Shimano Vengeance Barbel rod

After having allot of enjoyment fishing on the rivers, the time had come to upgrade the unwieldy 13foot float rod, to something a bit more friendly and all round for use.

As a new comer to fishing, I was looking for a rod that offered good versatility while not breaking the bank.  After much reading, googling and comments on the Fishing Fools site, the decision was made to go with the Shimano Vengeance Barbel rod with 1.5lb Test Curve - at just under £80 this certainly wasn't the cheapest rod  but read on to see the complete review.

 The thing that drew me to this rod were :-

• Make, I've had my Shimano reels now for years and they have never let me down - I was hopefully that this quality would also be present in the rods
• Versatility - The rod come with a quiver tip top section, and an interchangeable Avon tip that allows the rod to be used with floats
• Tips - The quiver tips included [3] came with a good spread of ounce weightings
• Cost - Was in the price bracket that felt comfortable for my first River rod
• Availability - This was a rod that was available in my local tackle shop to look at and purchase

So on to the interesting bit  The rod is available in two test curve versions, a 1.5 and 1.75 - I decided to go with the 1.5lb test curve as it still allows plenty of action in the rod to cope with smaller fish, but would also be able to cope with landing the occasional whopper - I felt that going with the heavier 1.75lb test curve, even though more suited to larger fish, would detract from the fun I have catching perch and roach.  After using the rod for several months, I'm certainly not disappointed with my choice, with the rod happily coping with Carp to 11lb [so far] and roach - unfortunately I've not had the chance to catch the elusive Barbel yet ! but I'm sure this rod will do the trick.

	The rod comes packed in a black material bag, that is secured at the top with a Velcro fastener - it's divided in to three sections to take the rod butt, the quiver tip section and the Avon tip section.
	The quiver tips are stored in a plastic tube, that is housed in a pocket in the bottom of the bag, and secured with Velcro.
	The rod is supplied with three quiver tip sections rated at 2oz, 3oz and 5oz - the quiver tip section is around 40 cm's long and coloured white - a point to note is the quiver sections do not glow in the dark, like some of the more expensive rods.
	Each quiver tip has 5 eyelets attached.
	The Avon tip makes the rod in to a two section rod, that I've used with my centre pin for float fishing, or you can attach the quiver tip section to make the rod in to three parts.
	The rod butt is cork around the reel, with plastic coating at the end.

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