After serving my few years in the new rod every few months club, I finally got corralled down the if it ain't broke why try and fix it path by a few fellow anglers but more importantly my bank balance! So, for that reason, I had the same pair of match beachcaster rods for five years, and they served me very well until one slam of the van door turned the faithful duo into a solo working match rod. Now, this was not ideal three days before travelling up to one of the most prestigious two-day matches of the year. Luckily one quick email to George at Tronixpro HQ and I had a pre-production Tronixpro Xenon Power on the way!
Now by pre-production I mean it was the same blank as the production model just with tester eyes (same pattern but not genuine Fujis) and unfinished decals. Keeping that in mind, I was still not surprised to have comments on how high quality and slick the Tronixpro Xenon Power presented itself. These comments coming from some of the top anglers in the country, with more than a few of them having their affiliations with big-name brands, I was pretty happy about my love of the design.
I never got to cast the rod before my weekend. Apart from a few chucks to bed the reel in, my first use of this rod was forced. As is common, the first chuck with my other rod ended in a crack off. So, it was straight in at the deep end, launching a 200g rod with three trailing sandeels, resulted in an impressive distance, equal to the maximum distance I’d been regularly casting to for over five years with my previous setups. It’s no surprise that after the first few casts, this rod blew my mind, especially for a sub £200 rod.
The retrieving power of the rod wasn't tested on this trip with double and triple shots of fish, but that was more down to the workman than the tool.
Back home on the Bristol Channel, I quickly found myself pulling this rod out of the bag first, and if fishing with one setup for a couple of hours, especially on the rough stuff, it became my weapon of choice.
Don't be fooled by the meaning of the word power in the title of this rod, yes, it is a true powerhouse, but it is not an unfishable broom handle. Think of it as a polished Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime rather than the ugly brute local brick outhouse walking around with invisible carpets under his arms.
All of my traditional beachcaster fishing is done with 7oz leads and usually one big bait or three medium-size baits adding up to or over the 8oz mark. This rod lends itself perfectly to this type of fishing. It can handle any venue from places so snaggy you’ll only get your gear out if a fish swims it out to flat, sandy beaches.
Personally, for this type of rod I am not fussed about bite detection, I think it's a lot more important to get the bait out to the fish rather than the bite detection, as in short, a fish can't bite if your rig doesn't reach it. However, the tip on the Tronixpro Xenon Power perfectly complements the taper and natural bend of the rod and still give an extraordinary level of bite indication. This subtle tip also helps bed the lead-in and stops the grips pulling out in the 11/12 meter tides in my home grounds which a lot of power rods have as one of their downfalls. This allows you to fish in the main tide rip for longer than many anglers around you which is particularly essential when the cod are patrolling.
I’m writing this on my phone a year on from when I first got the rod, looking at it while it's sitting beautifully in the tripod fishing a mid-ten-meter tide waiting for a hound to snaffle my crab bait — initiating another fully controlled fight that inevitably ends with the angler and the Xenon Power as the victor.
