There are eight rods in the 2018 Backbone elite overhead range, a 10kg stick with fixed guides and a roller tip, and three 15kg options in a selection of fixed guides, fixed guides with a roller tip, or fully rollered.

The same choices are available in 24kg, and finally there’s a serious 37kg weapon with a roller tip. Of single-piece construction and 1.7m (5’ 7”) in length, the Backbone Elite blanks now utilise Shimano’s legendary TC3 material, which is the same three-ply graphite weave the early Tiagra Game Series rods were built on.

The long EVA fighting foregrip has a new shape, and the Slick Butts are durable and make it easy to remove a loaded up rod from a holder.