Hillsider

The "pointed" tail shape seems to be a common feature on Irish pike. Are you saying Irish pike are a different species?

Sod that. When the krill runs out, what's next? Soylent Green maggots?

I'll be continuing my quest to find a stretch of the Calder that isn't infested with dog walkers and feral children. I thought I'd found the ideal place yesterday when I fished the Lillands Farm stretch at Brighouse (private land, access for anglers and residents only), but I got accosted by a bunch of kids just as I was starting to pack up. Nothing is sacred anymore.

Idiots.

The extra knob on the bottom has "free spool set" printed next to it, so it's probably some kind of baitrunner style feature. I'm curious too now. The 80s seem to have been an interesting period in reel design. I once saw a Cardinal with a lever drag on the back, like a Shimano Fighting Drag but roataed 90 degrees.

Those look like some pretty nice floats she's found. Usually when I find discarded line it's at least 10lb and usually has a sea lead and a giant rusty hook tied to the end. A couple of years ago I found one of my favourite grayling swims festooned with the stuff, and when I pulled the whole mess out of the river, bushes, and an overhanging tree, I found a cheap telescopic "Boyz Toyz" rod and reel attached to the other end. They could atleast have left something decent for me. Also: STOP CALLING IT THAT. IT'S NOT WIRE. LEARN THE DIFFERENCE. FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUU- Yeah I hate it when people violate my priceless collection open tin cans by wrapping line around them too. I feel her pain. Bloody hooligans. Ugh. I'm going to be joining the dole queue soon. Maybe I should offer the Bucks Free Press my services as a proof reader.

My Bewick is one of the newer ones, and it didn't cost anywhere near that much (bought brand new from a bircks and mortar shop. I think it was about £100). A more important point to keep in mind is that the older version doesn't have an adjustable grub screw at the centre of the spool. This is likely to cause problems should the reel ever need to be adjusted.

My Bewick wasn't exactly perfectly set up when I bought it. The grubscrew was far too tight, and the retaining cap was misalligned. Very simple to fix though. I also had the problem with the handles coming loose, which I solved by simply removing them. It's a much better reel without them - less mass near the rim of the spool, and nothing for the line to get wrapped round. I've got the Bewick and my Match Aerial in front of me right now, and there isn't much between them in terms of startup inertia. The Aerial spins longer (I got it to spin for over 4 minutes once), but that's irrelevant when fishing. The Bewick is much easier to control during the cast. As for bearing reels... I can't remember the last time I trotted with my Sheffield. The only thing I've used it for lately is fishing close in for ide with a waggler on a local club pond. I almost feel sorry for it.

The Bewick is also much easier to Wallis cast with than the Okumas, at least in my experience anyway.

Sounds like tank aerial rods are making a comeback.

The perfect hookhold is one that falls out in the landing net, negating any need for the fish to be manually unhooked. Getting a size 22 out of a lively 2lb grayling's scissors can be a devil of a job.

Grayling. My local river is full of them, and I have a Match Aerial that needs breaking in.

Meanwhile in America... http://www.tackletour.com/menuenthusiasttackle.html

Sounds like a trout. I catch loads of them on float gear in my local river, and the behaviour you described is very common in my experience.