Large foreign companies producing fishing tackle and accessories have long and firmly occupied their niches in the fishing market. Shimano, Black hole, Major Craft - names known to every angler. The pioneer in the production of Russian products was, which entered the market with the Nordstream brand. Nordstream spinning rods have long been known and loved by many spinners.
The company has developed and successfully sold more than 40 series of spinning rods, which are in constant demand on the Russian market. Excellent quality, reliability and attractive prices allow us to compete with foreign brands.
Brand history
The Nordstream brand appeared back in 2004, when several enthusiasts decided to create a fishing rod specially prepared for Russian fishing conditions.
Soon the world saw the first three series of spinning rods from Nordstream . A successful start allowed for rapid development, and after three years about twenty series of rods were in development. At the initial stage, fishermen were not sure that the Russian company would be able to compete in quality with famous foreign brands, and the destruction of this myth can be called a separate success.
Over time, the company developed and introduced into production more and more new series of fishing rods, which freely competed in the fishing tackle market. In 2014, the company celebrated its tenth anniversary and launched the Element series of spinning rods in South Korea. In 2016, a new series of fishing rods was released under the general name Special Concept Series, which differ from other models in their narrow focus - for example, a specific form for jigging or twitching.
In addition to fishing rods, Nordstream produces:
- Spoons.
- Fishing lines.
- Swivels and leashes.
Every year the company's assortment is replenished with new models of goods with unchanged quality and at a reasonable price.
Product examples
The wide range guarantees maximum satisfaction of the needs of fishermen, regardless of fishing style. To achieve this, the Special Concept Series program has been launched. The product lines include spinning rods for twitching, jig, microjig, and ultralight. You can find any of them in the manufacturer's catalogs.
Norstream Areal rods
The most popular model in this series is the AR-70L Sharpshooter, 2.13 m long and weighing only 90 grams. It is perfectly balanced and sensitive, with sufficient rigidity. The spinning rod includes:
- Blank made of high modulus graphite.
- Fuji single support rings with titanium frames and inserts.
- Spaced EVA handles.
This model differs from other rods in the series in its maximum range without any effort on the part of the fisherman. For fishing in conditions of a slow current in a small body of water without rifts and rapids, this is the best option. With its help, perch, pike, chub, asp and pike perch up to 2-3 kilograms in weight are well caught.
Sharpshooter is intended for light wobblers weighing 3.5-12 grams, spinners and spinners. The use of 4-5 gram baits is possible when jigging. For fishing with twitching or retractable leashes, baits 7-8 centimeters long are suitable.
This spinning rod is characterized by maximum versatility, reliability and power. An ideal model for catching strong, actively resisting prey.
The bright orange color of the case in which the manufacturer supplies this rod will not allow even the most absent-minded and forgetful person to lose it.
Norstream Kando brand KDS-832MH
This spinning rod is made specifically for fishing using wobblers using twitching with deep-sea baits with a large blade. But Russian fishermen also use it for jig fishing in fast currents in places where the bottom is heavily snagged. The most effective for this purpose is a jig head weighing more than 20 grams. With less weight, the fishing rod will not be able to show all its best capabilities.
Although the rod is quite powerful, this does not prevent you from fishing spits and shallow dumps with its support. It provides control of wiring using the tip even with weights of 14-16 grams, provided there is good flow. Light weights are not recommended for use on this fishing rod. The rod does not respond well to light weight.
The positive features include the sensitivity of the gear. It clearly reacts even to weak touches from such cautious fish as bersh or pike perch.
Stage Series
This line consists of 6 modifications. The most charged of them is the 772 M model, 2.32 meters long and ideal for twitching and jigging with a limit test of 28.4 grams. The second fishing method looks most preferable. This is evidenced by the opinions of fishermen who used this spinning rod. The first method using a minnow 8-11.5 cm long scored slightly worse.
