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Mid Price Rod Test

For this test we decided on popular rods for river and stillwater fishing with a maxmium price of about £150. We actually went over this limit by £9. We would like to thank Greys of Alnwick, Loop of Sweden, Guide Flyfishing (Redington and Vision), Svendsen Sports (Scierra) and Snowbee for lending us rods for our test. A number of other manufacturers were approached but we were looking at rods that were supplied (in time) for the test.

Further thanks go to Snowbee for supplying us with a set of reels and lines which we used for testing. This ensured that we all tested each rod with the same line or lines. We were all very impressed with the quality of the lines and reels. The lines came off the reels nice and straight, did not tangle and shot very well. Excellent value at £33 for a floating weight forward line.

The reels were Prestige and Prestige large arbor fly reels, costing in the UK between £65 and £99. Although we did not "fish" the reels and so cannot comment, for example, on the efficiency of the drags, they were all very nice to use, handle and look at as well as being well made. The reels were supplied in a Snowbee neoprene reel case. This is a very useful piece of equipment for any angler who carries a number of reels or reels and spools when going fishing.

Unfortunately due to a late delivery (the fault of the delivery company) Richard Slaughter was not able to test the two Scierra rods.

Thanks also to Mike Smith of Bure Valley Lakes for the use of his excellent stillwater fishery in North Norfolk.

As with our previous travel rod test, we have listed the rods in alphabetical order and, when there was more than one rod from a manufacturer, the shortest first.

The Testers

Simon Lewin: A relative newcomer to any sort of fishing, Simon set up Fish & Fly in 1998 simply because he couldn't find the information he was looking for elsewhere online. After just 4 years or so of fly-fishing he still considers himself a 'learner' and spends far too long untangling knotted leaders. Still enjoys stillwater fishing but finds the pursuit of wild (or wildish) fish my more satisfying.

Richard Slaughter: Richard describes himself as a "mad scientist" (quite sane actually. Ed) who has been fishing most of his life. He was brought up on coarse fishing around the Norfolk Broads and then moved into carp fishing. About 15 years ago he was introduced to flyfishing by a friend and has never looked back. His main experience is with stillwater nymphing and buzzer fishing.

He dosen't like lures very much and changes to dry flies at the first sign of movement. He has done some reservoir fishing from both bank and boat and still learns something new everyday. Over the years his stillwater tackle has become lighter and river fishing is the next thing to try. He is a self-taught caster who, while he can cast a full line, is always striving to improve.

Terry Lawton: Terry runs Fish & Fly with Simon and describes himself as an improver with plenty of room for improvement! He has yet to cast a full line (he's getting nearer) and still remains to be convinced of the need so to do. Most of his fishing is on rivers where accuracy is more important than distance although when he was in Sweden, the ability to be able to cast a good length of line was important.

He caught his first proper fish, a dace,when he was five and started fishing for trout in his mid-teens. Sailing and dinghy racing then got in the way but he resumed his love affair with fly fishing some 15 years ago. As well as fishing in the UK, he has fished in Sweden, France and Scotland. Chile is next on the wish list!

The Rods