15/17 ft rods

I was considering getting such a tool, i thought it would give me more control on top and bottom fixed floats.....i had waggled a very expensive 17ft model in a shop and felt i wouldn't be able to fish effeciently with it all day...so know i'm considering a 15ft model.

However, the very honest shop owner who had the rod for sale told me he still used a 13ft rod for most of his fishing and would only go to a a 15ft model on deep water sections......now thats what i call a shop with the customers interests at heart....and he WILL be getting my custom in future!

But what do you match lads think?....i can move from a 7ft fly rod one week to a three rod set up another and then get the desire to move on to trotting for roach or grayling the next........is a long rod too specialist a tool for an angler like me or will it give me an edge bearing in mind i have used a 13ft model for years and know it well?

paul get yourself a long landing net pole if you intend using a 17ft rod i didnt have one when i used one and it was a mare.

The guy in the shop pointed that out Gav....nice to see a shop owner who has his customers interests at heart rather than a quick sale.

But thanks for pointing it out mate.

BTW.....that is exactly why i asked on the "match" forum......ask guys who have done it is my motto!

Paul, I personally would stick to the 13 footer, I do my fishing as you do, in sections, catogeries if you like.
Early spring its still water tench time with a couple of 12ft medium feeder rods, summer I go after carp, again with a pair of rods, heavier 12 ft feeders, all through autumn I generally do the rivers, one rod now, a 12ft avon quiver, mainly after barbel, roach, chub or perch, depends on where I am and conditions, and at this time of year, now it's getting colder, Im down to a 13ft float rod, light as I feel I can get away with, stalking mainly chub, but whatever is about,keeping on the move. I also take the avon rod just in case. They are all quality rods, but as I don't specialise in any form of fishing, I don't see the need to buy a specialist rod.

paul not no match man shudder at the thought.just tried one without the long handle proper comedy sketch a day i will not forget believe me.the rod had uses though i thought.

Paul,

I'm not sure that I'd agree with your local shop owner especially if you were thinking of buying the longer rod for trotting.

The control over your float (and thereby terminal tackle) with a longer rod, which allows you to fish a little further out but still off of the rod tip, is far superior with a longer rod.
So, a longer rod is not just for 'fishing in deepr water'

Some of the 15-17 foot rods which incorporate a 2 foot extension that I have seen in the shops are really pretty awful, and the action feels all wrong to me.

If you are thinking of using this new rod for trotting then maybe a decent 15 foot rod is a better buy?

That said, I far prefer my old 15' Tri-Cast, which has a spliced tip, over the more modern 'trotting' rods that are really nothing more than just long waggler rods with hollow tips.

Mind you, finding a longer rod, with a spliced tip is like looking for rocking horse shite!

At the end of the day it is probably a case of whatever you feel comfortable with I suppose, but you might consider chatting with Harrison's as they do a 17 foot blank (or used to)and then you can have it made up to your own specifications.

A longer rod will give you better float control as you can run the float off the rod tip and hold back without the rig coming into the near bank. It allows you to explore more water and easily mend your line. However they are a nightmare in tight swims and after a few hours holding one you will feel it....A good quality 15 footer is a good compromise. Its up to you!

I'm a fan of longer rods of the right type in the right circumstances

Right type - light in weight and well damped action

Right circumstances - when it gives you that extra bit of control and it doesn't mean you are getting endlessly tied up with bankside trees and vegetation.

I had a Browning Aggressor 15 ft PowerMatch which was an excellent rod of the type, very light weight yet still powerful. However the thinness of the sidewalls eventually led to the top of the middle section shattering under casting stresses.... You can't have lightness without some vulnerability. And five or six years on and off use wasn't too bad I suppose.

Browning could supply me with a spare middle section, but only at the full price of ?55 odd basing the spares cost on the "mythical" RRP...... - when the whole rod never sold for more than a ton in the first place.

So I got one of the Leeda Assassin III 15 / 17 float rods in its place. For less than the whole ?55 Browning wanted for one obsolete back catalogue middle section. Goodbye Browning as you leave the UK market, don't slam the door, liked the rod but not the attitude...

Anyway... Assassin is a more robust bit of kit than the Browning, slightly heavier but not as much as you might think and rated for lines up to 8lbs. Fine at 15 foot, reasonably wiedly without being as wandlike as the lighter Browning.

But... forget the extension piece. Dolly section is two feet of complete waste of carbon fibre and effort. Turns the otherwise quite nicely together feel of the rod into a tip heavy floppy abortion.

So, having rambled my way there eventually, I tend to agree with Paul T; a longer rod is useful to have and invaluable when you really need it and 15ft is a good compromise length. Just don't go for a 15 + dolly extension if what you want is a 17 - get a rod genuinely designed and built at that length.

