Last winter a couple of mates of mine decided to take up pike fishing. They’d found a water near home that was rumoured to have produced a few decent fish and, much to my surprise, they managed to catch the odd one. That was it – I wasn’t going to miss out!
The trouble was, I didn’t have any suitable kit. An advert in one of the weeklies caught my eye. ‘Dragon Pike Multi Length rod and reel combo: just £20,’ it said. At that price, I couldn’t really refuse.
I got a bit of stick from my mates for trying to cut corners but they soon shut up when it arrived.
The rod comes with two separate butt sections, so you can opt to have it as a traditional 12ft tool for chucking big dead or livebaits, or at 9ft for using with spinners and lures. Essentially, I got two rods for the price of one.
The rod also features abbreviated cork handles and lined guides throughout.
The accompanying reel – a Carp Kinetics Zero 5000 – matches up well with the rod. As well as having the freespool facility, the large-sized spool made for casting effortless.
So how did I get on? A mixed bag! The rod and reel behaved admirably and I had no problems casting half a mackerel 40-odd yards. And when I did finally manage to hook and land a 14lb pike (my best fish to date), the rod had plenty of backbone and the reel enough power to get the job done.
I might not be a predator fishing expert yet, but at least I know my gear’s up to the job!
