The Roy Fisher Traveller XS is a very affordable light spinning rod ideal for perch and trout fishing or similar fishing on holiday. I have put the spinning rod through its paces at the trout lake and will tell you what it can do.
First impression
The 5-piece rod comes in a cheap cloth feed bag and was quickly assembled. Tightly put together the buffing test immediately showed me the semi-parabolic to almost parabolic action of the rod. This is certainly not a rubber whip for perch. You can see the low price of the rod. Nevertheless the rod seems to me to be completely ok. The price can be seen in the not so high quality EVA handle. Otherwise the rod is kept matt and comes without a thick varnish. Only at the connectors, which are quite well made and fit well, the female part is varnished. The reel seat makes a very good impression again and also takes a 3000` reel foot well.
Technical data
- Length 2,10 m
- Throwing weight: 5-28g
- Weight 115g
- 5 parts with a total of 7 rings
- Sic ring inlays
Practical test
Da a good friend I gave the rod to, on his birthday to the trout lake, we tested the rod there right away and also his brother, who is still a beginner (on the left picture you can see how he held the rod all the time), got the rod in his hand and got along with it quite well.
So I was able to see the action of the rod in the fight with hard fighting trout from a different perspective. What I could observe was quite interesting: the rod cushions all jumps and strokes very nicely due to its soft action and also drill errors of beginners are immediately forgiven. For bigger fish it still has backbone as a reserve.
Of course I didn’t let the rod stop me from fishing properly and I have nothing to complain about in practice. The casting characteristics of the rod are also completely ok, the indicated upper limit of the casting weight of 28 grams can still be cast well! 4-5 grams can be cast reasonably well and at 8-15 grams the rod casts best. The rod is also suitable for perch fishing with spinners, spoons and plugs.
Conclusion
With its short packing size and overall length the rod is certainly a nice rod for dense trout waters or to go for smaller predators on holiday. Personally, I’m a bit too tired of the not so nice EVA handle to fish with this rod in the long run. But for the use on holiday this is no problem. The thing is that there is currently no rod with a rather soft action as a travel rod for under 100-200€. But for the price of around 40€ this rod as a travel rod is quite OK and you get what you pay. Travel rods are more complex to produce and this is also reflected in the price.
If you are looking for a rod for bigger fish, I recommend to have a look at my travel rods overview >>