Exclusive on-the-bank tests of Korum’s new carp float rod range and more.
Long two-piece float rods are perfect for stalking
NOW here’s something a little bit different from Korum – a new range of Carp Float rods in 12ft and 13ft lengths with 1.5lb and 1.75lb test curves.
What’s so unusual about that, you may ask? Well, they are intended to put the fun and pleasure back into carp fishing, by enabling anglers to use stealthy float tactics rather than today’s more usual straight lead or Method feeder approaches.
The K-Flex carbon blanks
have a powerful parabolic action that kicks in steadily as pressure is applied, and both rods will handle big carp with aplomb.
Other key features include matt black livery, full cork handles, and rugged nylon reel seats with black metal hoods. You also get eight light, double-legged ceramic-lined guides.
The downside is that such a powerful progressive action reduces casting capabilities a tad, so if you’re harbouring notions of using one to plonk a 4AA waggler 30 yards out, forget it.
They will indeed reach such distances, and more besides, but only when partnered with heavier floats from 20g upwards.
That’s not a negative in my book, as I reckon their longer lengths and superb action make these ideal stalking rods – the extra reach can be used to delicately present a baited hook close to marginal reeds or snags.
I can already hear mutterings that most stalking rods are short 7ft to 9ft affairs for dropping leads and PVA bags into holes in weed.
But find a reed-fringed lake, get your chest waders on and put a few free offerings into likely looking spots. Chances are you’ll find a few fish feeding, and now you can silently drop a bait right on top of their noses, with instant and explosive results.
The reed-fringed waters of Willowbrook Lake in Northants play host to plenty of decent-sized fish that like to roam around the margins looking for spilled feed. So on a quiet Monday morning,
“My hookbait was snaffled, and in a torrent of spray the fish bolted off”
armed with little more than a landing net and a boxful of corn, I wandered around the fishery with the 13ft Korum Carp Float rod.
Twitching lily stems revealed something moving down below, so I scattered a few grains of corn over the area and lowered in a small straight waggler shotted with three No8s spread down the line.
Instantly my double corn hookbait was snaffled, and in a torrent of spray and boils the fish bolted off, leaving a wake worthy of any torpedo.
This is the moment when any carp rod worth its salt steps up to the mark.
Tightening down on the reel’s clutch and holding the rod on the horizontal plane, I applied
side strain that slowly but surely brought the fish to a halt.
The rod’s heavy parabolic action had more than done its job in tiring the carp, yet at the net it had enough flexibility in the tip to absorb my quarry’s last-minute lunges without risk of a hook-pull or a parting of the line. Price: 13ft £44.99 12ft £42.99