Marker rods under £100

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

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 £150 and over £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.

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.

Under £100

Nash H-Gun Spod Marker

Designed to cover the extreme casting of both marker and spod set-ups, this rod, like many of those on test, provides a good impression as it comes out of the bag. Despite the low price you are faced with a slim-line ground carbon blank loaded with features such as the red tipping, low profile EVA grips and new 50mm butt ring.

The Statistics
Test curve: 4lb
Length of rod: 12ft
Depth markers: 12 and 24”
Butt ring size: 50mm
Suggested use: Dual-purpose spod/marker rod
RRP £59.99; nashtackle.co.uk

Key Tester Comments
Wayne kicked things off: “Knowing this was a budget priced rod I was very impressed, the rod tip was responsive and gave a really good relay as I pulled the lead across the bottom. I could also cast to the hundred-yard mark with very little effort.” John backed this up with: “Quite an impressive rod. It easily put a lead to 140yds and we found a 4oz lead worked best to load-up the rod as it’s fairly stiff.” And Adam summarised with: “I’d agree with the lads here: a good responsive rod.”

Chub S-Plus Marker

The matt black carbon fibre blank of the Chub S-Plus Marker has been designed to offer a progressive action with a responsive tip – ideally suited to picking-up lakebed details. There are depth gauge markers at 6” and 12”, as well as braid-friendly SIC guides throughout with a shrink-wrap handle finishing off the smooth blank.

The Statistics
Test curve: 3.75lb
Length of rod: 12ft
Depth markers: 6 and 12”
Butt ring size: 40mm
Suggested use: All-round marker rod
RRP £59.99; chubfishing.com

Key Tester Comments
“Yeah, very nice rod this one: balanced and casts really well,” boldly states John. “It was nice and light and very responsive; yeah, this one ticked all the boxes really.” Ben backed up John’s words: “I’d fully agree with John here. The rod was well balanced, cast really well and was responsive. I’d also like the markers at six- and twelve-inches.” Wayne continued: “Very pleasing cosmetics and a lovely feely rod which you could certainly hit a lead a long way with it. All in all a very good rod.”

Wychwood Dispatch M1

The slim, matt black carbon blank features four depth gauge markers at three-inch intervals for super-accurate, micro-measurements when plumbing your swim. Both these markers and the graphics are laid discreetly over the blank that also boasts a full Japanese shrink-wrap handle and braid-friendly 50mm butt ring.

The Statistics
Test curve: Not stated
Length of rod: 12ft
Depth markers: 3, 6, 9 and 12”
Butt ring size: 50mm
Suggested use: All-round marker rod
RRP £59.99; wychwood-tackle.co.uk

Key Tester Comments
“Again another nice rod to look at – nice and thin,” says Wayne. “The rod was nice and responsive when pulling a lead across the bottom; I’d say this was another one well suited to mid-range marker work.” John added: “Overall this rod will definitely do the job. I did find the butt a little short, but for under a hundred quid, this rod would definitely do well.” “I’d have to agree with John,” says Ben, “I’d also have preferred the reel seat an inch or so further up the blank, but overall the rod was okay.”

Sonik SKS Black Marker

As the name suggests, the matt black reel seat complements the matt black finish of the super-slim low resin carbon blank perfectly. With black metal collars and whippings extending the all black look. Designed with a progressive action, the rod features a 50mm butt ring and braid-friendly SIC rings. Another nice rod from SONIK.

The Statistics
Test curve: 3lb
Length of rod: 12ft
Depth markers: 6, 12 and 24”
Butt ring size: 50mm
Suggested use: All-round marker rod
RRP £69.99; soniksports.com

Key Tester Comments
“This was a nice looking rod with a 50mm butt ring, but I felt the rod itself would make a great carp rod because of the through action and feel,” reveals Ben. “Yes, this was a very pleasing rod to look at, but I thought it was a little soft in the tip,” states Wayne. “It would be nice for short-range marker work and was nice to have the 50mm butt ring.” John concluded with: “This is a lovely looking blank: nice and thin, but just felt a little light for markering.”

Fox Warrior S Marker

With DPS style reel seat, laser engraved butt cap and Fox SLIK guides, the Warrior S Marker Rod from Fox contains all the characteristics to complement the Warrior range. The discreet graphics sat over a matt black finish look pretty rad on the blank and the stiff 3lb test curve is designed for long casts, as well as high topography feel.

