GREYS NITRA - 13/02/2009

The Nitra is a slim, powerful and well-balanced rod. It's an ideal choice for mixed, rough ground and for extreme distances over clean ground. Even though it's 13ft 6in and rated to cast 6oz it has a smooth, progressive casting action with plenty of power to drag fish out of the rough stuff. The rod also has a slick black finish and is fitted with top quality guides. A Slide-Lock reel seat allows you to fix the reel in the best position. When testing, I positioned the reel about 12in up from the bottom of the butt, this gave me an effective cast of 12ft 6in and gave me leverage without putting too much stress on my wrist.

It was a perfect day on the beach, light winds and sunny, which meant our targeted species of whiting were hopefully at range. I started with a couple of practice casts with a 150g lead before changing to a 170g that loaded on to the rod a lot better, confirming that the rating was spot-on. My first few casts were short range - scratching for flounders - then I tried one at range and picked up three whiting. That was it, three-hook clip down rigs baited with black lug and tipped with white rag or crab were launched to the horizon. Although, primarily designed for fishing rough ground, the Nitra easily sent baited rigs 170 -180 yards. The tip was a little stiffer than some of the other rods I've tested but it still showed bites clearly, even from undersized fish.

Now I don't do much match fishing but today the weather was good and there were plenty of fish - I had to step up a gear. My rigs were pre-baited, fish wound in, rigs changed, blasted it out again then ran and got the fish signed in. I was exhausted but the rod was a joy to use and seemed to perform better when it was being thrashed. It loaded very smoothly during the casting and recovered very fast, so soft baits had to be bound with elastic to prevent them being ripped off the hooks. At the end of the match I had 17 sizeable fish in the bucket and many more undersized returned. The best bit was that I won £150, not bad with a new rod on a venue that I'd never fished before. The rods was faultless on clean ground but I'd really like to give it a workout over the rough ground it was designed for, maybe we'll have to revisit the Nitra another day, on another venue...

INFORMATION
FACTS AT A GLANCE
Blank material: Carbon
Overall length: 13ft 6in
Casting weight: 6oz
Sections: Two
Rings: Nine, plus tip
Whippings: Black
Reel seat: Slide-Lock
RRP: £249.99

ROGER'S RATINGS
Appearance 9
Casting 10
Fishing 10
Value for money 9

Contact Greys on 01665 602771
Website: www.greysfishing.com