What rods to buy?

[Boro5707]

Hi guys,

After a bit of advice, just got back into fishing after about 10 years off. I am wanting to upgrade my rods and reels. Looking at getting 2 new rods. First one for rough ground/cliff work under £300 and a reel to go with it. Second one for cleaner/mixed ground with good bite indication (more for scratching). Under £250 and a reel to go with it. Always had century rods and Abu's reels previously. Still have my gear from the 90s which are fine but about time I upgraded into the 21st century. Any advice would be appreciated as am not really in the know currently.

[blugsden]

Hi guys,

After a bit of advice, just got back into fishing after about 10 years off. I am wanting to upgrade my rods and reels. Looking at getting 2 new rods. First one for rough ground/cliff work under £300 and a reel to go with it. Second one for cleaner/mixed ground with good bite indication (more for scratching). Under £250 and a reel to go with it. Always had century rods and Abu's reels previously. Still have my gear from the 90s which are fine but about time I upgraded into the 21st century. Any advice would be appreciated as am not really in the know currently.

Some second hand deals on this site worth looking into.

[smoothound]

there's an ex shop display century ttr big danny on ebay at the moment for £300. i use 1 and they're awesome rods for casting and rough ground work.CENTURY TTR BIG DANNY BEACH CASTER RUNG WITH BNHG EYES ex shop display | eBay

[david.northeast]

You wont go wrong with century mate
Komp ss with do ur rough ground
Tip tornado match or super match for scratching

[dave1985]

I bought tip tornado sport not long ago after a lot of advice off people on here and I love it :-)

[Persues]

That was the same situation I was in a few months ago, returning to sea fishing after a long break only to find everything has changed.

I still had my Paul Kerry, Daiwa Moonraker and Penn INXS 2 Ground cast rods, and various Abu multipliers, but I was looking for mixed/rough ground rods in the main and I asked a lot of questions on here and got some good advice and lots of suggestions.

After considering a lot of alternatives I ended up with a pair of Century Kompressor Super Sport rods. They are everything people told me they would be - they can cast for miles (for the odd venue that requires distance) and they have great bite detection, even in heavy seas.

For mooching around with lighter terminal tackle the Shakespeare Salt Bass or Flattie are both inexpensive options. The flattie version could detect the bite of a gnat – I prefer the bass myself. A better rod by far is the Greys GRX S Bass which throws a 3-5oz sinker, as opposed to the Salt’s 2-4oz rating. I use an old Abu 6500 Ultra Cast on mine with 15lb mainline and it can cast a very, very long way even with a good sized bait. Both rods are under the £100 mark and although they aren't in the same league as the Century match rods the Greys is especially good and I absolutely love fishing with it.

For reels everyone was suggesting Daiwa SL30SH multipliers so I bought a pair.

After trying them I found that I absolutely hated them, so I ended up with a pair of Akios 757 CS reels. These are basically an Abu 7000, built even better than the old Abu reels were.

They work well for me but are not everyone’s cup of tea - most people will tell you to buy a multiplier with magnetic braking, and there are plenty of good ones to choose from, but my own take on this is that mag reels are largely academic for actual fishing. Great for distance throwing if that’s your thing, but most anglers don't use the mags unless they are casting into the teeth of a gale, so what's the point in having them ?

You will also be told not to buy a levelwind multiplier but, again, I disagree with this since for rough/mixed ground fishing any reduction in the maximum theoretical casting distance possible is offset by the simple fact that you will usually be casting short distances anyway. Many of the north east rock marks I fish require an underarm swing, and some of them are a straight down drop, but I can punch big distances even with the levelwind Akios, so this is all relative to the angler using the kit.

I think there is too much emphasis placed on potential distance rather than fishing.

It all comes down to what you feel comfortable with so, if it works, it’s all good.

A good rod option that doesn’t break the bank is the Ron Thompson Axellerator

An arguably better option is the Imax Equation, both around £100, so neither one hammers the wallet.

You can spend a lot, but you don’t need to.

I went with the Akios reels because I am most familiar and comfortable with Abus, having cut my teeth on them, and I can throw a good way with them and not bother about manually laying the line on the spool. The auto-engage of the clutch is another feature I am a big fan of.

The Penn Fathom 15 is one that I am currently considering, but this is once again because I prefer centrifugally braked reels. I have nothing against magnetic reels or those who use/prefer them, but I leave the mags set on 2 or 3 on my reels and never faff with them after that, which kind of defeats the object...

Where abouts are you based ?

I live just north of Whitley Bay, and you’d be welcome to see and try some or all of the kit I mentioned above, which is always a great way to figure whether something suits you or not.

I have a pair of SL30SH and Akios reels (as well as a selection of Abus, including a C3 CT Mag High Speed) and I have a pair of the Century Kompressor Super Sport rods, the Shakespeare Salt Bass and the Greys GRS X Bass, among others, which you’d be welcome to have a lash with.

Good luck, no matter what you end up with

[smithy ov c.ham]

For the ruff stuff I would defo go for the black ttr u can gen a good 2nd hand 1 for 250 then the rest of your 300 I would get a second hand 525 mag or try the e1000 if you need the extra length for the cliff tops.
As for the nxt rod a would go for a tippy sport or a zippy m4 both class rods with mint bite detection, iv had a few rods mate and the best I've used is me ttr with me zippy m4

[wavy davy]

Dont need to spend lots on a rod for rough ground, go for the Ron Thompson Axcellerator, cracking rod for the price around £130.00