Having used Garbolino poles for the last 25 years and trust them immensely. Plus knowing all my Top Kits would still fit the new pole, when is came to replacing my GMax C1 Power for my commercial fishing the choice was the easy. A new Garbolino UK pole. But which one?

I couldn’t afford the mortgage for a UK1 !! So baring in mind my fishing revolves around fishing commercials and the UK2 is more suited to river and canals so wasn’t an option. So the choice was either the UK4 Maxim, the out and out big carp muscle pole or the UK3 match power plus. Both were options on the table before I travelled up to the Garbo UK main dealer, Baileys of Warwick to check them out.

I’d checked both options were in stock before travelling over to Warwick and I tried out both poles. I was airing on the 14.5 metre UK4 before I arrived as I don’t really fish 16 metres on the venues I go to and buying the standard 16 metre UK3 package was going to be the more expensive option.

But as soon as I felt weight and balance deference between the two poles my mind was made up straight away. The UK4 pretty much felt like my old GMax C1 Power. A heavy pole built for big carp bagging and to be honest it felt the same. Whereas the UK3 felt a lot lighter but still capable of landing large carp as its built for commercial fishing rather than rivers and canals. The sections are still reinforced, lightweight, strong, and durable and much easier to fish at longer lengths when needed. The difference between the two poles was very noticeable but I didn’t really want 16 metres.

So rather than the standard package, Baileys were happy to supply what I actually wanted. I opted to go with a 14.5 metre version with the extra dolly butt section, 6 carp match puller kits, (I swapped the match kit that comes in the pole for a carp kit). A potting kit and two extra short mini extensions for fishing short for only just a little more than the UK4 RRP price bracket. This suited my budget and I was getting a much lighter pole than I’d been used to. Having the UK4 just felt like my current pole in my opinion.

Using it for the first time.

I’m lucky to have Manor Farm Leisure on my doorstep and the following evening I headed down to Manor for an evenings fishing after work on the island pool. I wasn’t really interested in catching fish. I just used the opportunity to feel how my new UK3 handled fishing it at different lengths. I started fishing at its full length 14.5 metres with the dolly butt and then worked my way back towards the bank fishing short to see how using the short extensions in the 3/4 and 5/6 sections faired with balance and striking into fish and then ending up fishing in the margins.

Fishing at 14.5 metres was much lighter than I was used to with my old GMax pole. I felt I could fish at length all day. Something which was a struggle before and with the dolly butt the whole pole felt well balanced and responsive on the strike. It was also a pleasure to play fish on the 2.65 metre long top kits. I caught carp up to around 8lb and the UK3 coped with the task easily.

Overall the whole experience was a pleasure compared to using my old pole. I feel if I’d had gone for the UK4 I wouldn’t have found much difference. Paying a little more for the UK3 in my view was money well spent and its great for all my commercial work.