16ft float rod

[riverman]

well i cant get hold of the shakespeare agility mark 11 float rod for love nor money.this rod is sold out at bobco tackle in leeds and is priced at £80 and great value for money.the cadence 16ft match rod is available at £198.as you can see a big difference in price.was looking for a 16ft float rod for when the rivers open in june as this length rod together with my abu 507 closed face reel would be a top combination when trotting on rivers.as its my birthday next month and my 3 daughters will be asking me what i want i think i'll duck when i tell them what i want and how much it is,

 

[GT56]

Very surprised to read the price of the Cadence 16ft float rod, I'm clearly out of touch on costs.
However, I'd be tempted to look on Cadence Facebook page and check if they have a Cadence open evening near you.
It would then be worth contacting James himself and feel sure you'd get some disco on the cost of the rod at the event and you'd get the chance to give it a good coat of looking at.

 

[Alan Whitty]

Good luck with any 16ft rod, I've picked loads up and simply don't think you can balance one up, they all feel floppy to me(compared to shorter rods) so tackle control is good but you need arms like Geoff Capes to fish all day with them, a couple of my mates who are good match anglers use 17ft acolytes and swear by them, I've had a go with them and it's a no from me, price wise, I can't see any way out of paying top dollar, because cheaper rods are going to be more unwieldy, as I say I gone you get what your looking for....

 

[chevin4]

I am with you Alan I don't see the point in rods over 15ft. Back in the early sixties prior to fibreglass rods being available, top anglers like Ken Clower were trotting the Hants Avon with 11ft Wallis Wizards.

 

[Keith M]

I am with you Alan I don't see the point in rods over 15ft. Back in the early sixties prior to fibreglass rods being available, top anglers like Ken Clower were trotting the Hants Avon with 11ft Wallis Wizards.

A few years ago I bought an 18ft/20ft ‘Float’ rod (not a Bolognese rod) once because our team had to fish a few matches on a venue which had 12ft-plus swims close-in; and I wanted to be able to count my float down and be able to catch fish on the way down at any depth; plus I don’t like having to fish a slider; which for me I think a slider can be a bit limiting.

I won and came second on two of these matches; however since we fished those matches the only other time that I used this 18ft/20ft Float rod was when I fished a shallowish stream and needed to hug the far bank where there was a deep gulley running tight up against the far bank and I needed to be able to trot below the tip along this deep gulley without my float coming away from the far bank.

Those were the only times I used this very long rod over the years; as it’s a bit too unwieldy to hold for long periods; however I quite often use my 15ft Hardy Specialist float rod,which I find very useful in lots of circumstances.

Having said that; 80% of the time (at least) I’m using a 13ft float rod; and very rarely in a very tight swim on a local stream I might very occasionally use an 11ft float rod.

Keith

 

[Alan Whitty]

I understand the reasoning for using a long rod, in fact I owned a 15/18/21fter, trouble is it didn't do what I wanted to do efficiently as the weight and imbalance created awkwardness, also in my experience rods of 15ft and above are not as good as rods that are shorter for playing fish, I've had disagreements about this before on FM, so please take note of the 'in my experience', because nothing anyone says will change my own experiences, if you hold a 13 or 14ft rod of any make and pick up its longer stablemate it feels all wrong... these rods are better than the older offerings, but I feel my control is better with a normal length of rod because it feels right in the hand, however if you are fishing deep running water a lot there isn't much option but to use a longun...

 

[RMNDIL]

As far as float rods are concerned Cheap and Long don't go together.

 

[chevin4]

As far as float rods are concerned Cheap and Long don't go together.

About 20years ago i brought an 18/20ft rod for around £80 in a sale. From memory it was a MAP rod. It was an unwieldy thing and didn't keep it long. I agree cheap and long don't go together

 

[The bad one]

I've got a Shakespeare 18/20 ft rod for float fishing the deeper parts of the reservoirs. I had it given me by a mate and he paid around £250 in the mid 90s for it. It's neither unwieldy or floppy. does take a bit of getting use to because of the length if I've not used it for a while but a good tool once you get back in the swing of using it.
That said, it's a rod that has to be put in the rests as it to heavy to hold for any length of time. I have used it for trotting on some deeper swims on the Ribble but it hard work on the arms. OK if you can at least put it in a front rest and fish (trot) down your bank.
It has some backbone for big fish once the bend gets past the two top sections.
I really enjoy fishing with it if you've got the room to wield it.

