George Brailoiu, a passionate fisherman from a small village from Romania, relates us a story about fishing heard from a pen friend:
IT’S claimed that the GiS 210 is lighter and stiffer than the original GiS 10 – quite a statement considering the popularity and awesome all-round capability of the original. There was only one way to find out, so we headed to Willows at Decoy Lakes, near Whittlesey, to give the pole a good workout.
IT’S claimed that the GiS 210 is lighter and stiffer than the original GiS 10 – quite a statement considering the popularity and awesome all-round capability of the original. There was only one way to find out, so we headed to Willows at Decoy Lakes, near Whittlesey, to give the pole a good workout.
I knew there was no point fishing a pole like this at 10m or 11m. All poles are poker-straight and light at these lengths. It’s when you add the final sections that the big difference becomes apparent. So I intended to fish the pole at its full 16m length for five hours, to see what it was like and hopefully put a few fish in the net.
I elasticated a power kit with a No10 elastic and a match kit with a lighter, No6 elastic in case the fishing proved to be harder than expected. In all honesty, a No10 elastic could easily be accommodated in a match kit. If you remove the No1 section of the match kit it is really strong, and I would happily use it for a No14 elastic or the equivalent hollow elastic. The power kits are solid, and would be very hard to break even with the heaviest elastic on the market.
As I assembled the pole on the bank I knew it was going to be something special. Adding the sections one at time, I got all the way out to 13m holding the pole in just one hand before I even realised. The pole’s not the lightest you can buy, but nor is it heavy. It’s the brilliant balance of the GiS 210 that allowed me to easily hold it one-handed at this length.
IMPRESSIVE
Adding the 14.5m section, the balance and the stiffness of the pole wasn’t affected. It remained dead straight, with no droop at all. At this length it was the stiffest pole that I had ever fished with, and I couldn’t wait to put the last section on to see what it was like.
Adding this section made absolutely no difference. True, the pole got slightly heavier, but it still didn’t sag at all. I could easily have fished with it at this length for 10 hours, never mind a five-hour match.
When I eventually stopped admiring the pole and actually put a rig and Toss pot on to begin fishing, the pole did become slightly top-heavy due to the added weight, but that’s unavoidable if you’re fishing in this style.
Shipping out with a full pot to 16m was easier than expected. The pole does not have an overly large diameter, which is an asset when you’re shipping it out to its full length.
I started with the match kit in place and had a bite on the very first put-in. It was a near-record gudgeon that I somehow managed to throw back without photographing! I re-baited, and it wasn’t long before a steady stream of F1s made their way to the net.
The No6 elastic wasn’t really man enough for the job. Several times it bottomed out, and I relied on the strength of the pole to play the fish. Needless to say, the elastic was replaced with a beefier No10 through a power top kit. To my surprise, this didn’t much affect the pole’s balance.
