Continental manufacturers of tackle

[mikench]

Does anyone have any views on makes such as Sensas, Colmic, Garbolino and Grauvell. I should include Browning in this as they make high end rods which are highly regarded.

I have a Grauvell beach caster and it's fine at what it does- cast a distance.

I see a lot of Mitchell reels here many more than in the Uk and wonder if they are foreign owned.

Nearly all the rods I see on the beach are either Caperlan or Grauvell. The only British rods I have seen in a Tackle shop here are a few of the feeder red range from Drennan and very expensive compared to the UK.

 

[Peter Jacobs]

I very much like Sensas kit, everything from their poles to their split shot having many years experience of using all sorts, and some of their pole floats are top class.

I should confess to having fished for a Sensas sponsored match team for 6 years, and having had trips around their factory in France, but wouldn't laud their kit unless I really believed in it . . . .

 

[Jeff Woodhouse]

I think most rods anyway are made in the far east now. The exceptions are some Daiwa rods and other high-end brands. In a program last night it showed Bruce and Walker making rods (custom made, even matching blank colour and whippings to someone's tartan), but they were costing around £800 for a decent salmon rod.

Comic used to be a highly regarded brand at one time and maybe still are. I have a Sensas 5m carbon whip which is very nice and quite strong (landed carp to 3lbs on it). I have a Garbolino rod, quite nice, but rarely used these days. Also a Garbolino reel, not expensive, but runs very smoothly indeed. Also have Browning reels that work well.

I would say, in fairness, they're as good as any other bits of tackle on the market and it all depends on what you pay for them so long as they're priced according to quality.

BTW, Mitchell, along with ABU, Greys and others, are now owned by Pure Fishing and heaven knows where they're made, cheapest source is my guess.

 

[mikench]

I might get one of their alborella whips for " messing about" on rocks.

 

[valetudoguy]

I have a Colmic rod and it’s incredible for the money, it could be finished better but the rod is so sensitive... it’s just great.

Garbolino, I have only ever experienced their cheaper stuff and it seems perfectly decent.

Grauvell, my single experience of them was a budget Specialist twin tip rod from about 6 or 7 years ago. It was about half the price of a Korum Neoteric I bought at the time and TBH the Grauvell was incredible. Seriously wish I could find one now.

Sensas, only ever used their bait, but I like that.

Linaeffe, I use some of their cheap sea rods as my throw in the car when we go on trips, just in case tackle. Tough cheap and useable, but not refined in any way.

I have never even held a Trabucco rod.

Browning, I really like... but can sadly rarely afford their top end stuff.

 

[Another Dave]

I might get one of their alborella whips for " messing about" on rocks.

Change of heart, mate?

I just cannot summon any interest at all in this kind of fishing. I did buy awhip but have never used it. Speed fishing is pointless unless you are in a match which I shall never be.

 

[108831]

Sensa,colmic,garbolino and Browning make some good top notch tackle,grauvelle are from what I see economy based,so I wouldn't tend to buy it.

It seems like Mike is turning French and wants to sit on the rocks dangling his pole,alledgedly...

 

[mikench]

Change of heart, mate?

Not really Dave but sometimes I cannot be bothered with a rod and there are many rocky points on the med next to car parks where I could do my Tom Sawyer impersonation whilst waiting for er indoors. A simple whip may be all I need!

 

[sam vimes]

The biggest issues with quite a few brands, foreign or not, has very little to do with the quality of the gear they can, have, or do, produce. It largely comes down to market visibility and availability.

I'd put Browning Sphere rods up against pretty much any similar rods, past or present. Most folks have never even seen one. That includes one of my local tackle dealers that has asked me to bring in various rods, including Spheres, for him to see for the first time.

Rive has a nasty habit of producing high line rods that I've only ever heard about. Colmic, Trabucco and others are similar. Garbolino, Sensas and Maver have all made some good gear over the years that has been hard work to find. The latest example of that for me has been the Garbolino signature pro classic match rods. I saw one recently and couldn't really understand why I've not seen them talked about at all. Struck me as very worthy of any shortlist for anyone contemplating the purchase of a Drennan Acolyte. However, judging by the dust on the example I handled, it'll join the ranks of many worthy rods that disappear without trace.

