Shakespeare Tackle

[Jeff Woodhouse]

Following another thread on their reels, I'm afraid that whenever I see the name of Shakespeare on tackle now, I give it a very wide berth.

It's a shame because for a short while, they made some lovely equipment, at least I thought so, and the quality was superb. I bought a 9ft President feeder rod in a club's auction once, the separate quivers tucked into the handle, and the quality was superb. I gave the rod to a lad who used to come fishing with me, but I don't know what happened to it because he gave all the stuff away he had. He gave up.

I did have a short 9ft feeder rod that I bought a few years ago, can't say it was the best because it lasted just one season. One fine day after a few casts, one cast was one too many and it snapped, a clean break just above the joint. I think that's what put me off them and I didn't return it, the cost of post and the arguing wasn't worth it.

If you like it, fine, just not for me any longer. And so to Shakepeare's (the real one) famous sayings,
[h=3]‘All that glisters is not gold.’[/h][h=3]‘There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.’[/h]

 

[caught any mate]

I've got a shaky mach 3 pellet wag,A fantastic piece of kit,but at the time a mid price rod.But yes ,their lower end stuff is not very good at all.Also we have a lot more choice,there seems to be more competition for our hard earned cash,and maybe,certainly in my case,we get a little more discerning as we age.
I feel for the kids getting into fishing,there is a lot of sub-standard kit out there,and the marketing ploys used by many companies are luring the kids into buying the rubbish,leaving the kids a little disillusioned when they take up the sport.

 

[Keith M]

I have still got a couple of very good Shakespeare rods from the days when Shakespeare sponsored the Team England squads, and had Clive Smith and Ken Giles putting their names and expertise to some of their higher spec match rods, and there was also some well known specialist anglers doing the same for their other top of the range specialist rods.

Their cheaper rods were always built to a much lower spec and I only bought from their mid to higher range of rods; but I heard that their lower spec rods were still fairly usable if an angler couldn’t afford to spend a lot.

However I havent bought any of their rods or reels since the 1990’s and haven’t even looked at their catalogues, but I was told that even today they do sell a couple of decent front drag match reels, so if that’s true then all’s not completely lost with them.

Keith

 

[barbelboi]

Never owned anything by Shakespeare - especially the books...............

 

[nottskev]

I'm not surprised the quality of their products has varied over decades. With bigger companies buying and selling smaller companies and brands, it seems most household-name products are owned by someone other than we think. Shakespeare saw that coming "Fishes live in the sea, as men do a-land; the great ones eat up the little ones." According to Wikipedia, the company was founded by William Shakespeare jr in Kalamazoo ( no kidding|)in 1897, and is now a subsidiary of Pure Fishing.

I've nothing bad to say about the Shakespeare rods I've owned. If they weren't always finished to the highest standard, they always had good actions and were well-suited to light-line fishing. My first proper rod was a Shakespeare solid glass 7' spinning rod - the upgrade from the garden cane with rings taped on and jubilee clips for the reel. Later ones included a Sigma Wand, a Sigma Canal Float 11', a Mach 2 Boron and a lovely light feeder rod called a Quattro. I still use that for bream fishing. I never had a President, but some say that rod was up with the best.

I don't have any more recent ones, but I believe some of the float rods they made when the Cadence bloke, James Robbins, was their consultant were very well regarded.

 

[mikench]

I have a 13' Mach 111 extra lite float rod and it's delightful to use and the packaging is almost on a par with Hardy!

 

[tigger]

I'm not surprised the quality of their products has varied over decades. With bigger companies buying and selling smaller companies and brands, it seems most household-name products are owned by someone other than we think. Shakespeare saw that coming "Fishes live in the sea, as men do a-land; the great ones eat up the little ones." According to Wikipedia, the company was founded by William Shakespeare jr in Kalamazoo ( no kidding|)in 1897, and is now a subsidiary of Pure Fishing.

