Emerging from darkest Oxford, Mickels leads are made by the genial giant of an Irish man called Mike Poynton. Mickel, as he likes to be known, makes three styles of lead and his own back leads.
The three styles of lead are the Pears, Flat Pears and, the best of all, the Distance. Being the awkward Irish so and so that he is, Mickel has decided to make some of his leads in Metric sizes and others in Imperial, so the Pears and Distance come in imperial and the Flat Pears in metric!
All of the leads are well made with all the roughness being fettled off and the loops are all consistent in size. All the swivels are 70lb breaking strain to stand up to the stress of casting. The leads come in 4 different coatings, these being green, brown, black and a mottled grey. Unlike some mass produced leads, the coating does not clog up the loop and swivel so you won’t have to spend five minutes cleaning this off before you use them.
For the distance casting freaks among you (myself included), Mickels Distance leads are like the old Zip leads which are hard to find these days. These were my favourite for whacking bait out to the horizon and now you can use them again, only this time with a colour coating of your choice. The Distance leads go up to 4½ oz, which again is unusual in mass-produced leads. Please don’t forget when using the big leads to use a suitable shock leader.
With mass-produced leads now costing £1 upwards, the price of Mickels leads is also refreshing. See list below.
| PEARS | |
| 2oz & 2.5oz | 50p each |
| 3oz | 70p each or 3 for £2.00 |
| 4oz | 80p each or 4 for £3.00 |
|
DISTANCE |
|
| 2oz & 2.5oz | 50p each |
| 3oz | 70p each or 3 for £2.00 |
| 3.5oz | 70p each or 3 for £2.00 |
| 4.5oz | 80p each or 4 for £3.00 |
|
FLAT PEARS |
|
| 35,40,50,60 gram | 50p each |
Mickels backs leads are approximately ¾ oz and have a dumpy body, through which is a large nylon ring. The back leads slide easily down the line when a fish is on and doesn’t hang up around the tip ring during the fight. If the back leads snag during the fight they come free of the line easily leaving you playing your carp with no problems.
| BACK LEADS |
| 70p each or 3 for £2.00 |
These are good quality leads at a sensible price, something that is not always the case in today’s tackle trade. Mickel can be contacted on 07775781228 or 01235 519839. For further information check out Mickels web site at www.mickelsleads.freeserve.co.uk
Neil Wayte
November 2000
