Links :

Since then, I have used the Gordon 2 many times for carp, as in the photograph below, this time at Town Parks in Paignton. I have repeatedly tested the rod against, quite literally, hundreds of carp but it is still as good as new!

Recently I had the good fortune to test out the Sharpe's Gordon 2 fly rod, an absolutely cracking piece of kit that feels great and performs beautifully. I already had several of the Sharpe's Gordon, the original fly rod, which I have a great deal of admiration for. (I purchased ten for the club as well as buying three, in different sizes and grades, for myself, which should tell you how much I thought of it.) Knowing how well these performed, I was expecting something pretty special from the Gordon 2 - and I was not disappointed! At 9' 6" the rod is finished beautifully in bronze with dragonwood providing an elegant contrast to the silver of the reel seat. There are eight snake leg rings with two lined stripping guides while the burnished maroon whippings blend in nicely to create an attractive overall effect. The handle is of wells design with high grade cork providing a secure and comfortable grip. There is a hook retainer set just above the handle and, a finishing touch that I particularly liked, alignment arrows marked clearly on each section of the blank. The rod itself has a fastish middle to tip action which really gets behind the fly to send it a considerable distance. I found it handled really well and, being somewhat lighter than the original Gordon, was able to use it all day without tiring. So how did it perform in action? Well, it did fine in the sea but the fishing down here has been pretty nondescript this year, being patchy, unpredictable and, on the whole, fairly unexciting - definitely not a fair test for this particular rod. It needed something special. Bearing this in mind, I decided to teach myself a new skill and took the rod on holiday with me. We were staying on a campsite - 12 Oaks Farm in Teigngrace - and I knew that there were quite a few carp in their lakes. The question was, how would they react to a fly tied to imitate a dog biscuit and how would the rod react to large and angry carp? Accordingly I tied up a selection of different flies in different sizes and, shortly after pitching up, took myself down to the deeper of the two ponds. Casting in the fly amongst a handful of dog biscuits that I threw in to get the carp on the feed, I did not have long to wait. The rod was repeatedly tested as, over a period of three four hour sessions, 20 carp, including the 16 pounder shown opposite, showed a fondness for the fly. Despite their best efforts, however, the Gordon 2 proved more than equal to the task, subduing the biggest after a spectacular thirty minute fight.

Features: 9' 6" middle to tip action rod in bronze 8 snakeleg rings 2 lined stripping guides Hook retainer Wells handle (cork) Secure lock reel seat Overall Impressions: Performance 10 Balance 10 Value 9 Reliability 10 Total Score 39