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Wednesday Review... Maver Darkside Poles
Join The Darkside! Joe Carass checks out the latest all-round pole from Maver!
Last month I was out filming Match Fishing Live with England international Callum Dicks, when he excitedly used his new pole for the first time. Maver makes superb poles so when he said that he felt this one was the best he had seen and used in his time with the company, I simply had to get one to test.
The Darkside series of poles is a little different from what Maver has produced in the past. The three-strong range is built on a mandrel that is brand-new from the previous Elite Carp models and the current Signature range – the Darksides are slightly slimmer at the butt end and taper quickly to the pole tip. Maver claims that the mandrel change is necessary to increase the strength of the pole while ensuring it stays incredibly stiff and responsive.
The pole I had to test was the Series 3, the most expensive of the Darkside range. This is the pole that Callum is now using and I was surprised because there are costlier tools in the Maver lineup.
I was intrigued why he didn’t opt for a more expensive one, and he explained: “The Darkside Series 3 ticks every box for me. My fishing is so varied that I not only need a super-stiff pole but a super-strong one too, and the Darkside gives me that.”
But how does it perform? I took the pole for a nice session at Tunnel Barn Farm Fishery; with the onset of winter imminent I felt this was typical of what many anglers are now spending their winters doing.
The first thing that grabbed my attention was just how well balanced the pole is. It feels incredibly light when fishing at lengths over 13 metres, more so than any commercial-type pole that I have used before. You could easily be mistaken for thinking this is a super-light canal pole, such is its balance and rigidity!
On my test day I opted to dink pellets in at 14.5 metres into open water while employing a dotted-down float. Winter F1 fishing is a great test for the responsiveness of a pole and my day on House Pool was no different.
The F1s and skimmers were being particularly elusive and tiny bites had to be investigated and struck at, which more often than not resulted in a lip-hooked fish! A sloppy pole simply catches fewer fish in this situation, and thankfully the Darkside came through the test with flying colours.
It looks the part too and the understated – by Maver’s standards – graphics make it look bang tidy!
The pole package itself is a substantial one – six extra Darkside slotted power kits are included, along with a cupping kit, holdall, mini extension, clean caps and tubes.
For the money I reckon this is punching above its weight! It is just a lovely pole that will handle anything you need it to. I was well impressed and would more than happily use one for my fishing.
Buy The Maver Darkside Poles
