sussex river man
Active member
Hello thought I would do a little report on my visit to Passies match lake in Lancing, sussex.
The main reason I feel the need to post this report is more down to my switch back to float fishing, light feeder etc, after spending the last couple of years sat behind my delkims waiting for a carp to come along. I decided that I wanted to go back to the kind of fishing that I enjoyed when I was a youngster fishing with my dad every weekend.
I bought a 13ft Abu Garcia submission float rod and after reading many reviews for a suitable reel for this rod I bought the Drennan FD 3000.
Now I have read a few comments about the bail arm being a bit sticky and I can confirm that it does feel a little clunky and stiff, but I have always closed the bail arm manually so its not really an issue for me but it might be for others!
The reel comes with 3 alloy spools which is a nice touch and the build quality and finish look and feel very good, it feels more expensive than the £50 it cost me!
I was itching to use my new reel and decided to fish at passies, a place I have not fished since 2005! and that was on the main lake. i arrived at around nine and had a little walk to find a swim that looked inviting.
I have never been one for using ground bait but decided to mix up a 1kg bag of Sensas Magic grondbait with a can of cooked hemp and a large tin of sweetcorn. baited an area no more than 2 rod lengths out and set up the float rod!
plumbing showed that the water in front of me was about 3ft slowly going down to about 5ft. i started fishing with maggots on a size 14 hook and would throw a small handful for maggots out after each cast.
I was enjoying using the new reel and was catching lots of small roach and bream but i knew that if i carried on feeding the swim would slowly attract a larger stamp of fish ( and i was right ) anyway after an hour of mainly 1lb to 2lb fish i switched to corn using a size 12 hook, as i was expecting the bites slowed down but the fish were still in the swim and i caught a few more bream and a couple of carp around 3lbs.
I then went back to maggots on a size 10 hook i put 3 maggots on and then after about half an hour i had a very quick bite and the float shot under, now the new reel would have its drag tested...
Now the fish i had hooked was no monster but because i was only using 4lb mainline 3.5lb hooklength i had to be mindful that i could not bully or rush the fight, i managed to get the fish away from the bush to my right and then i saw it for the first time it was a lovely looking mirror carp and it looked to be a double figure fish!
now this would be the biggest fish i would have ever managed to land on a float rod and ( relatively ) light line. the clutch was giving line with a very smooth and reassuring manner and i was enjoying the fight like no other i can remember, after 15 mins the fish was in the net and i was very surprised that at no point did i feel that rod or the reel were struggling.
I was over the moon when the scales showed a nice 12lb 3oz. like i said no monster but i enjoyed it more than a pulling 25lb carp with 3lb test curve rods and huge baitrunners loaded with 15lb line.
I also caught a 5lb mirror with one of my last cast so all in all i had a great days fishing and can not wait to get the float out again!
And for anyone looking at the Drannan FD 3000/4000 buy one there great.
The main reason I feel the need to post this report is more down to my switch back to float fishing, light feeder etc, after spending the last couple of years sat behind my delkims waiting for a carp to come along. I decided that I wanted to go back to the kind of fishing that I enjoyed when I was a youngster fishing with my dad every weekend.
I bought a 13ft Abu Garcia submission float rod and after reading many reviews for a suitable reel for this rod I bought the Drennan FD 3000.
Now I have read a few comments about the bail arm being a bit sticky and I can confirm that it does feel a little clunky and stiff, but I have always closed the bail arm manually so its not really an issue for me but it might be for others!
The reel comes with 3 alloy spools which is a nice touch and the build quality and finish look and feel very good, it feels more expensive than the £50 it cost me!
I was itching to use my new reel and decided to fish at passies, a place I have not fished since 2005! and that was on the main lake. i arrived at around nine and had a little walk to find a swim that looked inviting.
I have never been one for using ground bait but decided to mix up a 1kg bag of Sensas Magic grondbait with a can of cooked hemp and a large tin of sweetcorn. baited an area no more than 2 rod lengths out and set up the float rod!
plumbing showed that the water in front of me was about 3ft slowly going down to about 5ft. i started fishing with maggots on a size 14 hook and would throw a small handful for maggots out after each cast.
I was enjoying using the new reel and was catching lots of small roach and bream but i knew that if i carried on feeding the swim would slowly attract a larger stamp of fish ( and i was right ) anyway after an hour of mainly 1lb to 2lb fish i switched to corn using a size 12 hook, as i was expecting the bites slowed down but the fish were still in the swim and i caught a few more bream and a couple of carp around 3lbs.
I then went back to maggots on a size 10 hook i put 3 maggots on and then after about half an hour i had a very quick bite and the float shot under, now the new reel would have its drag tested...
Now the fish i had hooked was no monster but because i was only using 4lb mainline 3.5lb hooklength i had to be mindful that i could not bully or rush the fight, i managed to get the fish away from the bush to my right and then i saw it for the first time it was a lovely looking mirror carp and it looked to be a double figure fish!
now this would be the biggest fish i would have ever managed to land on a float rod and ( relatively ) light line. the clutch was giving line with a very smooth and reassuring manner and i was enjoying the fight like no other i can remember, after 15 mins the fish was in the net and i was very surprised that at no point did i feel that rod or the reel were struggling.
I was over the moon when the scales showed a nice 12lb 3oz. like i said no monster but i enjoyed it more than a pulling 25lb carp with 3lb test curve rods and huge baitrunners loaded with 15lb line.
I also caught a 5lb mirror with one of my last cast so all in all i had a great days fishing and can not wait to get the float out again!
And for anyone looking at the Drannan FD 3000/4000 buy one there great.
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