The long and short of it …

Sonik have just launched an 8ft carp rod, perfectly timed for kicking off the show season, and at foot shorter than the current trend for stalking rods and two thirds the size of a “standard” rod which begs the question …

How low [short] can you go?

The “standard” carp rod is 12ft, can be found in various test curves and is produced by all the leading manufacturers.

Taking test curves of 2.75, 3.00, 3.25 and 3.5lb you generally have four to choose from.

Now let’s change the lengths; 8, 9, 10, 12 and 13ft. Not sure why 11ft never features but anyway, applying all the test curves you now have 20 different rods and we haven’t touch Spods or Markers!

This is too much potential choice and the classic trend in retail of marginal changes to create a market that is not often there. The fashion for stalking the edges with ‘dwarf’ kit, the carp anglers fear of missing out (missing a fish) is what is now fuelling sales.

You can understand the makers doing this, it’s business. But once you have a good set of rods do you really need a rod for every scenario. My Sonik S3’s are perfect so why change? Adding in my lighter test curve Fox Warriors and I think I have the bases covered.

At the end of the day it is down to personal choice, budget and believing marginal reductions in rod length will bring results in the margins!

Tackle manufacturers will always tell you that size matters, whether that is hooks, leads, barrows, beds or bivvies; but some changes are too extreme in my opinion. These 8ft Soniks have a 3lb test so you might as well use a broom handle at that length!

Tightlines and product lines.