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Thought I would kick this one off as I mentioned in another thread, just a all out discussion on rods (not spod or markers). What you use, favourite rods past or present, rods you are thinking of purchasing, materials, Test curves, whatever! So I have been using Sonik SK3 2.75lb rods for the last 6/7 years now. Personally very impressed with them for a budget rod. I have landed a lot of fish on them from some brutal conditions. Heavy snags, heavy weed, you name it. Personally I prefer the softer test curve, although it must be lower than 2.75lb by now! It's stood up to serious weed and stopped good fish getting in to snags, the only limitation is casting but that may be down to my technique mainly. I have not had a need to fish at any sort of range so have not been worried by this. I'm now saving for a new set of rods, and it seems like there is much more choice out there! but nothing entirely suits my needs and tastes. I love full shrink handles and I am reluctantly stepping up to 3lb test curves so require a good playing rod still, I believe its part of the enjoyment of fishing is the fight, no point reeling in a 20 like its a wet towel! Sadly after lots of research it seems my price range has nothing to satisfy my requirements fully. The Freespirit CTX rods come highly recommended by numerous friends but the lowest TC is 3.25lb. I am assured the action really does make up for this and I have seen them in action and was impressed when I cast them. I've also been assured shrink wrapping the handles yourself is extremely easy, they are either cork or abbreviated off the self. The ideal new rods would be the Sonik Gravity X as I've held and cast them and they are superb, reviews are excellent....sadly a bit out of my price range.

...and/or also lost what could be a once in a lifetime fish through a brain fart or not being alert enough. John Alden Knight is credited with starting the solunar thing [(I've bought the booklet his family still publishes)at least I think they still do] but market hunters and fishermen had long known that the juxtaposition of sun and moon affects game and fish. I've seen it work perfectly on cue and not work at all. There are quite a few factors involved in why and when fish bite, and the solunar table is just one of them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solunar_theory

I thought I had found the recipe for success on my old lake regarding moon phase. I had the majority of my fish especially from September onwards on or around ( 3-4 days) either side of a new moon. I recall one autumn/winter on there when 9 out of 10 bites came on a new moon and always in the hours of darkness. I found out another angler was also getting a few bites so asked him whether they had been on the new moon. He said all his had come on or around a full moon and yet I couldn't buy a bite on that moon phase. Whether that was due to me fishing shallowish water and he the deeper water. At the end of the day I've found that being on the fish is the biggest influence on getting a bite, what time that bite comes is anyone's guess but you certainly won't get one if you're not on them. That is stating the obvious but it's shocking how many anglers blame everything other than themselves for blanking. Another thing that helps with getting bites is confidence. You go fishing lacking confidence and chances are you've blanked before you've even got to the lake. I know I've been there in the past.

I've had a few sets of rods but my currently carp rod arsenal is the following. Fladden Extra-Flex Carp Rods, 2.5lb TC 12ft. These are superb rods for the price and are Fladens Premium range of rods, They cast pretty well for what i need(i don't usually fish further than 60 yrds out). They are made from basalt fibers i believe which make them unbelievably strong and they are marketed as "unbreakable". I absolutely love them. If i had one gripe with them then it would the that the handles aren't slim and they're kinda heavy compared to other rods on the market. I use these for all my Carp fishing, as well as for Pike, Zander and Cats. I also have a custom 10ft 1.75 TC rod i use for Floater/Stalking, My favorite rod as it was my dads and he gave it to me this Christmas.

Think we all have at some point...

Cor! I can honestly go back some time with my Carp rods. As a 'yoof', I remember a twin tip ledger rod being used for carp, brilliant for carp to double figures and big tench, then I bought a Daiwa Specimen rod. My next purchase was a pair of 2.5lb North Westerns, which were built by John Wilson, used for carp and pike until one was stolen along with some of my other gear from my shed. I must have kept one in my room, which is why that wasn't stolen. The next set were Century Armalite Mk.l's in 2.25lb. I rebuilt these myself going down to 5 rings plus tip, and learnt to cast with Abu Cardinals, then Shimano Baitrunner 4000's to over 120yards with 8lb Sylcast line and shockleaders. I loved those rods until they were traded in. From that I went to Armalite Mk.ll's in 2.75lb, again I rebuilt them to my spec's and paired them with 6010's, the same size reel, just new numbering, sadly another set of rods that were stolen. When I bought my Century 2.75lb SP's I started with 6010's, but soon switched to Shimano Aerlex's. Another set of rods I loved, for casting and playing fish on. I seriously wish I didn't sell them to a mate when I bought my Century NG's, which I had built for me to my specifications at Century, with the ball rest on the butt, which became standard on all NG's. The NG's are not a long distance casting rod, although 100metres is possible. I did have a set of 3 FMJ's, a beast of a casting rod, 3-5oz casting weight, but seriously heavy for fish playing. I still own the NG's, but eventually got a set of Rod Hutchinson The Ones in 3.25lb for long casting on the Lagoons. I am not so keen on them strangely, although they are growing on me. Gaz mentions surface fishing, I had a Daiwa Pro Specialist 11.6 1.5lb rod for that, lovely rod, but after I stupidly broke the tip I have bought a Shakespeare Barbel rod which gets used for that as well as chub and roach fishing.

