drennan acolyte plus in strongh enough

iain t · Jun 17, 2017

My son has just returned with his mate from a day on the Test( lucky sods). Anyway, he had 6 Chub and 2 small Barbel around 3 to 5lb he told me. He's not one to exaggerate on catches or sizes. One fish he hooked had his Drennan Acolyte plus rod bent more or less in half with nothing more to give. In the end the hook link gave away. He said the fish wasn't in weed or nosed under a rock as he could see it in mid-stream. He was trotting with my nice new shiny center pin loaded with 6lb line and bread flake. I digress, Tomorrow he's going down to the same peg tomorrow but feels he might need a stronger rod if he hooks the same fish. He wants to trot a float again and the Acolyte is the strongest float rod we have. I've told him to use my 1.25lb Avon with a quiver tip fitted but he said it won't have the same feel. I've used my Avons a lot in the past to trot a float but says it's not the done thing. Myself i think he want's an early birthday pressie. Can someone tell him it's OK to use an Avon with a tip.

mikench · Jun 17, 2017

It's perfectly acceptable young Victor to use an Avon1.25 tc rod! Stop moaning and just be grateful you have an Acolyte plus you miserable git

are you just like your father?

iain t · Jun 17, 2017

No, my son is just like me. My father is "normal"

mikench · Jun 17, 2017

Eh!!!!! Confused

So is it the Avon tomorrow? Young Victor might just save me some cash if he prefers an Avon to an Acolyte! Have you spoiled him!
B

barbelboi · Jun 17, 2017

Are you sure it wasn't foul hooked - 15'7 taken on an 18 with a 2lb bottom while fishing for crucians without too much hassle on an Acolyte Ultra...............

tigger · Jun 17, 2017

I often use a accy plus for barbel and they've been perfect, I think you'll find the accy plus is more powerful than the 1.25 test rod when in use, that's what I found.

iain t · Jun 17, 2017

He says i wasn't fool hooked from what he could see but it could have been a bloody big Barbel i suppose. I had a 14lb a couple of years ago and it acted well. He's much better angler than me having fished all over the world. But he was a slow starter only wetting a line when he was 8 years old( now 34)
That's where my foot goes down, He's not keeping my Avons.

xenon · Jun 17, 2017

barbelboi said:
Are you sure it wasn't foul hooked - 15'7 taken on an 18 with a 2lb bottom while fishing for crucians without too much hassle on an Acolyte Ultra...............

bl+++y hell! 2 Ib bottom! how long did that take to land?

iain t · Jun 18, 2017

He took off again at 5am carrying both my 1.25 and 1.5lb Avons. Wow betide him if he damages them. What sort of size do the Barbel get in the test

mikench · Jun 18, 2017

Don't worry Iain he will bring them back in one piece!

After all what kind of son would take his fathers favourite rods and damage them on fathers day!

sam vimes · Jun 18, 2017

Being forced to use an Avon as a float rod is one of my personal hells. Using the quiver section only makes things worse. I have few qualms about the Acolyte Plus, but I don't consider it an out and out big fish rod. It's only "Plus" with respect to the Ultra. Not by any stretch of the imagination is it a heavy float rod. They are closer to being an average match rod where the Ultras are light match rods. If I'm setting out to catch barbel on the float, I'd reach for other rods first.

trotter2 · Jun 18, 2017

Sam has it bang on think of the plus as a standard match and your about right.

tigger · Jun 18, 2017

sam vimes said:
Being forced to use an Avon as a float rod is one of my personal hells. Using the quiver section only makes things worse. I have few qualms about the Acolyte Plus, but I don't consider it an out and out big fish rod. It's only "Plus" with respect to the Ultra. Not by any stretch of the imagination is it a heavy float rod. They are closer to being an average match rod where the Ultras are light match rods. If I'm setting out to catch barbel on the float, I'd reach for other rods first.

Until I got myself the marksman avon I would defiantly agree Chris, in fact all the avon rods i've used (except the marksman) have a sloppy action and are far to soft in the mid section for trotting. The marksman on the other hand feels fast and has a nice stiff mid section but has a lovely progressive action when pushed a little. Regarding the accy plus, i've hit and barbel to just over 10lb and it coped better or just as well as the 11ft marksman avon in the same postition and the avon rod must be a good 1 1/4 test. The 13ft acolyte plus rod has a lot more power than people realise when pushed. I'd say it's similar in power to the avenger which again and as you know is a wolf in sheep's clothing!
I'd say the acolyte is a far better rod to use than the tricast Allerton waggler rod (for trotting at least), being lighter, feeling better in the hand, having a much more comfy to hold reel seat, being faster action-ed and having a bit more power to boot....those are my personal views/opinions but obviously others will be going purple with disagreement LOL.

swizzle · Jun 18, 2017

Which beat was he fishing Iain? The only day ticket stretch that I know of is Timsbury. I've never heard of barbel being present in the water, that isn't to say that there aren't any though and as your son landed two, they obviously are present. Could it be that he hooked a carp? I know for a fact that there are lots of carp present especially around Timsbury. I have only fished it once and that was years ago when I was a nipper! I remember Andy Little fishing there when he was doing his weekly feature in the Anglers Mail and he caught several carp.

