Thirty years ago when I first started fishing, I remember seeing Shakespeare plastered all over Angling Times and in that day and age, they were at the top of the tree when it came to outstanding tackle. Thirty years ago Shakespeare may have been number one for producing great tackle, but over the last ten years I can’t but help feel they let their position slip. Now I am certainly not saying that Shakespeare have been making bad tackle, far from it, but my feelings are that for a few years they have not been keeping up with their competitors, competitors they were once light years ahead of. 2007 saw this all change!

The last Shakespeare rod that I fell in love with was the Ugly Stick 15lb class boat. Don’t quote me, but I think this was around 1995 and at that time this rod revolutionalized deep water boat fishing. For many years all deepwater boat fishing like wrecking, has always used heavy gear – twenty to thirty class and greater, but the “Shakey 15” class brought light-tackle boat fishing to the masses. Not only was the Shakespeare 15lb class a lighter test curve than the norm at that time, but it was also a much longer rod, with slimmer and more comfortable to hold diameter blank, with a fast tip, which suited the ‘Super Braid’ revolution which had just started at that time. My Shakespeare Ugly 15 was paired with an Abu 7000C3, which was loaded with 20lb Spider Wire and to this day I still miss this rod – in fact I was daft to ever get rid of it.

WSF’s Mike Thrussell has been in the Shakespeare sea fishing tackle driving seat for the past few years and all I can say is a lot of knowledge and passion goes a long way! I hadn’t owned anything by Shakespeare since the 15lb class I had in the mid/late 90’s, until I picked up one of their new 6lb class boat rods earlier this year, which I’ll state from the off, is as good as if not better than the original 15lbs class. Anybody like me, who loved the old Ugly fifteen, will fall instantly for the new 6lb boat.

Shakespeare’s new 6lb class boat rod has their consultant Mike Thrussell’s signature traditional vs. modern approach all over it. Whist retaining a similar length to the original ugly stick, a similar action and obviously the famous fast-action ‘glass tip’, this rod has had a complete revamp to bring it into the 21st century.

The new 6lb class has an overall length of 8’2”, which is perfect for all boat fishing. The new and improved glass tip is stronger than previous models, as is the glass/carbon join and the carbon blank itself. This is due to a unique building process which is too complicated to go into depth in such a short review, but let’s just say that the strength of these new rods is better and the action is too.

As you’d expect, the new Ugly Stick retains the fast action tip which offers awesome bite detection, with the real grunt in this rod being through the mid to low section – again as the original. For those who can’t remember, or never saw, the original Ugly Stick 15lb class, it’s fine glass tip was super sensitive to bites especially when used with braid and gave good sport with small to medium sized fish. However, with the super ‘unbreakable’ strength in the lower section of this rod, it would be just as happy with bigger fish on the end too. The biggest fish I ever saw caught on the old Ugly Stick was a 58lb conger and I have no doubts the new ugly stick is just as capable of extreme light tackle fishing and more!

The new Ugly 6lb class blank is much lighter than the original and this makes for a much more comfortable rod to hold all day. So does its slim butt grip and flattened shaped fore-grip, which in my view works superbly for UK boat fishing where most anglers keep the butt underarm with one hand on the fore-grip, the other on the reel most of the time.

The reel seat on this rod is Fuji, and so are the eleven guides – enough said! Along with the much thought about fore and butt grips, a lot of thought has also been put into other areas. The spigot joint features a foam spacer, which is not greatly important and neither is the rod bands and cleaning cloth this rod comes with, but these little touches show that Shakespeare is willing to spend extra money on its customers, likewise it comes with a nylon rod bag instead of cloth one, which although again is not necessary, but an added extra which other manufacturers would choose to save money on!

When testing the Shakespeare Ugly Stick 6lb class boat on a recent trip bream fishing, I have to say I fell in love with it. Paired with a Shimano Tekota 600 loaded with 20lb Power Pro and using a range of leads ranging from 4-6oz, its glass tip registered bites from the smallest of bream and, used with braid, provided awesomely exaggerated fun with these small fish. However after getting snagged in the bottom, I did try to break this rod by locking up the clutch on my reel until the rod bent double, but it wouldn’t happen. But that’s not surprising as Shakespeare market this super light rod as unbreakable, and I’m 99.9% certain it is! Although this is a light tackle rod, this gives me the confidence it could handle fish well in excess of 30lbs with ease.

I may have been too hasty in selling on my old Ugly Stick but I won’t be so silly with my new Ugly Stick 6lb class boat. This is one of the best rods I have used in a long time!

http://www.shakespeare-fishing.co.uk/

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