Senior Wallis Avon
Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2014 1:46 pm
Hi All,
Bit of bumph about Andrew Davis' model called ‘Senior Wallis Avon’.
This rod took its inspiration loosely from on my 11’ R.Sealey’s “Festival Avon” (not the Festival, different beasts). I normally prefer 12’ rods for the extra reach you get, you’ll also see from some of my photos I often have the reel quiet low on that handle I find this assists Wallis casting and also uses the whole rod when playing a fish. You may whinge that 12’ rods are heavy and I would say….stop being a Jessie….but yes there are some hideous rods around which are heavy or feel top-heavy. Having a whole cane butt section stiffens the whole rod up and assists with the weight issue. If an 12’ rod is all splitcane in construction often feel heavy wobbly rods unless it has been properly hollow-built, a good hollow built section need “dams” to support the cane or you get too much twisting motion in the rod. The rod will feel light but be lacking in power. For a reasonable price a 12’ Hunter form Chapmans is a good rod but more of a float rod although I've have good barbel on mine.
Anyhow back to Mr Davis and his senior Senior Wallis Avon, 12’ three piece whole cane butt. Compound tapers in the middle and tip section, these tapers enable the rod action to be stiffened further in its action and also make the rod deceptively powerful. The tip section step-down/compound taper is quite subtle compared to the “Festival Avon” but the real power in this rod really comes from the middle section into the wholecane. The middle section has a powerful lower splitcane length which then steps-down to the ferrule to the tip section. If you use the whole length of the rod i.e. keep the rod low then the full power will come into play and will tell on a fish very quickly.
I have had a reasonably tough start to the season but the rod has caught three fish of note (lots of smaller stuff) a 14lb Carp, a barbel of just under 8lb, and another one of 5lb ish. The larger barbel and the carp really were proper battles which tested the rod out superbly. The 5lb was a good fight but luckily the fish stuck to the main flow rather than the snags.
If you were looking for powerful three piece whole cane but rod then you can’t do any better than a ‘Senior Wallis Avon’. If you were interested in ordering one contact Andrew via his website. These rods will be material dependant. As you may appreciate finding wholecane of good enough quality is very difficult and also requires custom made ferrules etc so a lot of work. My particular rod (Opochtli) had a few extras...flamed wholecane, dark splitcane, and lined rings throughout which are also difficult to source but I have taken to using braid for some fishing now so these lined rings are a must.
Cheerio.
Bit of bumph about Andrew Davis' model called ‘Senior Wallis Avon’.
This rod took its inspiration loosely from on my 11’ R.Sealey’s “Festival Avon” (not the Festival, different beasts). I normally prefer 12’ rods for the extra reach you get, you’ll also see from some of my photos I often have the reel quiet low on that handle I find this assists Wallis casting and also uses the whole rod when playing a fish. You may whinge that 12’ rods are heavy and I would say….stop being a Jessie….but yes there are some hideous rods around which are heavy or feel top-heavy. Having a whole cane butt section stiffens the whole rod up and assists with the weight issue. If an 12’ rod is all splitcane in construction often feel heavy wobbly rods unless it has been properly hollow-built, a good hollow built section need “dams” to support the cane or you get too much twisting motion in the rod. The rod will feel light but be lacking in power. For a reasonable price a 12’ Hunter form Chapmans is a good rod but more of a float rod although I've have good barbel on mine.
Anyhow back to Mr Davis and his senior Senior Wallis Avon, 12’ three piece whole cane butt. Compound tapers in the middle and tip section, these tapers enable the rod action to be stiffened further in its action and also make the rod deceptively powerful. The tip section step-down/compound taper is quite subtle compared to the “Festival Avon” but the real power in this rod really comes from the middle section into the wholecane. The middle section has a powerful lower splitcane length which then steps-down to the ferrule to the tip section. If you use the whole length of the rod i.e. keep the rod low then the full power will come into play and will tell on a fish very quickly.
I have had a reasonably tough start to the season but the rod has caught three fish of note (lots of smaller stuff) a 14lb Carp, a barbel of just under 8lb, and another one of 5lb ish. The larger barbel and the carp really were proper battles which tested the rod out superbly. The 5lb was a good fight but luckily the fish stuck to the main flow rather than the snags.
If you were looking for powerful three piece whole cane but rod then you can’t do any better than a ‘Senior Wallis Avon’. If you were interested in ordering one contact Andrew via his website. These rods will be material dependant. As you may appreciate finding wholecane of good enough quality is very difficult and also requires custom made ferrules etc so a lot of work. My particular rod (Opochtli) had a few extras...flamed wholecane, dark splitcane, and lined rings throughout which are also difficult to source but I have taken to using braid for some fishing now so these lined rings are a must.
Cheerio.
