I’ve owned my Tronixpro Xenon Match for a couple of months now. It’s a ‘traditional’ equal section two-piece beach casting rod capable of casting up to six ounces. The finish is business-like, the blank is black with turquoise whipping on the Fuji K guides, and the rod comes equipped with a Tronixpro Coaster reel seat. I’m a huge fan of coaster type reel seats as I’ve found some fixed reel seats are just a little off for how I’d like the rod to feel in my hands. I particularly like the versatility of using a multiplier or fixed spool reel on this rod, depending on the situation.
It comes in a decent embroidered rod bag that offers protection when travelling and is easy enough to fold up and stow in your seat-box or bag.
It’s not much different to my Tronixpro Cobra TT in terms of weight, so it felt natural in my grip reasonably quickly. In one of those strange quirks when you buy something from the internet, I found the TT reel seat almost perfectly placed for my grip and style, so I have set the Xenon up at the same point on the blank. I’ll be doing the same on the Tronixpro Banzai Beach I have just bought. I’ll report on the Banzai another time.
I’m restricted to off the ground casting, I can’t pendulum cast anymore, and the Tronixpro Xenon Match suits my style and ability well. I’ve been working on my casting when I can and am growing in confidence that when a gully is at 120 yards, I can drop a baited rig into it with the Tronixpro Xenon Match.
The 24T carbon fast taper blank is designed to be easy to cast for anglers of almost any ability and to be fair, it does what the promotional material says. It casts well off the ground; it has a fair bit of grunt in the butt and mid-section, but the tip is soft enough not to blow baits to bits on casting. As with some of my continental rods, you can see the ‘crab tremors’ on the tip.
In an eight-metre plus tide at Brunswick on the River Mersey, the tip is powerful enough to hold the bottom using a 6oz gripper without folding over. I know this rod is supposed to be for harbours, estuaries, and clean beaches, but if it can hold bottom on an eight-metre tide on the Mersey, it can do a bit more than advertised, in my opinion. There are several mixed to rough sections of the Fylde coast where I’d be more than confident using the Tronixpro Xenon Match.
I’ve been able for some time to report on the overall look of the rod and just how good it is to cast with, but I’d had five trips without a bite on the Tronixpro Xenon Match. I’m now able to report on how it handles a few fish. I’ve never fished Brunswick, so I arrived at the mark with mixed feelings and a lot of bait. I’d had a bit of local knowledge from one of the lads who fishes it regularly, so I had an idea of how to approach the session. Fresh bait every ten to fifteen minutes was the approach I adopted. I had also decided to fish it all the way up from low water to extend my time with baits in the water. I didn’t want to be going home with six sessions and no fish on the Tronixpro Xenon Match.
I used my Tronixpro Envoy Tournament Mag on the Xenon Match loaded with Tronixpro Blaze 0.30mm in a lovely dayglo yellowy green with a tapered leader. I used a crimp-less sliding up and over rig with a 2/0 pennel snood. I tried lugworm. I tried crab. Every time a bait hit bottom, it was stripped almost instantly, the Xenon Match is so sensitive you can see the crabs on the bait, and when the rattles stopped, you knew it was time to load up again. I made some squid and worm wraps by stuffing the squid hoods with worm and wrapping them in. Then I dropped them in a tub of lugworm bait enhancer. My thinking being it’d take the crabs a bit longer to rip the squid to bits and give a fish half a chance of finding it. I was fishing about 80 or so yards out.
I had a big drop back bite about two hours before high water, I picked the rod up and wound down to the fish, and as I watched yet another set of bells fall off the rod and over the edge, I felt a healthy tug on the rod. I knew it was a halfway decent fish as it set off against the tide, putting a decent bend in the Xenon Match. It took about ten minutes of gaining a bit and then letting it kite about for a bit. It finally started to tire, and I made decent progress getting the fish to the wall.
This is where Brunswick can get complicated for the disabled angler. To be able to use a drop net, you must be able to see it and the fish. To be able to do both of those things, you have to go over the railing. There are several issues with being over the railing, issue one, it’s hard to do even with a set of steps and two, if you slip, it’s a long way down to some strong currents. I had to do it several times, and it has done me no favours and will keep me off the fishing marks for at least a week. I strongly suggest that if, like myself, you have mobility and health issues, you have a fit fishing buddy with you to do the action man stuff.
All the drama aside, though, my first bite resulted in the biggest thornback ray I have caught, and finally, I christened the Xenon Match. I didn’t have any scales with me, so I have no idea how heavy it was, but I guess I’d say about 6lb. I had another smaller fish in similar circumstances, so it was well worth the effort of putting the hours in. Another success being that I caught the species I’d targeted, so I can concentrate on trying to bag a bass and a Dover sole before they move offshore for the winter.
When you fish on a very tight budget like myself, you need to have the confidence you can use the rods and reels you are using to the best of your ability. The Tronixpro Xenon Match is sympathetic to the inexperienced angler but has all the poke that someone with years of experience will appreciate. Its RRP is sub £200.00, and in my opinion, you are getting a lot more than you are paying for.
As ever, tight lines to you all and stay safe.
Gary