 

[Keith M]

I've got a Shakespeare 18/20 ft rod for float fishing the deeper parts of the reservoirs. I had it given me by a mate and he paid around £250 in the mid 90s for it. It's neither unwieldy or floppy. does take a bit of getting use to because of the length if I've not used it for a while but a good tool once you get back in the swing of using it.
That said, it's a rod that has to be put in the rests as it to heavy to hold for any length of time. I have used it for trotting on some deeper swims on the Ribble but it hard work on the arms. OK if you can at least put it in a front rest and fish (trot) down your bank.
It has some backbone for big fish once the bend gets past the two top sections.
I really enjoy fishing with it if you've got the room to wield it.

My 18/20 ft rod is the Shakespeare Annexe Float rod which although a little unwieldy to hold for long periods; is not as bad as some other rods that I have tried of the same length, and it can still be a great tool to use in certain conditions in conjunction with a rod rest.

I think I would buy one of the more modern 17ft Acolytes if I were to fish the same venues today although my old 18/20ft Shakespeare Annexe Float rod would still be usable if I were really pushed.

Keith

 

[rob48]

I understand the reasoning for using a long rod, in fact I owned a 15/18/21fter, trouble is it didn't do what I wanted to do efficiently as the weight and imbalance created awkwardness, also in my experience rods of 15ft and above are not as good as rods that are shorter for playing fish, I've had disagreements about this before on FM, so please take note of the 'in my experience', because nothing anyone says will change my own experiences, if you hold a 13 or 14ft rod of any make and pick up its longer stablemate it feels all wrong... these rods are better than the older offerings, but I feel my control is better with a normal length of rod because it feels right in the hand, however if you are fishing deep running water a lot there isn't much option but to use a longun...

Hi Alan, I would have agreed with your opinion on longer rods compared to "normal" length until I got hold of a 17' Acolyte.
I find the action of the 17' much preferable to the 13s and 14s because it's got a stiffer middle and is quite tippy, the shorter ones feel the opposite to me, being too soft in the middle for line control and I can't get on with them at all, I own an Ultra and I've tried the other one, both feel the same.
On a similar note I don't use waggler rods longer than 13', anything beyond that feels too long and unwieldly, and it's not as though you're fishing a tight line to it like with a stick or other t&b float anyway.

 

[Alan Whitty]

I've had a fish with my mates acolyte 17ft, but it is nothing more than bearable imho and I wouldn't spend that amount of money on something I don't use grudgingly but a few times a year, but as I say I don't fish 11ft plus waters with double rubber floats that often, if I did my arm would be forced and I would have to go kicking and screaming to the tackle shop.

 

[Mark Wintle]

I don't know if you've now got a rod but I'd be inclined to start looking at decent 13ft rods unless the river you're fishing is exceptionally deep. I use 13ft match rods for almost all my trotting, even for water that's 12 to 13ft deep. A shorter rod is far more wieldy and has, ideally, what I call a 'crisp' action.

 

[xenon]

don't think I have ever seen or used a rod over 15ft which wasn't about as useless as spaghetti.

 

[nottskev]

I think long rods are great - provided you get them for specific purposes and not just because they're there. I first bought a 17' Tricast Finesse, a spliced tip design, in the late 90's to fish a gently flowing section of the Weaver at Northwich which had 12' of roach-filled water at your feet. Of course it was heavier and more unwieldy than a 13' or 14' rod, but for all that it was crisp on the strike and perfectly manageable. You never had to wind the float into the tip ring to net fish and keeping the line behind the float - the wind was always down the river - was a piece of cake. I still use it when it suits, and made a short butt to allow a 15' option. I used it recently to fish down the middle on a flowing canal - a Trent weir by-pass round the town - with a pin. If you can fish from a sitting down position, rod arm resting on your leg, the extra weight is nothing compared to what you gain in SOME circumstances. If anyone finds a good 17' rod a trial, they've probably not done much pole fishing on running water.