Harrison Carp Rod Range

Introduction

Carp fishing has grown to become the most popular type of fishing in the UK. Many of you will be new to carp fishing and will be thinking about your first set of good quality rods but I guess many of you reading this site will have been fishing a little longer and already own a set of Harrison Rods. For the newer angler I offer a few comments and a bit of history to help you better understand the types of rods we make.

The first quality carp rods of significance were Richard Walker MK IV's. These were 11' long, made of split cane and bent into an almost perfect curve under load. This type of rod was later reinterpreted in glass fibre. Such rods were very effective at playing big fish in small waters. They could apply a lot of pressure to a fish, but they would not be able to cast the distance that anglers fish today. They did not need to. Fishing a weedy hole in Redmire didn't call for that.

Glass fibre opened up the possibility of making longer lighter rods, and carbon fibre extended this trend. In the eighties a good selection of carbon carp rods emerged from TriCast, Century, Sportex, Bruce and Walker and North Western Blanks. These were now stiffer and longer. 12' became the norm with some 13's available. If you put those rods next to a Richard Walker rod you would call them fast taper, but by comparison to today they would be through action.

Through the nineties, trends for carp fishing have been to use bigger leads at longer distance. Venues fished got bigger and big fish more plentiful. This has called for a new generation of rods. There have been a number of different approaches to design ( and a few evolutionary blind alleys, boron, kevlar, dyneema etc.). We have our own distinctive style of rods. We like to make beautiful rods and pride ourselves on our rod building, but function comes first. We dislike gimmicks and have focussed on the blank performance first and foremost. Although we make rods that can cast distance they all retain a certain feel that is a result of their ability to handle big fish. We have certain trade secrets (we call it compression tension balance, CTB) that allow our rods to feel more alive in the butt when casting and handling fish, yet can produce distance like stiffer, duller feeling blanks. A static test like test curve or 1kg deflection only tells half the story. Try and get a cast with a Harrison rod and you will see why we have sold so many carp rods over the years.

Today we have a massive range, some with a real pedigree like Ballista and Multi Carp, others which are leading the way like Chimera and Torrix. Below are our established best sellers - our Classics. Here you will find our new models.

Multi Carp

Made In the UK!

Multi Carp are semi through action slim rods in light test curves. They are available in 2lb and 2 1/14lb. They are constructed from HR40, 40 ton carbon and lighter modulus carbons for true fish playing action. The ideal rod when fishing distances are less than 70yards. These rods have accounted for some of the biggest carp in Europe and the UK. They can apply more pressure to a fish without lock up, than can modern fast taper distance rods, and their low diameter and weight makes them a pleasure to use. Blank finish is UD carbon either unground or coated in any of a range of colours. Rods are built to order from around £135.

Ballista

Made In the UK!

Ballista is our best selling range. It was one of the first slimmer modern over fit rods and has been around for 14 years. It has proven ultra reliable. The actions are true compound, that is the taper of the butt is different than the tip. The lay up is a mixture of two or three carbons depending on the blank. Two materials gives what we call Compression/Tension Balance. In practical terms this means the rods have massive power without being over stiff. The rods will cast well with light leads and handle fish close in but there are rods in the extensive range that will cast great distance with 4ounce plus. For example, Kurt Grabmyer won the world carp championship using 13' 4lb Ballista rods which allowed him to reach a feature no one else could reach. The range consists of 12' 2.5lb, 2.75lb, 3lb, 3.25ln, 12'6 3.25lb, 3.5lb, 13' 3lb, 3.5lb, 4lb. Ballista II is a slightly tweaked version of the original with a little more casting power to reflect modern trends. The original Ballista Classic is still available. Blank finish is UD carbon either unground or coated in any of a range of colours. Rods are built to order from around £135.

Ballista Slim

Made In the UK!

Ballista Slim is like a hybrid of Multi Carp and Ballista. The tapers are like Multi Carp, but the power extends into the Ballista range with 12' 2.75lb and 3lb. These rods are at the best in medium range fishing where their action is a joy to use and their fish playing power legendary. Low diameter rods can have the power to cast distance, but greater accuracy will be achieved with a larger diameter rod at distances over 100yds. This is to do with the control of torsion or twist during casting. For smaller waters ringed with a 30mm ring set these rods are hard to beat for pure fishing pleasure.