Lighter Cobra
Shore fishing can be so much more fun if you’re prepared to scale down your kit. The Tronix pro Cobra Light rod will show you bites you never knew you had!
Spot bites with this Tronixpro rod.
E ach time we set up camp on the beach, it’s a fair guess that each and every one of us are hoping to catch a large fish. Modern-day fishing, though, dictates that it rarely happens, and I decided many years ago that it’s much better to target a species that I know is likely to be feeding in front of me, and not what I hope to be there.
Like it or not, there are times when using lighter, more delicate tactics from the shore certainly has its advantages.
It’s so easy to rig up a hefty beach rod with a large Pennell rig filled with a huge offering of bait filling the big hooks, and subsequently sit and watch the guy next to me having fun reeling in dabs, flounders, pouting or whiting each cast, because he’s decided to use a lighter shore outfit.
The Tronixpro Cobra Light rod is the stablemate to its bigger brother, the Cobra GT, and is ideal for successfully winkling out fish that are feeding close or not too far away from the edge.
It’s a three-piece outfit with an overall length of 4.2m and rated to cast loads between 50-150g. In all honesty, it’s not just useful for close-in work, as I found out when I spent a day fishing with it in Norfolk.
IMPECCABLY FINISHED
Conditions on the beach were chilly and weren’t ideal with a flat calm sea, little tide run and a clear blue sky. When I say not ideal, it was actually quite good for targeting ‘bits’ at various distances.
I decided to couple the rod with Tronixpro’s Virtuoso ST fixed-spool reel that I’d loaded with 18lb mainline and tapered shockleader.
The first box was immediately ticked as a Gemini Genie Link passed through the small Fuji ‘K’ guides at the tip. Incidentally, genuine Fuji ‘K’ guides line the rod throughout and are impeccably finished with metallic green and silver whipping.
I clipped on a two-hook flapper rig that had longish 18in snoods, and size 4 Kamasan B940m match hooks were baited with a single tiny blow lug tipped off with a thumbnail square-size piece of mackerel.
I flicked the baited rig around 15 yards before resting the rod low in the tripod and, as the 150g grip sinker settled on the bottom, the delicate tip gently turned in the tide.
Almost immediately the tip showed signs of life as it rattled before pulling forward. Five minutes when I reeled in, a distinct weight turned out to be a plump dab emerging at the edge of the water.
HECTIC SPORT
This went on for around an hour before I decided to see if I could manage a cast further out. By now the tide was dropping back as I punched my baited rig further around 70yd.
This time I raised the rod slightly higher, with the same result of the tip turning slightly with the tide. Again, the rod tip pulled forward, rather aggressively as the feeding dabs found my bait.
The following two hours saw hectic sport, with several single and double-headers of flatties of various sizes falling to my tiny baits.
The rod is an absolute joy to use, and although I may have hooked and landed the fish I caught with regular beach kit, I doubt I would have had the added enjoyment of seeing the tip rattling and dancing away to the bites.
Casting is impressively easy, and I guess I could have (and possibly should have) gone down in sinker size. The outfit really will allow you to go as delicate as you dare, depending on conditions.
In the hand, the Cobra Light is fantastic; light enough for you to hold while fishing if that’s your thing, but with enough spine to release a tightly held grip lead for reeling in.
Even though I had heaps of fun catching dabs, I reckon a decent bass or codling will be easily capable. That’s when angling experience comes into play on your behalf.
I think the real benefit comes with bait presentation. Bunches of maddies or head hooked ragworms will certainly survive a decent punch as the sensitive but steely tip accommodates the cast supremely.
Match anglers will certainly benefit from it, but if you’re a freelancer who fishes estuary marks for mullet, bass, plaice, flounder or sole, you’ll love it. Those of you who like to fish shore marks for the same species with the added attraction of garfish, there’s no need to worry about pulling the hook. Just keep a steady tension and allow the tip and midsection to do what it’s designed for.
It’s a thoroughly well thought out rod that will certainly see you beaching more fish that you could have otherwise missed with conventional tackle.
The Cobra Light rod comes with a handy partitioned, zipped hard case (pictured right) for protection and easy transportation. n