Greys Prodigy TX Specimen Rods… The Review

This entry was posted on 28th May, 2013

Greys Prodigy TX Specimen Rods… The Review

I was in the market for a pair of new specimen rods, something that would be suitable for large Bream and Tench, I wanted something that would be able to handle the demands of modern day specimen fishing.

As many will know, a lot of fishing for large Bream and Tench is often on waters which also contain a good head of Carp, so it made sense to try and pick a rod that would also handle these beasts, should I come across any. It’s also a well known fact that the Bream and Tench on these waters are so used to Carp fishing baits, rigs and anglers that, scaled down Carp tactics are often the best way to catch them.

So my criteria for picking the perfect rod, was as followed…

- 12ft in length - Test curve of around 1.25lb - Sensible fish playing action - Casting rating of up to 2oz - Suitable for lines of 6lb+ - Under £100 in price

As you can imagine, when doing my initial search, the results were vast, with many rods on the market, made by many different companies! So where to start? Well, with the current economic situation, I was on a budget, so unfortunately, however nice; any rods over £100 were eliminated.

To cut a long story short I ended up with around five rods that fitted the bill! Before I even looked at any of them, there was one range in particular that I was constantly drawn too and this was the Greys Prodigy TX Specimen.

Through over ten years in the trade Prodigy has always been a name I’ve been familiar with, it’s been a name, which to me personally has been associated with quality at an affordable price. I remember many years ago, when the original Greys Prodigy Carp Rods were released we simply couldn’t get enough of them and they soon became an all time best seller.

I’ve also, always thought that any company which offers a life time guarantee with a product, must have 100% faith in its quality and performance.

So on to the Greys Prodigy TX Specimen Rods, the 1.5lb model to be precise.

Was it love at first sight, well almost!

The two-piece blanks are finished in an unobtrusive matt grey, with a super smooth full cork handle and secure screw locking reel seats. They also feature discreet graphics, a hinged hook keeper ring and an etched butt cap, as well as a full set of hard wearing SIC line guides.

Now I know that all sounds perfect, but how would they perform? There was only one way to find out and that was to take them out for a spin! I opted to fish a lake close to home, that contained a good mix of specimen sized Bream, Tench and the odd rogue Carp. Setting up simple running feeder rigs and fishing around 40 yards out meant they would be used in the optimum conditions I wanted them for.

The first thing that struck me was the lightweight, well-balanced nature of the high modulus carbon blanks and the ease of handling, the second thing was the super crisp casting power on offer. Fishing into a reasonable headwind, the rods had no trouble punching out a fully loaded feeder, which was probably verging on 2oz in weight.

In the session itself, I was limited on time and fishing in the middle of the day in bright sunshine isn’t normally a recipe for success and in this case it wasn’t! However I did manage to land a few small ‘skimmers’ and one proper bream around 4lb or so. As you would expect the rod handled these perfectly and the forgiving action let the small fish lunge under the rod tip, with virtually no worries of hook pulls.

The rods comfortably coped with all the tasks put to them in the short session and by the end of it I left feeling very happy with the choice I’d made. I also left eager to return at a more suitable time and to really get stuck into the larger specimens that inhabit the lake, safe in the knowledge that I now had a new pair of rods that were more than up to the challenge.

Now with most reviews, there are normally some bad points, but unfortunately I really cannot find any, and I would just be lying if I made some up, just for the purpose of this post!

I would also challenge anyone who fishes with these rods, even going as far to say any rods with the Prodigy Specimen TX range, to find fault with these super specimen tools!

If these sound like the sort of thing you are looking for, then you can check out the full range online, by clicking the link below:

Greys Prodigy TX Specimen Rods.

Looking for the perfect partner to match the rods? The why not check out the fantastic range of mini Shimano Baitrunner reels:

Shimano Baitrunner DL Reels.