PRICE £124.99

Length: 11ft 8in
Sections: Two
Casting rating: 3-5oz
Reel seat: Fixed
Rings: Eight lined

Like the rest of this tough range of rods from Shimano, this little 11ft 8in (3.56cm) ‘Beastie’ has a certain look and feel about it and is a genuine heavy lure model.
I have to admit it is as near as you can get to the compromise between bait and lure fishing.

Its build is somewhere akin to a carp stalking rod, and that’s the rod type I have preferred for ‘heavy’ bass plugging in recent years, thanks to a short stint with Century when I got to fish in the sea with that company’s fantastic range of carp rods.

It is definitely the case that a spinning or plugging rod used with the heavy jointed floating plugs favoured for fishing surf among the rocky reefs just has to be substantial.

Most of the models available lack that grunt and are frail, freshwater spinning rods, but the Beastmaster BX has enough guts to handle small crab and worm baits fished on a bottom rig with a casting rating of 3½oz.

This rod is ringed for a fixed-spool reel, with eight lined guides, and has the reel fitting centred at 25in from butt cap.