Spindle

And so your issue is what, exactly?

Ahem.... yeh he's a bully alright, for an 8 week old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Trying to work out if I can get away with walking him on a huge chain-lead and a studded collar

Weird things going on - one minute I can see my reply, the next I can't. Anyway, cleared my browser cache and now I'm back again. Yeh the CL1915 is definitely one that gets used (if only occasionally, like my fishing!). Out of all the pins I own or have owned, the 1915 and an old narrow-drum Speedia have given me the least problems. The 1915 is a beautifully made reel, ideal for everything from legering for barbel to trotting for smaller stuff. In my opinion you won't find a better made reel than Chris Lythe's. I've had others that haven't been so good. The one really disappointing one for me was the BJ2080 by Youngs. Such a lovely looking reel, nice build quality, but on numerous occasions it got pieces of grit under the mechanism and just ground to a halt! Maybe I was just unlucky with it. These days my money goes on the kids, the new puppy (!!), and photography - you thought fishing was expensive? I could have had three Chris Lythes for the amount I've spent of stuff for my photography this year. And even that isn't on the 'expensive' stuff!

Afternoon all Yeh, still about, just other things taking up my time now. Still love pins and fishing but don't fish nearly as much as I used to. Life gets in the way sometimes. Nice to see some old names on here that I recognise. Hope you are all well. Perhaps these may be of interest to you all: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=JohnMilnerReels via a link off his main website: http://www.johnmilnerreels.com/ In addition, there is an American forum somewhere on t'net where guys make their own fly fishing reels, and some of those are just incredible. S-shaped handles (like the old Cascopedia), custom-designed/cut, things like that. Just incredible engineering. I so wish I had that talent. Glenn

RIP Fred. A great angler, a great author, a great inspiration. My condolences to his family, Ian. Glenn

Well, that's the last we'll hear from you Elton. It was fun knowing you...

Well done that man and yes I do know what it means to you. I always had a bit of a dream to be in Angling Times - I used to get AT when I was a lad. Thought I had the opportunity this year with my 13lb barbel - sent the pic off, "yes that'll be in next weeks", "sorry missed the deadline it'll be in the following week" etc. etc. Never went in. I was a bit gutted. Next time I won't bother trying.

I would try to aim for a decent centrepin that's £70 or less - anything above that and below £500, Okuma's got the market and it would be daft loyalty to buy anything else in my opinion (sorry!). Having seen one of the "sheffield"s the other day it's a bleedin' fine reel. Lack of line guard might put some off. So, either go for the "elite", or go for a reel that would be simple, cheap, but good quality, and minimal or no plastic parts! (urgh!!) Take the speedia - really really simple reel, probably could be knocked out for a fiver in china somewhere, yet it's a fantastic reel (nobody knows why, it just is!). Nothing fancy about it, it's just the right sort of size, spins really well, does the job.

RIP Gerry "argyll" - hope the fishing's good wherever you are now.

OK, so Lewtham Engineering then? Anyway, my list would be: - Either spokes or large finger-sized holes to assist retrieve - Solid drum but drilled for lightness (similar to the Youngs Bob James) - also a small hole drilled where the line can be poked through and tied to a bead on the other side - this is the best way to attach line to a pin, so no knot can get in the way when line is peeling off the reel during trotting. - PLAIN BEARING (ball bearing races just get grit under them!!!!!) - 4" diameter by 1" wide drum would be my preference - ideal size for most things, whether heavy barbel or light trotting - Handles that can be removed if preferred (I like them, others don't, give them the option) - Removable line-guard - some will want one, some won't. Preferably one that can be easily clipped on when required, or clipped off (rather than fiddling about with screws and so on). I rarely use a line guard but on a windy day I might just prefer one! - Not too garish colour - black, grey, purple - Button operated ratchet - a lever on the rim is popular but just gives something for the line to catch on There, do all that and you can have my order! Look, do what I did.... SELL THE BLOOMIN' THING!

On Radio 5-Live whenever they are talking about the Sports Personality Of The Year etc. they often talk about how there are probably many unsung heroes of the sportsworld, and then go on to joke about how many anglers write in trying to nominate Bob Nudd. Why is it a joke??? I see they've gone all out this year and included a gymnast called Beth Twaddle, and a horse called Zara or something...

No, it's a roach, fool!

Did anybody see anybody from the anti-brigade doing anything about the state of the rivers? No? Didn't think so. It was a great series - here's hoping for another! It's been the only TV show I've looked forward to watching in a long time.

What is it you want to know? You aren't going to get much "up to date" information about reels that haven't been in manufacturer for over 40 years!!!! Still, this forum has had plenty of discussion about pins in it's time - do some searches and you'll find plenty of info. If you're interested in the history of pins, there are a couple of books but nothing really special. Depends what you want to find out. JWYoungs who make a lot of the new pins available, also have some info on their older pins, available here: http://www.jwyoungs.co.uk/ And if you've got plenty of time, then there is this monster-thread on a forum across the pond with plenty of pics of old and new reels: http://www.questoutdoors.net/phpBB2/about172.html

In the past: Redmire for me - I wrote it up here: http://www.btinternet.com/~pickled.carp/redmireWriteUp.htm Now/future? Dunno - somewhere with barbel!