LIVE TEST
It may have Tommy Pickering’s seal of approval, but will this rod pass the Mark Sawyer test?
New Gear Revealed, On The Bank Tests & Expert Advice
WHEN that national treasure of angling, Tommy Pickering, speaks highly of a product, you’d be a fool not to listen. Anyone who knows Tommy will tell you that he isn’t given to making false claims, and he has zero tolerance of marketing ‘spiel’. This dyed-in-the-wool Yorkshireman tells it like it is.
So when he told me that the Nytro Aryzon rods he’d used all last winter when taking part in commercial matches were, “Simply amazing rods at a price you won’t believe,” I couldn’t resist the opportunity to put them through their paces.
I duly armed myself with the full range of rods and set a date for a live test. With 10ft and 11ft Pellet Wagglers, as well as 9ft, 10ft and 11ft Carp Feeder rods, not to mention a 12ft Method Feeder rod to choose from, you could say that I was spoilt for choice.
Which rod would it be? Well, Tommy had mentioned that the Aryzon 12ft Method feeder he was using had proved every bit as much at home dealing with skimmers on a maggot feeder set-up as it had targeting carp and F1s using a Hybrid feeder, so the decision wasn’t that difficult in the end.
The choice of venue – as it always is at this time of year when the temperatures drop away – was a little more testing. I then had a light bulb moment and settled on Earlswood Reservoir. It was a bit of a drive for me, and although it would likely be an ‘F1 fest’, there’s no better venue for live testing longer feeder rods.
Now, let’s be honest, there are literally thousands of different types of feeder rod on the market. You’ve got budget-priced pub-chuckers and super expensive long-range horizon blasters, not to mention a wealth of Method, specialist commercial, river and stillwater models. The list is nigh-on endless.
Between them, this lot can deliver anything from a minuscule cage feeder that wouldn’t fit over the end of your little finger, right up to a metal-clad monster holding enough feed to last a canal match angler five hours. Little wonder, then, that choosing the right feeder rod is often more difficult than trying to ti
