JRC J2 Carp Rod Range

When JRC kindly offered UKMatchAngler.com the chance to put the J2 carp rods through their paces, it was a “no-brainer” that we were going to accept given that the images of the rods we had seen made the rods out to be the perfect rod on paper for us. Did they live up to the expectations when we got them on the bank? Read on to find out.

JRC sent UKMA the 12’ 2.75lb test curve version of their J2 carp rods. Supplied in a high quality black rod bag, with no external markings, we eagerly unwrapped the rods sent to us. The first thing that immediately jumped out at us was the two white lines (one on each section) that run parallel with the blank at the joint end of each section. We thought that this was a superb little feature that enabled the angler to line up the rod sections perfectly without having to turn the rod upside down to squint along the blank to make sure the eyes were in line with each other.

Looking closely at the blank, the rods have been finished in a high gloss black finish, that really does make the rod look the part. This was further enhanced by the pencil slim blank, which is one of the slimmest carp rod blanks that we have seen (and we have seen a lot over the years!). It was slimmer at the handle than some of the match float rods with a far lighter action that are available in the same price bracket!

JRC also supply with each rod, a neat neoprene butt ring cover to protect the fragile SIC lined butt ring. This is something that we thought was a nice touch and would like to see all manufacturers provide these with their rods (or at the very least, as an optional after market extra).

The neoprene ring protector has the JRC logo printed upon it as well as tightening up to the ring frame via a spring loaded toggle. JRC have also fitted the J2 rods out with a 50mm ring set, of which all intermediate guides are of the double leg design.  This will allow perfect line flows from the vogue big pit reels. We did find that the ring spacing of the butt ring from the reel seat was less than other rods that we own or have used, that have been fitted with a 50mm butt ring, but it was only an inch or so closer, so should not cause any problems with line frap on the cast. The tip guide fitted is of SIC lined material again, and is 16mm internal frame diameter. The liner itself is of the low profile design so minimum line drag is made during the cast, as well as allowing small bits of weed to flow through the guide when playing a fish.

Handle Furniture:

The handle furniture is of top quality construction, and a superbly finished reel seat has been fitted. The reel seat is of an ergonomic design that may look strange compared to more traditional designs, but is extremely comfortable in the hand. We had no problems fitting any of the reels available to us into the reel seat, and there was no movement at all once screwed tight.

The handle is finished in a contoured Japanese shrink wrap that is extremely comfortable to grip and does not slip off the arm when playing a fish.

The length of the handle was perfect for us here and on holding the reel  seat in the hand, the end of the handle fitted nicely into the armpit when held out. This gives optimum leverage for casting. At the very end of the handle, a JRC embossed aluminium button has been fitted, giving it that custom built look. The J2 rods have very few graphics on them, and most of the graphics have been placed on the underside of the blank, and have been kept small – again enhancing the custom built look.

How did the rods perform on the bank? Well, we were a little shocked to say the least as with the look of the rods and the furniture used on them, we thought that they would be an out and out casting tool – with a softish tip section leading into a steely mid and butt. We were surprised to find that upon hooking a fish, the blank bent virtually through the whole length (first fish hooked was a Mirror Carp of around 6lb that felt bigger due to the bend that it put in the rod). Thinking that the fish just put up a hard scrap, the next fish hooked was a Bream of similar size which bent the rod over in the same way. This surprised us a lot! To test the blank fully, we then loaded the rod up with a 3oz lead and cast it trying to hit the horizon. The casting potential of the blank was good given the slim nature of it, and over the field alongside the pond, the 3oz lead was easily cast to 80m with a simple overhead cast (using 0.40mm line).

The conclusion that the rods would reach the 100m barrier with a bit more grunt in the cast was reached, but over that distance, most anglers would struggle to put a lead further. It was also thought that due to the very forgiving playing action of the blank and the casting potential, the J2 would make a very good bagging waggler rod for the match angler, as well as being a superb tool for the smaller specimen carp waters (or even used for specimen Tench or Bream fishing).

When put through the paces using smaller than average hooks (size 10 and 12), we never felt that the rod was going to pull the hooks out of the fish, even with maximum pressure put on to stop the fish diving into marginal reeds. The J2 even held up superbly to the “crunch” test, which entails fishing totally locked up against marginal snags (this case a dense reedbed), with the blank bending right through on the take and absorbing to lunges of a shocked carp trying to get into the reeds!

Would we change anything on the J2 rods? Well, the conclusion UKMA came to was that the rod blank was not ideally suited to a 50mm ring set, and would be more than adequately equipped with a 40mm set. 50mm ring sets are usually found on casting tools where they are needed to eliminate line slap on the blank when used with large diameter spooled reels, under heavy casting pressure. We can only think that the 50mm set was used as “jewellery” rather than necessity. We would also have fitted a line clip just above the reel seat, as this is regarded as an essential on today’s rods.

Other than these two “niggles”, we could not fault them for use on small to medium sized waters, which is what the majority of anglers are fishing. The rods performed flawlessly on the pond that we tested them on with Carp to mid-doubles landed along with several Bream to 7lb.

UKMA would recommend these rods to be looked at if you fish mainly these types of waters or want an “ultra powerful” match feeder/bagging waggler rod that does not feel like a broomstick.

We would like to heartily thank Pure Fishing & JRC for allowing us to be the first reviewers to put these rods through their paces.