When I was asked to give this rod a trial I have to be honest and admit I was very reluctant to leave my usual rods of this type in the racks. I have had them for a long time and they were some that escaped the low life scum who had it away with the rest of my ‘old’ gear which had become like a pair of old shoes…….comfortable.
Upon the rod arriving I was convinced that the rings were going to be Fuji copies but close examination revealed them to be stamped and the real thing. Okay, thought I, the reel seat must be a cheapo! No, that too was the real McCoy. Huh!…..the blank must be rubbish and the top with the spliced in quivertip will have a massive flat spot. But again, no and no! This was all too much to someone who had spent hundreds of pounds over the years trying to build himself a rod of this type. It could never compete with my old faithfuls in real fishing situations though – could it?
This type of rod is probably my favourite of all time; I can fill my pockets with bits, grab a bait tub and walk for miles along my favourite river, taking in the solitude and the surroundings and hopefully winkle out a fish or two. So that was the first type of trip the rod had, a chubbing session on the river Lugg and it was cold and very, very bright! Anything protruding out of the water was covered in ice, as were the shallows where the weed grew and the ground was frozen too solid for a bank stick to penetrate. Even the pair of swans that frequent the stretch didn’t want to move far.
It was great to be out, it seemed like ages since I had fished in such conditions. Pity the bloody chub weren’t so sentimental! The rod did all that was asked of it though, it flicked baits where I wanted them to go and the quivertip section I had opted for was perfect for judging the flow by the amount of bend imparted to it. It was also very nice to hold across my thigh ready to give line if the chub were finicky in such conditions. It turned out they were comatose!
The rod couldn’t catch me fish in those conditions but neither would the old faithfuls! So I dropped onto a banker swim, had a coffee or three whilst waiting for the piercing sun to set, and then tried again. A branch allowed itself to be used as a rod rest and I missed the first real indication of a bite because I was into another coffee. The quivertip registered interest from something and before I packed up the ‘banker’ turned up a couple of 4lb chub; decent fish for the Lugg.
And the rod? It was okay I suppose, but my old faithfuls would have performed just as well – wouldn’t they?
Conditions didn’t get any warmer and the rod was again selected for a session I just knew would be a grueller – a trip to the Staffordshire Sow with Dave ‘Chub’ Johnson. Dave hooked a chub but a pike ate it and so we blanked, but it was nice to see Dave over Christmas anyway. He was sober……..I think! That in itself was a PB! The rod felt comfortable but so would my ‘old faithful’. If I had used that!
Next outing was on the Wye with another mate, Dave ‘Coops’ Cooper. We fished near the town waters …… sorry, no sheep Coops! But you are too much competition for me ;o). The plan was stick float down the side for roach, and I had been lucky enough to catch a few biggies in the area in the past and hoped to catch a few more today. True to form though, it was blowing a bitterly cold gale downstream and into our bank, float control would have been a nightmare for Dave Harrell, and for us it was slightly difficult.
So out came the Fox rod. Well, I didn’t have my other old faithful, the ‘roach quivertip’ that I had built with my own fair hands, so it would have to do!
A small feeder, taped up to slow the escape of the maggots, was used right down the side in 8ft of water. The maggots had been cleaned and flavoured with turmeric and a few shots of Trigga. Mainline was 3.2 and hooklength was a ready-tied Kamasan B520, size 18 to 1lb 14oz. This is my standard roach feeder rig – I will go finer but only if I have to, but with this set up I still stand a chance should a decent chub or even barbel decide to muscle in.
Eventually I managed to get a bite that resulted in the classic jagging fight that a decent roach signals. A bag of eight nice Wye roach was the end result with fish to 1 1/2 lb, a decent result considering the conditions.
The rod signalled the bites very, very nicely, thank you, and considering the buffeting the tip was getting from the wind that was indeed something. I also always felt I was going to land the roach and they weren’t going to bump off. The rod handled them well, superbly in fact.
I was beginning to wonder if old faithful would have performed as well!
Very reasonably priced at £ 114.99.
