PeterNE1

Well, maybe, maybe not - beauty being in the eye of the beholder, and all that - but I NEVER thought I'd see an example of this particular reel sell at such a price! Nothing at all wrong with the reels - I've got a couple of decent ones - but this REALLY took me by surprise, even if it DOES look the part, and is restored! Most Expensive Ever?

I've got one, have been using it for some time and would happily recommend it. As a bag it swallows up nets (and load of other stuff) easily - if I'm facing a hike, I can easily get waders in there too, and the bag has both handles and a shoulder strap. As a mat it also performs as intended, offering a large padded surface: OK, it's not six inched thick and packed with memory foam, but it DOES offer a perfectly good, padded, fish-friendly surface that is bid enough to handle anything you are likely to catch on a day-to-day basis. Onlt real problems I can see fish-wise would be very large, obese carp, or longer fish - a 20lb pike would likely fit quite nicely, but anything much longer (or catfish) would need something more specialised. Build quality seems very good too, with no problems at all - good seams and very robust zips - well up to Korums normal standards.

A writer sadly no longer with us wrote a couple of beautiful books about childhood, and growing up with an extremely benevolent grandfather, who was as daft as the boy about fishing and hunting - though very talented in a natural 'gifted' way. Think Jack Hargreaves, but in the US The books are NOT easy to get hold of, being out of print for many years: I've lost count how many times I've re-read them since I first opened their pages maybe 40 years ago. Titled 'The Old Man and The Boy', the writer was Robert Ruark: the sequel was TOMATB Grow Older ... chicken soup for the soul!

Whoever won wanted to make sure they took no chances: having the top bid, they then placed a higher bid to cover themselves - then bid even higher still just before the auction finished! Not a reel that appeals too much to me though - call me a Philistine if you will :-) ... I seriously doubt I would have bought it for 10% of that price, other than as a money-maker to sell onwards!

I've given up totally on the British judicial system after something I witnessed last Friday. A friend I've known for years was in court: to put it into perspective a little, this guy is mid 50's, unblemished record with the police and a very genuine, help-all-and-sundry type of guy - a really decent bloke. Earlier this year he was in a local department store with his grandson and took an armful of things to the till: total purchases somewhere over £120. On leaving the shop, he was stopped by the store security guy (with 3 policemen in tow) and asked to return. There was a childs top folded over his arm, in very obvious view, which had not gone through the till. No subterfuge whatsoever, just a daft 'senior moment' - though I doubt he'd appreciate it being described as such (I should also mention at this point he was post operative and on morphine based painkillers). Long story short, he co-operated completely with all concerned (though it took the rest of the day in a local police station) Daughter / mum had to be called out of work there and then to take the little lad (alternative was involvement of Social Services), and his house was searched whilst he was detained. Police declined to issue an on-the-spot 'ticket / fine' which was at their discretion. So Court - I was there for a bit of moral support. Never commited any offence whatsoever remember, in the last 50 years+, effectively facing a first (single) charge of shoplifting, total value a penny short of ELEVEN QUID. Doctor had supplied a letter stating quite categorically that the meds he was on at that time were very likely to have been causung problems with cognative function. This had been accepted by the prosecution: on that basis (and legal advice) he'd plead not guilty to theft at the Magistrates Court, who saw fit to bump it to the Crown Court ... for ELEVEN QUID! Guilty verdict (despite the medical evidence!) - EIGHT BLOODY WEEKS IN JAIL!!!!!!!!! - despite some VERY spirited arguments from his own barrister, who was eventually brow-beaten into submission by the judge (posing the question 'Do you REALLY want to go head to head with ME over this???) ! No grounds for appeal, as the sentencing is within guidelines (as was a discharge / fine / suspended sentence etc) - can't even get early release because of the rules surrounding it, and the mechanics / timescale involved in applying for it - he'll be out before he got a decision! OK, I KNOW that being elevated to a Crown Court case is likely to have ticked off the judge - and that he'll be out after 4 weeks - but I can't help thinking that there is something profoundly wrong with a Judicial system that can apply a penalty like this, yet allow repeat offenders etc walk away from Court, even after breaching ASBO's, suspended sentences etc.

I've got the original 'standard' Korum chair and its just about bobm proof :-) I'm a lump bigger than you are, and the chair is going strong with no problems whatsoever after maybe 5 years of use. A word of warning about the Deluxe version - I think I'm correct in saying that this model will NOT link up to the Korum Ruckbag etc, in case that was your intention at some point?

Read of this story quite recently in an article: FWIW, it was credited to Dick Walker, if that helps at all with locating a copy?

Doesn't help with dyslexia then?

Not sure of the legalities of what you are intending, but I suspect that you may have a job convincing any bailiff that you are fishing for salmon, particularly using 'jelly' type lures in a river that is not exactly known for its run of salmon

A deal? Post this on YouTube, and I've no doubt at all that I (and others) will happily help with a website/ video/ morons guide to effectively casting with a centrepin?