I've nothing bad to say about the Shakespeare rods I've owned. If they weren't always finished to the highest standard, they always had good actions and were well-suited to light-line fishing. My first proper rod was a Shakespeare solid glass 7' spinning rod - the upgrade from the garden cane with rings taped on and jubilee clips for the reel. Later ones included a Sigma Wand, a Sigma Canal Float 11', a Mach 2 Boron and a lovely light feeder rod called a Quattro. I still use that for bream fishing. I never had a President, but some say that rod was up with the best.

I don't have any more recent ones, but I believe some of the float rods they made when the Cadence bloke, James Robbins, was their consultant were very well regarded.

I had a conversation with Chris (vines) recently about cadence and how i'm suspicious that they are part of purefishing? It just seems to be coincidental how James Robins is doing a lot of the advertising and how he's fishing a lot of the exact aame waters that he fished when advertising the shakey gear.
Chris thinks my suspicions are wrong but i'm still suspicious.
The fact that shakeys name sort of went to pot made me wonder if they came up with a new guise in cadence.....? Chris may be right and I could be hissing in the wind lol.
I know it's irrelevent either way really but i'm just curious is all.


Oh, I forgot to say, I have a 50lb class ugly stick boat rod, I think it would be suitablle for sharks even! I've never used it.

 

[xenon]

I am quite a fan of shakespeare kit-think in terms of value for money there is no one to touch them

 

[john step]

I have
A sigma wand 40yrs old
A 2.5Tc carp rod which has been well and truly tested on carp barbel and pike.
Two sigma specialist 1.5 11 footers that are a joy to use.
I may have one or two in the back of the locker I have forgotten.

Never ever had any problems. Very usable rods at a reasonable price.

 

[rob48]

I had a conversation with Chris (vines) recently about cadence and how i'm suspicious that they are part of purefishing? It just seems coi coincidental how James Robins is doing a lot of the advertising and how he's fiahing a lot of the exact aame waters that he fished when advertising the shakey gear.
Chris thinks my suspicions are wrong but i'm still suspicious.
The fact that shakeys name sort of went to pot made me wonder if they came up with a new guise in cadence.....? Chris may be right and I could be hissing in the wind lol.
I know it's irrelevent either way really but i'm just curious is all.


Oh, I forgot to say, I have a 50lb class ugly stick boat rod, I think it would be suitablle for sharks even! I've never used it.

James Robins is the product development manager for cadence, the same position he used to hold with Shakespeare. He fishes some of the same waters with cadence as he did for Shakey because they're the venues he's been successfully match fishing for the last twenty odd years. He's not gonna go and try making videos to highlight the product on a venue he doesn't know is he? There is a similarity insome of the gear, as I would expect if the same man is responsible for the design and development.
Re: Shakespeare gear itself, there's been some excellent rods over the years. Spliced tip President, Mach 2 Boron, (I think it was 2) Mach III XTs, Sigma Wand, Agility Continental Feeder, Mach II wand, and the Superteam Match was an extremely versatile 13' float rod, all at bargain prices compared to the likes of daiwa.

 

[108831]

It you want to buy a rod that breaks,but an acolyte,allegedly and they're dearer...

 

[tigger]

James Robins is the product development manager for cadence, the same position he used to hold with Shakespeare. He fishes some of the same waters with cadence as he did for Shakey because they're the venues he's been successfully match fishing for the last twenty odd years. He's not gonna go and try making videos to highlight the product on a venue he doesn't know is he? There is a similarity insome of the gear, as I would expect if the same man is responsible for the design and development.
Re: Shakespeare gear itself, there's been some excellent rods over the years. Spliced tip President, Mach 2 Boron, (I think it was 2) Mach III XTs, Sigma Wand, Agility Continental Feeder, Mach II wand, and the Superteam Match was an extremely versatile 13' float rod, all at bargain prices compared to the likes of daiwa.

So does Robins own cadence then?
Or is it part of purefishing and he's just a salesman for them?

 

[rob48]

American owned as far as I know, but I might be wrong about that, not that I'm bothered who owns them really.
James Robins is a bit higher up the tree than sales I think.

