Thomas Turner
Trade Member
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2017
- Messages
- 15,495
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WOW FACTOR
In my experience a good fishing rod jumps out at you. As soon as you pick up something special, that sense of balance, feel factor and great action, all tell you instantly this is the product for you. Some of this detail might be tiny, but little things make a big difference in the way rods perform. A couple of grams in the wrong place can alter the action considerably. To prove this point, one of my feeder rods takes both hollow carbon and solid fibreglass quivertips. The lighter hollow tips make the rod super-fast recovery wise. Shake it, bend it, cast with it and the blank doesn’t bounce around, straightening up in a split second. But plug in one of the heavier fibreglass quivertips and a different beast emerges. The whole thing turns softer and tends to wander all over the place.
THE DIFFERENCE
The way I see it is the better the rod, the more you will catch. Lazy actions cast poorly and are slow on the strike, not good ingredients for catching fabulous fish like these jumbo perch. They were caught from a day ticket lake, the type of venue where bigger fish are streetwise to say the least. Without my favourite quivertip rod, I doubt I would have seen these beauties. They both gave tiny taps on a sensitive bite indicator, which I somehow connected with. Catching specimen sized fish is all about accuracy, good tackle presentation and quick reactions; factors not possible to achieve if a rod isn’t up to the task. Put in simple terms, would a pro golfer use a cheap driver? I doubt it. Better tools go further and it’s the same with high modulus carbon. It’s lighter and faster in action than low modulus. It costs more but does so much more.
AVONS
John Bailey loves a traditional 11ft Avon rod for his river fishing, seen here in action playing a River Wye chub. Having fished with John, I now fully understand why these light specimen blanks remain immensely popular on flowing water. They are very versatile because they can be used for float, feeder, or legering. High modulus blanks, like this Thomas Turner prototype, provide excellent feel factor. This is vital for techniques like touch legering, where you need to hold the line to pick up on any indications that a good fish is out there, messing around with your baited hook. Slight plucks and trembles are transmitted through the line and down the rod. A dead blank won’t show up much, if anything. An Avon is a natural step up from a conventional float or quivertip rod.
FLOAT RODS
Traditional float rods range from 11ft to 15ft. Shorter versions suit canals, drains and smaller rivers, although currently 10ft to 11ft pellet waggler models are all the rage on the commercials for bagging shallow feeding carp. Back in the heyday of canal match fishing, soft actioned 3-piece 11ft float rods were very popular. Modern pellet waggler models are simply 2-piece stepped-up follow-ons in my opinion. I preferred a slightly longer 12ft through action rod for my towpath fishing, finding it picked the line up better, especially when canals were towing due to locks operating. 13ft is an ideal length for a good all-round float blank, which can cover both waggler and stick float fishing. Longer 14ft and 15ft float rods come into their own for trotting bigger rivers and slider fishing in deep venues.
A LIGHTER TOUCH
Chub can be fickle feeders and I’ve often found scaling down to small hooks and fine lines is the best way to trick them. I aim to get a bite first and then worry about landing the fish afterwards. But this isn’t a casual, thoughtless approach. I know what my favourite rods can do and how light tackle can be perfectly balanced with the right tool for the job. Unless a wily old fish unexpectedly finds a snag, it’s almost impossible to break off with the forgiving blanks I use. It’s also exciting hooking into a big lump on fine gear after carefully building up a river glide, or wading through lots of smaller fish. I’ve caught good chub from canals and lakes, along with more normal habitats like small, medium and large rivers. These canny street fighters are one of my favourite species.
BOMB RODS
Short quivertip rods, often referred to as bomb designs, have come back into fashion. I’m talking about 9ft to 10ft blanks with super-sensitive plug-in indicators. I used similar models many years ago on canals, drains and smaller stillwaters. These days I like employing them with mini feeders, particularly blockend and pellet designs. The shorter the rod, the more accurate your casting is likely to be. Short rods also let you fish more comfortably in cramped swims, searching largely ignored areas. The latter tend to be just beyond pole reach and short of where most feeder anglers cast to. The Thomas Turner 10ft Bomb Rod is due out soon and is a special piece of kit, which I’ve already grown to love.
METHOD RODS
Like the way shorter canal waggler rods metamorphasised into pellet waggler designs, short quivertip models have been stepped up in power in many cases, turning into bagging tools for popular method feeder fishing. You don’t really need a long blank for this, because carp virtually hang themselves on semi-bolt rigs with short hook lengths. It’s very effective but not really my cup of tea. I prefer a bit more finesse with helicopter or pellet feeder options, where I can use forgiving rods and get away with it. Some modern feeder rods are extremely stiff, to the point where you need to hold your breath when playing good fish close in, praying the hook doesn’t pull free.
BUSY SESSIONS
The finesse side of coarse fishing has always appealed to me. I’d rather catch loads of silvers all day, as opposed to sitting it out for one or two lumpy carp. I will of course target bigger fish occasionally, but couldn’t do it all the time. I love trying to conjure bites out of nothing, seeing a float constantly going under, or a quivertip pulling round. It was never easy on venues like park lakes and canals where I started my fishing, so I can’t let the watercraft side of things go. Apart from light actioned rods, I also prefer my whips, margin and long poles not to be over-powerful.
