Improve Your Coarse Fishing (UK)
Live test: Sonik SKSC Pellet Waggler rod
Mark Sawyer gets his hands on big-carp brand Sonik’s first foray into the commercial and pleasure market
SONIK 11ft SKSC PELLET WAGGLER RRP: £39.99
THE Sonik Sports brand is familiar to pursuers of big carp, less so to commercial match and pleasure anglers. All that is set to change, though, as the company is about to introduce an impressive new rod collection dubbed the Sonik SKS Commercial range. The six rods comprise 9ft, 10ft, and 11ft Commercial Feeder rods, and three Pellet Waggler rods in the same lengths. They have been thoughtfully designed, and are nicely constructed to meet the basic needs of the pleasure or match angler. They have modern, progressive fish-playing actions with plenty of backbone, making them ideal for commercial carp – a bit of added steel provides enough grunt to tame the odd zoo creature. The slim, two-piece equal-length blanks are built from a high-grade 24 tonne carbon cloth and furnished with quality titanium oxide lined guides and a screw-down reel seat with EVA thumb grip. The handle is a decent length of cork and EVA combo. I’ve left the best bit till last – the price. If you want performance on a tight budget,
you’ll need to fork out just under 40 quid! For this month’s live test I wanted to give the 11ft Pellet Waggler rod an outing. There’s something curiously satisfying about repeatedly casting a pellet waggler to catch carp in the upper layers – even more so if you have the right tool for the job. This two-piece carbon blank isn’t made for casting heavy pellet or splasher wagglers to the horizon on big open waters, but it chucks out their smaller relations very proficiently. What’s more, it’s lightweight and comfy in the hand, something hugely important in a pellet waggler rod. Otherwise, constant casting, along with regular feeding via a catapult, can quickly become an irksome chore rather than the fun pursuit it should be. The need to feed while holding the rod is a vital element of pellet waggler fishing, and proved a very necessary skill when live testing the Sonik rod on Steve Gregory’s day-ticket Rushfield Lake in Lincolnshire. At 5ft-10ft deep, the venue’s Horseshoe lake is an ideal pellet waggler venue, sadly though it’s often plagued by an annoying side wind sweeping down the lake, making presentation a bit of a nightmare. Once the float hits the water, it’s almost instantly dragged out of position by the wind – and carp, no matter how hungry or daft they may seem, simply aren’t going to chase sideways-moving pellets that appear to have a life of their own. I started the day by fishing a 6g straight crystal waggler at mid-depth (around 3ft) with a hair-rigged 6mm banded pellet. The wind was behaving true to type, and although I did foul-hook a few fish which shot off like finned cannonballs, every one of them managed to part company with me.
“It’s lightweight and comfy in the hand, something hugely important in a pellet waggler rod”
They did, however, make me appreciate how much power this rod holds in reserve, and that’s despite its already pleasing progressive action, which not only provides enough backbone to cope with the occasional giant lump, but also provides plenty of feel, and certainly enough guile and finesse to be used with terminal kit that’s much lighter. A few fish were swirling on the feed pellets as soon as they hit the water but I had no fish to show for my efforts. A change was called for, so it was on with a shorter, dumpier float, alongside a reduction in depth to just 12 inches. It seemed the only bites I could get came within a moment of the float hitting the water which meant casting and feeding every few seconds. Therefore, not only did the rod never leave my hands, I also relied on the rod having a fast strike reaction, plus the ability and agility to lift line cleanly and quickly from the water’s surface. The good news is that neither of these constraints proved any problem for the Sonik which was comfy to hold, and lightning fast on its line pick-up speed.