grandeslam products?

Anyone know anything about grandeslam products? I've got two of their power runner 50 reels and they've faired quite well so far, I've paired them up with my lineaeffe 2.75lb carpbrods and It seems like a really good combo to me.
If anyone knows anything much on the quality of their products (rods mostly), please give your feedback here!

Some people will say stay away feom gear like this saying its cheep and you get what you pay for etc but id say if your happy with it then all is well

andy

bigfish74 said:

Some people will say stay away feom gear like this saying its cheep and you get what you pay for etc but id say if your happy with it then all is well

andy

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I understand, yes I guess you do get what you pay for but the reels are doing quite well and theyre a few months old now... I can, however, pick one fault and that would be that the line that came on the reels is horrific, might as well have attached a slinky to my rod and reel but at the end of the day, this can be fixed.

Mate I agree with bigfish74 if you are happy with your set up then all is well. In all walks of life people pay think they are getting a good deal by paying higher prices for vogue or supposedly better quality goods only for to not get the full use of.
eg My lad has had a grandslam seatbox for 3years now and the only reason he wants to move it on is because it has got too small for his a***. It is still stable and reliable and only cost £60. Bargain when you consider what could be paid even 3 years ago!
All the best:beer::beer:
P.S. Remember it's not what you got it's how you use it what counts!

I got kicked into touch by one of my ex girlfriends the other day!

Tracy's Lad as just got into fishing and she told me that they had been to Dragon Carp in chesterfield and she had bought him a load of new gear, I laughed, she frowned and I backed down! She just said, Mark, some folk have bills to pay and not all of us go out and and pay silly money for posh brands. I frowned, she laughed, I shut up...god, how I miss that girl

Morel of the story: If you want to spend less on tackle then its up to you, dont ever take notice what other folk tell you!

Somewhere in the shed, i have a grandeslam 13ft float rod, and its alright. I wouldnt want to stand all day trotting with it, as its heavy in the hand compared to posh rods, but i never complained while fishing with it rested on my knee, chasing tench and crucians.

Never been able to justify the expensive gear myself, but have picked up a few brand names here and there as gifts, and in the sales. Have had a lot of avanti (dragoncarp) gear, and again, has mostly all been adequate. Some, has even been good, im thinking particularly of a barbel rod of theirs that i bought for £10, and its great, got a really nice action.

Ngt are doing some good budget gear too, got a cracking little 8ft 2lb stalker rod, for 12.99, and its brilliant. Lovely action, playing fish from 3lb to 13lb on it so far.

Fishing doesnt have to be expensive to do or enjoy

There's too much 'brand snobbery' in angling these days, probably just one or two manufacturers making all the gear for all the tackle companies. The end price we pay often just depends on how posh the name badge is. Compare NGT & TF Gear luggage as one example & there's very little if any difference, apart from NGT being about half the price!
Don't take any notice of tackle reviews in the angling press either, the biggest advertisers always get rave reviews for obvious reasons. TBH I think the only people slagging off Dragon Carp are jealous of the huge success Roger Surgay has made of his business venture.

I buy decent stuff because I like decent stuff, I don't brag about the fact or shove it down peoples throat its just my guilty pleasure and I really enjoy owning and using nice gear. I would never try to get someone with low funds to ''invest'' in expensive tackle, but I would try to steer them in the right direction when buying budget gear...There is a lot of rubbish being sold to the unexpecting public these days and I like to think I can help folk from making the wrong choice and regretting it!

I am with scottiedog.
I don't take any notice of the price tag or the label, the majority of blanks come from the same outlets and manufactures mostly made in korea or anywhere else the labor is cheapest . I honestly think a lot of it has to do with how much advertising a product has, which ultimately has a bearing on the end mark up price. There is some very cheap good quality fishing stuff made these days for very little money ,anglers have never had it so good IMO

Concerning budget brands I tend not to recommend Dragon Carp, simply because I dont like their (sports Direct/Surgays) Advertising directive by trying to pretend something they sell for £20 as actually got a RRP of £100! God, how gullible are folk? Also, I would not like to think about the working conditions in the factories DC stuff is made, or the wages they pay their employees!

