More feel, more power

Unless you’ve got a set of Basiairs Z45QD’s or a ticket for Welly on your shopping list, buying a top-end set of rods will be the biggest expense you’ll have this winter – and that means you have to get it right. But as I have found out over the past three-months, it doesn’t have to be a hard task when there’s brands like Greys Fishing out there making rods like the AirCurve.

I’ll start with the background: the AirCurve is the next generation to their previous headline-maker, Torsion, which for any of you who follow the credentials of products will know, that rod had many. And the AirCurve isn’t a me-too product, it’s the result of three-years development and is in fact the first rod to utilise Greys new Toreon Nano composite material technology. Like you right now, that meant nothing to me when I first heard it – basically it sounded like some shitty sales chatter, but from talking to one of the key members of the rod’s development, Ed Betteridge, it does actually mean something. That “something” relates to the composite which provides a uniform dispersion of nano particles throughout the resin that binds the carbon fibres together and the result of that means a stronger and lighter material that creates a powerful, semi-fast taper blank. And because of this, it means the rod is thin. Like supermodel thin. Seriously, out of the hundreds (and it quite literally is) of rods I’ve tested since CARPology began some ten years ago, the AirCurve is by far and away the thinnest blank I’ve ever seen/used.

Now onto how it feels. In three words: off the scale! It’s astonishing. It really, really is. The first thing you notice is how light and controlled the rod feels. There’s no bulkiness to it. The second thing you’ll find is how damn far and accurately it’ll cast. The recovery of the rod is sensational and I suppose that’s why you’re paying a premium for this rod, because it will cast a lead a long, long way with total control and secondly it’s a total joy to play a fish on.

Like a car, it’s not just about performance, it’s about aesthetics too and thankfully Greys haven’t balls-ed up here. It features braid-friendly G-lite Ultralite SIC guides, 50mm distance ringing pattern as standard, deluxe Fuji DPS18 reel seat with minimalist fittings and for the first time ever, all of the Greys AirCurve models will be available in a choice of handle options: Abbreviated, Full Shrink Wrap or Full Cork (which I’ve opted for and they look truly biblical!) and each one is finished with a laser engraved butt cap.

So are they worth the £299.99 price tag? Unbelievably, yes. Without a doubt. In anyone’s language, £900.00 for a set of three rods is a lot of money, but if you’re looking for a top-end set, then you should buy these with total confidence knowing you won’t be left disappointed.