Prologic MP Detek Twin Tip - Review

I was contemplating a pair of heavier and longer barbel rods when I came across Go Outdoor selling the Prologic MP Detek Twin Tip for £23. Other shops seemed to be discounting them quite heavily as well, the RRP seems to be around £60. I don't tend to use the latest and greatest these days, preferring instead to opt for end of line products been sold at a discount. The rods that I currently use have not let me down, but struggle to chuck 2-3oz fully loaded feeders about and at 11' can't always get as much line out of the water as I'd like.
 

Prologic currently describe them as "A dream rod to fish with, no matter if your targets are big bream, tench or carp with light feeders or simply free-lined". They were described as barbel rods in the earlier catalogues. They also describe them as having a parabolic action. I pretty sure if a rod every described a parabola under load it would be a rather nasty thing to use. While I don't like the description 'progressive action', I think it's the least worse. The tips are both quite soft the lighter of the two being spliced and painted white over the top 1' or so. I'm never sure whether I like this or not. It can be quit hard to see it the rod tips are high up against a cloudy sky.

The catalogue says they are 12' with a transport length of 187cm (6' 1½"). I like it when transport or section lengths are given as it gives a hint as to whether the overall length is correct or not. Fishing tackle manufacturers seem to think 12' and 360cm are one and the same. There again there seems to be no standard for measuring rod length. Some seem to think if it's made of two 6' sections it's 12' long while others seem to measure the rod when it's put together. Enough whinging, or maybe not. The Prologic claim it has a 1¾lb test curve. Have we really not got beyond this silliness. What the hell does it mean? What does it tell us about the rod? Absolutely nothing. It's a totally meaningless figure. Just give a guide to the casting weights and line strengths.

From the name it comes with two tips, one of which is spliced, this has 9 guides the other seven. There are two on the butt section. All the guides which are SiC are single foot jobs except the butt guide which is two foot. Thankfully the butt guide is not a ridiculous distance up the rod being 21" above the handle. The handle is 23" in length with 17" of duplon, a silly 2" section of cork that serves no purpose. The reel seat is a up-locking plain tubular affair which is what I prefer as almost any reel fits them. This is followed by another 2" section of duplon. Overall he handle is functional and not too long. Above the handle is a hook-keeper, something that should be fitted to all rods as it makes moving a lot easier. I don't like hooks being lodged in the guides. The blank itself is matt black/grey with black whippings. Rather unimaginative but cheap to produce. One thing I would like to see on coarse rods is alignment dots. If the can be put on fly rods why not coarse rods. It makes setting up a lot easier.

So far on the few trips I've used them they've performed admirably. Chucking 3oz feeders with out a problem, along with 45g leads with mesh bags up to 30 yards, accurately. Which is about as far as I need to cast. The way I've used them is; one with the soft tip for the upstream rod so as to show the usual drop-back bites and the stiffer tip down stream. Both tips have been sensitive enough to show bites even if I can't hit them. I have used the softer tip down stream in some reasonable currents and it hasn't collapsed so if I required a bit more sensitivity down stream it's OK. Although I've not had anything huge. Barbel to 5lb+ and chub to around the 3lb mark I have no doubts they will manage larger fish with out problems and they are soft enough not to outgun the 3lb chub.

All in all I'm quite pleased with them, especially at the price. They probably not suitable for the bigger tidal rivers or heavy flood fishing, but in normal conditions on the likes of the Ouse, Swale, Wharfe, etc. they appear to be ideal. I'd be quick if you fancy some as I don't think they'll be around much longer. The usual disclaimer applies: I've got nothing to do with either Prologic or Go Outdoors apart from being an occasional customer.

Return To An Old Haunt

I suppose I really should have used 'Few Wot a Scorcher' as the blog's title. If the headlines were to be believed, the country was going to catch fire Thursday and we'd all be dead of skin cancer by the end of the week. The fact that today is also my day off means it's also fishing day, so an early start was called for, despite the fact I'd not fished here for some years. More for my benefit than the fish as I've not found early morning to be particularly better than most other times of the day on rivers. With the river starting to rise again as I arrived and as I was on the Wharfe, a river that can rise at a spectacular rate, I picked a swim not far from the car and a reasonable level above the water. As it was the river only rose about four inches while I was there.

 








Legered pellets were to be the tactics. One rod in the crease two thirds of the way across, the other as close to cover as I could get on the inside line down stream. By wandering down the bank I was able to toss a few free offerings around the willow. In the far swim I used mesh bags and catapulted  offerings about over a largish area. The first sign of fish, apart from the odd one topping, came when a pair of pike ploughed into the shallows chasing some small stuff which scattered everywhere. I was amazed how much was hiding in the weeds on the near bank. One problem I did have was the amount of debris coming down and snagging the line dragging the baits away from the area I wanted to fish.

