
Maybe a 15ft rod would be better still if it handled (for me) the same as a 13 of 14 footer....unfortunately I haven't found a rod any longer than 14ft that handles anything like the shorter rods and that includes the very light (for lenght accy rods).
After saying that i've only actually handled a 15ft accy in a shop so I suppose i'm just going off the first impression of it in my hand, maybe if I had it out on the bank I would form another opinion. To be honest I just don't fancy spending money to find out as i've done that on far too many occassions and i've no sooner bought a rod and then shortly after i'm trying to sell it at a loss.
If drennan gave me one to trial before buying, now that would be great .

 

[sam vimes]

Funny how we all have such varying opinions on stuff.
I find the extra foot of lenght the 14ft rod has on the 13ft can make a huge difference in use.
I find the biggest plus side of having the extra foot in length is when fishing across river on a windy day (mainly when the wind is a downstream one) and trying to keep your line behind your float so as to keep it trotting on track and not have line pulling it across the flow.
Maybe a 15ft rod would be better still if it handled (for me) the same as a 13 of 14 footer....unfortunately I haven't found a rod any longer than 14ft that handles anything like the shorter rods and that includes the very light (for lenght accy rods).
After saying that i've only actually handled a 15ft accy in a shop so I suppose i'm just going off the first impression of it in my hand, maybe if I had it out on the bank I would form another opinion. To be honest I just don't fancy spending money to find out as i've done that on far too many occassions and i've no sooner bought a rod and then shortly after i'm trying to sell it at a loss.
If drennan gave me one to trial before buying, now that would be great .

This is the issue, you, and many others, come at longer rods from 13'. Not surprisingly, 14' offers a length advantage to you with barely any weight penalty. I've been a long term user of 15 and 17' rods. 14' offers me very little over a 13' rod and the increased benefits of 15' isn't too great a compromise for me. 14' ends up being a pointless no mans land. It might be different if I had to pick a compromise length or couldn't cope with 15'(+). There have been any number of rods over the years that wouldn't have been worth buying beyond 14', especially if you were trotting with them. With the Acolytes, I'm genuinely surprised when people moan about the weight of the 15'ers. There are plenty of 13' rods that are heavier and less well balanced, and I'm talking about modern rods, not antiques made of glass, metal or cane. The biggest problem I've had with Acolytes is that they've made me a wimp. I've a few 15 and 17' rods, that I used to use quite happily, that now feel overly heavy and unbalanced in comparison.

 

[xenon]

apropos of weight, have just been re-reading "Practical Angling" by the Trent Otter. He spends quite some time discussing the state of the art float rods of the time (construction, materials etc.) and mentions the very best rods should weigh no more than about 18 oz(?!) We don't know we are born, really.

 

[rob48]

I find the 15' Browning spliced-tip rod light and comfortable to use. Might be worth a look.

 

[sam vimes]

I find the 15' Browning spliced-tip rod light and comfortable to use. Might be worth a look.

If you mean the Browning Sphere Spliced Tip River rods, they are the only current rods that come close to matching the weight of the Acolytes. However, the 15'6" rod feels a little heavier than bare weight figures might suggest because it's a little nose heavy. Why they made them 13'6" and 15'6" is beyond me though. I'd loved to have seen how they stacked up to the Acolytes at a directly comparable 13 and 15'. Lovely river rods though, I just wish they did a Sphere Waggler longer than 14'.

 

[rob48]

Yes, that's the one. It feels a little tip heavy until you put the reel on, then I don't notice it.
Personally i've never felt comfortable with rods longer than 13' for waggler fishing on the river. A tight line to the float isn't important to me as there's always a bit of a bow in the line somewhere.

 

[rob48]

Yes, that's the one. It feels a little tip heavy until you put the reel on, then I don't notice it.
Personally i've never felt comfortable with rods longer than 13' for waggler fishing on the river. A tight line to the float isn't important to me as there's always a bit of a bow in the line somewhere.

 

[sam vimes]

Yes, that's the one. It feels a little tip heavy until you put the reel on, then I don't notice it.

It's not a big issue, it certainly doesn't stop me using it, but I definitely notice with the 15'6" model.

Personally i've never felt comfortable with rods longer than 13' for waggler fishing on the river. A tight line to the float isn't important to me as there's always a bit of a bow in the line somewhere.

I rarely fish the waggler on rivers, even when I probably should. I'm not interested in a 15' Sphere Waggler for river fishing. I use long rods on deep stillwaters as well as for river trotting.