FEEDER CRAZE
Back in my early club days, feeder fishing on the River Thames just outside London was all about the blockend feeder. The main species to expect was dace. At that time this method was frowned on as being on the crude side by many river purists, who much preferred using stick floats or wagglers. But even back then there were some anglers who were masters at feeder fishing, catching loads more than everyone else. The concept of feeder fishing has changed now, where it has become an art form for many anglers. All sorts of new ideas have emerged such as timing casts, utilising distance marker sticks and combining big pit reels with beefy rods that can launch tackle to the horizon.
NEW WAYS
Things have changed dramatically with swim feeder fishing, compared to the good old days and the Thamesly blockends I once used. Some designs like Kamasan Black Caps have stood the test of time, but method, pellet and hybrid designs are now more widely used. Groundbait, or open-enders have modernised, with lots of variation. These include sandwich style models, heavy big river jobs and metal cages with side leads neatly moulded on. Blockends provide many interesting options as well, with low profile river designs, long chuck base weight models and another type of hybrid called a window feeder. This is like a base weight blockend but with a side window that allows neat bait to be plugged in with a wad of groundbait, brilliant for casting long range and beating side winds.
ALL CHANGE
When the first long 13ft feeder rods came onto the market back in the late 80s and early 90s, we thought 60 to 70 metres was a long chuck. I remember getting tennis elbow trying to cast a maggot feeder across the River Thames at Pangbourne, to catch the chub that lived close to the bush and treed lined far bank. These days feeder anglers are using powerful quivertip rods and big pit style reels that can but base weight feeders much greater distances. Carp anglers are going out even further, with 150 metre or even 200 metre casts not out of the question. Obviously, the carbon rods capable of going to these extremes need to be something special. Collector’s items one day?
CANE TO CARBON
I started fishing with a three-piece split cane rod, my dad brought back from a business trip to the Far East. It was really a fly blank, but I caught plenty of roach, perch and gudgeon with it on my local park lake. Then came fibreglass coarse rods, which I happily used for many years. They were bulky and heavy compared to current standards. Then the real game changer hit the market in the form of carbon, which is lightweight and so much faster performance wise, surviving the test of time for several decades. However, I can fully understand why many anglers cherish and still use older cane and fibreglass rods. They bring back great memories of a more innocent, less complicated world. I love my modern carbon rods but will never forget how they evolved and what went before them.
The post ROD SCIENCE appeared first on Thomas Turner Fishing Antiques.
Continue reading...
In my experience a good fishing rod jumps out at you. As soon as you pick up something special, that sense of balance, feel factor and great action, all tell you instantly this is the product for you. Some of this detail might be tiny, but little things make a big difference in the way rods perform. A couple of grams in the wrong place can alter the action considerably. To prove this point, one of my feeder rods takes both hollow carbon and solid fibreglass quivertips. The lighter hollow tips make the rod super-fast recovery wise. Shake it, bend it, cast with it and the blank doesn’t bounce around, straightening up in a split second. But plug in one of the heavier fibreglass quivertips and a different beast emerges. The whole thing turns softer and tends to wander all over the place.
THE DIFFERENCE
The way I see it is the better the rod, the more you will catch. Lazy actions cast poorly and are slow on the strike, not good ingredients for catching fabulous fish like these jumbo perch. They were caught from a day ticket lake, the type of venue where bigger fish are streetwise to say the least. Without my favourite quivertip rod, I doubt I would have seen these beauties. They both gave tiny taps on a sensitive bite indicator, which I somehow connected with. Catching specimen sized fish is all about accuracy, good tackle presentation and quick reactions; factors not possible to achieve if a rod isn’t up to the task. Put in simple terms, would a pro golfer use a cheap driver? I doubt it. Better tools go further and it’s the same with high modulus carbon. It’s lighter and faster in action than low modulus. It costs more but does so much more.
AVONS
John Bailey loves a traditional 11ft Avon rod for his river fishing, seen here in action playing a River Wye chub. Having fished with John, I now fully understand why these light specimen blanks remain immensely popular on flowing water. They are very versatile because they can be used for float, feeder, or legering. High modulus blanks, like this Thomas Turner prototype, provide excellent feel factor. This is vital for techniques like touch legering, where you need to hold the line to pick up on any indications that a good fish is out there, messing around with your baited hook. Slight plucks and trembles are transmitted through the line and down the rod. A dead blank won’t show up much, if anything. An Avon is a natural step up from a conventional float or quivertip rod.
FLOAT RODS
Traditional float rods range from 11ft to 15ft. Shorter versions suit canals, drains and smaller rivers, although currently 10ft to 11ft pellet waggler models are all the rage on the commercials for bagging shallow feeding carp. Back in the heyday of canal match fishing, soft actioned 3-piece 11ft float rods were very popular. Modern pellet waggler models are simply 2-piece stepped-up follow-ons in my opinion. I preferred a slightly longer 12ft through action rod for my towpath fishing, finding it picked the line up better, especially when canals were towing due to locks operating. 13ft is an ideal length for a good all-round float blank, which can cover both waggler and stick float fishing. Longer 14ft and 15ft float rods come into their own for trotting bigger rivers and slider fishing in deep venues.
