Tom On The Maver Match This Series 6
With the weather warming up, I was really looking forward to this On Test. Other commitments also meant that it was the first time in a few weeks that I had been able to go carp fishing! Our destination was Worcestershire’s Cob House Fisheries, and I must start by saying how nice the place is, and particularly how tasty the breakfast is! I could barely move, let alone fish after finishing it!
Still, we had a job to do and it wasn’t long before a length of carbon was thrust in my direction. My sabre for the proverbial clash of knights that was to follow was the Maver Match This Series 6. I had tested its more-expensive brother, the Elite 66, a couple of months ago, and it was among the best I have ever held. So I was really looking forward to having a play with it!
The first thing I must say about every Maver pole I have tested so far is how nicely they are presented. Coming in an attractive and hard-wearing holdall, the package is spread among five plastic tubes – meaning it fits away easily in a number of ways and doesn’t have to be crammed in tightly.
The SSP is £2,100, some £650 cheaper than the Elite 66. With such a difference in price the Match This Series 6 is obviously slightly heavier and a little less balanced – but nonetheless offers a top-quality pole for the money.
I thought the gods may be smiling on me when I won the toss for choice of pegs. I chose one in the middle of Oak Pool with an aerator to fish up to. To be fair, Jon’s looked as appealing, but without that aerator!
I decided to fish soft pellets and corn because, in my experience, spring carp can’t resist them! I plumbed up three lines and found the same depth on all of them, giving me the option to vary the amount that I fed and hopefully work out how the fish wanted it on the day.
Supplied with 10 top kits (including the cupping kit), there’s no shortage of spares! The power kits felt reassuringly strong and were deceptively light. When I tried one at full length it was barely distinguishable from a match kit.
The SunCore finish is something that I have mentioned quite a few times in my reviews because it features on all Maver’s mid to top-end poles. It is worth reasserting just how nice it feels. When twinned with the low-profile joints it makes the pole literally fly through the hands. Compared to the pole that Jon was testing, the diameter of the sections seemed quite large, which I know some anglers prefer, especially those with larger hands. This also helps to stiffen the overall action.
I fed two of my three lines from the start and started on my more positively fed one, expecting to have to wait a while for my first indication. Wrong! Seconds after dropping my rig in, a massive line bite saw my float rise up out of the water. I lifted but there was nothing attached. Several other liners followed before I foul hooked and lost a fish – and promptly decided to move lines. By feeding only 4mm pellets, I managed to concentrate the fish on the bottom on a more negatively fed line, and finally started putting a few in the net, although Jon was doing considerably better!
I often think that carp in the 2lb to 4lb bracket fight the hardest, and these were certainly spirited! I had to apply quite a lot of pressure to get them in the net and the pole coped well.
Sadly, despite my best efforts, there was no catching up with Jon’s early lead and my 35lb net was eclipsed by his near-50lb bag. Yet another £1 coin in the Jon Arthur pension fund!
Still, I’d had a great day’s fishing with a quality pole that’s well worth a look if you are after something in the £2,000 price bracket.
Jon On the Match This Series 6
You get a great spares package with this pole and the fact that it’s longer than 16 metres with the half extension added is a plus point. The Series 6 is definitely an all-rounder that you could happily use for carp and silver fish and, typically for a Maver pole, it oozes class.
| TECH SPEC Maver Match This Competition 6 Stated length: 16m with mini extension Actual length: 16.58m with 95cm mini extension Closed length: 1.8m Match-top-two length: 1.91m Match-top-three length: 3.16m Match-top-four length: 4.46m Match-top-five length: 6m Match-top-three length with No1 removed: 2.48m Power-kit length: 3.23m Match kit elastic rating: No10 Power kit elastic rating: No16-19 Dual Core Match No2 section internal tip diameter: 3mm 13m butt diameter: 48mm 14.5m butt diameter: 49mm 16m butt diameter: 50mm Weight at 12.38m: 768g Weight at 14.07m: 1,039g Weight at 15.76m: 1,319g Weight at 16.58m: 1,485g Other features: Sun Core, Nanolith, Magic Steps, Fusion, AFS System, Teflon Joints RRP: £2,800 SSP: £2,100 Package: 16m pole, four Deluxe Power kits, three match top-threes, one match top-four, cupping kit, cups, mini extension, holdall, clean caps, DVD Spares: Extension £200; deluxe power kit £69.99; match top three £115; match top four £185; Power Zone Deluxe kit £69.99; short No4 £69.99; short power kit £54.99; power kit extension £24.99 |
