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Abu Conolon Premiere.
Length: 16
meters
Weight: Approximately
900 grams |
This
pole is the latest in the ever-expanding range of Abu products to hit the
market in the past few seasons. As anyone who uses the products will know,
the quality control is really good and this pole is no exception. I have
been using the pole for about ten months and have given it a thorough
testing in every conceivable situation. I used it throughout the summer
fishing at full length, which incidentally is 14.5 meters. I have an
extension to take it to 16 meters. As all the extensions are parallel there
is no problem adding them to increase the overall length. The pole comes
with a pole bag and three top three's but I am not sure about the actual
package as I got mine through my sponsorship with Abu. Due to my sponsorship
deal it is only natural to think I would promote the product but to be
perfectly honest I would have bought this pole if they were on the market at
the time.
Considering
the weight of the pole at full length, the walls of the sections are quite
thick and are smooth to allow easier unshipping. At 16 meters it is very
rigid, and responsive, more so than poles costing twice what this one is
priced at. Shop around and you could get a good deal with the spares for
less than a £1,000. Personally, I would say the pole is well fishable beyond
16 meters, up to about 17.5 meters maybe 19 meters but I have not tried it
yet as there is a limit now on the overall length -16 meters at certain
venues.
Although
the Conolon Premier is an all-round pole, it is rated to a 16 elastic so
there is plenty of backbone in it. I seldom put anything heavier than a 12
through the top three but that is down to personal preference rather than
fear of over-stressing the pole. Most of the time the elastic rating is
between 6 and 10 for the majority of my fishing and 10 to 12 if I draw on a
few carp.
During
the time I have been using the Conolon I have had some good results in the
festivals and opens and have had 100lb bags in both matches and pleasure
sessions. The biggest carp I have got out on it is a 12lb -8oz common carp
and I have broken two match records but no pole sections since I bought it
in June.
This
may be what you are looking for if you are thinking of spending some money
on an all-round pole. When I started using the Conolon it attracted some
attention from other anglers fishing near me because it hadn't yet been
released on the market. Everyone who tried fishing with it was very
impressed by the action and rigidity, but most of all the price! I have been
reliably informed that the local tackle shop has been asked to order a few
Conolon Premier poles by some of the local anglers.
Giles
Cochrane |