Review of popular series
There are several series produced that are most popular on the Russian market. Most often, these products can be found both on store shelves and in the hands of avid spinners. The quality and reliability of many of them has been tested over years of operation in various conditions. The list is compiled in ascending order of price:
- Invict is a series of universal budget fishing rods designed specifically for beginner spinning rods. The model performs well with any equipment and works both on small bodies of water with standing water and on wide rivers with strong currents.
- Nibble is a model created for ultralight lovers and works great in tandem with medium-sized wobblers. The Nibble series spinning rods are distinguished by extreme accuracy when casting, which is especially important when fishing in places with lush aquatic vegetation.
- Favorite Jerk Bait is a series designed specifically for fishing with jerkbaits and other large lures. With increased power, the blank is lightweight, which allows you to fish all day without discomfort. Favorite Jerk Bait performs well when catching catfish.
- FreeStule is an S-rod made of high-modulus carbon fiber, designed for jig fishing enthusiasts. Ergonomic design and designer rings complement the overall picture. Spinning will not let you down in the fight against any opponent.
- Advance is a medium action casting rig designed for beginners. The tackle is flexible and smoothes out typical mistakes of inexperienced fishermen. Ideal for jigging with large and heavy lures.
- Amulet are rods designed for those who like to fish on rivers with strong currents. The spinning rod is universal and is suitable for both jigging and twitching. Amulet is a spinning rod that is commonly called “a spinning rod for all occasions.”
- Dynamic is a highly specialized twitching rod designed for catching trophy prey. The spinning rod is highly reliable and truly “indestructible” thanks to innovative Japanese materials, a Fuji reel seat and Kigan rings.
- Areal New is a series of professional light rods that are highly sensitive and do not forgive the mistakes of a beginner. The rod is ideal for fishing with spinners or crank wobblers. The blank performed excellently when fishing for trout.
- Provokator New - legendary spinning rods from Nordstream. Each of their components is the pinnacle of technological thought. Fugi guides and reel seat, Toray blank, EVA handle. Only for true connoisseurs.
- Stage is a premium class jig rod that can often be seen in the hands of professional fishermen. Increased power allows you to confidently fight a predator from a long distance.
These models are the most common on the Russian market and are more often found in the hands of avid fishermen than others.
Review of the Norstream Nibble 732UL spinning rod
The year before last, I had a good time catching a white predator with a Norstream Nibble 702LUL spinning rod. Chub weighing up to a kilogram and similar asps were not uncommon and regularly posed in front of the camera lens. At some moments I wanted a less powerful rod so that I wouldn’t feel so confident. Maybe I should have tried the 732 model up to six grams? The fact is that when you catch the first kilogram chub with a wild bite in the opposite direction, then on emotions you do not notice the process of fishing, especially if it goes smoothly. After the second catch, you begin to pay attention to the bend of the blank, the ability of the rod to control the fish, and after the third and subsequent ones, you stop looking at these details altogether, because you know that the rod will handle the fish without any problems.
I decided to devote part of the open water season to fishing with the Norstream Nibble 732UL, and here’s what came out of it.
The main objects of fishing for me were still chubs and asps, so the box with wobblers was slightly transformed: something appeared in it, something disappeared. The first cell remains unchanged: the Jackall Chubby Pencil and Jackall Chubby Popper topwaters are crowded into it. I drove them in completely different conditions and with different fish. It so happened that with the popper I ran into some nice perches on the village lake, and the walker still remained faithful to the river corsairs; attempts to do the opposite ended in failure. So, July, heat and... Absolute calm! In this weather, I’m more than ever happy about the cool dawns, and I’m not the only one. Perch continually collects cauldrons of small fish and slurps all over the area. And how can you not throw a tiny popper into this cauldron? Just kidding, of course. At first I vainly threw various wobblers and tried to shut up the scoundrel, but he didn’t do any good. After which the hands reached the topwaters. Junior Nibble managed without failures.
When moving with light monotonous jerks, the popper captured an air bubble with its spherical cavity, which, when opened, made a characteristic sound. This turned out to be quite enough to attract the attention of fattening perches.
