Harrison rods

xenon · May 25, 2013

Thinking of biting the bullet and getting a "proper" barbel rod. Reading around the subject seems to suggest Harrison's are up with the best. problem is they are not exactly common so it will be difficult to have a waggle with one. Anyone out there own one and can vouch for their worth? (or not) ps-choice between Chimera or Torrix. Venues will mostly be on medium rivers like the Kennet or upper Ouse. Thanks in advance to those who take the trouble to reply.

barbelboi · May 25, 2013

It's worth considering that the Torrix has not got the traditional through action that you would expect from a barbel rod, it has a more responsive tip with loads of power in the butt - good for casting heavy leads or feeders longer distances, but not so friendly playing fish. For the rivers you mention (not in flood) I prefer my Harrison Specialists 1.5t/c and Chimeras 1.75t/c.

Jerry

tonybull · May 25, 2013

Angling Supplies Bath

Very good rod, had a couple of rods built by Roger

Frothey · May 25, 2013

The Lone Angler (Home page | Lone Angler) rods are built on Harrison blanks, and are mighty fine rods too.

jacksharp · May 25, 2013

I live near to Harrison's factory in Liverpool and know one of their development guys and have had a good look around their operation and tested fly rods, before buying, on the dock behind the workshops.

I have had 2 Peregrine rods built on Harrison blanks, a 15ft Hi-Performance Spey salmon fly rod and a Harrison saltwater fly rod that I built myself on their blank.

The Peregrines I had were a matched pair of 11ft GTis that I bought secondhand. These rods were absolutely brilliant and I would recommend them to anyone. I have used the 12ft Gti but much prefer the 11ft.

barbelboi · May 25, 2013

I'll second Peregrine - have a couple of Harrison balista slims put together by them (2.75t/c soft through action) with the blanks only slightly larger than my 1.5's - a joy to use.
Jerry
PS The only GTI's I have are float rods.

Weeman · May 26, 2013

Another vote for the Harrison 1.5 Specialist. I had one built for small / medium river barbel and carp and wouldn't be parted from it - wonderful rod.

Terry D · May 26, 2013

A waggle won't tell you anything about how the rod handles when fishing and with a fish on the end. I'd scour every review you can find and then make a decision. Lots of good reviews from different people can't be too far wrong. Then bite the bullet. On the good side, if they have good reviews and you don't like then, then they're much easier to sell on.

jacksharp · May 26, 2013

Terry D said:
A waggle won't tell you anything about how the rod handles when fishing and with a fish on the end. I'd scour every review you can find and then make a decision. Lots of good reviews from different people can't be too far wrong. Then bite the bullet. On the good side, if they have good reviews and you don't like then, then they're much easier to sell on.

I generally found (with fly rods anyway) that a waggle, and a mate to pull the tip down, was a reasonable indication of whether the rod would suit my style of casting. If it wasn't middle to tip then chances are I wouldn't like it. I agree that coarse rods may require a bit more in-depth testing. However a waggle and a pull-down is better than ordering unseen online.

xenon · May 26, 2013

Terry D said:
A waggle won't tell you anything about how the rod handles when fishing and with a fish on the end. I'd scour every review you can find and then make a decision. Lots of good reviews from different people can't be too far wrong. Then bite the bullet. On the good side, if they have good reviews and you don't like then, then they're much easier to sell on.

I agree Terry-ideally we would all like to take rods out on approval for a season to see how they perform in "real life", but failing that (or even a waggle in the shop), best i can do is gain insight from others who have used the rods.

tonybull · May 26, 2013

The 11ft GTI is a surperb rod, quite soft but really kicks in once the butt gets involved.

Also got a 11ft 1lb 4oz Chimera build by Dave Lumb and thats a nice rod for small rivers etc.

Also got a 13ft Stepped up Match rod from Peregrine.

All the Harrison Blanks are quality imo

mark brailsford 2 · May 27, 2013

Harrison rods are good but as others will tell you there are good rods available out there for a lot less cash.

Titus · May 27, 2013

I'm a Harrison fan, I've got a 1.5 specialist which is getting on a bit now but still a great rod and goes in my middle Severn general bag along with an Avon quiver.

I have also got a couple of 1.75 Chimera 2s which have been my big river rods for the last few years and I would be more than happy to carry on using them if I hadn't managed to bag a fantastic pair of 2lb Torrix specialists at a great price which will cover the majority of my carp fishing needs as well.

mark brailsford 2 · May 27, 2013

Titus said:
I'm a Harrison fan, I've got a 1.5 specialist which is getting on a bit now but still a great rod and goes in my middle Severn general bag along with an Avon quiver.

I have also got a couple of 1.75 Chimera 2s which have been my big river rods for the last few years and I would be more than happy to carry on using them if I hadn't managed to bag a fantastic pair of 2lb Torrix specialists at a great price which will cover the majority of my carp fishing needs as well.

Ade,

I looked into treating myself to a Harrison rod but When I asked around this site one or two of the guys convinced me that they where not that special!

Since then I have seen several Harrison rods in the flesh and I have ''convinced'' myself that I ''need one'' to add to my collection

Only one thing puts me off though...The companies Geographical status :wh:

Ray Roberts · May 27, 2013

mark brailsford 2 said:
Only one thing puts me off though...The companies Geographical status :

Yes, England.

I thought that you had done a "Mc Donald's" Mark.

peter crabtree · May 27, 2013

'a MacDonalds?' is that similar to doing a Frank?

jacksharp · May 27, 2013

Ray Roberts said:
Yes, England.

I thought that you had done a "Mc Donald's" Mark.

No, he's back, after swearing at everybody and throwing his toys out of the pram. We didn't even get a week-off and now he's reincarnated, no longer awaiting PAAS membership and now residing in Good old Chorley, not Good old Chesterfield. Sh!t Pickfords are quick these days!

Nice place Chorleh, notable for Peter Kay, the poor-man's Eccles cake and f***-all else.

mark brailsford 2 · May 27, 2013

Ray Roberts said:
Yes, England.

I thought that you had done a "Mc Donald's" Mark.

I meant Liverpool

Please explain what a Mc Donald is Ray? it it another poor sole that has ''thrown in the towel'' or is it cockney slang?

aebitim · May 27, 2013

Have experience of 2 harrison rods and struggled with them, persevered to the point of stripping them and rebuilding them with different ring spacing until I got the best out of them. The blanks are certainly well made but the action of the ones I bought were not to my taste. There seems to be a wide variety of actions available so research is probably the way to go. I would try and look at as many rods as possible by as many makers that you can find before making a decision. Having said that the 1.5 avon now it is built as I want it is a fine chub rod with the best tip for trundling baits I have ever used.

johnnyfby · May 27, 2013

barbelboi said:
It's worth considering that the Torrix has not got the traditional through action that you would expect from a barbel rod, it has a more responsive tip with loads of power in the butt - good for casting heavy leads or feeders longer distances, but not so friendly playing fish. For the rivers you mention (not in flood) I prefer my Harrison Specialists 1.5t/c and Chimeras 1.75t/c.

Jerry

I have had a few Torrix's and they are certainly not good casting rods when using heavy leads, but they are cracking at playing fish on.
For small to medium rivers they are very good anything more ie trent etc and they are pushing the limits. 1.75 and 2.0.

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