I have to admit that I was a little apprehensive before going, but was straight away put at ease on arrival by the UK Director Anthony Connelly, the Territory Sales Manager Nick Worrell, and the Browning/Zebco representatives; the three Lee’s.
On the stand was the
full new range of Xitan poles: The All Rounder, The Ultra Power; The Z6, The
Z8; The Z9, and the top of the range Z12. Alongside was the new Xtreme Margin
pole 9.5m. The quality, strength, and stiffness of these poles is unmatched; complete with fantastic spares packages, marketing them unbeatable value!
Also on the stand was the new Commercial King range of rods,
which are an up rated version of last year’s superb Force Range. “The range”.
There is the 8 foot Wand which comes in 2 options; the traditional Wand, and the lighter F1 version. We then have the Pellet Waggler rods; these are 11 foot, and again there are 2 options; the Medium Pellet and the Power Pellet.
We also have the 9 foot Micro Waggler, and the 10 foot Micro F1 Waggler, There’s also the 10 foot Bomb and the 10 foot King Carp Feeder; all in all a fantastic range of rods to cover all aspects of commercial fishing.
There is the 8 foot Wand which comes in 2 options; the traditional Wand, and the lighter F1 version. We then have the Pellet Waggler rods; these are 11 foot, and again there are 2 options; the Medium Pellet and the Power Pellet.
We also have the 9 foot Micro Waggler, and the 10 foot Micro F1 Waggler, There’s also the 10 foot Bomb and the 10 foot King Carp Feeder; all in all a fantastic range of rods to cover all aspects of commercial fishing.

Also on the stand we had a Browning seat box, so customers could sit with the poles as they would on the bankside and get a proper feel for the, and I don’t think a single one of them was disappointed; I certainly wasn’t when I had a go when we had a quiet spell!The first pole I tried was the mighty Z12, this pole is simply “awesome” it’s as stiff as a board all the way to 18 metres, “yes” 18 metres! The response is as good at 18 metres as it is at 13 metres; this is due to the new longer base sections and reinforced joints. “ I NEED ONE”.!!!
TECH SPEC
Browning Xitan Z12 Evolution
- Stated length: 16m
- Actual length: 16.08m
- Closed length: 1.99m
- Top kit length: 2.58m
- Match kit elastic rating: No12
- Power kit elastic rating: No20+
Other features: Diamond Surface, Nano Carbon,
Precision Points
SSP: Standard 16m package £2,499; 17.5m Pro
package £2,999
Package: 16m pole including match kit, cupping
kit, eight spare kits of your choice, 3x pole protectors, power No3, D Section
and deluxe hard holdall
Pro Package: Same as above with extra extension,
two more kits of your choice, an extra power No3 and an extra D Section
Spares: SLK Kits £85.50; Puller Kits £95.50; Parallel Extension £394.95
Spares: SLK Kits £85.50; Puller Kits £95.50; Parallel Extension £394.95
The
second pole I tried was the brand new Ultra Power “my God”, this is the
strongest pole I’ve EVER seen or tried. It’s being given an extra carbon wrap on
all sections apart from the base sections and the top kit, which not only gives
it super strength but it looks great too. The New Xtreme Margin pole has the
same wrap on its sections as the Ultra Power, making this a must have piece of
kit. It is fully inter changeable with the complete Xitan range... “AWESOME”
On day two I was fortunate enough to meet Frerk Petersen, who is Zebco Europe's Marketing & Public Relations manager based in Germany. He recently gave
me some extremely good advice on how to write an article for the angling press, after trying for myself before and never getting a response, then
immediately after receiving his advice I tried again, and "BINGO" it was published in Angling
Times in the fishery of the week category J
I would like to say a massive thank you to Browning/Zebco
Frerk Peterson, Anthony Connelly, Nick Worrell and the three Lee’s, who all
made me feel extremely welcome during the two days, and I look forward to
helping out at the next Big One Show! J
www.fishfacepromotions.co.uk/