You keep a note of your bite times so it wouldn't be hard to cross reference them with the moon at that time . You never know it might shed some light on the matter for you & account for some of the bite times more so the out of sync ones .

For me I don’t go by it. Or much really. I don’t get to pick and choose when I’m fishing hardly at all. I take what’s given to me on the day. No doubt the moon has more of an effect we will ever understand but sadly it’s lost on me.

I have been through my fair share of rods right from shakespeare when I first started to powermesh x''s to jrc defenders, rovex to my current velocity's. The velocity's are as yonny described a lot of rod for the price, great casting tools which have enabled me to hit in excess of 130 yards. I can only really afford a single set so these have to do everything I ask and they do it admirably. However, surface fishing has turned into a bit of an art form, I hate mainline over 10lb and the only rods that will cushion and cope really well with these lower breaking strains are softer avon to barbel rods. I'm currently using the korum carp float with is rated at 1.5lb tc, lovely piece of kit than has enabled me to use much lighter lines, 7lb fly leaders believe it or not, it's an absolute joy to play fish and it really gives you those heart stopping moments. I know bits an pieces about the carbon wraps and the general make up of rods but it all comes down to how they feel. Plus I think no matter what rods you have, you and your body adapts itself for using them, in essence your rods become part of you. I've never had any mega expensive rods, I've played about with a few but nothing comes close to what I have for the reason mentioned above

Agree. You don't have to spend a fortune to get really decent rods nowadays. Some of the cheaper options are an absolute steal - a lot of rod for the money!

As far as rods go, there's no point in looking for absolute perfection on my budget..... Having said that, some of the more affordable rods these days, would have been considered "out of this world" imo, 25 years ago...…. My all time favourites were some Fox Aquos rods I bought around late 90's, nothing fancy, but at 330 for a set of three were quite an out lay for me at the time, I felt like I'd reached the promised land. I cherished these rods and really looked after them. A through action rod, fantastic fish players, comfortable to around 80 yds casting, which was plenty for me and they really suited my small water venues, club lakes etc.....Eventually, as I moved onto some slightly larger venues, they had softened slightly and really restricted how far out I could fish...… I could never sell these rods, they just wouldn't have sold for what they were worth "to me". And it may sound silly, but I was so attached to them, that I just wanted them to go to someone who's eyes would light up when they saw them, and in my eyes someone who would look after them in the way that I had. So, after a massive clear out this year, I finally passed them on to a youngster, who absolutely loves them, uses them regularly and looks after them. He's a dedicated young angler , whom I shall be hopefully meeting up with next week on a runnsy club lake, where we can try and beat his 12lb pb………..(He did a 2lb plus river roach last month, it would be great for him to nick a pb carp as my pb was also caught on those rods). Moving on , I tried to replace those rods with some second hand NG's, 2.75tc X2 also a fish playing rod for the same sort of venues. I loved these too. But after a torrential downpour one session, noticed that some of the varnish had lifted on both butt sections.... This just really bugged me and the cost of having them restored was a bit much to justify, so these were sold on for half what I paid...….. The last session with the NG's, had me twice wrapped around some low branches above the bivvy in the middle of the night, so with some trepidation, decided to go down the 9ft route. I bought a couple of budget 9ft dwarfs. They felt weird at first, as I was used to 12footers, these felt like tooth picks, but they have turned out to be great for a couple of over grown small lakes I fish. I watched a guy land a 38 cat on one, and I've had a few 20lb carp on them from right under the tips and they've done alright...… I was testing the water on a 9ft set up ,with the budget rods, but I will definitely invest in a better quality 9ft set up after using these...……. For slightly larger venues I was recommended some Shimano Tribal Velocity 3.25 a couple of years ago on here. Shimano haven't got the best reputation for rods, but at 50 new each, I couldn't fault them, for my needs and budget...….. Apart from...……. In 6 months use, I never caught a bloomin fish...… It literally got to the stage where the carp demons were blaming these rods, so out they went. Pretty much got back what I paid and am now using some Sonik S6's 3.25tc for a larger water I joined. These were "end of line" and cost 50 each (rrp 200)… Haven't used them much yet, but I do like them, I've improved my distance casting with these, coupled with some reels I bought. They will get a decent work out through the Autumn..... I'm going to settle on these for a while, just can't be arsed to keep trying rods, which are all a bit samey on my budget...….. Getting back to the 9footers, I make you right @yonny , the marketing spin would have people believe that these are ok for general purpose. I don't think they are having used some. They are a specialist rod for a certain type of fishing. Handy and compact if you are fishing small venues at 40 yds or less, but not an all rounder.....

think you might find that advice to be a tad late bet he went