Just to throw a spanner in the works Perhaps the perch / eel deadbaits are succeeding, where the earlier types of deadbait failed, and HAVE attracted one or more large predators into the area, making the crayfish keep their heads down?

I think 'anglers paradise' and 'Anglers Paradise' are very close together, maybe 5 miles apart?

I suspect that the main reason for the increased weights (particularly with carp, but this would also apply to the other species you mention) is the selective breeding (of carp) to maximise weight gain, and the fact that many fish are now 'artificially' (over?) fed with high calorie man-made baits (boilies, pellets etc) ... the poor old pike is still left, by and large, chompping on his natural foodsource: other fish, with possibly the odd small mammal for good measure. Factor in that (most) large fat carp are almost captive fish, virually constantly hand-fed by carp anglers: it's no small wonder that they get much bigger - but at what cost, I wonder? Conversely, the pike is still to all intents and purpose a fish found in wilder, more natural waters. That said, the exception to this (which would appear to add substance to the initial theory) is when we have pike in trout waters, which I guess in pikey terms is almost like force feeding boilies to a carp, no? ...... and they cetainly seem to grow a bit bigger, and more prolificly, in such waters. I strongly suspect also that pike, certainly the bigger ones, are probably a bit more delicate than big carp, and tolerate capture / handling etc less well ... perhaps a proportion of the bigger pike - high 20's and 30's - simply fail to survive earlier captures, and consequently the potential number of really big pike is reduced. Will one ever be caught to break the record? I'd like to think so, but the odds seem to be that it will be Chew or similar that throws up such a beastie ... though I have little doubt at all that bigger fish exist in Scotland and the Lake District (not to mention Ireland) ... they're just very thin on the ground, unfortunately.

I wonder how many more times we'll see threads like this? Surely everyone in the civilised world has by now realised that there ARE ups AND downs to ebay - and very definitely bargains to be had along the way. BUT it IS a site flawed by many problems. Unfortunately the only way I can realistically see ebay doing anything about it is if / when a realistic competitor emerges: until then they have a captive market, virtually a monopoly, so why bother fixing anything? - particularly as THEIR profits are pretty spectacular, regardless!

Whilst I agree with the general sentiments of this topic (and added my own personal whinge!) I guess it's only fair, on reflection, to add that I've also witnessed first-hand some of the good the RSPCA do too, particularly at the nasty, murky end of their remit. Without giving too much away. many years ago I was involved with a local private veterinary surgery, who did a lot of 'volunteer' work for the RSPCA. I've seen way too many badly abused animals brought in for treatment, even ended up adopting a couple myself - and was also involved in a very 'blunt' way when raids were made on dog-fights etc - the crazy thing being (certainly at that time) that the RSPCA officers had little 'official' power, so 'others' may be involved out of necessity to run 'interference' until the arrival of the Police - who would do nothing at all pre-emptive (at that time), and would not get involved at all unless a crime was actually being commited! ..... and to cap it all, even in the case of a badly abused / injured animal, the RSPCA could still not take possession of said animal without the permission of the owner! They were NEVER coerced, naturally

A few years back I was on the way out one Saturday evening, noticed that we had a new arrival in a field close to the house: a very cute foal. Arriving back in the very small hours, there was a heavy frost down, but I took the dogs across the fields as usual - as much as anything it meant I could enjoy a Sunday morning lie-in, without puddles Part way across the field was the foal, with an agitated 'mum' hovering nearby: the foal was down and covered in frost, immobile. I had no idea at all who was responsible for the field or horses (had not lived there long, just used the public footpath across it to access a nearby lake). I rang RSPCA locally to get an answering machine advising me to call an emergency number in Leeds. The 'emergency' number was simply another answering machine telling me to call back Monday morning! Hmmmm ... fairly rural, local police may know who's it is perhaps. Turns out to be someone from well out of the area, but Police have no interest in the foal, nor can offer advice. Two local animal rescue places are unimpressed to be woken at that hour and unable / uninterested, but one volunteers a personal number for the local RSPCA guy: result, I'm thinking. Call him, advised its his weekend off, can't help - and call the number in Leeds (again!) Emergency callout to me local vet: will not attend and treat unless the animal is mine!!!!! Dogs locked up, I'm trudging back over the field, not even knowing whether this little foal is still alive Getting closer, mum backs away and I'm fearing the worst, but as I go down to it, it IS still moving, albeit feebly. I literally ended up with the foal across my shoulders, back to the house and the foal on blankets on the kitchen floor, with the heat whacked up: it's now about 5am. An hour later, and a 'horsey' ex-girlfiend is getting the good news as I'm getting quite desperate: foal is now more responsive, but obviously way off being OK. The ex, bless her, drives about 70 miles to come and help out (knew she would ... always put her horses - and dog - before me, or anyone else! ) End story? Right or wrong, she's still got the horse - and about 10.30am Monday I get a call from RSPCA at Leeds asking if they can help 'with the emergency you called in early on Sunday morning' ...............

