Daiwa Hydrolastic review

For decades, only traditional solid elastics were available. Great as these were, they had their limitations on commercial waters. Finding the right elastic on mixed venues was always difficult. Fish too light and you struggled to land the bigger fish, but go too heavy and you bumped off all the smaller ones you hooked.

When Hydro arrived, however, it changed everything overnight. Rather than being a single grade of elastic, due to its increased stretch and the way it stiffens right up, it’s like having several grades of elastic in one, allowing a range of sizes of fish to be handled.

Being hollow, with a liquid filled centre, it’s thicker and heavier than solid elastics, but the benefits far outweigh the negatives.

As time passed, poles became stronger, and the end bores thicker, in order to take hollow elastics.

Other companies released their own hollow elastics too, but the next major step was the Hybrid. Less stretchy than a hollow, but thinner, lighter and crucially cheaper, this became a huge success.

The verdict

As an angler who regularly fishes a huge array of venues throughout the year – lakes, rivers, canals and commercials – I use all three types of elastic, as they all have their place.

Solid elastics, from a No2 to a No6, cover silverfish fishing. Hybrid elastics are great for a mix of carp and F1s, particularly when used in short kits or when fishing longer lengths of pole, where the weight saving is more noticeable.

When it comes to really big carp, though, fished for on a short pole or in the margins, there is still only one choice for me – Hydrolastic!

At the point when any other elastic has completely run out of stretch, and the next thump of a fish is liable to throw the hook, break the line or, worse, the pole, Hydro always seems to have just that little more to give, and has allowed me to land that extra-large fish on more occasions than I could ever recall.

One criticism of Hydrolastic from anglers has emerged, though – it doesn’t seem to last as long as it used to, and some even some suggest that it has gone downhill in quality over the years.

This is, of course, completely untrue! The reason it doesn’t last as long is because the way we use it has changed.

We no longer use winder bungs to store spare elastic – instead, puller kits stretch it from both ends, putting it under far more pressure than ever before, and so wearing it out twice as quickly. Even so, it still lasts several years in my pole, as my mix of fishing means I don’t fish high weight commercials every week – which is still more often than any of the solids or Hybrids I use!

It might be an old product now, and is still priced at the premium end of the market, but due to its power and longevity, there is nothing on the market to match Hydrolastic, especially in its highest grades.

DAIWA HYDROLASTIC IS BEST USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE BEST FISHING POLES!

Our pick of the alternatives

Author Dan Webb first became involved in angling journalism in 2015 and has worked as Tackle Tester at Angling Times since April 2021. He is a fanatical all-round match angler and former England Youth International.