 











The first bite came nearly five hours after I'd started, a classic three foot twitch. This resulted in a hard fighting barbel of 5lb 5oz in near perfect nick. It did the standard small barbel trick of chasing all over the river before being landed. Surprisingly it didn't seem to need much time to recover and was trying to drag the landing net in after a couple of minutes, I gave it another five before releasing it. The next bite was nearly two hours later. This fish came in with relative ease until it got to the shallows where it woke up and made it's displeasure known looking smaller but chunkier I was surprised when it weighed 5lb 1oz. That was it for the day.

 















Not a bad day and a nice breeze got up for a while which made it seem cooler than it was. When the wind dropped, though, I knew it was time to leave. The water, thanks to the storms earlier in the week, was still very cool. A quick word about the rods I've ben using over the past few weeks for chub and barbel, apart from the Nidd. They are a pair of ProLogic MP Detek Twin Tips at £23 a piece from GoOutdoors. I can highly recommend them for the sort of rivers I fish, up to 30m wide. I do a better review later. So, barbel from the Derwent, Nidd and Wharfe so far. The Ouse, Swale and Ure Next, although the Ure has never been very kind to me as far as barbel are concerned.

Making Sense of Weather Forecasts, or Not

I could have sworn blind that the weather forecast on Thursday evening said Friday morning would be mainly dry and the afternoon mainly wet. As it turned out it was the other way round. Having ben given a kicking by the Derwent I decided to give the Nidd a go on Friday. It was going to be a shortish session with an early start so as to avoid the traffic and the worse of the weather. As isolated thunderstorms had been predicted late afternoon I didn't want to be out in them. The morning was as predicted, to start with. Hot air balloons drifted overhead as I head towards the river.

 








The two or three swims I looked at didn't seem to be have been heavily fished at all. Little in the way of footprints and trampled vegetation. Having selected my swim I tossed a few handful of pellets in and set about trotting a 6mm one under a 3.6g loafer. After an hour of no bites and with the onset of rain I change to a legered bait. Half an hour later, just as the rain eased off, the tip started rattling about and I was into a fish. It was a strangely compliant barbel which came in with very little fuss until it broke the surface, then it went berserk. After a rather tense few minutes it was in the net, a fish of 4lb 15oz. 

 

 









By lunch time noting more had happened so I moved to another swim for an hour or so. This one didn't even produce a bite, should've stayed where I was. By now the rain had stopped again so I packed up and headed home in order to beat the Friday traffic which would be extra heavy do to the rain.

5lb of Bait for 3lb of Fish

On Wednesday I took a slight detour on the way home from work via the river. I put about a pound or so of pellets into each of a couple of swims ready for Thursday's session. Thursday, when I arrived I added another pound or so in each swim. Then cast out and waited for the members of the huge shoal of barbel and/or chub to find my hook bait. I waited and waited and waited and waited.

 








While I was waiting I set about the Himalayan Balsam around the swim developing a nice nettle rash as I did. This, along with cups of tea and sandwiches failed to induce a bite. By mid-afternoon I was seriously pondering giving up. There'd been plenty of chub and the odd barbel around here previously. Had I overfed? Can you overfeed chub and barbel? A couple of other anglers wandered past, on their way back to their car. They'd had a very slow day on maggot with only a few bits to show for their effort. The best excuse we could come up with was a combination of the overnight drizzle and lunar eclipse.

 








Not long after they parted I got my first indication. A quick rattle of the rod tip. After leaving it a while I wound in to find the bait band had been cut. This happened three more time before I change to a hair rig. A far as I know there are no Crayfish along this stretch of river so what was happening I don't know. Not long after the hair rigged bait hit the bottom I had a proper bite which resulted in a rather apathetic chub of 3lb.

 








That was it,. I sat there until dark with no further bites. Nearly five pound of bait in exchange for a three pound fish. No what I was hopping for, but that's fishing.

Helpful Ranunculus

Friday saw me back on the Derwent in pursuit of barbel and/or chub. The plan of action was to feed a couple of swims with about a kilo of 4,6,& 8mm pellets and fish 8mm ones on a running leger rig. One of the swims I intended to fish was occupied by somebody playing a rather nice 2lb+ perch. He'd had a larger one earlier and went on to take a couple more. In the other swim I intended to fish the ranunculus had continued to grow and was now across the front of it, which could present a problem landing fish. As it was it proved useful as the landing net reached it and could be rested on it. The net head sunk just nicely to bring a fish over.

 








After baiting the swims, one upstream, one down. I decided to have a trot with 6mm pellet on the hook before putting the leger rods out. Second trot down I hooked the tiniest minnow. The next cast, though, produced a nice chub. While it was resting in the net I hooked another around the same weight. 3lb 2oz and 3lb not a bad start. That was it though. I trotted the swim for another 45mins. with out a bite.

 








I put the leger rods out and quickly had interest on the upstream rod. By now, though, I wasn't feeling too well. I felt a bit queasy earlier in the day, but it seemed to pass. Just as I decided to pack up the upstream rod rattled about and, after a frantic couple of minutes a 5lb barbel was in the net. By now I was feeling much much worse and set off home.

