Description: 2 piece or 3 piece 11 foot Avon rod
Reel lines: 3 – 6 lbs. breaking strain
Maximum casting weight: 1 oz
Test curve: 1.25 lb.

An 11-foot Avon is perhaps the single most useful rod for the all-round angler. With this in mind, we have designed an extremely well balanced model suited to today’s sophisticated float fishing and light ledgering styles.

The first Merlin was delivered to Chris Yates at the Railway Pool on the Hampshire Avon’s historic Royalty fishery. Here, nearly sixty years earlier, FWK Wallis landed his record barbel, using the original Avon-style rod that bore his name; we like to think that he would very much approve of the Merlin. In a recent article, Chris Yates described the rod as “the best I’ve ever used”.

The compound tapers result in a rod with a supremely sensitive and forgiving tip, a smooth, flexible mid section, and enough power in the butt to pick up a long line and strike quickly. The Merlin is so crisp and well balanced that it amazes anglers familiar with the rather floppy, top-heavy rods of old.

The 24″ handle has an elegant onion shaped top. The butt cap and sliding bands are made from aircraft grade aluminium, which saves a considerable amount of weight.

“It’s a one off. A work of craft . . . The delight of meeting my rod for the first time is one it’s hard for an angler to explain . . . In his workshop, my new, warm, glossy, shiny, soft-handled, crisp bending, living, breathing, honey coloured rod, stood erect beside a stack of 30 year old Tonkin bamboo. . . so beautiful I want to cry”
Nick Fisher in the Shooting Times & Country Magazine on his Merlin rod