ok so i'm very long in the tooth in this carp fishing game, been at it forty years this year. For 99% of that time i've used 12 foot rods, with I think (many moons ago) a brief foray to 13foot. All my fishing these days is within 50 yards of the bank, quite often two rod lengths out. I am tempted to invest in some of the 9 foot future fishing Daiwa Powermesh customs but I am not at all sure if the jump from 12 foot to 9 foot will be too much for me.

So I am after opinions please - NOT to do with ease of transportation and all that, that's pretty obvious. Ideally someone like me that's been a 12 foot devotee and has gone to 9 foot. My biggest concern is lack of control in the margins if a fish kites sideways, as surely you haven't got the reach and leverage to control that situation.

thanks

Don't tell the wife, but I've got carp rods in 13', 12'6, 12', 11',10',9' and even a 6' now I'm thinking about it

For me personally 9ft is a bit too short. They just felt noddy and weird to cast. Playing a fish was fine once you got used to it. If it's not about pack up and you want shorter than 12ft I would go for 10 as a happier medium.

Still probably happiest with a 12ft rod though, I think there is a reason that length stuck as the most popular for so long.

In reply to Post #2
you've hit my concerns bang on the head. And maybe it's not a coincidence that Future Fishing have a load of these in stock and are flogging them for £50.....

In reply to Post #3
A few years ago, I got a good deal on some Daiwa 10 footers having used 12' rods all my carp fishing life. I enjoy using them that much, I now use the 10 footers as my main rods, and just use the longer rods on larger waters. Most of my fishing is relatively close in, and my 10 footers were perfectly at home this weekend fishing at 75yds.

Can't comment on 9 footers as I've never tried them.

In reply to Post #3
I think if you can go to a shop and just hold the 9ft in your hand vs a 10ft it will make your mind up. As Fred said, 10ft can still feel like a decent rod to cast overhead, whereas 9ft was an underarm or drop in the margins for me.

In reply to Post #1
10s would be better 9ft a bit short I've had both

I used 9ft rods and nothing else for 3 years. At the time I thought they were fantastic amd really found no downsides. I only had one other set of rods that were 13ft. Fishing a lake that was heavily reed lined, I struggled with the 9ft rods, landing fish. Or even setting them up they weren't long enough to go past the reeds which was an issue, so one day I took my 13ft rods. And my god what a difference, casting accurately and consistently, especially in wind was 1000x better. I ended up selling the 9ft rods and getting a set of 12ft rods. Other than being able to cast in tighter spots, and playing fish from a boat, I found there to be only downsides to the shorter rods.

I liked the packdown space, the short rods can go in my work van and not get on the way
I ended up getting a set of the sonic insurgent 12ft retractable rods, which in all honesty aren't that fantastic, but they do the job. I'm very surprised more companies don't make a retractable 12ft rod, as I would love something higher end than the sonic.

think i will stick to 12 foot at these replies have really highlighted all my concerns.

thanks everyone

In reply to Post #1
I'm very happy with my 9ft scopes. I have them principally for the packdown size, but they do everything I need them to do without any issue.

I've not found it to be an issue controlling fish when kiting. This weekend I had a powerful common veer hard left down a bay towards some snags and was easily able to bring it back out safely into open water.

For me the main think to consider would be to be aware that test curve seems to produces very different outcomes in the action of the rod depending on the length. My 9ft scopes in a 3lb test curve are seriously powerful, much more powerful than my 3lb tc 12ft rods. Probably would count as an extra fast action - so while you can really chuck a lead if you want to, they are a bit stiff to play fish on. It's never caused me any issue, but even with 30lb fish it still feels like the rod can bully the fish and is only really bending at the tip. By contrast my 2.25lb tc 9ft scope is somewhere between a medium or fast action - which makes it very fun to play fish on, but too soft to chuck anything beyond a few ounces any distance (I use it for floater fishing). I don't have a 2.75 tc scope, perhaps that's the sweet spot in 9ft. I'd imagine the 3lb tc in 10 ft would be a much softer rod than the 9ft version.

