Marker rods over £150

Locating the ideal spots to position your baited traps is obviously of the utmost importance when it comes to catching carp. So feature finding and reading the topography of your swim is one of the most important skills learned by any carper. This skill has one common element throughout: the use of a marker rod.

It would be easy to believe that ‘any ol’ rod will do’ when it comes to dragging a lead across the bottom, whereas in fact there are many key areas to a marker rod. Too soft and vital signals sent back from the lead can be absorbed and lost. A good-sized reel seat which is able to hold a big pit style reel securely is a must, after all, you’ll need to cast these rods just as far as your normal rods. Weight and balance are also important to being able to retrieve the lead at a side angle and most importantly slowly so no piece of information is missed.

Okay, onto the test in hand, and we have 20 marker rods on trial which range from as little as £59.99 to a whopping £499.99! Scroll to the bottom of the page for links to see how the rods on test under £100 and under £150 fared. First off we’ve looked at the spec and obvious features such as test curve, depth markers and fittings. We then put together a team of four anglers who spent the day markering-up and putting the rods through their paces. The test team members then reported back their thoughts and findings.

Just to make sure there was no ‘brand association’ to influence the team, we taped up all the rod graphics and logos and numbered the rods 1 to 20.

Our team of testers, from left to right, Ben Goldring, Wayne Bateman, Adam Spidley and John Rennie.

To ensure there was no ‘brand association’ to influence the team, we taped up all the rod graphics and logos and numbered them 1 to 20.

Over £150

Fox Horizon XT Marker

Cosmetically the Fox XT Marker rod has undergone some subtle changes in keeping with the new-look XT casting rods such as the red name and discreet logo near the shrink butt grip. The blank remains a full 1K carbon construction with a fast taper to allow the casting of heavy marker leads to the same distance as your hookbait.

The Statistics
Test curve: 4.5lb
Length of rod: 12ft
Depth markers:6 and 12”
Butt ring size: 50mm
Suggested use: All-round marker rod
RRP £199.99; foxint.com

Key Tester Comments
Ben: “I found this rod to be a nicely balanced rod. I thought the stiffness was pretty much spot-on for how I’d like it to be – pretty impressed with that. Distance-wise. I’d say this was a mid- to long-range rod. Yes, it was a nice rod overall.” John added: I also really liked this rod. The recovery speed was fantastic, it was well balanced and you felt everything on the bottom. Oh, and it also just felt nice to hold and grip – well impressed, especially for the price point.”

Free Spirit Hi-'S' Marker

Built to complement the Hi-‘S’ rod range, this marker rod is built using the same 40T low resin carbon found in the normal fishing rods and the similarities don’t stop there. The Hi-‘S’ Marker also features the same Fuji reel seat housing a small isotope, S-Lite 3-leg rings and shrink rubber/EVA hybrid handle. It certainly looks the part!

The Statistics
Test curve: 3.75lb
Length of rod: 12ft
Depth markers: 12 and 24”
Butt ring size: 50mm
Suggested use: All-round marker rod
RRP £299.00; freespiritfishing.com

Key Tester Comments
“Wow!” laughs Ben. “What a lovely rod. Performance-wise, this felt like a long-range rod. The responsiveness and vibration transmitted was spot-on. “I absolutely love this rod,” states John. “It looks nice and it feels nice and it casts like an absolute dream and the feeling across the bottom was perfect.” Adam added that the recovery was amazing and the stiffness really picks up every detail from the lakebed, whilst Wayne finished with: “This was a lovely looking rod, and is an out-and-out long distance rod.”

Nash Scope 10' 4.5TC

This rod sits at the extreme end of the Scope range of compact rods from Nash. Not only is it suitable for tackling challenging situations as a carp rod, but also able to complement a set of softer versions of the Scope range as a dual-purpose spod and marker rod. It features a full shrink-wrap handle, Fuji reel seat and carbon line clip.

The Statistics
Test curve: Not stated
Length of rod: 10ft
Depth markers: None
Butt ring size: 40mm
Suggested use: Compact dual-purpose marker and spod rod
RRP £197.99; nashtackle.co.uk

Key Tester Comments
“I didn’t really get this rod,” reveals John. “It felt like it would be a great stalking rod, but I don’t think it made the best marker rod in comparison to the others as it was too short. Like I say, this rod would be perfect for stalking.” Ben added that he thought it would be ideal for short-range and great for tight swims. “I agree with John in that the rod would be great for stalking. The rod is certainly specialist and the blank itself was nice – I liked the feel,” concluded Ben.

Lion Carp Titanium Torzite Marker

Aimed at providing the best of everything combined – the Titanium Torzite Marker contains a host of high quality features designed for extreme-range feature finding. The blank is a full 1K weave fitted with Titanium frame anti-frap Fuji guides coupled with ALP’s super-light reel seat and powder coated red stainless butt cap.

The Statistics
Test curve: Not stated
Length of rod: 12ft
Depth markers: 6 and 12”
Butt ring size: 50mm
Suggested use: All-round marker rod
RRP £499.99; lioncarp.com

Key Tester Comments
Adam: “This really was one of my favourite rods today. Very slim and very powerful – this rod cast a lead a very, very long way. So yeah, this rod was one of the rods I’ve liked the most today.” Wayne backed up Adam’s very positive words with, “I also liked this rod a lot, just stunning really, and the best I’ve cast so far. I feel the rings could be toned down a bit as they’re a tad shiny – I’d prefer gun-metal grey like the reel seat – but they do help the casting and distance.”

Overall thoughts from the test team

Ben: “I think the one that ticked all the boxes for me would be the Free Spirit Hi-‘S’, but there were a couple of other rods that came very close, I thought the Fox Horizon XT was really good, but if I had to pick one, I’d go for the Free Spirit Hi-‘S’. Overall it had everything: responsive, well balanced and could cast.”

Wayne: “The best rod for me by a long way would have been the Lion Carp rod; it did everything I’d want a marker rod to do - but that does come at a price. My next choice would have been the Free Spirit Hi-‘S’ which comes with a tad more wallet-friendly price tag - a great marker rod.”

Adam: “There were some really good rods at this end of the test, and I think in the main you can see that you get what you pay for. My favourites were the Lion Carp rod and the Free Spirit Hi-‘S’ with the Lion Carp one being the better one. It’s great for mid- to long-range and was nice and stiff for a good relay of what was on the bottom.”

John: “I think there was an easy winner for me in this top-end section and that was the Free Spirit Hi-‘S’, it just did everything. The blank, the looks, the way it was responsive; yes, just a stunning rod and I absolutely loved it. If that rod wasn’t there, I did think the Fox Horizon XT was good as well.”