Now let's move into the city limits. The calmness of the water surface is continually disturbed by asps, appearing out of nowhere and just as quickly disappearing somewhere. Knowing the approximate route of the asp, the jobs that have brought success more than once, I easily caught the Chubby Pencil again. True, if the asp had been a little more accurate, the capture would have happened much earlier.
In both cases, when fishing with surface baits, there was an abundant amount of vegetation around, and it was completely undesirable to let fish into it. Despite the fact that the 732 model has less power (it is up to six grams) and the length is longer than that of the 702LUL, the butt does not take up the restraining resource here. In this sense, I liked the fishing more, since the tip works much more lively, and I, as before, control the fish.
Of course, I was interested in the performance characteristics of the rod, and I wanted to try it out in the jigging direction. I started with a pelagic jig, which was periodically bitten by chub. The two-gram nymph loaded the tip well when casting and bent it with its work in a strong current. Quite good, I thought!
A little belatedly, I also resorted to the classic jig technique. In the fall, we managed to find a normal perch, it was “relief”, which is why it locked itself under the very edge of the release. The entire Nibble series has a good amount of overload reserve, so I had no worries in equipping the jig-rig with seven grams. Unlike classic equipment, a jig-rig has an amazing casting range, especially on a thin line, especially when there is a slug on the hook. I got to the right place without any problems. I didn’t really understand anything about the wiring, since I caught only a few: a couple by dragging, a couple by sharp explosions. It is difficult to provide statistics based on half-bare facts. However, a seven-gram jig and Reins Bubbring Shaker can be jig-rigged very aggressively.
I only got to the usual Cheburashkas with vibrating tails in late autumn, in conditions of a small river and subzero temperatures. I didn’t expect any special sensitivity, everything was at the expected level: somewhere there would be a rumble on a twig, somewhere on a pebble, somewhere an angry little bee would hit so hard that the saying “electric shock in the hand” no longer seemed so fabulous.
Visual control is fully expressed: the fall of the bait is visible, you can briefly catch the vibration from a thick vibrotail (in my case it turned out to be Awaruna), if necessary. I mostly walked and admired the pre-winter landscapes.
Returning to the main topic of the article, I would like to note that the Norstream Nibble 732UL, due to its length and test, seemed to me more versatile than the 702LUL. Sometimes it may lose in power, in rigidity during jerking, but for my conditions, which I described above, it is fully enough. It copes with small topwaters, minnow wobblers up to 55 mm, cranks and works well with jigs.
Average prices of Nordstream models
Each model can be ordered in specialized online stores with delivery anywhere in the country. Average prices for Nordstream spinning rods based on price analysis of several largest distributors:
- Invict from 1800 to 2300 rub.
- Nibble from 3400 to 3700 rub.
- Favorite Jerk Bait from 3700 to 4500 rub.
- FreeStule - S from 4100 to 5500 rub.
- Advance from 5050 to 6200 rub.
- Amulet from 5900 to 7200 rub.
- Dynamic from 8900 to 11900 rub.
- Areal New from 12500 to 13700 rub.
- Provokator New from 14600 to 16100 rub.
- Stage from 16900 to 20700 rub.
Among the large number of models, everyone will be able to choose a form to suit their needs and taking into account their financial capabilities. The price for the most budget forms starts from 800 rubles.
Any rod from Nordstream will work perfectly in Russian conditions and, if used properly, will last for many seasons , giving its owner many pleasant moments.
Customer Reviews
I use the Nordstream form as a backup, it has helped me a lot while fishing several times, I recommend it for those who are just starting to fish.
Dmitriy
As a seller in a fishing store, I can say that Nordstream is not inferior in quality to other foreign famous brands, but the price for Russian forms is more pleasant. Many of those who recommended this manufacturer later returned and thanked me.
Vasily, Moscow
The first rod I took to catch a predator was a Nordstream Rocky spinning rod.
I bought it for around 2 thousand rubles. I was pleased with the purchase; the responsive rod is perfect for beginners. I recommend it to anyone who is just starting to master this amazing type of fishing. Roman, Moscow. Denis, Kaluga