In reply to Post #1
RECENTLY I was in exactly the same position

although in 1962 I started on 9ft rods lol
so long story short after weeks and weeks of research every forum every facebook group and ringing all my pals
I decided 10ft would be my best bet and TO ME !! its all about the action of the rod

quite obviously most 10ft rods are designed for a max of !00/120 yards so that in mind

I really wanted a max of 3lb test curve for the best short range action

there are quite a few that tick those boxes but in the end I went for a set of
Daiwa Vertice Carp Rod 10ft 3lb Daiwa do 3 models in this size range this is the middle one and seems to get the best reviews check them out

CLICK THE PICTURE TO SEE ALL THE MAKERS SPECS 40mm butt rings)
I bought mine here when they had a deal on for 3 still seem to be the best price even now very good online shop brilliant after sales too
LINKY POO
edit and also bought the Tackle Box Darent Valley 10ft 3.75lb SMD (Spod, Marker & Device) Utility Rod

In reply to Post #1
I bought some Nash Scope 10ft rods in 3lb tc for my 13 year old to try and get him into the sport. They are paired with Shimano Ultegra Ci4+ 5500 XTC mini pit reels.

For a laugh I went fishing last weekend and decided to take the setup to change it up and I was really impressed if I am honest. Casting 100+ yards with 3oz lead was effortless, was lucky enough to catch a hard fighting little 18lbs common which the rod showed me had a very nice playing action. Also the main benefit for me with these are the space you save. His little setup is in the Nash Transporter coffin which holds literally everything you need. Alarms, rods, Rod pod, landing gear, tackle boxes, bait etc all fit in one bag. Obviously gets a little heavy but thats not a concern for me. All compressed in one bag that fits on a cars back seat.

My normal setup are Daiwa Basia X45 rods paired with Basiair Z45 reels and I can honestly say I would gladly use the 10 footers with those little shimanos over and over again. For the price cant knock them.

Only downside for me was the little Dwarf spod rod I bought. It did the job spodding out bait but there was flex in the reel seat where it joins the blank which annoyed me. Suppose its a very cheap rod so cant expect the same quality as the scopes

In reply to Post #1
I've got a set of 9ft scopes and a set of 13ft Harrisons. I can get a pva bag 80yds and a normal rig about 110 with the 9 footers, no issue. Anything over that, or zig fishing and I'll use the 13 footers.

Fished a match at abbey lakes last year, had fish to mid 60 all from a spot at 105 yards and all on the 9 footers

In reply to Post #10
All about levers and fulcrums.

You can apply more pressure with a shorter rod, that's probably why they appear more powerful.

In reply to Post #3
Matt your comment
maybe it's not a coincidence that Future Fishing have a load of these in stock and are flogging them for £50

your Drawing the wrong conclusions with these low priced Daiwa rods just as an example
I am into Barbel fishing for last 7 years mainly up on the Tidal Trent and use a pair of Daiwa Powermesh 12ft 2.75lb barbel rods I also have a pair of Harrison Barbel rods that are around 3 times the price and IMHO the Powermesh are easily as good as the Harrisons the action i superb
anyway back to their 10ft rods
Daiwa are producing shed loads of top quality blanks at really competitive prices
in their EXCELLENT 10ft range they have 3 models each with different test curves
the Black widow starting at around £39 !!!!
then the ones I bought the 10ft Daiwa 3lb Vertice rrrp around £69 but most places discount them for around £55 (bloody brilliant rods)
then the Daiwa Crosscast XT 10 ft rrp around £80 but again discounted in lots places

then a HUGE JUMP the daiwa infinity 10ft rrp £300 !!

In reply to Post #14
They feel powerful on the cast and playing fish because of the stiffness of the blank and the very fast faction.