L_A_2015_S_

SPRO SHOULDER

BAG by John

Copeman

T

he Spro Shoulder Bag

is manufactured from

a black rip-stop

material and the main

compartment houses two

8”x5” lure boxes (included)

that have removable dividers

for a custom fit of your

sundries. At the rear of the

main compartment is an

elasticated divider to place

packets of soft plastic lures

and such like. A zippered

pocket is also present that I

find useful for holding

packs of hooks.

On the fold down part of

the main front compartment

is a slotted EVA lure saver

which is more than adequate

for storing a few hard baits

up to six inches long. This is

secured into place with

Velcro making it removable,

a thick plastic screen

overlaps the lure saver

to prevent any hooks

finding their way into the

bag’s material.

There is a front pocket

that has two nylon fixed

partitions and two

additional mesh fixed

partitions, these are ideal

for braid blades, forceps,

split ring pliers, knot pickers

and other tools. Mounted

on the very front is a mesh

pocket for tippet material.

There are zippered pockets

on each side roughly the

size of a hand, one has a

pliers sheathe pocket with

Velcro retaining strap. Two

plastic D rings for custom

tool attachment and a

couple of webbing loops

allow small anodized

aluminium karabiners to be

fixed, ideal for attaching a

small pan net.

The pack is equipped

with a single padded

shoulder strap to wear like

a sling. I found that the

buckle arrangement did not

allow the strap to be

shortened enough to be

worn comfortably without a

jacket so I cut the stitching

and moved the shortening

buckle to below the padded

strap as it was originally

above. A quick pass under

the sewing machine with

some Kevlar thread and I

found it much improved.

Overall the pack is a

well thought out piece of

luggage for the mobile

angler when only a very

small selection of baits is

needed for a roving session.

I love it!

RRP £32.99 available from

http://www.thepikeshop.co.uk

Review

F

ishing with soft plastics is definitely

my thing and when bank fishing I

prefer a fixed spool outfit but when

on a boat, vertical jigging, I do prefer the

feel of a baitcasting outfit. It is so much

easier to disengage the spool one handed

whilst controlling the electric motor.

My favourite rod was an old single-

handed, pistol-gripped 5’ 6” Bass Pro

job but when this was damaged I had to

replace it. I initially tried a G.Loomis

GL2 JWR with a fast action rated for

lures between ¼ and ¾ ounce.

Although a lovely rod to use, I did find

I was occasionally missing some

savage takes, especially when fishing

deep water. Reading an article by

Tom Sintobin titled “A Question of

Sensitivity” I found myself agreeing

with everything I read. Tom

recommended the Airrus Nano

Fusion so my credit card found itself

taking a bit of a hit.

On arrival the Airrus ANFC684-

IMHXF (that’s Nano Fusion Casting 6’ 8”

one-piece, medium/heavy, extra fast)

really looked the part. It comes equipped

with a “megaphone” handle, designed by

Ken Whiting. This bizarre looking

handle actually amplifies the bite felt by

the exposed blank reel seat. Better

sensitivity in the hand actually allows

a blank to be used with a lower modulus

carbon whilst still transmitting bites to

the fisherman’s hand without becoming

prone to breakage or mishaps which is

often the case with blanks made from a

higher modulus.

Performance wise the rod is faultless.

On its maiden voyage targeting deep

water perch vertically, I was bumping a

few fish when using my usual rods. My

boat partner was experiencing similar

results. He then announced that he was

going to switch to his extra fast actioned

rod to combat this so I decided to give

the Nano Fusion a fair trial whilst the

perch were on the feed. It was like chalk

and cheese. Even the slightest tap of

smaller nuisance fish was felt and every

rap was converted to a perch on the boat.

I could not believe the difference

between the rods, the Airrus was

performing brilliantly.

I had paired my ANFC684-IMXF with

a small ABU Revo STX loaded with 20lb

Sunline braid. The rod also comes

equipped with a balancing system in

the butt so by critically balancing the

rod to the very light reel I get a feeling

of enhanced sensitivity and perfect

balance resulting in less fatigue over

the course of a long day afloat.

The cosmetics of the rod will not be to

everyone’s taste, having a black woven

carbon style fore-grip, micro guides

(which really do perform well) and a fair

amount of the butt section coloured red

but as a functional fishing rod it is, in

the right hands, a seriously good tool.

Airrus Nano Fusion RRP £230

AIRRUS NANO FUSION

by Mark Kelly