 

[mikench]

Garbolino signature pro classic match rods

I've heard of a Maver range named as above but not Garbolino. Not seen either though. I've been put onto a good Tackle shop in Ventimiglia just across the border so will have a look on Friday as it's market day.

 

[John Keane]

Yuki Saiko are a range of high quality long Continental beach rods that sound as if they should be Japanese but are, in fact, made in Spain.

 

[sam vimes]

Garbolino signature pro classic match rods

I've heard of a Maver range named as above but not Garbolino. Not seen either though. I've been put onto a good Tackle shop in Ventimiglia just across the border so will have a look on Friday as it's market day.

I think you may be right. Getting the Maver Signature Pro Classics mixed up with Garbolino Altimas (which are also better rods than the lack of chatter about them might suggest).

 

[108831]

I looked at a few garbolino rods at a tackle show some years back,they looked top notch...

 

[mikench]

Another make I see a lot of ( beachcaster rods and reels) is DAM. I can't say I have ever seen any coarse rods for sale in the Uk although they are made.

 

[sam vimes]

Another make I see a lot of ( beachcaster rods and reels) is DAM. I can't say I have ever seen any coarse rods for sale in the Uk although they are made.

DAM were quite prominent in the UK in the eighties. Andy Little and Ian Heaps both having some involvement. The company disappeared from the UK marrket sometime in the nineties and weren't seen again until fairly recently.

 

[Stalker]

As others have said, hardly anything by the big manufacturers is made in the UK (or Europe, for that matter) these days, and hasn't been for years. The closest you're likely to see from them is a "designed in the UK". That's not to say it's all sh*t, though - in general I would say the quality across the board is more consistently good than it ever used to be. I've got some old UK-made Daiwa rods from the 80s and 90s, for example, that were expensive high-end when they first came out, but have been eclipsed several times over by stuff which is thought of as low-to-mid range.

You can still get your custom-made stuff of course, but that's BIG money (although a hell of a lot cheaper than it used to be, to be fair) and at a level where it's often difficult to justify the 90% higher cost for the 5-10% improvement.

 

[rob48]

The biggest issues with quite a few brands, foreign or not, has very little to do with the quality of the gear they can, have, or do, produce. It largely comes down to market visibility and availability.

I'd put Browning Sphere rods up against pretty much any similar rods, past or present. Most folks have never even seen one. That includes one of my local tackle dealers that has asked me to bring in various rods, including Spheres, for him to see for the first time.

Rive has a nasty habit of producing high line rods that I've only ever heard about. Colmic, Trabucco and others are similar. Garbolino, Sensas and Maver have all made some good gear over the years that has been hard work to find. The latest example of that for me has been the Garbolino signature pro classic match rods. I saw one recently and couldn't really understand why I've not seen them talked about at all. Struck me as very worthy of any shortlist for anyone contemplating the purchase of a Drennan Acolyte. However, judging by the dust on the example I handled, it'll join the ranks of many worthy rods that disappear without trace.

Fully agree on the Sphere rods, especially the spliced-tip river models. I don't know why the Rive rods are so hard to get hold of. I've got two of the R-waggler light rods and they are absolutely perfect for light waggler fishing on running water for silvers.

 

[mikench]

Duplicate post deleted

 

[mikench]

I visited 2 tackle shops yesterday one in Menton called Fish and Ships!!! Sea Tackle, anchors and boating stuff- useless.

The second was little better in Ventimiglia but it saved me from wondering around a market selling stuff I didn't want and didn't need. I saw my first Rive rod and was impressed with it being light and well made. It was a feeder rod which came with different top sections with a built in multicoloured tip of differing weight. It also had a set of push in glass tips and a further top section for them.I do not want or need another feeder rod and at € 450 it wasn't worth a punt. I was ignored in the shop which suited me.

 

[steve2]

Nearly all the rods I see on the beach are either Caperlan or Grauvell.

Caperlan tackle is sold through Decathlon Stores worldwide having used this tackle rod, reels, line and bait for years it is very good value for the money. Which is more than can be said for some over priced top range tackle possibly manufactured in the same factory.

I never realised till I spoke to one of their managers just how big a company it is with over 1500 stores in 49 countries selling the Caperlan Brand across the world.