Jon on the Team Daiwa SR1PLUS
I really enjoy fishing with cheaper poles like the Team Daiwa SR1PLUS because they are normally really strong and robust bits of kit that give you bags of confidence when playing fish. A budget pole cannot possibly be as stiff as your average £1,000-plus model and this is reflected in the price but with an SSP of £325 you still want a tool that is fishable at full length. The SR1PLUS is definitely that. Yes, it has a small amount of bounce and isn’t lightning fast on the strike but it was perfectly adequate for the asking price and well up to the task of Cad Potting pellets up to a reed bed at a full 13 metres without bouncing the contents out. It was also relatively responsive on the fast bites you typically get when fishing an expander pellet at dead depth.
The Banks Fishery near Rugby was the perfect testing ground. My swim was 13 metres wide with a snaggy reed bed across and an ominous-looking weed bed at the same range down the inside to my left. This venue is stuffed full of a variety of species from tiny 1oz carp right up to 10lb beasties, plus a very healthy mixture of crucians, brown goldfish, tench and skimmers. It’s one of those venues I love fishing because you never quite know what you’ll hook next. That was why I chose to fit grey Hydrolastic through a match kit with the No1 section removed and black Hydro through one of the two spare power kits. I hoped to fish with grey Hydro most of the day, but the black stuff would be coming out to play if I was struggling to pull bigger fish away from the undergrowth!
My plan was to simply feed 2mm and 4mm pellets and fish a 6mm expander on the hook, both across and down the edge. These test days are one of the few times I get to experiment, so I also decided to douse my bait in chilli powder and Hot Pepper Sauce. It certainly made my fingers tingle but, nevertheless, the fish seemed to like it!
I caught a mixture of fish with the SR1PLUS and it really made me appreciate just how good a pole of this price is compared to when I started pole fishing. Gone are the days of budget poles with a discernible weave that catches on your hands – this pole bore as smooth a finish as any top-of-the-range model I’ve held. That meant it slid through the hands easily without any friction or juddering.
The wall strength, as you’d expect, is very sound and I wouldn’t hesitate to use this pole for elastics up to red Hydro or a No20 grade. Although nothing special, the spares package is adequate and with extra match or power kits costing less than £40 apiece they are cheap enough to add at a later date.
Using this pole was great fun on the day, especially as I never knew what would bite next. I ended up with plenty of carp to around 6lb but it was the extra crucians and skimmers that I managed to sneak in that tipped the verdict my way, with 41lb to Tom’s 38lb. Perhaps it was the chilli?
The SR1PLUS would be a great purchase as a good starter pole or for anyone on a limited budget. Put it this way, it was good enough to help me whip Mr Scholey’s backside (again!), despite him wielding the unbelievably impressive and poker-stiff Daiwa Airity!
Tom on the Team Daiwa SR1PLUS
One word sprung to mind when I picked up the SR1PLUS – power! The high wall strength and sturdy joint construction gave me confidence that the pole would handle anything that an angry, snag-bound carp could throw at it. At its full length of 13 metres the pole is as stiff and light as any other in its price bracket, and comfortable to fish with even for longish periods of time. The striking graphics and ample spares mean you get a decent pole for a very modest price. Thumbs up from me!
| TECH SPEC Team Daiwa SR1PLUS Stated length: 13m with mini extension Actual length: 13.04m with 90cm mini extension Closed length: 1.75m Top-two length: 1.87m Top-three length: 3.15m Top-four length: 4.45m Top-five length: 5.85m Top-three length with No1 removed: 2.59m Power-kit length: 3.3m Match-kit elastic rating: No14 Power-kit elastic rating: No20 13m butt diameter: 48mm Weight at 13.04m: 1,289g Weight at 12.25m: 1,040g Other features: HMC High Modulus Carbon, Slide Easy finish, section-alignment system RRP: £425 SSP: £325 Package: 13m pole with match kit inside the pole, two spare power kits, cupping kit, 90cm mini extension, pole holdall Spares: Match kit £39.99; power kit £34.99 |
