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Hello Kieth, I noticed it was rain forecast for the rest of the week so the rivers will be even higher, ok for legering but no good for trotting so I spied my chance and got out yesterday. It's thrashing down right now! The rod is the longer version of the 13 ft 6 inch sphere spliced tip rod I got a couple of months back, this one is the 15 ft 6 inches spliced model and it's the longest rod i've ever had. It was nice to use and i'm looking forward to giving it a propper test in the warmer months. The extra length did make mending the line and keeping the float in the right lane easier....not as much stretching etc.

Hi Phone The only rods of 7ft or less that I have ever owned (and still do) are a couple of very light spinning rods plus a light dropshotting rod; but I would find it almost impossible to use any of these rods to trot a light float straight along a glide or gully 15ft or more away from my bank and downstream in a straight line, let alone striking cleanly through a float as it journeyed downstream with the line lying on the surface behind it. I have several different length and different strength float rods which I use when trotting for various fish species; 11ft, 12ft, 13ft, 14ft 6in, 15ft and for the very occasional time when I need to trot very tight along the far bank below the rod tip for big roach on a local stream or I’m float fishing in a deepish swim; an older 17ft/20ft float rod, but unless I were trotting in an exceptionally narrow and/or exceptionally overgrown brook I wouldn’t even consider using anything shorter than my 11ft rod when I’m trotting; and a 7 footer would definately not be my choice if I’m trotting. The rod length that I find the most useful on my local stream when I’m trotting is 13ft. That 15ft 6in Sphere rod that Ian used looks just the ticket. Keith

Got to the river just before 2pm today, it was up from the recent rains and the colour of a stirred up puddle of muddy water, not good! The purpose of the trip out was to try and christen a recently acquired 15tf 6inch rod. Anyhow, the rod proved to be great to use and it made mending the line and controlling the float easy. I might as well have arrived at the river at 3.38pm as that was when I caught the first of only two fish landed, the first of which was a trout. A few more trotts downstream and I hooked what I think was a chub which came off, a couple more trotts through produced the fish in the picture. At 4.05 I hooked something substantial which swam slowly upstream until level with me, but as I tried to bring it to the surface to see what it was the hook pulled out before I caught sight of it! At that point it was too dark to see the float so having christened the rod I made my way home.