Over my time as an angler, I've used pretty much all budget tackle, everything from the cheaper end of the spectrum, and I've not had a problem with any of my gear over the past few years and I've enjoyed using multiple different brands of a more budget price range; Shakespeare, NGT, Lineaffe and Grandeslam are among the many brands that sell top quality tackle for a very reasonable price. I can stand for all 4 of these brands being good value as I've used products from each one...
Lineaeffe-
Landed carp to 16lb when stalking with one of their telescopic spinning rods combined witha vigor rd reel (excellent all round reel for less than 20 pounds). As well as this, I use two lineaeffe carp beater 2.75lb carp rods and they are brilliant; I've had them for around 7 months and I've landed carp, pike, tench and a couple of barbel on these rods, again very cheap only 24.99!
Grandeslam-
The grandeslam reels I've been using are brilliant, used them fishing with lures, feeders, leads and pvas... Trying waggler tactics with my carp rod and reels this week.
Shakespeare-
Used to have a 13ft Shakespeare match rod, fished a wide variety of methods catching carp, barbel, pike, tench etc. Only got rid of it because mum went over it with the lawnmower!
NGT-
Currently (literally right now) using an NGT 8ft 2lb stalking rod and its incredible value for money for less than 20 pounds, the 8ft length is very handy for fishing really close in and in tight swims, very strong too with a good load of backbone... Great for carp and tench!

People need to stop being snobs about fishing tackle and appreciate that cheaper brands can produce top quality products! These cheaper options are brilliant as they open up the possibilities for younger people t start fishing and enjoy it without having to pay an arm and a leg for a rod or reel. I was in the same situation when I started as I was given a kingfisher float rod and couldn't fish with it for much longer than I already had due to a crack in the push reel seat, I went down to my local tackle shop and had a chat with the owner and he sorted me out a bundle package with a Shakespeare rod and some extra bits and bobs for only 40 pounds. It just goes to show, you don't have to pay top prices for top quality.

Thats the same ngt rod ive got. It plays a fish wonderfully, looks great, and i really cant fault it.

Some of the fladen stuff is also really good for the money. I bought a beachcaster over winter, did a bit of codfishing in the humber. My brother in law spent £130 getting set up with a rod and reel, and called it budget. I got fladen gear, rod and reel, £27, and cast as far, and caught as much as he did, for 20% of the cost.

My brother has a shakespeare spinning rod and reel set, 9.99 for the set from go outdoors, and had great fun catching his first pike at 12lb. The lure cost almost as much as the bloody rod.

scottiedog said:

There's too much 'brand snobbery' in angling these days, probably just one or two manufacturers making all the gear for all the tackle companies. The end price we pay often just depends on how posh the name badge is. Compare NGT & TF Gear luggage as one example & there's very little if any difference, apart from NGT being about half the price!
Don't take any notice of tackle reviews in the angling press either, the biggest advertisers always get rave reviews for obvious reasons. TBH I think the only people slagging off Dragon Carp are jealous of the huge success Roger Surgay has made of his business venture.

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Wise words indeed. There are always people willing to slag off the cheaper brands. But at the end of the day a good angler can get far more pleasure out of cheaper tackle than a bad angler who insists on using the top end stuff. Fishing tackle is for using. Not bragging about. And it is noticeable that some of the guys who are always ready to post about what tackle to buy seem less willing to join in the discussions about methods and tactics.

Are you a maximiser or a satisficer?

Look it up on google chaps.

benh said:

Thats the same ngt rod ive got. It plays a fish wonderfully, looks great, and i really cant fault it.

Some of the fladen stuff is also really good for the money. I bought a beachcaster over winter, did a bit of codfishing in the humber. My brother in law spent £130 getting set up with a rod and reel, and called it budget. I got fladen gear, rod and reel, £27, and cast as far, and caught as much as he did, for 20% of the cost.

