Drennan or Cadence?

[RMNDIL]

It's different actions for different jobs really.

My all-time favourite was a pair of 12ft Fothergill & Harvey spliced tips from mid 80's which I made up from blanks. The spliced tip was very likely unnecessary as the blank was mellow anyway. Too mellow for effective stick float work, tight line, flick of the wrist type work as you'd just bump fish and not set the hook. But brilliant waggler rod and superb for fishing on The Channel when you were side casting to get under the far bank branches. The IM8 Super Sticks with single legged guides run it a close 2nd but are still 2nd - better on the stick but brilliant on the waggler.

And yet my ORIGINAL Stick Float rods were, and still are, my favourite stillwater Tench rods fishing something like 5lb straight through !!!

Crystalites were excellent for decent fish on very light lines (1lb and under) but not useful for catching lots of silvers - being too slow.

It's all horses for courses

 

[Kevin aka Aethelbald]

I have a 14ft Acolyte Plus and the new Specimen, also 14ft. Both are light enough to fish all day long without wrist fatigue and crisp enough to effortlessly mend line at distance. With the Plus I've had double figure nuisance pike and river carp and never felt the rod was going to pack in before the fish did. Not entirely sure I'll keep the Specimen, but the itch was scratched with a 6lb chub, second cast.

I briefly had the latest incarnation of the Daiwa Connoisseur Pro in 13ft and 14ft. The 13ft was nicely balanced, but the extra length and swing weight of the 14ft was noticeable compared to the Acolyte so that was returned. I sold the 13ft to my best mate, so I can still use it any time I like - as yet I've not had chance, but it does feel more 'alive', with more of a through action than the Acolyte Plus, and I suspect it will have a nicer playing action.
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[mikench]

Choice of rods is like choices in music; a bewildering choice , horses for courses and with many an old model much preferred to the new.

 

[peterjg]

It always amazes me that we anglers are more concerned with rods than with baits, how to feed and presentation! The fish don't know or care which rod we use.

 

[Keith M]

It always amazes me that we anglers are more concerned with rods than with baits, how to feed and presentation! The fish don't know or care which rod we use.

How to feed and presentation is important regardless of what rod you are using; however; having a great rod (although not essential) can make your fishing even more enjoyable.

Keith

 

[RMNDIL]

It always amazes me that we anglers are more concerned with rods than with baits, how to feed and presentation! The fish don't know or care which rod we use.

Of course they, as well as many other things, are very important. But you can also make things more difficult or even impossible with use of completely the wrong rod

 

[rob48]

Nice rods but maybe overpriced when I worked in the trade we had a couple but had to mark them right down to around £200 to clear them. From memory the finish wasn't great and the handle was marmite.

Having just had a look at some of mine that are five or six years old now the finish is no better or worse than the other Drennan, Milo, Cadence, Rive, Shimano, Shakespeare, Garbolino and the rest of the rods that I own.
The thing I find is that other Sphere users that I speak to tend to comment more about how they enjoy using the rod due to its action and those who go on about the handle don't own one and haven't fished with one.

 

[rob48]

It always amazes me that we anglers are more concerned with rods than with baits, how to feed and presentation! The fish don't know or care which rod we use.

The attributes of the rod are an essential element of how the tackle and bait are presented on the rivers that I fish, hence my choice not to use the acolytes in the lengths mentioned.

 

[peterjg]

Chaps: my earlier post was a bit tongue in cheek. Fishing rods are a bit like cars in so much as we all have different tastes and requirements. I think that my FT is great - but if you saw it you'd laugh your socks off and think what a batterered load of rubbish! Some of my homemade stuff my son visibly shudders at the sight of it but I still catch more than my fair share.

 

[Alan Whitty]

Good anglers would catch fish on Geoff Boycott's stick of rhubarb, but in the main good anglers chase an edge, so something more efficient must enable that...

 

[chevin4]

Having just had a look at some of mine that are five or six years old now the finish is no better or worse than the other Drennan, Milo, Cadence, Rive, Shimano, Shakespeare, Garbolino and the rest of the rods that I own.
The thing I find is that other Sphere users that I speak to tend to comment more about how they enjoy using the rod due to its action and those who go on about the handle don't own one and haven't fished with one.

The rod is obviously decent as anglers on here really rate it. However for the price point I would expect a good quality cork handle rather then dupion which is cheap in comparison to cork. I would have no need of this rod as my float fishing needs are more than covered by a Acolyte plus,14ft Drennan IM9 ,Free Spirit Tamer, a couple of Harrison GTis and a Cadence 11ft which Alan (Whitty) recommended to me. I guess if I was a match angler than the Sphere would be subject to serious consideration particularly the spliced tip version for quick biting silvers

 

[Kevin aka Aethelbald]

.... my float fishing needs are more than covered by a Acolyte plus,14ft Drennan IM9 ,Free Spirit Tamer, a couple of Harrison GTis and a Cadence 11ft....