PS. It goes without saying that if anyone has a 15foot Browning Aggressor middle section going spare I would appreciate the opportunity to make an offer for it.... equally if someone has the same rod but needs a replacement butt or tip section then feel free to make me an offer !

Some sound advice amonst that lot.....cheers fellas.

Are ther any 13ft rods with a dolly to take it to a workable 15ft?

i've handled a couple of rods with dolly sections and they both became tip heavy when you put it on.

Paul if you want a 15 ft rod buy one that is made to be a 15 ft rod....It will perform much better than a 13 ft rod with a 2 ft extention. imagine how your 7 ft fly rod would feel with a 2 ft extension!

I think it's a matter of taper....

A rod that is built for a particular length tapers consistently from one end to the other (yes, I know, compound tapers pioneered by the likes of Bruce & Walker vary but that is using a Rolls Royce analogy in Mini Minor territory). A dolly section doesn't.

The taper (I know, plus wall thickness, mat direction and lay, resin lay up, etc etc etc and all the other design variables - just let me be simplistic for once here !) gives the progression and feel to the rod as an overall piece of engineering.

A two or three foot dolly section can't taper in the same way. Inherently it has to have the same parallel diameter throughout its length in order to fit in between the butt and middle section with the same diameter male / female joints at either end to fit into butt and middle / top joint.

So you get a parallel piece of rod stuck in with no progressive "spring" or consistent contribution to the overall taper in just the worst place to have it.

So stick to a rod that is built for the length.

I suppose it might be a different matter with a rod built for 17 foot, let us say, but with a second shorter much steeper taper (and therefore stiffer for length) replacement butt section giving the option of a 15 foot length, but I haven't seen such a rod, nor do I think it likely to be commercially viable - the butt section being the most expensive, with reel seats, corks, butt ring etc etc. Who would want to make two butt sections as opposed to a throw away 2 foot dolly section no-one is teribly likely to use anyway...

There are 1 or 2 that change the butt section that would probably work better as it would be the butt power that would change not the whole rod, but I would listen to the guys they have more experence than me.

I have a 13/15 rod bought in the last hours of the Game Fair back in the summer. Only paid ?15 for it so didn't expect much (not sure what the RRP is).

I think it's very good at both lengths and although I do detect a slight difference in the action at 15ft it certainly doesn't feel unbalanced (with the dolly section).

Okuma Diezel Match Performance (action: heavy).

Has worked a treat on the carp at Gold Valley and on last weekends grayling day trotting down the Kennett carriers.

I have to agree with Evan about simply sticking a parallel secion into the rod.

M.A.P. used to make a 15' to 20' rod that actually had separate 5 feet sections, including two complete butt sections. Now this was not a particularly cheap rod, and if you hadn't had experience with long whips was a little difficult to master.
(The rod cost ?285 in 1995/6)

The problem came when I broke the top section and MAP were totally disinterested in replacing it, even after I offered to pay for it. Bear in mind that this was only 3 months after purchase.

Eventually, Foater's of Birmingham found a Tri Cast top section that fitted perfectly, made no difference to the action of the rod, and gave me a good discount as well.

The MAP rod was the last ever purchase I made from that Company and it will be a cold day in hell before they get any more business from me.

Foster's on the other hand have had a lot of business from me over the years.

Thanks for all the comments fella's.....i suppose theres only one way i'm going to find out so i saturday i popped into a tackle shop to have a nosy.

I waggled some 15 and 17 ft rods about and still didn't feel i could fish a long day with the 17fts........i saw a cheap 15ft rod in the racks and ignored it for a long time whilst playing with the others, thinking it would be heavy crap.

To cut a long story short i did eventually put the cheap rod together and i was gobsmacked......it felt better than ANY of the other long rods!!......i purchased it and whilst i haven't used it yet i'm still gobsmacked by it........i'll put it through it's paces next week hopefully........it's obviously a cheap import but a great tool by first impressions.

So what make etc is it ? And where did you buy it and for how much...

You can't leave us there dangling with a bargain out there somewhere.... ! That would be just cruel !

Sorry mate!.........it's now an all labels removed very expensive rod!


It's a leedaXGT.....for reel lines 2-5lbs and hoolinks 11/2 to 3lb......it has a RRP of ?40, absoloutly unbelivable, even the guy in the shop (who uses a ?175 15ft) couldn't believe it when we put it together.

"Sorry mate!.........it's now an all labels removed very expensive rod! "


I have a small pot of paint and a brush with which to paint your name, the date hand built and the name "Ernest Crabtree (jr), Rodbuilder" on the butt, together with the words "Mr. Crabtree (Snr) Commemorative Limited Edition" so as to make it a very very very very expensive bespoke rod !!!

Only a small contribution to my beer fund needed....