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Ricky Teale puts the new Reflex Bolo rods through their final testing on the Silo Canal in Germany catching bream and skimmers.
A
s a true European brand it is important that Matrix keeps pace with new methods and tackle developments. One such method is Bolognese (Bolo) fishing, which although not new is very popular across Europe. To develop the new Reflex range required knowledge of what was needed, both technically and practically, and the Silo Canal in Germany was the place to start.
The Perfect Bolo Rod
Designing rod perfection is almost impossible because anglers have different views on what they want and Bolo rods are no different. They need to be long (at least 6m) to cope with the depth of large rivers and canals and to give good float control. They also need to be light and well balanced as the method requires an active approach of casting, controlling the line and playing fish for several hours. The start of the Reflex project involved looking at the basic requirements of length and action. The easy part was lengths and we soon realised that two lengths were essential to cover most match fishing situations, both 6 and 7 metres. The action was more difficult to develop due to the nature of the fishing. There are times when roach and small skimmers are the target, so the tip has to be responsive and sensitive, however there
are other times when larger skimmers and bream are caught so power and control also needs to be considered. To complicate things further fish up to 12oz (300g) are regularly swung to hand when bagging so strength is important and the rod must have the correct action to make casting large floats easy.
Testing Times
The Silo canal is a German Mecca for match fishing with weights of roach and bream up to 60lb (30kg) possible. It runs hard and is up to 15’ (5m) deep. The most productive method is a positive approach feeding ball of groundbait a chuck with bunches of bloodworm on the hook. For roach the
new slim Run Bolo float is used. This is run through at pace and strikes cleanly. For bream the new Hold Bolo float, with a large shoulder, is used and held back with the bait over depth. During testing the new Reflex Bolo rods performed as near perfect as possible. They are responsive enough to catch roach, strong enough to swing fish up to 12oz (300g), powerful enough to control bream quickly and have an excellent casting action that copes with floats from 8 to 18g.
Left: Carsten with a net of bream caught testing the new Relex Bolo rods.
Matrix Hold
The Reflex Bolo rods are as perfect as we can get. They are well balanced, sensitive in the tip with a smooth playing action and a powerful butt for casting large floats and fishing in deep rivers and canals. The two new Bolo floats have long bodies and carbon stems to prevent tangles when casting. The Run is a slim shape used to fish at the pace of the flow, usually for roach and small skimmers, the Hold has a large shoulder for holding back when fishing over depth for bream. The Super Match hooks have a wide gape that is perfect for large baits and a medium wire which holds well but doesn’t damage soft baits like bloodworm.
Matrix Run
THE RIGHT GEAR... THE RODS AND THE FLOATS
See page 55 for the Reflex Bolo Rod, page 64 for Bolo Floats
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