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In reply to Post #36
Ballista slims are a very underrated rod.
I had a 3lb one built for floater fishing for bigger fish in weedy water.
Slim, light, fast action but some beef in the middle and butt to coax them big girls out of the weed.
A couple of extra rings to prevent line falling slack and catching in reeds and brambles, and a keeper ring.
I still have it, but the poor thing hasn't been out the house for many years 
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also got Ballista Slims which have a little more steel in the butt from reading the blurb
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In reply to Post #34
18lb Syncro XT freshly loaded onto my Tournaments.
No leaders allowed.
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In reply to Post #20
What lb line for this Andy, assuming no leader either?
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In reply to Post #21
I knew you had some X-lite S, but didn't realise that you had the X-lites as well Ian.
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I use the 11ft 3lb tc Harrison Ballista's for 90% of my carp fishing. Beautiful accurate casting rods and superb at playing a fish on.
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In reply to Post #30
I did look at them, but outside of my budget.
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I've a set of the C2s in 10' and 3.5t/c. They are paired with the ultegra ci4s in 5500 size.
Very very happy with them. Can do 100 yards with very little effort, but equally nice to fish under the rod tip. I've been using them predominantly on a weedy little 3 acre 'pond', with fish to 30lb.
The whole setup is extremely light.
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In reply to Post #28
The baby ballistas are 11ft so in between what you have and honestly they are beautiful rods. They are worth having a look at for sure
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In reply to Post #25
I'm not against 12ft rods but I've got 4 sets (2.25, 2.5. 2.75 and 3.25) and since using 10ft and 6ft rods they haven't been out of the shed.
I try to convince myself I should dust them off and take them out for a day and never do - should probably sell them all 
Using retractables has been good for my type of fishing, but they can be a royal pita when the telescopic bit is flopping around sliding in and out, twisting so lines aren't aligned. Little things but it drives me fecking mad, so 2 piece 10 footers will do what I want without any of the faff and only a few inches longer on pack down
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Mark Tunley and Cotswold advertise a 10ft 2.75 ballista which I didn't know was a thing.
I've been very happy with ballistas in the past but wasn't too sure if that might be a bit too soft for dragging a 20/30lb fish through weed
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In reply to Post #25
BB in 2.5 are lovely things.
ive got lots of different rods all over the place which is a difference from the 2.75 that i used to use for EVERYTHING.
makes me wonder if a nice set of Harrison Ballista in 2.75 is the way to go for EVERYTHING up to 100 or 120
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In reply to Post #23
If you're dead set against 12 footers now you should definitely consider a set of baby ballistas in 3lb
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In reply to Post #23
I use the free spirit s range 10ft 3lb lovely rods for close to medium range work 60/70 yds with the ultegra ci4 xtc 5500 granted l’m not s big caster so you might go further a lot of my fishing is close in using fluorocarbon which suits these rods and are lovely to play fish on, l have been looking at the hi s 10ft 3lb rods myself which would give me abit more distance when needed but not sure how they would cope with the close in work with been abit stiffer.
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In reply to Post #22
Yes thanks, I remember them.
A mate leant me his 12'6 aviators to try and boy I'm glad he did because they felt awful in the hand. I didn't even strap a reel to them, just knew I'm so over big rods.
As none of the lakes I've got tickets for being over 8 acres, I doubt I'll ever cast a single at a showing fish more than 100 yards away.
I have enjoyed retractables but I want to return to normal rods and have narrowed my choices down to a few more realistic options:
10ft Torrix either 2.75 or 3lb
10ft Free Spirit hi s 2.75 or 3lb
10ft Free spirit s 3lb
10ft century FBS 3lb
I'll be contacting a rod builder to talk things through, but wondered what user feedback anyone has on these?
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Tackle