 

[wetthrough]

John Weiss a director of Cadence has been (assuming it's the same John Weiss) Chief Product Development Officer with Pure Fishing.

 

[tigger]

John Weiss a director of Cadence has been (assuming it's the same John Weiss) Chief Product Development Officer with Pure Fishing.

The plot thickens LOL.

 

[rich66]

I’ve got a shaky 9 maybe 10 ledger rod,I bought it because it’s got a screw tip so I can use a swingtip when I want to. It’s ok for the £30 I paid for it. A bit stiff an action but ok for what I need.
I might have been better off buying and older rod with the screw in eye. Not a patch on my Daiwa match rod that was £80.
I’ve had their reels too but most give up the ghost after a couple of seasons or less. So again I now have Daiwa reels nothing expensive but better made. Shame really as the sigma reel I had in the 80’s was a cracking piece of kit so was the carbon fibre rod from Shakespeare I had too. Which was £75 if I remember rightly as I was earning about £50 a week it was to me a very expensive rod.

 

[John Keane]

My backup salmon fly rod is a Shakespeare Oracle Scandi Spey 13’9” #9 and is a superb rod at a very reasonable price. I landed my first ever salmon on it in May on the Spey and it performed brilliantly.

I would never avoid Shakespeare tackle based on name only. I’d have to have been informed it was sh!t to consciously avoid it.

 

[silvers]

James Robins is the product development manager for cadence, the same position he used to hold with Shakespeare. He fishes some of the same waters with cadence as he did for Shakey because they're the venues he's been successfully match fishing for the last twenty odd years. He's not gonna go and try making videos to highlight the product on a venue he doesn't know is he? There is a similarity insome of the gear, as I would expect if the same man is responsible for the design and development.
Re: Shakespeare gear itself, there's been some excellent rods over the years. Spliced tip President, Mach 2 Boron, (I think it was 2) Mach III XTs, Sigma Wand, Agility Continental Feeder, Mach II wand, and the Superteam Match was an extremely versatile 13' float rod, all at bargain prices compared to the likes of daiwa.

Cadence in the UK is a pretty small operation. James Robbins is head of that, but I suspect that he makes the tea as well!

It is completely separate to Shakespeare, but I suspect there are some suppliers in the supply chain for both (fishing tackle industry is not that big).
Confusingly for some - James does still fish for the Shakespeare superteam.

For match fishing - shakespeare don't seem to target the top end of the market since the 1990s. Their range at the moment appears to be much less complete than 10 years ago (when it extended to hooks, elastic etc). Shakespeare have made good solid mid-priced gear in the past - that have always been available at much reduced prices.
For example, the mach III range were decent rods at RRP of 120, but a true bargain when knocked out for 60

 

[Jeff Woodhouse]

from the days when Shakespeare sponsored the Team England squads, and had Clive Smith and Ken Giles putting their names and expertise to some of their higher spec match rods, and there was also some well known specialist anglers doing the same for their other top of the range specialist rods.

And one of those specialist anglers was, I believe, the 'father' of this website, Graham Marsden. If I remember, he promoted Shakey stuff too - until he met Steve Harrison. Now there's a man who knows his carbon, sadly he's useless at marketing, IMO...

It's true that they did make some great rods at very fair and reasonable prices. I have one of 40 years old, a Sigma 12ft match in FG, which I thought was great at the time. It's in the attic normally, but I tried it again about three years ago. First cast and my thoughts were - thank heavens for carbon!

 

[tigger]

Cadence in the UK is a pretty small operation. James Robbins is head of that, but I suspect that he makes the tea as well!

It is completely separate to Shakespeare, but I suspect there are some suppliers in the supply chain for both (fishing tackle industry is not that big).
Confusingly for some - James does still fish for the Shakespeare superteam.

Is it completely seperate though, I mean doesn't purefishing (which is an american company) own both cadence and shakespear?
They scooped up Hardys also if you remember. I've no idea what other names they bought, no doubt they have got others also.

Who was it that scooped up the normark name?