Ian,ive had a fair few biggish barbel on the smuggler,to be fair i hadnt used it for ages and gave it an airing,I rang Hardy before I bought the rod and told them I wouldnt buy one unless they gave me some idea of the test curve,after a bit of pushing he come up with 'about' 1lb 10ozs,whatever it is its pokier than my 1lb 12oz torrix,i actually think it would have been great fun on the Dartford angling Centre 1lb test curve rod,hairy yes,fun definitely...