Going the distance

The concept for the ground-breaking new Century C2-D long-range rod was born last April after a long phone conversation with Century Composites Director and behind-the-scenes technical maestro Simon Chilcott.

I had been lucky enough to have been fishing some fantastic waters in Kent’s beautiful Medway Valley and for the first time in my carp angling career had encountered some reasonably restrictive rules. The lakes in question were all of reasonable size – 20-60-acres to be exact and all had swims that required some pretty hefty chucks. Usually this wouldn’t be a problem but with line restrictions of a maximum of 15lb breaking strain, a maximum lead size allowance of four-ounces and with braid, tapered main lines and shockleader bans also in place, fishing safely (without cracking-off on the cast) at ranges of 135yds+ was proving to be more than a little challenging at times, especially on the bigger lakes in windy conditions.

Here at Century we have never had issues with designing and manufacturing rods that in the right hands produce enormous casts. Our history in terms of records and winners on the UKSF Tournament field is pretty much impeccable and has been for many years and our endless list of legendary carp rods continues to grow. However, during our chat, it dawned on us that our last few offerings to the carpers had been far more all-round type rods in the shape of the ADV-1 and the bestselling flagship C2. Both are amazing rods but we really didn’t have anything in the range to hit these huge distances in the presence of a leader ban. With a little more research it turned out that the now common leader ban rule has become huge both at home and abroad and is only heading further in that direction at an accelerating rate. These days, rightly so, there seems to barely be a lake where the use of even twelve-inches of leadcore is permitted in the rules let alone a 20ft braided shockleader and this will no doubt become the norm more and more in years to follow.

Now, twelve months down the line and a ton of testing later we finally have the answer to the conundrum in the new Century C2-D. This rod is more than a bit special. A true no compromise piece of kit for the serious angler and is designed to do a job. The rod is incredibly light, over 30% lighter than any previous 13ft long-range Century rod. We saw little point in developing a 12ft rod for ultra long-range fishing so the C2-D is a 13ft 3.75lb option only which not only aids in the range department but also helps to keep the action a little more civilised which again assists in safeguarding against line breakage.

The blank itself, the materials used and the action it possesses are, of course, the key components and what really sets this rod apart from its competitors. The material is a mixture of the original C2 carbons improved with some very clever angular carbon fibre material placement within the wall of the rod and all are held together with our industry leading, ultra-resilient, lightweight HPR (High Performance Resin). As with all Century rods, the C2-D has been given the full Autoclave oven treatment to squeeze out and eliminate any air pockets and potential weak spots in the blank and to help to prevent test curve decay giving this and all of our rods unrivalled longevity. We have also included the latest and greatest version of our ATT, Anti Twist Technology meaning that no matter how hard you hit these on the cast, the tips will resist twisting to levels that will enhance directional accuracy and stability. This aids not only accuracy but also in overall distance enabling the guides to stay perfectly in line on the cast reducing overall line friction by a large margin.

As far as the build goes, the C2-D is a real thing of beauty but has been designed with functional weight reduction in mind. The custom, laser-etched matt black ALPS reel seat, abbreviated shrink wrap handle and black aluminium Century butt cap not only look stunning with the metallic red tippings but collectively weigh less than a fag paper.

As far as ring sets are concerned, there are two options with this rod. Firstly, in line with the original C2 concept, it is of course armed with 40-12mm Fuji K guides, only this time the Titanium version to assist even further with overall weight reduction. Or for the more traditionalist amongst you, the rod is also available with the more common place 50-16mm Century SiC double leg guides – taste dependent of course.

In testing this rod has been nothing short of ridiculous in what it has achieved. If you plan on using it straight through with no leader we recommend a high quality line of 0.35mm-0.40mm diameter and a lead size of four-ounces. In the right hands, distances of over 160yds are well within reach whist still managing to keep your line in one piece. With this said however, please don’t think for one minute that this rod won’t do the job if you are in a position to use a shockleader. With braid and braided shockleaders this rod will simply breeze the 200yd mark for those who have that requirement and ability. Due to the unique action and blank design that this rod possesses, it is surprisingly easy to use and even less experienced and usually more limited ability casters have seen huge gains during the testing process.

Leaving baited and presented rigs thrown all over the lake is certainly not the way forwards; it has no place in any of our angling worlds and certainly only serves to cancel out all aspects of the term ‘fishing safely.’ It’s not just our rigs, lines and end tackle set-ups that determine whether we are truly fishing with the carp’s best interest at heart but also the rods that we use. Crack-offs can, and usually will, end in disaster and are also pretty damn dangerous for the poor guy stood on the opposite bank. For not only range and out and out performance but also carp and carp angler safety the new C2-D really is a major step in the right direction.

“GIMME”: £549; centurycarp.co.uk