My brother has a shakespeare spinning rod and reel set, 9.99 for the set from go outdoors, and had great fun catching his first pike at 12lb. The lure cost almost as much as the bloody rod.

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They sell fladen gear in Boyes! Not tried a rod or reel yet but I've used some of their end tackle like floats and hooks. I did, however, use some of their shots and they didn't pinch to the line very well, I stuck one either side of my running cage feeder and the weight caused the shots to be moved up/down the line. Might take a look in at rods soon and maybe get a match rod for river.

And yes, the NGT stalker is brilliant! Very happy with it!

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nicepix said:

Wise words indeed. There are always people willing to slag off the cheaper brands. But at the end of the day a good angler can get far more pleasure out of cheaper tackle than a bad angler who insists on using the top end stuff. Fishing tackle is for using. Not bragging about. And it is noticeable that some of the guys who are always ready to post about what tackle to buy seem less willing to join in the discussions about methods and tactics.

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That's because they spent all their money on rods and reels and had no more money for rig parts hahaha.

Fladen stuff is really dire, I have handled some of their Lures and can honestly say that I have never seen such rubbish sold as fishing gear in my life, they were like the Lures you get in those kids fishing kits that woolworths used to sell!

Like I said in an earlier post, I dont brag about my tackle, (although I have been known to wind up a few on here!) and it is my business what I buy. At the end of the day you buy what you want or can afford and its nowt to do with anyone else!

Oh, by they way, I do use my tackle to great effect too

The Fladen stuff is just fine IMO, The spools of bulk mono are a bargain at twice the price. I have a pellet pump which is now on its third season cost me £7. Never had a problem with the split shot works for me. In fact each and every product I have purchased does what it says on the tin.
Sorry but I cannot honestly say I have been disappointed with anything I have bought from Fladen.

See this is the problem, I hear very mixed reviews about it and I'm unsure whether I really want to risk buying a fladen rod... although they are cheap, there are plenty of other brands (of which I've used products from before) I'd probably trust better, I doubt I will buy a product that isn't in the list of four that I posted earlier as they have all impressed me so far.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking budget gear and haven't/won't but...

I'm enjoying the mythical demographics which appear to be developing around anglers who choose to enjoy the pleasures which more expensive tackle can and often will deliver, as opposed to say, blowing their money on a cruise or wazzing it up the wall, it's all very amusing.

I can honestly say that I've rarely if ever read something on here which I have interpreted as brand snobbery, anglers will often hold a favourite/more expensive brand in high regard and often for good reason.

The funny thing is that some people start to get all uppity about their cheaper tackle catching just as much yet few if anyone is actually saying otherwise?

If someone wants to blow the pension on a set of gear let 'em, it's no skin off anyone else's nose and at the end of the day if you're getting full satisfaction and enjoyment from your choice and expenditure on gear then that in itself is priceless regardless of the financial cost.

I always buy what I deem to be the best tool for the job with little consideration for its price but one thing has stood out; it is seldom if ever the top of the range stuff that is the best for purpose...

For an example my barbel rods:
I mainly use a pair of Greys prodigies - I've yet to find a rod with a better action. Yes it's true to say they aren't the best at casting 80yards+ but I don't need them to do that.

Light feeder rod (for chub fishing):
I own a Fox Duo-Lite Specialist, nice as it is, it's not a patch on my Eurostar Barbel feeder rod. Even though at their RRP's the Fox is nearly £100 more.

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mark brailsford 2 said:

Oh, by they way, I do use my tackle to great effect too

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That's not what your missus says.

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nicepix said:

Wise words indeed. There are always people willing to slag off the cheaper brands. But at the end of the day a good angler can get far more pleasure out of cheaper tackle than a bad angler who insists on using the top end stuff. Fishing tackle is for using. Not bragging about. And it is noticeable that some of the guys who are always ready to post about what tackle to buy seem less willing to join in the discussions about methods and tactics.

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True indeed...