A LIGHTER TOUCH
Chub can be fickle feeders and I’ve often found scaling down to small hooks and fine lines is the best way to trick them. I aim to get a bite first and then worry about landing the fish afterwards. But this isn’t a casual, thoughtless approach. I know what my favourite rods can do and how light tackle can be perfectly balanced with the right tool for the job. Unless a wily old fish unexpectedly finds a snag, it’s almost impossible to break off with the forgiving blanks I use. It’s also exciting hooking into a big lump on fine gear after carefully building up a river glide, or wading through lots of smaller fish. I’ve caught good chub from canals and lakes, along with more normal habitats like small, medium and large rivers. These canny street fighters are one of my favourite species.
BOMB RODS
Short quivertip rods, often referred to as bomb designs, have come back into fashion. I’m talking about 9ft to 10ft blanks with super-sensitive plug-in indicators. I used similar models many years ago on canals, drains and smaller stillwaters. These days I like employing them with mini feeders, particularly blockend and pellet designs. The shorter the rod, the more accurate your casting is likely to be. Short rods also let you fish more comfortably in cramped swims, searching largely ignored areas. The latter tend to be just beyond pole reach and short of where most feeder anglers cast to. The Thomas Turner 10ft Bomb Rod is due out soon and is a special piece of kit, which I’ve already grown to love.
METHOD RODS
Like the way shorter canal waggler rods metamorphasised into pellet waggler designs, short quivertip models have been stepped up in power in many cases, turning into bagging tools for popular method feeder fishing. You don’t really need a long blank for this, because carp virtually hang themselves on semi-bolt rigs with short hook lengths. It’s very effective but not really my cup of tea. I prefer a bit more finesse with helicopter or pellet feeder options, where I can use forgiving rods and get away with it. Some modern feeder rods are extremely stiff, to the point where you need to hold your breath when playing good fish close in, praying the hook doesn’t pull free.
BUSY SESSIONS
The finesse side of coarse fishing has always appealed to me. I’d rather catch loads of silvers all day, as opposed to sitting it out for one or two lumpy carp. I will of course target bigger fish occasionally, but couldn’t do it all the time. I love trying to conjure bites out of nothing, seeing a float constantly going under, or a quivertip pulling round. It was never easy on venues like park lakes and canals where I started my fishing, so I can’t let the watercraft side of things go. Apart from light actioned rods, I also prefer my whips, margin and long poles not to be over-powerful.
FEEDER CRAZE
Back in my early club days, feeder fishing on the River Thames just outside London was all about the blockend feeder. The main species to expect was dace. At that time this method was frowned on as being on the crude side by many river purists, who much preferred using stick floats or wagglers. But even back then there were some anglers who were masters at feeder fishing, catching loads more than everyone else. The concept of feeder fishing has changed now, where it has become an art form for many anglers. All sorts of new ideas have emerged such as timing casts, utilising distance marker sticks and combining big pit reels with beefy rods that can launch tackle to the horizon.
NEW WAYS
Things have changed dramatically with swim feeder fishing, compared to the good old days and the Thamesly blockends I once used. Some designs like Kamasan Black Caps have stood the test of time, but method, pellet and hybrid designs are now more widely used. Groundbait, or open-enders have modernised, with lots of variation. These include sandwich style models, heavy big river jobs and metal cages with side leads neatly moulded on. Blockends provide many interesting options as well, with low profile river designs, long chuck base weight models and another type of hybrid called a window feeder. This is like a base weight blockend but with a side window that allows neat bait to be plugged in with a wad of groundbait, brilliant for casting long range and beating side winds.
ALL CHANGE
When the first long 13ft feeder rods came onto the market back in the late 80s and early 90s, we thought 60 to 70 metres was a long chuck. I remember getting tennis elbow trying to cast a maggot feeder across the River Thames at Pangbourne, to catch the chub that lived close to the bush and treed lined far bank. These days feeder anglers are using powerful quivertip rods and big pit style reels that can but base weight feeders much greater distances. Carp anglers are going out even further, with 150 metre or even 200 metre casts not out of the question. Obviously, the carbon rods capable of going to these extremes need to be something special. Collector’s items one day?
CANE TO CARBON
I started fishing with a three-piece split cane rod, my dad brought back from a business trip to the Far East. It was really a fly blank, but I caught plenty of roach, perch and gudgeon with it on my local park lake. Then came fibreglass coarse rods, which I happily used for many years. They were bulky and heavy compared to current standards. Then the real game changer hit the market in the form of carbon, which is lightweight and so much faster performance wise, surviving the test of time for several decades. However, I can fully understand why many anglers cherish and still use older cane and fibreglass rods. They bring back great memories of a more innocent, less complicated world. I love my modern carbon rods but will never forget how they evolved and what went before them.
The post ROD SCIENCE appeared first on Thomas Turner Fishing Antiques.
Continue reading...