other rods

[CWK]

The Sharpes Fred Crouch rods were made in the 1980's and the initial run was limited to 25. I acquired a pair of them (No's 11 & 12 from memory) but when I got them I soon realised that they were not for me. They were too 'floppy' for me and not powerful enough for my river Trent fishing, even when a double was a good fish.
They certainly wouldn't be suitable now that the average size of Trent barbel is much bigger. I am not sure where you would be doing your fishing, so they may be fine for you.

Of course, a lot of Fred’s barbel work was under the near bank on the Kennet, lowering feeders down, and similarly in the Lea at Kings Weir; a far cry from the Trent!

I first met Fred on the banks of the Kennet at a syndicate stretch we were both members of at the time . His preferred method was indeed to lower a feeder next to the near bank and sit well back having only the tip of his rod protruding over the river . He seldom failed to catch a barbel doing this .

[ItchenRoach]

thanks guys I was planning to do the same thing on the royalty.the rods seem to had been made over quite a long period but seem to be rarely available.

[Bob Brookes]

The Sharpes Fred Crouch rods were made in the 1980's and the initial run was limited to 25. I acquired a pair of them (No's 11 & 12 from memory) but when I got them I soon realised that they were not for me. They were too 'floppy' for me and not powerful enough for my river Trent fishing, even when a double was a good fish.
They certainly wouldn't be suitable now that the average size of Trent barbel is much bigger. I am not sure where you would be doing your fishing, so they may be fine for you.

Of course, a lot of Fred’s barbel work was under the near bank on the Kennet, lowering feeders down, and similarly in the Lea at Kings Weir; a far cry from the Trent!

Agreed Phil. That said, I reckon I was undergunned with a Barder Mk1 Barbus and sold that too after 4 weeks.

[Tengisgol]

The Sharpes Fred Crouch rods were made in the 1980's and the initial run was limited to 25. I acquired a pair of them (No's 11 & 12 from memory) but when I got them I soon realised that they were not for me. They were too 'floppy' for me and not powerful enough for my river Trent fishing, even when a double was a good fish.
They certainly wouldn't be suitable now that the average size of Trent barbel is much bigger. I am not sure where you would be doing your fishing, so they may be fine for you.

Of course, a lot of Fred’s barbel work was under the near bank on the Kennet, lowering feeders down, and similarly in the Lea at Kings Weir; a far cry from the Trent!

Agreed Phil. That said, I reckon I was undergunned with a Barder Mk1 Barbus and sold that too after 4 weeks.

What you need is a Hardy LRH Bob, steady yourself on that stool mind or better still take some rope and tie yourself to the nearest tree.

[Bob Brookes]

The Sharpes Fred Crouch rods were made in the 1980's and the initial run was limited to 25. I acquired a pair of them (No's 11 & 12 from memory) but when I got them I soon realised that they were not for me. They were too 'floppy' for me and not powerful enough for my river Trent fishing, even when a double was a good fish.
They certainly wouldn't be suitable now that the average size of Trent barbel is much bigger. I am not sure where you would be doing your fishing, so they may be fine for you.

Of course, a lot of Fred’s barbel work was under the near bank on the Kennet, lowering feeders down, and similarly in the Lea at Kings Weir; a far cry from the Trent!

Agreed Phil. That said, I reckon I was undergunned with a Barder Mk1 Barbus and sold that too after 4 weeks.

What you need is a Hardy LRH Bob, steady yourself on that stool mind or better still take some rope and tie yourself to the nearest tree.

My go to barbel rods are usually 9' 6" Sharpes salmon spinning rods when I fish snaggy swims. (You know the ones?)

[Deaf Cat]

Dating Sharpes rods

Just found this

https://sharpesofaberdeen.co.uk/ekmps/s ... system.pdf

[Shropshire Lad]

I have had one of the Fred crouch rods in my hand and as Bob Brookes says found it too floppy and also too heavy, my go to Barbel rod is a 10ft Sharps of Aberdeen salmon rod with an aluminium screw reel seat or the 10ft sharps carp both rods being lighter and better balanced.

[Dave Burr]

The Sharpes Fred Crouch rods were made in the 1980's and the initial run was limited to 25. I acquired a pair of them (No's 11 & 12 from memory) but when I got them I soon realised that they were not for me. They were too 'floppy' for me and not powerful enough for my river Trent fishing, even when a double was a good fish.
They certainly wouldn't be suitable now that the average size of Trent barbel is much bigger. I am not sure where you would be doing your fishing, so they may be fine for you.

Of course, a lot of Fred’s barbel work was under the near bank on the Kennet, lowering feeders down, and similarly in the Lea at Kings Weir; a far cry from the Trent!

That would be 99.5% of his fishing Phil. If he wanted to fish farther out he'd have used a longer rod

[Olly]

Paul Cook also made the Fred Crouch rods. See this:- http: - - artofangling.net/paul-cook-rods.html. From 2016.
"""Fred Crouch Barbel Perfection
Fred Crouch has kindly allowed me to reproduce his favourite rod, the barbel perfection, which are strictly limited to 25. The rod is an 11ft 3in two piece with detachable handle. All rods are finished in fine green or garnet whippings with intermediates at one inch intervals. It has lined butt and tip rings with chrome stand off intermediate rings and finished in a silky smooth varnish. The test curve to each rod is 1 ¼ lb. All ferrules come with a fine polished lacquered wooden rod stopper for protection. Each rod is individually signed by Fred and myself and numbered accordingly on a first-come-first-served basis."""

As previously stated the Scottie rods - made by Weaver,- were nothing to do with Sharpe's of Aberdeen!
It included rods with Fred's name and Chris Ball's - Allrounder - being one of which is up for sale or sold at this moment!

I too use the Hardy LRH 2 for barbel. I also have an LRH 1 which is lighter. The LRH no3 being the most powerful.

[Paul F]

I have one of the limted edition Paul Cook rods, he says it is 1 3/4lb test curve, it is much more powerful than that suggest.

I only use it when I am legering in for bigger barbel, and it seems to stop anything, I have had barbel to just over 11lb on it, without any issue, my only criticism, is it is a heavy rod to hold, so I put it in a rod rest, and hold it across my lap

One of my favourite big fish rods