Shakespeare rods

[chrisjpainter]

What's the deal with Shakespeare's kit these days? I was looking at the Solitude MS Rod in particular, but the question's there for their whole new range really: Are they any good?
The stats of the Solitude MS Rod seem reasonable - 24/30T carbon, decent guides and right now selling for £25 at AD, down from £75-80. It seems the same with a lot of Shakespeare's newish range - high RRP and then massive discounts. But I don't know of anyone who actually owns one!

Has anyone taken a punt on Shakespeare rods? Any good, or is it a case of an irrelevant RRP just to look like a bargain?

 

[Alan Whitty]

My tip to you is pick one up and if you like the feel take a punt,I have a Darent Valley 11ft 0.75lb t.c. rod, I believe when I bought it was between £35-£40, cheap as chips, imo it's a nice blank, but after using it a few times I found there were too few guides on it, so eventually I took it to a local rod builder and had three rings put on and shuffled the rest to suit, after that it was still cheap as two portions, lol...

 

[mikench]

They are cheap but not nasty. I bought a Mach 3 13’ ultra lite match rod second hand a good few years ago and it’s a nice rod being light in weight and action.It came in a quality bag and case and was apparently their take on Normark. It caught me my biggest roach with a pin at 1lb 13 oz. At their price range you cannot go wrong. I gave a couple of their Agility range away but still have a few sea rods in France. The company don’t seem to advertise much since James Robbins left.

 

[Keith M]

Shakespeare used to be one of the better companies who used to sponsor the England team back in the late 70s/80s and had some of our best match anglers of the time on their team help design their brilliant rods Like Ken Giles and Clive Smith plus a few well known specimen anglers too.
Their top of the range rods and mid range rods were excellent; however their bottom of the range rods at that time were not the best.

I still have a couple of excellent rods made by Shakespeare but have not bought any rods from them for years so can’t say whether their newer rods are still as good as they were in the past.

Keith

 

[Steve Arnold]

They are cheap but not nasty. I bought a Mach 3 13’ ultra lite match rod second hand a good few years ago and it’s a nice rod bring light in weight and action.It came in a quality bag and case and was apparently their take on Normark. It caught me my biggest roach with a pin at 1lb 13 oz. At their price range you cannot go wrong. I gave a couple of their Agility range away but still have a few sea rods in France. The company don’t seem to advertise much since James Robbins left.

I have used a few Shakespeare Agility rods now, thanks Mike for the barbel and feeder 12' versions. The barbel Agility I gave to a carp fishing pal who wanted to see why I enjoy barbel fishing. He has had one barbel and two bream and I think enjoyed the action, not that I would expect him to rave about the experience! But I had a few barbel on the rod and it is perfect for the smallish barbel I usually catch in the summer. Not that I have had much chance to use it this last several months with the dams being drained for maintenance.

Before I worked out what I really needed for fishing the Lot I bought an Agility feeder rod which was labelled "Carp". Nice enough rod I would guess for stocked carp ponds, but I have used it for roach and chub here. I think I paid AD $25 for that a few years ago in one of their sales. Perfectly good build at twice the price!

 

[The bad one]

The only Shaky I have is18-20 ft Bolognese rod. Had it around 15 years + perfectly adequate for the job I got it for, fishing reservoirs, sat in two rests and waiting affair. My mate I got it off has landed several carp up to 20lb on it without much fuss.

 

[Philip]

I dont know about the more recent stuff but in the past Shakespeare kit was well underated imo, both rods and reels.

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[John Aston]

On the recommendation of a friend I bought a Shakespeare Agility 2 6ft #3wt fly rod in 2022. It replaced a £200++ Greys rod of similar spec , an despite costing under £50 is a much better rod. It has a perfect action , is beautifully finished and a delight to use . I cannot imagine a better rod for small becks . Not even the 6ft 6in Hardy Ultralite - at an eye watering £629 .....

My only other Shakespeare kit was a 12ft Omni float road I bought in the 80s. While it would be outclassed by modern rods , it was a lovely rod to use , and I caught a lot of grayling with it . I even rather liked the Duplon (I think ?) handle.

 

[GT56]

After a struggle on the river I decided I needed a complete change of venue and used a 10ft Shaky wand yesterday and with 1/2 ounce tip it was a joy to use. I can't remember when, were or even why and most likely it was such value I just couldn't resist at the time, either way it doesn't see much action and clearly that needs to change.

 

[markcw]

After a struggle on the river I decided I needed a complete change of venue and used a 10ft Shaky wand yesterday and with 1/2 ounce tip it was a joy to use. I can't remember when, were or even why and most likely it was such value I just couldn't resist at the time, either way it doesn't see much action and clearly that needs to change.

I've got one I had the original . Now have a newer version I got around 7 years ago .

 

[steve2]

The only problem I found with all the Shakespeare tackle I have owned is it as the wrong name on it. Put Diawa, Drennan or shimano, on it and people would praise it.

 

[ian g]

I've got a shakey wand , nice little rod , fantastic value.

 

[Keith M]

I used to have a 12ft Match International match/float rod back in the 70s which had a spliced tip and won me several club matches back in the days of fibreglass; I also had a couple of Carbon Fibre match rods like the Sigma match rod and another one which I forget the model of.

I still have an 18/20ft ‘Shakespeare Annex Excel Match/float Rod' which very occasionally sees daylight if I’m fishing a deepish 12ft to 14ft swim with a float when I want to count down my shot to intercept bites on the way down; which isn’t very often. I also have an old Shakespeare Quivertip Rod which is an excellent rod with a thinish carbon weave however I can’t remember what it’s called; without going out to my outhouse; this rod doesn’t see daylight very often either but I might get it out a few times this year as it’s been sitting in the outhouse without being used for quite a few years.

Keith

 

[markcw]

I had the international spliced tip 12'
Was a decent rod in its day .mine was carbon not fibreglass
I have a sigma 10' specialist . With threaded tip ring . This is my swing tip rod . Can put a method feeder or straight lead 40 yards with ease . It will do more distance ,but the main island is 40 yards away from one bank , and on the other side of the poll 50 yards away .
I also use it as a pellet waggler rod , and bagging waggler rod .
Also have a 4.5 metre shakespeare whip. Closed length probably around less than 24" . This is around 35 years old . Brilliant action and very light . Not seen anything on today's market as good as it .

 

[steve2]

My so called Carp Waggler rods is a lovely rod that also makes a nice allround chub rod on rivers.