..... strangely enough, neither is Poland, who's nationals are often the brunt of many such complaints!

Unsustainable water abstraction, which is only likely to get worse, and bloody cormorants!

Not a lot to tell really Newt, in this case: plenty of these around, and usually available quite cheaply on ebay UK. Useable enough I guess, but definitely not a refined trotting reel :-)

Sorry guys, but it's way too easy to point the finger of blame at Eastern Europeans, or any other ethnic group for that matter. Have people developed selective memories, or simply forgotten that fish theft has always occurred in the UK, well before the arrival of visitors from foreign shores? How many people can honestly say that they've not known about illegal fish movements within the UK, with fish taken form one water to another in a bid to 'enhance' the destinattion venue - specimen carp being perhaps the most obvious targets, followed by barbel, pike, and anything else that grow to a decent size? I mean, if YOUR fish were stolen, would it really matter whether they were in the depths of someone elses fishery, or on a dinner table? On the other hand, lets put this into prpoer perspective shall we? I'm in no way condoning illegal removal of fish by ANYONE, but how many fish do we really think we are talking about here, on a national basis? Countless thousands maybe? Contrast that figure with the CONSERVATIVE estimates of the number of fish taken each year by cormorants (apparently in excess of 50 MILLION 5" - 7" silver fish per annum - EVERY year, according to calculations based on figues supplied by non less than the RSPB!) - not to mention those lovely cuddly otters! Now personally, I can live with otters ... but bloody cormorants? ... stocking levels by the EA? Typically around 1.5 million fish per annum, of which almost two thirds are game fish! Can't help thinking that money would be better spent (and fish 'theft' reduced to a much greater degree) if EA bailiffs were given shotguns and a remit to shoot any cormorant seen further than a given, agreed distance from the coast! Yeah ... like that will ever happen!

Yeah - I take your point - as I said, I'm not disagreeing with you in any way, just a biy windy about the long-term storage of line, given all the scaremongering that goes on. :-) I guess the relevent point here, specifically with Sensor, is that it is SO cheap to buy in bulk it costs pennies to refill reels, so why take any risk at all with older line?

Hi Phone, no further story, just simply trying to put a name to the reel in respect of manufacturer, model, vintage etc. There seem to be quite a few pins from this timeframe that were apparently produced in numbers high enough to be commercial production rather than home-brews, yet they rarely have any sort of identifying marks to them - and some can be remarkably good quality for very little cash! I've always been curious to try and compare the US - made ranges of centrepins with those commonly found here in the UK. Over here (if you ignore the like of Chris Lythe etc), commercial manufacture of centrepins seems to fall within the remit almost exclusively of Youngs, Stantons and Kingpins, all of which are made to a very high quality and tolerances, with the sort of prices you would expect - but their prime purpose is for catching fish far smaller than the large salmon etc that pins are often used for in the US. That leads me to wonder about the quality / tolerances of the US mass-produced reels (which are easily available on Ebay UK, but rarely if ever seem to sell) I don't mean that in any disparaging way, it just occurs that a (US) reel designed to be used with lines of a very much heavier breaking strain MAY be more robust, but perhaps not made to the same fine tolerances (of a UK reel) that would normally prevent (fine) line slipping between the spool and backplate? Shame the quality US reels cost what they do - it's a lot of cash to spend on a reel that you've never seen and know nothing about! :-)

I fully concur with you on the quality of Sensor, but the reservation I have is quite simple: depending on the breaking stain, these spools can hold almost TWO MILES of line HOW do / can you store this sort of quantity for any meaningful period of time, and still be absolutely confident that it's still performing up to scratch when you come to reload reels yet again? I know that with the heavier breaking strains / multiple big pit reels, its unlikely to be an issue, but with the lower BS stuff? Hmmmmm......

Yeah .. I know there have always been a few around, but partly because of that I figured that they were a production run rather than home-build - unless someone was VERY busy at home? :-) I guees as much as anything I was trying to put a name to the reel, and figured that perhaps it was prominent in it's day, as was much of the other gear featured in the same picture?

It's obvious that there are many people with more than a passing interest in centrepins / older tackle who drop by the site - I'm hoping someone can shed some light on an old centrepin, from a fairly average picture. It's featured (amongst other tackle) on the front of a book written many years ago: Successful Angling: Coarse Fishing Tackle and Methods by Richard Walker, Fred J Taylor, Hugh Falkus and Fred Buller. I'm taking a guess that many people on here will have read the book, perhaps own a copy, but the pictures in question can be found here: 3 Hole Centrepin Thanks!