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Do it yourself?


gozzer

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I often use bits of peacock quill just as they are cut, without even sealing the ends. If there is a better material for float making, I've never seen it.

 

Very true - almost all of the floats I use are peacock quill, porcupine quill, crow quill or goose quill. Plus one or two cork or balsa on quill.

 

I also have a huge collection of floats I have found in and around fisheries. Some folks even decorate waterside trees with them! They sit in a large jug on the corner of one of my desks, waiting for me to find out what special purposes they are for and to find the time and inclination to re-furbish them.

 

I cannot remember ever buying a float.

 

Same with rod-rests. I have a few metal ones I have found - otherwise I use a Y-shaped twig as an idleback.

 

A lifetime of not wasting money on things I can make for myself has enabled me to afford to fish for exotic fish in far-away places.

 

 

RNLI Governor

 

World species 471 : UK species 105 : English species 95 .

Certhia's world species - 215

Eclectic "husband and wife combined" world species 501

 

"Nothing matters very much, few things matter at all" - Plato

...only things like fresh bait and cold beer...

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Wasn't it SARKANDAS reed?? Or summat like that!!!

Chris Goddard


It is to be observed that 'angling' is the name given to fishing by people who can't fish.

If GOD had NOT meant us to go fishing, WHY did he give us arms then??


(If you can't help out someone in need then don't bother my old Dad always said! My grandma put it a LITTLE more, well different! It's like peeing yourself in a black pair of pants she said! It gives you a LOVELY warm feeling but no-one really notices!))

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Yes Sarkandas Chris.

 

This reminds me of a comment I meant to put on my earlier post.Try going into a tackle shop these days and buying DIY tackle bits! Even something as basic as some whipping thread.

 

Wasnt that long ago when most shops stocked a range of rings,threads,handle materials,reel seats,float making materials etc.

And thats my "non indicative opinion"!

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Guest Rabbit

In my case it's the same for all DIY, I fall back on the usual repost of the affluent middle class male, time poor in a service economy - "thats why I work, so I pay someone to do it and spend the weekends doing over things".

 

In the specific case of the rod ring for the Technium the £10 its going to cost me to get Shimano to properly whip and laquer, is worth it for a £70 rod that I stand a very real risk of ruining by trying it myself.

 

 

Ah but the time when you were 5 catching eels with a cane rod and a bent pin (I have read your profile) Did that not give you a real sense of achievement? To be honest I would be embarrassed to ask someone to whip on a ring (or guide) on my rod, likewise I would not pay anyone to cut my lawn or wash my windows either. but I guess that is down to the harsh years that I grew up as a boy, I had to make my own rods, rod rests were skool metalwork projects, and my second hand Intrepid reel was the rewards of two paper rounds.

 

My first wage was £3 2s 4d I gave Mum half for keep, and the rest went on normally a record, and fishing tackle. I cycled, a round trip of 10miles to Keynsham thats K_E_Y_N_S_H_A_M Bristol. no I havn't lost it that was a famous Radio Luxembourg ad in the ... a few years back. Anyone remember?

Tell you what RP if you want someone to bait your hook I'm yer man :thumbs:

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And I remember we were so poor that me and me sister used to share the same trike, and Mum and Dad couldn't afford the subs for the Brownies AND the Cubs so I went to the Brownies.... True I have a picture somewhere. :lol:

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And I remember we were so poor that me and me sister used to share the same trike, and Mum and Dad couldn't afford the subs for the Brownies AND the Cubs so I went to the Brownies.... True I have a picture somewhere. :lol:

 

Luxurey! When we were kids we dreamed of being able to go to Brownies! :rolleyes: and the only "paper round" we had was the news paper wrapped around us to stop us freezing in the winter! We ad it ard we did...

And thats my "non indicative opinion"!

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Luxurey! When we were kids we dreamed of being able to go to Brownies! :rolleyes: and the only "paper round" we had was the news paper wrapped around us to stop us freezing in the winter! We ad it ard we did...

My Dad's first job on de-mob after the war was a trainee carpenter, he had to cycle 18 miles a day, with his tools to the training centre in Fishponds in Bristol, We were so poor my mum when I was just two 'gave' me away to a travelling circus where I was the knife throwers assistant. My sister of 4 years of age was sent with her Aunty to Corston near Bath, they were really poor...they had no running water, and no electricity, just an old transistor radio that when I visited for a treat we could listen to radio Luxembourg. Thats why I remember the famous Horace Batchelor ad about KEYNSHAM.

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I love making bits n bobs. Most recently a set of uber lightweight indicators from some soft hosing. I would love to make some rods but havent yet plucked up the courage.

 

I must admit that with alot of modern gear, reels etc, I tend to junk rather than mend.

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A couple of recent threads on here have got me thinking.

 

As most of you will know my feet are stuck in the past. I have the occasional(?) gripe about the direction anglings taking.

With this in mind, I was surprised to see the threads about float making, and whipping on a line guide, (they were known as rod rings in my day).

 

I'm not knocking anyone with this, but I was wondering why so many anglers are reluctant to make/repair anything these days?

Could it be because tackle is relatively cheap, and it's not worth the effort?

Is it just a sign of todays 'throw away' society?

Or does it go deeper than that, and, newcomers are 'conditioned' to accepting that the 'celebs'/ 'experts' are using X method/product and there's no need to look any further?

 

I know that the choice was limited years ago, but then we used to adapt existing, or make new gadgets, to suit specific situations.

We had to replace rod rings, because the old chrome 'high bells' used to wear, and were prone to damage, so we learned how to whip them on.

Floats were made from just about anything buoyant. Quills, balsa, drinking straws, cork, cane, and even the old elderberry 'pith' were all used at some time to make floats. Some worked, some didn't, but it was a learning process, and you got to know how different floats 'worked'. I made my self some weighted 'avon' type floats for 'stret pegging' in a certain swim, much better than anything i could have bought.

The same with rods. I still have a small collection of old rod tips in my shed, that were used for various bite indicators, (swing tips, quivertips, butt indicators etc).

Anything that you thought could be adapted to use in angling was kept.

Spools of copper wire from old electric motors, welding wire, old 35mm film canisters, any bird feathers you found, old corks, the list is endless. All these were put to use in one way or another.

 

There was/is a feeling of satisfaction in catching, using something that you made yourself, especially if it's unique to you.

 

John.

i re whipped a ring only a week ago ,they are designed to break! those one legged rings may be in fashion but have only 50% of the strenght of old fashioned 2 legged ones and cast no differently to them

Believe NOTHING anyones says or writes unless you witness it yourself and even then your eyes can deceive you

None of this "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" crap it just means i have at least two enemies!

 

There is only one opinion i listen to ,its mine and its ALWAYS right even when its wrong

 

Its far easier to curse the darkness than light one candle

 

Mathew 4:19

Grangers law : anything i say will  turn out the opposite or not happen at all!

Life insurance? you wont enjoy a penny!

"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical." Thomas Jefferson

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Mainly down to time/money availability. Used to make some of my own floats when I was a kid but now that floats are comparitively cheaper and my time comparitively more scarce I find that it makes more sense for me to buy them. I make my own snap tackle though as I've had some less than satisfactory experiences with ready made pike rigs.

 

My father made many of the rods that I currently use but I never learnt how to turn a set of blanks into a complete rod. Not sure that with tackle as cheap as it is that I would ever invest the time to, even if I had the skills.

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