Yet More Pike!

[Peter Waller]

Tim, I was being nice to 'em!

[whistlekiller]

Not too sure Masterline produce anything worth a light. They do however control the import of some good lures. Good thing????? Hmmmmm

 

I have a 6ft Six Shooter (no jokes please) and an 11ft Toothy Critter (this is turning into a Carry On film) and they're produced by Masterline. I've found no problems with either although I have to say the Six Shooter baitcaster reel (which I also have) is very lightweight, bulky and poor in comparison to some others I've seen since.

 

On the subject of lures, I have a Shakespeare Big S which is green backed, yellow on the sides and orange underneath with black sripes on it. I caught my first pike (and most of the subsequent ones) on it and it's beginning to look a bit tatty. I would like to retire it to a position of honour on the wall at home and replace it but I haven't seen one anywhere. They seem to do every other colour instead nowadays. Anyone seen them about? I can e-mail a picture if required.

[whistlekiller]

Here's a picture of the lure (attached).

[Peter Waller]

Great lure! Pity about the reel though!!!!! I will keep my eyes open.

[whistlekiller]

Great lure! Pity about the reel though!!!!! I will keep my eyes open.

 

Oh, and it rattles too. I also have a doubled up Big S/Little S. That seems to get the pike too. Dead right about the reel Peter, it is poor. I've retired it in favour of a Cabela Prodigy. Much smaller and more solid. Got it from the Cabela Website www.cabelas.com

have a look. It's pretty good.

[Tim Kelly]

I'm glad you're happy with your rods, but they are built down to a price and in comparison to good quality rods they are a very poor second. They have, or used to have, the knack of spotting a gap in the market very well, unfortunately what they used to plug the gap is usually pretty abysmal when you've used something properly designed for the job.

[Peter Waller]

Tim, I have one of JW's original 'six shooter' rods, pre masterline. JW had them made for his shop in Norwich. A very nice bit of kit.

 

Re the Masterline version, I would swear blind that I saw Rex Hunt with an identical rod, only it wasn't a John Wilson Six Shooter.

 

I had one of the Masterline ones, a very nice blank, but a dog of a handle. I lengthened mine to a 13" handle and it became a useful outfit.

 

I would agree, Masterline became good at exploiting gaps in the market. But some of their stuff is not that bad. I have a Toothy Critter 1 to 4 oz jerkbait rod, and that is a nice tool for the smaller jerk baits that I favour.

[Tim Kelly]

Just goes to show how everyone develops different tastes in tackle based on how they fish. I had a six shooter rod many years ago and since using better rods I realise why it always seemed strange to me, the rod doesn't have a fast enough taper to work baits in the way I like to. I've also used the toothy critter jerkbait rods and compared to my St Croixs they are horrible too.

 

I know the tart in me is showing up again, but it seems that there are so many blanks available from China these days that it shouldn't be too hard to find something appropriate. I know you disagreed, but I thought the Harris rods that I tried were far closer to what the rods should be for the price than many other things available at the time. I know the fittings were a bit odd, but the blanks generally seemed good.

[Peter Waller]

I have always prefered a slightly more through action than most modern rods have. I appreciate that a faster taper might be better for the lures, but a through action might be better for the fish

[Newt]

I have always prefered a slightly more through action than most modern rods have. I appreciate that a faster taper might be better for the lures, but a through action might be better for the fish

 

Peter, I gotta argue with the above opinion just a bit.

 

Given that on a good day's lure outing I will probably cast my lure(s) over 200 times and that I'm are unlikely to have more than 20 takes even on a good day, I have to favor a rod that fits the lure. Easier to concentrate on the fishing if the rig feels good and I always feel I'm probably going to get the extra fish or two if my concentration is good and the lure action is proper.

 

I'll stick with a rod that is fast enough to suit the lure and only use a through action if I'm fishing large crankbaits and there I'm likely to be using an e-glass blank anyway.