Daiwa Spectron Ultra 11ft Feeder Rod Review

A few months ago I made the long trip up country to Daiwa’s Wishaw HQ in Scotland to take a gander at the firm’s late-summer product launches. Amid a plethora of new kit were some fantastic rods and the latest incarnations of Daiwa’s famed Spectron brand, including the Daiwa Spectron Ultra 11ft Feeder Rod.

In my humble opinion, Spectron rods, with the exception of some of the latest Tournament models, have always been the best that Daiwa has produced and they are very affordably priced. But the new Spectron rods that I was being shown were in another league, stunning to look at, with their exclusive Daiwa Air Sensor reel seats, hard full-length black EVA handles with Armlock, and new style TDG guides. When flexed, tackle shop-style, against Daiwa’s showroom ceiling, they felt quite unlike any other rods that I have handled.

I didn’t say too much at the time, acting nonchalantly and seemingly not taking too much notice of the six rods in the range. All, apparently, are solely for commercial fishery use. What better place to put them through their paces than on the Strip Lakes at Decoy, Peg 3 on Oak to be exact, it doesn’t stretch the legs much to reach, but the fish in this lake are big and angry enough to stretch your string and would almost certainly test Daiwa’s Spectron rods to their absolute limit.

I chose to use the 11ft feeder rod with a maximum casting weight of 50g. It weighs 150g and suits reel lines between 6lb and 8lb. The feeder rods all come with Daiwa’s unique Megatop quivertips. These don’t come cheap, but there’s a very good reason for this. The carbon fibres used in their construction run straight, as opposed to being multi-directional, as is the norm. The benefit of this is that it results in a uniform pull-round, no matter what direction it comes from and, being remarkably light, they don’t interfere with the rod’s action in any way. You shouldn’t be able to shatter or break one in normal use!

Let’s deal with the fish-playing action and casting performance of these Spectron Commercial Ultra rods. I’ll try and keep this explanation as simple and straightforward as I can. The super-slim two-sectioned rods are all made from Daiwa’s HVF Nanoplus carbon and incorporate the company’s unique V-Alpha joints. I mention this tech-spec stuff only because Daiwa refers to the action as ‘notably progressive’. And, sure enough, this feeder rod, in particular, has a progressive curvature that almost beggars belief when put under stress.

Rather than the pressure being built progressively down the top section alone, it travels through the joint and beyond, while the rod retains enough energy to deal with the biggest fish you’re likely to find yourself attached to at any commercial fishery. Take it from me, it’s stiffer than an undertaker’s grimace, and will punch out a feeder considerable distances with very little effort.

THE VERDICT

The new Daiwa Spectron Ultra 11ft Feeder is something special, especially for the price bracket it situates itself in, whilst its by no means a budget rod, the performance and materials used makes you feel it should command a far more premium price than it does. Still owning and using the original Spectron rods, it may well be time for an uprgrade as these rods are superb, when casting the whole rod performs flawlessly helping propel a feeder with the minimal of effort and when we reviewed the casting footage from the day, you couldn't see where the joint in the rod was, truly remarkable.

The fish playing action as you would expect is stunning, there are no flat spots and the 'notably progressive' action Daiwa have labelled the rod with is accurate, but rather than the usual scenario of the rod powering up along the top section of the rod, the Spectron Feeder Rod allows the pressure to flow through the V-Joint and further down the blank, this not only allows more pressure to be put on the fish, it will reduce hook pulls and give you a sense that the rod can just keep on giving should you need it too, sublime.

The rod is an out and out commercial fishery tool and no matter the fishery you take it to or what size fish you subject it to, the rod will handle them whilst asking "is that all you've got?" The handle of the rod is fairly unique, with full length EVA being the choice as opposed to any cork, whilst this may not be for everyone, I personally thought it was a lovely edition to the rods, it helps with the balance and if I do say so, made them look fantastic too.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THIS PRODUCT AND OTHERS FROM DAIWA HERE.

TECH SPEC

- HVF Nanoplus carbon build with V-Alpha joints

- Slim profile, softer actions

- Exclusive Daiwa Air Sensor reel seats

- SeaGuide TDG guides

- Hard EVA handle with Armlock

- Megatop quivertips

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Author Mark Sawyer holds the position of Tackle Editor at Angling Times, boasting more than thirty years of experience working within different fields of the angling industry.