Improve Your Coarse Fishing (UK)
Live test: Maver MVR pole
After catching his eye at the Maver trade show last year, IYCF’s tackle editor, Mark Sawyer, finally got out on the bank with the highly anticipated MV-R pole
MAVER MV-R 16m POLE SSP: £1,399.99
BESIDES being most anglers’ dream job, the role of tackle editor does give you a unique insight into exactly how and why companies develop their products. That’s pretty much what happened when we visited Maver’s trade show at Hayfield Lakes. As usual some great new products were on display, including the new Signature Pro poles and several new margin poles. But what really caught my eye was the new 16m MV-R Competition. My first thought was that the pole was good, very good in fact, and it ticked a lot of boxes. Its outstanding feature had to be its impressive price, matched with a range of top kits and extensions – certainly more than enough to kit you out for most match situations on both commercial and traditional venues. Before looking at how it performs, we checked out its construction. Built using an ultra-high modulus carbon, the pole delivers in terms of strength, balance and rigidity, easily meeting the demands of the modern matchman. Its stiffness and ability to be used at its full length without too much tip droop or shipping back wobble, matched with a silky smooth Suncore finish, make it extremely fast through the hands and ideal for silver fish situations. It boasts long-life Teflon joints on its third, fourth, fifth and sixth sections, and comes with both Powerlite Power and Commercial Power kits, side slotted and bushed.
The live test venue was Horseshoe Lake on the superb Decoy complex near Peterborough. Although the short afternoon session took place under the greyest of winter conditions, the MV-R brightened up the day. Starting the session dripping pellets at 6m produced some stunning F1s. Using the Commercial Power kit with a light hollow elastic, I was very impressed by the pole’s tip speed and rigidity, albeit being fished at such a short distance. As is often the way with winter F1s, they rarely stay in one spot for very long and I soon found myself fishing further and further out. With the first of the three parallel butt sections at 13m the pole shows little discernible difference from 10m to 13m and remains quick at the tip and bounce-free. Shipping up to 14m it does lose a little of its stiffness and tip speed but is still eminently fishable, as indeed it is at its full 16m length, although it does lose a smidgen in rigidity. However, you need to consider that this is a true all-round pole with the strength and power to tackle decent-sized carp as well as a handling speed to make it competitive when fishing for silvers. Section walls need to be strong enough to cope with the rigours of commercial fishing alongside the finesse required for silver fish. This is a difficult combination for many topend flagship poles, never mind a model which you should be able to find for £1,399.99.