Live test: Drennan Acolyte 9ft bomb rod

Ben Fisk takes the Ultra and Plus versions of the new 9ft Drennan Acolyte feeder rod for some short-range winter fishing

DRENNAN ACOLYTE 9ft FEEDER ROD RRP: £169.99

I’VE watched with interest as the Drennan Acolyte rod range has steadily grown since its launch three years ago. First came a series of 13ft-15ft Ultra float rods, followed a year later by the Plus range, which have a stepped-up playing action. Then came mid-length feeder and waggler rods, longer ‘chucking’ feeder rods and, more recently, a 17ft float blank. The very latest addition to the family is a short 9ft feeder rod, again in Ultra and Plus models, and not before time in my book!

Can you tell I’m a massive fan of 9ft rods? It’s definitely become the length I now use most often in competitions because many venues I fish require only a cast of 40m at most, some often half that. A 9ft rod makes it very easy to cast accurately tight to an island, whereas an 11ft or sometimes even a 10ft rod is often awkward, especially at very close range. I think this is because a shorter rod is lighter and the rig can be ‘fired’ straight out at a lower height to the water, rather than ‘lobbed’ to go skywards then come down. I couldn’t decide whether to take out the Ultra or the Plus, so I took both! Removing both from their bags, I could immediately tell that they are typically ‘Acolyte’. By this I mean the blanks have followed the trend of the rest of the range in being incredibly slim and lightweight. Very lightweight. In fact, the 9ft rod on its own weighs just 4oz, about the same as a plump roach! The rod test itself at Decoy Lakes was typically on one of the coldest days of the winter so far, and when I got out of the car it was trying to snow. A day sat on the bomb was the most sensible option, casting around looking for fish. And with my peg being a mere 16m-18m cast to the middle, it was the perfect territory for a 9ft blank. I decided to use the Plus version to fish towards the aerator to the left and the posts it was tied to, to give me a bit more power to turn fish away from danger. The lighter Ultra was rigged to fish towards the middle and the small island

“A 9ft rod makes it very easy to cast accurately tight to an island”

to the right. I’d be lying if I said I caught loads, but then again it wasn’t surprising, given the temperature. But this is where a soft, short rod like the 9ft Ultra comes into its own, as it means that every fish ends up in the net when bites are few and far between. It’s extra soft with a pleasingly progressive through action, reducing the chances of hook-pulls or breakages when using small hooks and light hooklengths, as is the necessity for fish such as F1s. The F1s that I did catch were a bit like blocks of ice and I was grateful of how forgiving the Ultra is, especially with its 1oz tip in place. Changing to the Plus model, action wasn’t long in coming, first from a very spirited stillwater barbel. Even in the cold, it wasn’t giving up easily. The action of this is again nicely parabolic, but I could feel that stepped up element of power, probably about 10-15 per cent more than the Ultra. A few mirror carp later confirmed this, and were soon turned as they made a bid to wrap the line around the posts. Handle-wise it’s the perfect length for me on both rods, just very slightly longer than the average forearm. My only slight criticism would be that I’d have preferred a 0.5oz tip on the Ultra, rather than the heaviest 2oz tip supplied. This is because I prefer a really light tip for winter fishing for species such as F1s and skimmers. I do, however, love the fluoro red and green tips of the Acolyte, which are a lot more visible than a white tip in my opinion.

Both the Ultra and Plus come with three push-in quivertips