Thankfully the traffic wasn't bad for a Friday and I managed to get home just in time. I had kept my trousers tucked into my socks just in case. Good job I hadn't tried to tough it out as the next few hours were very unpleasant and I certainly wouldn't have been able to drive.

Roach Slime Hybrids

Thursday I was trotting pellets again on the River Ouse. The swim I was in was a bit deeper than last time at nearly ten feet. Again I baited two lines, one a rod length or so and one nearly halfway across or seven sixteenths as my mate would say. The going was a bit slow to say the least. Four bites and three fish in the first two hours. All good hand sized roach from the inside line.

I was visited by the local expert at this point. When I told him I was fishing pellet he informed me I wouldn't catch anything but barbel or carp on them. Apparently only captive bred fish take them and as barbel and carp don't breed in this country they have to stock them. Three or four tankers a year come down to the Ouse and put thousands of them in the river. Thankfully he wandered away before I could explain to him what a barking idiot he was.

 








As then sun appeared from behind the clouds the bites started to get rather silly. The float would sail away in unmissable fashion or or bob about like I was live-baiting. No matter how I adjusted the shot I couldn't get them to convert to hittable bites. Eventually I changed to a heavier float, a 4g Avon and started to hit bites again. A similar stamp to previous, all from the far line. Thy were, however, noticeably slimy not unlike bream for leaving snot on the line. The wind then decided to strengthen and play silly beggars. What had been a light, downstream, breeze strengthened and start to blow diagonally towards me. With no real control of the float I changed to a 4AA waggler. Waggler fishing with a pin is not something I'm entirely happy with and with the wind in the direction it was making matters worse, especially as the bites were only coming from the far line and not the inside one. By allowing a large loop of line to form and keeping the strike low I was able to winkle a few more fish out before the bites dried up. I should get my self one of the clicker things so I'd know how many fish I've caught as I always lose count. 

 








When I got back to the car and got everything packed away I realised my phone was missing. Rifling through my pockets, looking under the car, no sign of it. I wandered back along the track to my fishing spot, still no sign. Emptying the car, fishing bags, etc. still no sign. As I wandered back along the track staring intently at the ground a dog walker asked if I'd lost some't. When I explained he kindly offered to ring my number. We could hear it ringing but could not, for the life of us see it. His dog, bored with barking at the squirrels, started barking at a spot on the ground between us. Although we could hear the phone we couldn't see it. Folding the long grass back relieved a rabbit hole, with a phone in it! Thanks to Ken and Ollie, as I would never have found it with out them.

Pellet Fishing for Salmonoids

There was a bit of a discussion about pellets on the float, with most saying they hadn't had much luck with them on the river. Though a couple said that they had done well, but you had to stick with it and it tended to pick out a better stamp of fish. As I'd not done much in the way of float fishing this season, and I have a lot of pellets, I thought I'd try it on the Ouse. Thursday morning, having battled my way through numerous road works, I arrived at the river a bit later than anticipated.

The first swim I looked at proved to be spot on as far as float fishing goes. Around eight foot deep at two rod lengths and shallowing off slightly near the end. A second line nearly half way across was about a foot deeper. Feeding 4 and 6mm pellets with a 6mm banded to a 16 hook then nearside line produced a nice hand size roach first cast. It was nearly twenty minutes before the next one, after which I had a steady flow of fish, perhaps every two to three trots, for the next hour and a half. Then all hell broke loose. By far the best fish of the day was grabbed by a jack and ripped from the hook. At he same time fish scattered at the bottom of the swim as two more jacks pursued them. Obviously the bites dried up.

 








I moved over to the far swim and on the first four cast had a tiny chub, a mussel, then two little gudgeon. none of the fish were really big enough to get the pellet in their mouths. Continuing too feed the swims I had no more bites for the next three-quarters of an hour. Alternating between the two swims, fiddling with the depth and shotting had done nothing. The next bite  was a strange one indeed. the float sopped and then started to move upstream. Winding and sweeping the rod as far as I could I contacted what felt like a plastic bag. Steady winding got it nearer and nearer to me. Something large, silver and Salmonoid looking was on the end. At this point it decided to seek sanctuary in the North Sea and set off downstream. With only a few turns of line left on the pin I stuck my thumb behind the handle and the fish started to turn before the hook link parted.

 








 








Back on the inside line, the roach had returned and again some nice hand sized fish came in every two or three trots until the pike turned up again. On several occasions there was a large flash of silver as something followed the pellet back in. It looked like there was quite a few salmon about at this point as I also saw four jumping, and heard several more. With just a chublet to show for the next hour of trotting it looked like a good time to pack in.

The number of salmon running the river is surely a good sign. What I'd like to know, though, is where all the pike hide in winter that turn up ins summer to steal the fish you're winding in. Obviously this pellet fishing lark needs a bit more effort. I'd tried trotting pellets at various times in the past with very little success. They had nearly always worked as a static bait, maybe with more people using them the fish now recognise them as food.