I get stick for getting through a lot of gear, but ALL of my float fishing needs are satisfied by ONE* rod, a 14ft Acolyte Plus. (I scratched an itch with the Specimen, but it's surplus to requirements.)

* I could probably do with the addition of an 11ft float rod, for roaming and the tightest spots.
.

 

[Alan Whitty]

But do rods fish any better with cork handles Hugh? The problem is some anglers think duplon is easier to clean and maintain, not me, I'm indifferent, pretty rods mean nothing to me, as long as it has reasonable rings and reel seat on a good blank nirvana has been reached, lol....

 

[nottskev]

I make do with a Drennan Ultralight 11', Shimano XXX, Diaflash and Ultegra 12's, Daiwa Amorphous Whisker Heavy and Light 13's, a Diaflash 13', a couple of Shimano Diaflash 14's, a Harrison Insight 14', a Tri Cast Finesse Spliced Tip 17', a Shimano Technium Diaflash 15' Specimen, a couple of PI Asaki Carbonactive 15/17's and a Shimano Aspire 15/17'. Any shortage of fish, I'll blame it on the difficulty of sourcing a Browning Sphere.

Do rods fish better with cork handles? Yes. They please me to the degree that foam rubber handles depress me, and who doesn't fish better when they like their rods? -)

 

[rob48]

The rod is obviously decent as anglers on here really rate it. However for the price point I would expect a good quality cork handle rather then dupion which is cheap in comparison to cork. I would have no need of this rod as my float fishing needs are more than covered by a Acolyte plus,14ft Drennan IM9 ,Free Spirit Tamer, a couple of Harrison GTis and a Cadence 11ft which Alan (Whitty) recommended to me. I guess if I was a match angler than the Sphere would be subject to serious consideration particularly the spliced tip version for quick biting silvers

The handle is of little importance compared to what happens in front of it to me. I hold the bit where the reel fits and don't think much about the rest apart from perhaps wiping off mud and bait traces at the end of the session.

 

[Alan Whitty]

But Kev, nowadays most match rods have dupion on them, I have an intense dislike of compound cork(which Drennan use on the Acolyte on the screw down), does it affect me fishing with it, not a jot, I don't like the golden metal butt cap, not because of how it looks, but because if I'm fishing on concrete or hard surfaces I'm conscious of not wanting to scratch it, but on my Cadence rods the hard plastic ends are impervious, most other rods dont have metal, some have just cork, which I don't think is ideal, did/does it stop me using them, nah, because the blank is good and if I wear them I would happily pay to have them redone, as Rob says it's only what goes on with the rod itself that matters to me and it would be sold on pretty quick if I wasn't that keen on its functionality....

 

[nottskev]

Believe it or not, I agree the front end of the rod is more important then the back end. But fortunately, it's possible to find rods that please me at both ends, so those are the ones I use, and sometimes modify them to that end. I take the view that the rod is a tool, but not just a tool and even some tools are more beautiful and good to handle than others.
I see there's no room for levity in this - we're talking cork handle not fork handles.

 

[Alan Whitty]

Handles for forks....
I don't recall seeing a beautiful rod, lol, as I said a few times on FM, at one time I was very tempted to have a rod made up with shocking pink whipping to poo-hoo the idea that fish spooked from the shiny rod surface, I shed from that because I was threatened with gay club membership, lol...

 

[Kevin aka Aethelbald]

But Kev, nowadays most match rods have dupion on them, I have an intense dislike of compound cork(which Drennan use on the Acolyte on the screw down)...

I like the composite cork on the screw-down part of the Acolytes. I think Daiwa do the nicest handles, like the ones on the Connoisseur Pro and a similar one on the new Theory Speci rods (which is another topic, but I'm looking forward to getting my mitts on one). Both have Duplon screw-down parts:

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[RMNDIL]

I make do with a Drennan Ultralight 11', Shimano XXX, Diaflash and Ultegra 12's, Daiwa Amorphous Whisker Heavy and Light 13's, a Diaflash 13', a couple of Shimano Diaflash 14's, a Harrison Insight 14', a Tri Cast Finesse Spliced Tip 17', a Shimano Technium Diaflash 15' Specimen, a couple of PI Asaki Carbonactive 15/17's and a Shimano Aspire 15/17'. Any shortage of fish, I'll blame it on the difficulty of sourcing a Browning Sphere.

Pssssstttttttt.......wanna buy a rod.............