Why use decrepit old gear?

[fenboy]

So Barbel anglers use cane because there's no comparison to how a barbel feels when hooked on cane? Mmm. On the other hand, if they were to try modern tackle and braid, they'd be amazed at how they feel hooked on THAT.

So, recently I've been pursuing river perch with a 20-year-old rod (Tricast carbon), 25-year-old reel (my newest Mitchell 300) and lovely, brand-new braid and state-of-the-art lures. Mixed-up or what?

Fact is, quality rods and reels of old are great. Modern terminal stuff is better.

 

WHy do some of us use old tackle? Well, it can be memory lane stuff. Also it can be the Classic Car scenario. The reason there's a classic car scene soi big is because:

1. Nostalgia

2. Revolt against faceless modern cars

3. You can afford the vehicle you dreamed of as a kid

 

Maybe some of that applies to fishing with old gear.

 

The perch I was catching two nights ago I enjoyed, but one or two of them would have been the fish of the season for me when I was a nipper. Fact is, I don't appreciate what I catch as much as I did when I was, say 11, 12 or 13 years old. Back then a pike, any pike, was something you talked about for days. Today even a 20 doesn't give me THAT feeling.

 

Bugger, I hate getting old.

[argyll]

Two piece '50s cane rod made by J Leek of Clerkenwell, Ambidex reel (I'm a lefty)and some old fashioned spinners. Get them out about three times a year, chuck them on the boat and use them for about an hour just for a change of pace. Would like to use braid but it would tear the rings out. However its something different and a chance to find out what it was really like to use this stuff all of the time. As for nostalgia, Darlin' Buds of May makes me feel nostalgic, so do Morgan cars, but I couldnt say the same for my old fishing tackle. Who would want to remember with pleasure tank aerials, solid glass rods, bottom of the range Intrepids and Winfield reels? Nostalgia is definitely not what it used to be.

[argyll]

[ 08. July 2004, 02:07 AM: Message edited by: argyll ]

[argyll]

.....oh and not forgetting the completely unbalanced heavyweight tonkin roach pole from Sowerbutts.

[darrell.cook]

As a kid my reels were a Winfield closed face ( woolworths ) and an intrepid Boyo. My mate - who later became the worlds greatest tackle tart - had a mitchell match. Oh, how I envied him that reel!

Recently - I've bought two Mitchell 300,s ( E-bay ) and a pair of Mitchell Matchs' ( car boot sale ).

One Match is unused and I intend to keep it that way ( Can't quite explain why - to me it's a combination of nostalgia and an appreciation of it's aesthetics ). The other one is now my main fixed spool for waggler fishing.

Same with the 300's. one is boxed and appears unused - the other I use for legering, and floater fishing.

I think they perform well, look the part, and remind me of when I started. Also the clutch makes a lovely noise !

[Peter M]

Old angling books is another strange obssesion. there are so many good new books on the market that give you up to date info on the latest methods. so why do so many of us (me included) like to read books first published 50 or more years ago. (my favs are mr crabtree and books by BB which were written before i was born). Maybe we are trying to re capture an imagined lost world when life was slower and simpler, when there were no traffic jams or deadlines only fish filled waters for us to enjoy.

[Peter Waller]

But are there that many good modern books out there Peter? Wilson seems to have dried up. Bailey, I think, is repetative and self opinionated. Jardine, enough said! This subject has been discussed before on A.N, there just doesn't appear to be as many angling classics in the making as there were years ago.

[frodo_uk]

horses for courses I say...why do people like old motor cars (classics in fact).

For the same reason people like old fishing tackle , rods and reels esp(again described in some cases as classics).

Theres something of the rustic charm about them, and of an age gone by and I for one would give anything to have my orignal first rod, my intrepid, even though it was like wielding a sledge hammer. And my first basket and my bits of old tackle right down to the little rusty tin that had gold spade end hooks in (20's), and my selfcocking peacock quill floats passed down to me from my grandmother. Its nostalgic and chris yatess passion for angling captures a little of that essence too I feel.

It might not be for everyone for sure, some want to have the latest most modern equipment and matchfish with every new gadget available, just as some people prefer plastic fantastic motorbikes to an old norton.

But some pleasure anglers like to do just that, fish for pleasure, at a more leisurely pace, perhaps even feeling for a short while that they are in happier days...who knows?

like i said ...horses for courses.

[wunnus]

I just take pleasure in getting fish on the bank with some perfectly functional antiques and the bloke blanking next to me has the state of the art kit.

 

I just believe that fishing is more about the fisherman(err person) than it is about the tackle.

 

Many of the refinements have removed the feel of the fish way from the perosn on the end of the rod.

 

Truely secondhand kit (ie not overpriced, varnished antiques) usually comes at a price to allow me to experiment. Hence I progress onto a closed face reel.

 

Yet I still prefer the quill float. The dirth of these makes me experiment with various feathers. But the lignum vitae floats are another quite unique experience. A float can have enough weight to cast to the perfect position, yet require very little shot to balance it. On a carbon fibre rod the top section tends to be a little floppy to cast these well. They were developed to go with cane and glass fibre.

 

Line is one area that it does not pay to buy old!.

 

Now I can afford the hand made rods of the past. Some are rubbish, others are unique masterpieces.

[John S]

Sometimes I will go fishing leaving my super-duper carbon/kevlar rods at home, taking a cane rod far older than my 44 years and an Intrepid Prince Regent reel. It was my first rod (back in 1973/4), and sometimes I just like to go back to my angling roots.

 

The materials do not matter, it is all in the technique....

 

Tight lines