The prize was a choice of the two latest additions to the Series 7 reel range, the BR 9-30 Carp Method or the BR 9-40 Specimen and I went with the former, the smaller model. All MFS ask is that the lucky winners write a little review for the site which is a small price to pay for the continued support of firms like Drennan. Of course it gives me a chance to do another review for the blog as well! After e-mailing the site admin with my choice, a package arrived at work within a week or so and I couldn’t wait to get home and have a look at my new reel!
Before I get to my review, here are the technical details from the Drennan website,
The Series 7 BR 9-30 Carp Method is an excellent choice for anglers wanting all the advantages of a freespool facility but on a smaller reel body
The freespool system allows line to be taken by a fish until you engage the rear lever. This is widely used by specimen anglers targeting large carp and barbel but has also become increasingly popular for general coarse fishing applications. There is also a growing trend for freespool-type reels when targeting match-sized carp on commercial fisheries – particularly with bomb and Method feeder tactics.
The BR 9-30 Carp Method comes with an alloy spool as standard plus a shallower composite spool and a useful set of line identification buttons.
Features
- Reliable front drag system
- Freespool lever at rear allows fish to take the line until you disengage mechanism
- Single, reversible handle
- Nine ball bearings, including roller bearing
- Ideal for feeder fishing wherever quality fish are expected
- Useful spool filling advice on packaging
- Comes with a set of rubber line identification marker buttons
- Supplied with a spare composite spool
Spare Spools:
- Carp Method: Aluminium 41.5mm
- Carp Method: Composite 42.5mm
I couldn’t find any prices on the Drennan website but searching online this model sells for around £45.95 and looking at the features above, you get a lot for your money, but is it actually any good? To be honest, being a match angler and a very pole orientated one at that!, freespool/baitrunner type reels aren’t something I use very often and to date I’ve only really used them when I’ve fished various venues in Thailand. On opening the box, the first thing I noticed was that it feels like a solid little reel and screams of the quality you’d expect from a brand like Drennan.
The freespool facility works really well although I’m not actually too sure when I’d use it as I don’t really fish the method for carp but I have been meaning to have a go at the tench in Cheddar reservoir and this would be the ideal bit of kit for that. I’m obviously familiar with front drags but again being a match angler, on the rare occasions I use a reel I tend to backwind so it might take some getting used to! Two spools are supplied, an aluminium one and a composite one which is a little shallower so will be probably get more use. They both have line clips which is the norm these days but a nice little touch is that there’s a little recess for the reel line knot to sit in when you fill the spools which is just typical of the thought that goes into Drennan products.
I wasn’t as impressed with the two lots of reel line markers that were supplied, it’s quite a nice idea, you just remove the blank marker already in place (see photo below) and replace it with the breaking strain or diameter of the line you’re using. I’ve just tried and it was a simple job to do although being rubber I’m not sure how long the markers will last and really, how hard is it to remember what line you have on two spools? Perhaps I’m being a bit over critical but as much as I love the rest of the reel I felt the markers were a bit gimmicky.
So you get a lot of reel for your money and I can’t wait to get out there and use it in anger, as soon as I have I’ll update the review with, hopefully, details of a new pb tench!
For all their latest tackle and some great articles, check out the website – Drennan (The Windbeater Fleece looks nice!)