 

[iain t]

This weekend i gave my new Preston Equis 15/17 ft Super Float Rod a proper try out. My mate came with me with his new day old Drennan Accy 17ft rod. This gave us a good chance to see the difference between their actions etc. The Accy weight is a stated 198g whilst mine is stated at 202g. The extra weight with mine may be due to the 2ft dolly section. Both had more or less the same line rating at 3-5(Accy) and 3-6lb(Equis). Both are fitted with AAA-rated Portuguese full Cork butt sections. I must omit the Drennan Butt Cork does look more expensive, where the Prestons butt section is thinner. We both had FD30 Drennan reels fitted, I sold him this reel last year and he loves it. Both loaded with 4lb Floatfish line. Both have similar fittings such as Fuji reel seats and rings. The Preston blank is unvarnished where we both noticed that the Drennan blank did produce a little glare. On catching small Carp and silvers there was very little difference between the lift action of the tips and how the blanks bent into the fight.
The Preston has a hollow tip. We don't know about the Accy. Funnily the Preston being 4g heavier but felt lighter. I also noticed by removing the 2ft dolly section the balance between rod and reel only moved the balance point less than a quarter of an inch.
To round it up, remembering this is only a personal view so don't knock me. Am no expert by any means but have 50 years knowledge of fishing helps. They both are great rods, both nice and light, both have more or less have the same action and quality fittings. So, in reality, it's down to who you have an alliance to and how deep your pockets are. The Accy seems to sell for around the £239.00 Rrp? mark where the Preston is around £150.00. Rrp £249.00. I paid £124.00 delivered. For me, the Preston being able to fish at 15ft and 17ft is a plus to me.
Before Buying my Preston heavy float rod i always bought Drennan rods inc my Accy's so i hope i can give an unbiased review.

 

[sam vimes]

Iain, I could be wrong, but I think that you may find that 202g is the weight quoted for the standard 15' Equis. However, if the balance is right, an ounce or two, never mind a few grams, doesn't necessarily make a huge difference. At £124, you certainly got a bargain. Many shops are listing them well in excess of the £150 you think they are normally.

Have they passed an angling byelaw regarding long rod promos?
YouTube
YouTube

 

[iain t]

You may be right there Sam. I found conflicting weights on websites. Agree with the £150 selling price. When i paid i thought i was going to get a refund or be asked for more money. Hands up my error i paid £129 delivered, still way under RRp. Just have to wait for the 16th to hit the Arun.

 

[jasonbean1]

I bought the 17ft when they first came out and managed to snap it on the middle section on the first outing. Drennan replaced the section and although I don't use it a lot it has become invaluable on some of the venues I fish matches on. It tends to be used more with bigger floats 3gram plus and is a real benefit on a stretch of the Thames I fish where you normally catch roach on the pole at around 13-14mtrs. they then tend to back off down the swim and the long rod allows you to follow them and search the swim. I use a preston pxr pro 3000 reel which is very light, don't know the weight but seems ideal for the rod.

The general concensus on the bank seems to be that drennans acolyte float rods are perhaps the best on the market now for lighter line float fishing and with Alan Scotthorne helping with the design it would be hard to argue that.

My friend tried mine and soon wanted one but with the first batch out of stock at drennan he had to wait and I asked my local tackle shop how much he would do 2 for, he said £400 so I got another one for £200. they've just came in again and I believe this batch as already sold out.

It's hard to see now how rods can advance any further without a totally new material so we are now perhaps at the pinnacle of rod design. it seems to have happened with poles as well with new flagship poles not being able to advance on better weight and balance performance.

 

[nottskev]

So, in reality, it's down to who you have an alliance to and how deep your pockets are.

I can relate to that. I've been using long rods since the 90's, and two of my favourites are still going strong - a Tri-cast Finesse 17' spliced tip, and a Preston Carbonactive Asaki 15/17. I've made a dolly butt for the Tri-cast, which gives me a beautiful 15' stick float rod for Trent roach, and the Preston rod, although not the lightest, is super for big fish on the river and, coupled with a pin, for stillwaters. It's fish-playing action is so good, as is the range of lines it works well with, that I've just bought a mint one off ebay as a spare, for 1/3 the price of an Acolyte. For me, it's definitely back into the future. Or is it forward into the past?

I can appreciate the appeal of the Acolytes; none lighter, it's true. But all the best rods are light, and have been for years, so I don't find weight a compelling factor, and on the two occasions I borrowed a mate's 15' Acolyte for a decent spell - catching Trent roach and Derwent grayling - I told him it was a nice rod, but not for me - the rather steely action and general feel weren't my cup of tea.

 

[tigger]

Funny enough kev, the stiffer faster action of the acolytes is my favourite part about em .
My normarks arnt really far behind them for fast action.