A quick Google showed that thousands of barbel escaped from a farm in the Romsey area in 2001. I do suspect that that it was a carp that he hooked though.

iain t · Jun 18, 2017

Not sure the bit he's fishing. All i know his mate is a club member and my son's got a guest ticket. I've only walked along a bit of the Test but never fished it. Regards to the 14ft Acolyte Plus we both own have been excellent rods and he has hauled in a 35.7lb Carp with it, Myself a 23lb Wild Carp. Although tippy there is plenty of backbone lower down. I wouldn't say it was equal to a standard match rod it's much stronger than that. Regarding trotting with an Avon, my Avons have screw in quivers which i think is much better than a top section quiver. Mine i have used for float and trotting loads of time over the years. I must say for still water float fishing it's rubbish as it's not sensitive enough for light gear.

sam vimes · Jun 18, 2017

Most float rods have far, far, more grunt than people realize. The biggest difference is that the power of an average match rod has crept up steadily over the years, just as many other rod styles have crept up in power.

I've got a fair few rods to compare to the Acolyte Plus and it's got no more grunt than the vast majority of standard modern match rods. It doesn't come close to the more specialist float rods I own. The fairly average line ratings should give a clue as to its place in the market.

Compared to a match rod of twenty to thirty years ago (or more) and it's a bit of a different story. Much depends on what comes to an individual's mind when something is described as a "match rod". If your idea of a match rod is firmly rooted in the early 90s or earlier, then the Acolyte Plus is a beefier animal. The Ultra is closer to that idea of what a match rod may be. The Ultra is stupidly light (in action) by modern standards.

However, none of the above is in any way suggesting that you can't land seriously big fish with them. Most people will have their own tales of landing comparatively large fish on light lines and rods. That still doesn't make them ideal tools for deliberately targeting such fish.

tigger · Jun 18, 2017

I'm generally using 6lb straight through when trotting for chub and barbel and the accolyte is rated to 6lb+....what the "+" means i've no idea, I mean how much plus is it safe to use?
My avenger is rated to 8lb along with the tricast waggler and the drennan super tench is rated to 8lb + high tech lines (again plus how much though and what's a high tech line,is it a pre-stretched line)?
The 11ft hardy marksman avon is rated to 12lb, so much higher line ratings than any of the float rods i've just mentioned and yet when actually in use and in the exact same situation (hitting and holding barbel in a particular swim) the much higher line ratings of the avon don't seem to stand for anything that I have seen "power wise that is" as the avon rod takes on just as severe a curve as the float rods do...wierd in'it?
My personal opinion through my own experience whilst trotting for barbel is that the accolyte is a excellent float rod to target them and apart from getting some line abrasion on the guides when playing powerful fish hard I really can't fault the rod at all and out of all the float rods in the shops today I think the accolyte is top dog....jmo chaps so go easy lol.

iain t · Jun 18, 2017

Accidents happen. He called me he is on his way home. Rods safe and in one piece or should say 2 pieces.( 2Piece rods)

swizzle · Jun 18, 2017

iain t said:
Not sure the bit he's fishing. All i know his mate is a club member and my son's got a guest ticket. I've only walked along a bit of the Test but never fished it. Regards to the 14ft Acolyte Plus we both own have been excellent rods and he has hauled in a 35.7lb Carp with it, Myself a 23lb Wild Carp.

Was this stillwater or running water Iain? not to say that landing either of those carp on float gear isn't an achievement in itself, but I'd imagine hooking even a lower double figure carp on float tackle in a weedy, pacy peg, on a river is a different proposition entirely. If Tigger has hit and held double figure barbel in a similar swim, then I can't see any reason as to why your lad would have struggled on a similar set up.... The other thing that I haven't considered is whether or not he may have hooked a decent salmon?

mikench · Jun 18, 2017

iain t said:
Accidents happen. He called me he is on his way home. Rods safe and in one piece or should say 2 pieces.( 2Piece rods)

I knew he wouldn't let you down !

drennan acolyte plus in strongh enough

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