The Statistics
Test curve: 3lb
Length of rod: 12ft
Depth markers: 6 and 12”
Butt ring size: 40mm
Suggested use: All-round marker rod
RRP £69.99; foxint.com

Key Tester Comments
“For me, it’s a nice looking rod which casts very well, but I did think it was a little soft in the tip. However, don’t let that put you off, as this rod did cast very well,” states Ben. Wayne added that he thought it was a very light, nice feeling rod with plenty of power and was good and responsive through the tip and John finished by saying, “Yeah, the boys are right, a nice rod, you could feel the bottom fine. I’m not sure I’d want to use the rod at extreme-range, but a very good rod all-in.”

Sonik SK3 XTR Marker

Matching the SK3 family of rods from SONIK, the SK3 Marker Rod looks really nice cosmetically. The multi-modulus carbon blank has a smooth matt finish and is ringed with lightweight SIC guides coupled with black tyings and grey tippings. At the butt end a full Japanese shrink-wrap runs neatly up to the DNPS 20mm reel seat.

The Statistics
Test curve: 3lb
Length of rod: 12ft
Depth markers: 6 and 12”
Butt ring size: 40mm
Suggested use: All-round marker rod
RRP £99.99; soniksports.com

Key Tester Comments
“This rod surprised me a bit,” states John. “I don’t think I’d like to cast it a long way, say 130yds. I actually thought it could do with a bigger tip eye as I had a couple of fraps, but I did actually think it was very good all-round.” Ben continued: “I found the rod a little soft for my liking; I prefer it a little stiffer. That said, the feeling back through the rod wasn’t too bad, although again, some more stiffness would of helped, but a good rod for mid-range work.”

Greys Marker Plus Rod

This multi-range marker rod is ideally suited to 4oz leads and most feature finding situations, utilising a fast taper butt section combined with a sensitive tip section. Fitted with a 20mm Fuji NPS reel seat that will house any big pit style reel and G-Lite Ultralite SIC guides throughout, the comfortable butt grip finishes off the rod nicely.

The Statistics
Test curve: Not stated
Length of rod: 12ft
Depth markers: 6 and 12”
Butt ring size: 40mm
Suggested use: All-round marker rod
RRP £99.99; greysfishing.com

Key Tester Comments
“To look at, this is a really nice rod and the tip section felt good when dragging a lead back across the bottom,” says Adam. “However, the butt section was on the softer side so I think it would suit smaller lakes.” “I’d have to agree with Adam here,” states John. “Cosmetically the rod looked great but was a little on the soft side for my liking.” Ben continued, “I don’t think you’d want to cast this rod with too big a lead; it was a little soft for me, although it would be great for smaller lakes.”

Free Spirit CTX SPM Spomb/Marker Rod

Part of the newly released CTX range, the SPM rod has been designed by Free Spirit to act as a dual-purpose rod: suitable for both marker and Spomb work. Integrating 40T and 30T carbons, this superb looking blank is finished a Fuji DNPS reel seat and ‘S’-Lite rings and still somehow comes in under a hundred quid!

The Statistics
Test curve: Not stated
Length of rod: 12ft
Depth markers: 12 and 24”
Butt ring size: 50mm
Suggested use: Dual-purpose spod/marker rod
RRP £99.99; freespiritfishing.com

Key Tester Comments
John: “Yeah, all in all, a good rod. It’s nice and stiff so was responsive pulling back along the bottom. A good casting technique would get the best out of this rod as it was quite stiff.” Adam backed this up with: “This rod is a bit of an animal on the quiet – nice looking and better casters will get more from this rod as its fairly stiff, but very responsive because of that. The rod had a very quick recovery… Yeah, I liked it.” Ben added: “thanks to the stiffness you definitely felt more.”

Overall thoughts from the test team

Adam: “There were some very nice rods within this category, but for me, the stand-out marker was the Chub S-Plus.”

John:“I’d say that the Chub S-Plus was a cracking, very well balanced rod and definitely ticked all the boxes. It was also nice to look at and had a lovely feel. If you were looking for a little more range, I’d say the Nash H-Gun would be a good option, but number three was definitely the nicest rod.”

Ben:“Overall I thought there were some very good rods here, but a few I liked a bit more because they were a bit stiffer, like those rods designed to spod as well. For range I’d go for the Nash H-Gun Spod Marker or Free Spirit CTX SPM Spomb/Marker Rod, but my favourite was the Chub S-Plus for its overall balance and feel.”

Wayne: “I was quite surprised by the Chub S-Plus and what it could do – personally I didn’t think it was the most attractive rod, but it can certainly cast and was very good when feeling the lead along the bottom.”