LINE GUARDS OR NOT?

[Peter Waller]

Okay, so I shouldn't shout! But I need to know!

John Wilson recommends 'em. Barrie Rickards berates them. I bought a Youngs Purist, it came with one fitted. I bought an Adcock Stanton, at a car boot sale for £4.50 which runs and runs and runs and runs and runs, that doesn't even have provision for one. Its been discussed in the past, I know, but I'm still left in a quandery. I need convincing! What do you experts reckon?

[Chris Plumb]

Well you can't Wallis cast with one on. Personally, I prefer them and have one on my Purist.With my 15 foot Harrison I rarely fish a venue where I need to attempt a Wallis.

 

Chris

 

(£4.50 for a Stanton - that's some bargain - did you beat hime down from a fiver )

[Peter Waller]

Hi Chris, having never mastered the Wallis Cast, the shame of it, perhaps I need one. To be honest, until I sold it, I used a Speedia without a guard and never thought I needed one. This might sound a totally stupid question but why do people consider there is a need for one?

 

Re the £4.50 Stanton. I bought a rod, a 12ft Light Match sold by the Grove Fishing Tackle Shop of Sudbury at a car boot sale. Very grubby but it was up for £5.50, which I was quite happy to pay. Lovely action, cane butt & middle , split cane tip. Got chatting as anglers do, seems that I had missed some real bargains! He had a few rod rests left & this lovely reel, clearly well used but well cared for, he wanted £45.00 for it. I only had £4.50 left from a tenner. To cut a long story short he was pleased to see his reel go to a good home. £4.50 & a promise that I would use it, enjoy it and not sell it, an easy promise to make. Set it spinning, go boil the kettle, make a cup of tea, drink it, wash the cup up, go back & its still spinning, well, almost!

[Spindle]

Oh... you didn't think I'd let this thread go without a look-in did you???

 

Peter. What an absolute bargain! I (well, my wife - girlfriend at the time) bought me an Adcock as my first Centrepin and it is absolutely fabulous - cost about £100 I believe. It's major benefit is, as you have found, how well it spins. For this reason I use it as my first-choice for trotting. My other reels I prefer to use for general float and legering. As you say, it doesn't come with a line guard. Personally I haven't found this to be a problem. The main thing I have found is that I tangle up around the handles all the time. I would remove them, but the screws seem welded on! The one part of the reel I don't really like is the drag - a screw on the front which can apparently be tightened to produce a drag. I find that when I tighten it to produce the slight drag I require, as soon as the reel spins the drag loosens off. I would probably get one without the drag if I was to buy one again.

 

There is no right or wrong about line guards. I am sure John Wilson catches just as many fish as Bob James, both having centrepins in the Youngs range, each designed for it's relative angler's style.

 

Personally, I prefer without for most of my fishing, simply because I find the wallis cast a joy in it's own right. Also, I can cast a fair distance with the wallis casting, probably further than the "John Wilson" style (Nottingham style is it?). That said, a few seconds wallis casting can be ruined by a half hour undoing a birds nest. Horses for Courses. For trotting on my local river, the Great Ouse, which isn't very wide across in most places, I would probably prefer to have a line guard.

 

Maybe a chisel would work on those Adcock handles. Or maybe a power saw...

 

Kidding....

[Chris Plumb]

Peter - I said I attempted to Wallis cast - didn't say I'd mastered it (which I aint) And I never fish a water where there's a need to cast very far...

 

As for line guards I guess its what you're used to. I've always used C/P's with them on - or the option of having one on which I've used. Never used one without for long enough to make a fair comparison.

 

So no help at all with your question!!

 

Well done with your bargain - don't know anyone with a Plowman or a Witcher they want to give a good home to? - I promise to use it and am willing to pay double what you paid!!

 

Chris

[Spindle]

Mastering the Wallis Cast... now there's a concept...!

[Peter Waller]

Thanks folks. I'm driving the wife crazy, sat there, waiting for the 16th, simply flicking the spool into a high speed spin! I rather like the Stanton because the ventilation holes are big enough to put a finger in for retrieving whilst the Purist needs batting. Just think I might give up piking in preference to roach next summer. Just so I can use that wonderful invention, a cane rod with a centre-pin!

[Alan Roe]

Peter irstly well done on getting that Adcock for £4.50!

Secondly look after it as there will be no more of them as Cliff Adcock has now retired!

Thirdly if you want to learn how to wallis Cast I will happily teach you it is easy to do ...Honestly...see this months Coarse Fisherman!

If you are going to the SAA meeting on Sunday bring it with you and I will have you sorted with the Wallis cast during the lunch break.

Finally on to the question you asked I have never used a line guard partly because they are a serious impedement to the Walis cast and also if you ever do get a tangle on the spool the lineguard always seems to somehow make it worse!! Apart from that I have never needed one.

[Spindle]

Alan Roe:

Cliff Adcock has now retired!

If Cliff has retired, Paul Witcher is back from "retirement" (for how long?), Richard Carter retired, JWYoungs went bust/came back... it's a choppy old time for the centrepin isn't it? Just when it was becoming so popular again...!

 

Still, there is the Mill Tackle Company and Chris Lythe to keep the flag flying for a while...

[Chris Plumb]

Alan Roe:

Cliff Adcock has now retired!

When? My mate Paul has not long had Cliff make him one - took possession of it earlier this year...

 

Chris