Review by Wayne McGilloway
On a recent trip to a local mark of mine, Talacre in North Wales, I took one of the new rods from the Vercelli range the Oxygen Misano twin tip to give it the once over.
First impressions of the rod were, it was very light as is all the Vercelli range and this model being hot orange is also very bright, the rod has two tips, one I would rate at 3oz/5oz and the other tip I would describe as a match tip and would rate at 2oz/4oz, the rings are good quality low rider style SIC's and it comes fitted with a Fuji screw winch reel seat. A neat feature is the lower grip on the butt section has a built in counter balance to aid better casting distance.
I wanted to use the rod as the tide slackened and on this venue the bites on the heavy normal tackle dry up so I used a lighter continental approach to try and scratch a few out at this difficult period of the tide. My first cast went out about 70 yards and I could feel this was a through action rod with a bit of beef in the butt if needed. After taking up the slack line the Misano was soon settled in the tripod.
I was using the match tip on the rod as wanted see the bites of small fish at medium range and the tip showed every single knock off the pin whiting and dabs and visibility was not a problem with the colour of this blank.
It was not long before a steady stream of small pin whiting and dabs were coming in and I was getting a good feel for the rod.
On the whole this is an enjoyable rod to use and would suit anyone looking for value for money as the two tips cover most angling situations over clean ground and the match tip a very good scratching tool. This rod is not in the same price range as the top end Vercelli surf rods but I do see the Misano having a place on the beaches this summer for anyone on a budget looking for a good rod at a middle range price.
