Chris, you know i've got the DH RS powerfloat version and comparing the rod to my accy plus rods it's no more powerfull, infact it doesn't feel as powerfull under load!\par
Now according to all the blurb from DH and daiwa the RS PF is meant to be a very powerfull float rod for bullying in large barbel etc....so where does the accy fit in?
There are always going to be anomalies and inconsistencies between manufacturers and individual models. Ultimately, just putting Specimen, Power or any other synonym tells you almost nothing of a rods actual power. However, I suspect that anything Dave Harrell has had a hand in is also not very likely to be quite as heavy as many modern rods. I'd expect a relatively old school (primarily river) angler to have a very similar outlook and view of float rods as you (and others on here). Ultimately, you can put whatever name you want on a rod, it doesn't necessarily mean much. You can only ever generalise, but I'd still maintain that the average power rod now is way heavier than an average power rod of 20-30 years back. I'll also stick with my thinking that the Acolyte Ultra is a light actioned rod by modern standards and that the Acolyte Plus, as nice as it is, isn't overly powerful. The fact that you, I, and others might have landed some seriously big fish with them doesn't change anything. I've landed just as big with match rods that make no pretence of being stepped up in any way. It's much like the "steely" description I saw applied to an Acolyte recently. To me, steely conjures rather excessive images of power. I suspect that the comment was actually referring to the action being faster than his preference. This is the biggest issue we face when using these unquantified terms. Test curves are anything but perfect, but at least they aren't vague and indeterminate descriptions.
After using the accy for hit and hold purposes I was curiois about it compared to other rods so I actually tested numerous different rods in the exact same spot and it was an eye opener! I tried heavier rods like the Hardy marksman 11ft and 11ft 6inch avon rods and they seemed to bend round to the same degree as the accy float rod, as did my avenger, drennan im8 specimen float etc....sounds like bull I know but I have no reason to make it up and i'm sure you know me well enough to know that's not my style.
Maybe the old match rods with the lighter line ratings where more powerfull than we remember.
I've little doubt that many match rods are/were under rated. Line ratings alone can often be rather dubious. However, I still have no doubt at all that the general trend for float rods, as with carp rods, barbel rods, poles etc, is for them to be increasingly powerful. What was considered light twenty to thirty years back, is nigh on impossible to find now. Genuinely light actioned float rods are few and far between. The "standard" of every type of rod is invariably heavier than the standard of yesteryear. 30 years back, a 2.5lb carp rod was heavy. These days it's about as light as you'll find. A few manufacturers don't do less than 2.75lb. Barbel rods are the same, 1.75lb is pretty much the standard, I remember my first proper carp rods being 1.75lb. Though it's much harder to quantify, I've little doubt that float rods have gone down the same road regarding upward power creep.
P.S. I checked the keeper rings on three of the upper ranges of Daiwa float rods a week or two back. The vast majority were stiff or varnished up completely solid.
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