Shelf Life of Modern Tackle

[steve2]

What is the shelf life of modern fishing tackle?

One or two years it would appear. I do know of some that I fished with over the years that changed every bit every year.
You name it; it got changed seatboxes, rod, reels, poles etc.

Some of my rods and reels have been in use now for over 40 years. They still work and catch plenty of fish when using them.
If I go on Ebay and other sites they all full of second hand tackle, some hardly used. The sellers list a lot for sale due to trading up to the latest must have models.
Much of this never gets sold due to other people only wanting the latest must have.
Nothing at all wrong in doing this but there must be millions of perfectly good rods and reels collecting dust somewhere.

Are you one that changes tackle in the belief that modern is better?

 

[sam vimes]

Whilst acknowledging that many people buy new gear on a very short rotation, I'm not remotely convinced that what replaces it is better than what they already had. I know loads of people that refuse point blank to spend decent amounts on better quality gear. They prefer to spend 25-50%. However, they then seem to buy similarly priced gear once or twice a year. In four or five years, there's a fair chance that they'll have spent more money, and still have an inferior rod or reel, than if they bit the bullet and bought a well chosen top end model.

You get folks, like me, that are in a seemingly endless quest to find the best gear for a given task. However, I don't think that many of this type are under any illusion that new automatically means better. You just have to look at the second hand prices of the likes of Normark 2000s and Carbotecs for evidence of that. My own gear, stuff that I actually use, can be anything from brand new to getting on for forty years old. If I still feel that it's the best, or it fills a niche that I don't do much of, I don't care how old it is. None of my legering rods (from carp rods to the lightest feeder rod) are the latest or greatest, because I spend 95% of my time float fishing.

My experience is that decent quality old gear will always sell, provided it's in reasonable condition. Unless it was actually far better than the original price tag might suggest, it's average gear that's unlikely to sell once it's gone from a manufacturers catalogue. If there's loads of gear sitting around gathering dust, it's liable to be in this bracket. However, I suspect that an awful lot of it ends up at tips.

 

[thecrow]

I only buy what I need to fish each season and that is throughout the season, I buy what I can afford to do a job at that time and never because its what others think I should have.

Everyone will have different idea's of what they need for the job in hand but to buy stuff because the manufacturer exclaims its the new better than ever must have cant do without shouldn't be seen on the bank without it tackle is what keeps tackle companies in profit, its not something I have ever done even when I could afford to, each to their own and if an angler want the latest and can afford it but more importantly uses it good luck to them, it means there will be more on the used market.

 

[Jelster]

Apart from a few exceptions, the spend high, spend once theory works well.

That said, I've only just returned to the hobby from a 5 year break, so all of my kit, other than the line is at least 5 if not 8 years old.

A pair of Shakespeare SKP2001 12ft 2.75TC Carp rods with a pair of Shimano 5000 bait runners
A twin tip Shakespeare Avon rod which I double up as a waggler for Carp. That has some strange Mitchell free spool reel.

A Silstar 13ft float rod, a Silstar Powerwind feeder rod, and a pair of old Sundridge carp rods. Couple of Abu Cardinal reels, and a couple of other reels.

I also have a Bruce & Walker compound taper Carp rod which has a very stiff blank, but it has great action with big fish.

I still have a couple of original Delkim bite alarms, which were replaced with some Fox ones about 6 or 7 years ago. My Brolly is an original "Nubrolly", my seat is about 10 years old.

All of it still catches fish, and I enjoy using all of it, and I'm comfortable with it all.

 

[thecrow]

All of it still catches fish, and I enjoy using all of it, and I'm comfortable with it all.

And that is all that really matters.

 

[stillwater blue]

Are you one that changes tackle in the belief that modern is better?

IMHO modern is better, not essential but certainly nicer to use.

Reels are lighter, have faster retrieves and drags that are reliable and smooth. Rods have got longer, lighter, stiffer and better balanced. The brucey bonus is not only is modern fishing tackle better but the relative prices of quality fishing tackle has massive dropped. So, what's not to love?

I do occasionally have a desire to use cane but quickly realise that carbon makes for a better rod but not prettier.

 

[daniel121]

I think Sam vines is correct in his statement

"Whilst acknowledging that many people buy new gear on a very short rotation, I'm not remotely convinced that what replaces it is better than what they already had."

In answer to the OPs question no I'm certainly not one to replace kit on a whim, if it's actually better I'll buy it however many times it's the same pole/rod with different paint job on it, I won't tell you whom told me this because it would land him in hot water however it came from a good sauce.

I'm somewhere in the middle I like to use the best kit I can get hold of, I'm not a great romantic of old kit, my advice Arial is in a case in my bedroom because it looks cool! I'd never used my Shakespeare president 13" nowadays rods have moved on however I don't believe a rod has been made better than a daiwa tournament 13" float for the river mine is still as good today as it was when I brought it. IMHO no rod has bettered this since

This subject is highly interlinked with my consumerism in fishing topic of a few months back in my opinion we are being conditioned to buy more and more stuff because there are less and less fisherman fishing.

Consumerism in fishing

 

[daniel121]

IMHO modern is better, not essential but certainly nicer to use.

Reels are lighter, have faster retrieves and drags that are reliable and smooth. Rods have got longer, lighter, stiffer and better balanced. The brucey bonus is not only is modern fishing tackle better but the relative prices of quality fishing tackle has massive dropped. So, what's not to love?

I do occasionally have a desire to use cane but quickly realise that carbon makes for a better rod but not prettier.

View attachment 5395

And enjoying your kit is far more important than how good it actually is, so if like my brother you like using old prettier kit what's the harm :thumbs:

 

[tigger]

I have some older rods that imo look and feel better or at least every bit as good as any of the top end float rods in the shops today.
Ok, I haven't seen every new rod ( brownings for example) there is but i've seen most of them and the only ones that impress me are the acolytes.

 

[binka]

I hope I'm using my current gear in twenty five years time, more if I'm lucky and I've little if any doubt it will go the distance.

I'm not remotely interested in the latest 'must haves', more in keeping what I'm happy with but the one exception where I think I will have to keep renewing is a decent brolly.

Nothing fancy...

Just a round, green brolly but like many things these days it just seems to be too big an ask.

Oh...

And maybe a chair or two

 

[iain t]

I think some people sell their equipment quicker these days is due to the magazines telling them people this is the one to have. Then they search the net without even seeing the item in real like and buy. Only to realise that the item is not the Dogs bits as suggested and sell it on soon after

 

[Richox12]

I don't replace kit unless there is something wrong with what I have or there is something significantly better. But I suspect many buy what's new because it's new, it's their hobby and they are happy to spend their money on what makes them happy.

 

[markcw]

My last two major buys were 3 years ago, A Daiwa G50 pole, and a Preston innovations absolute compact seat box, I still have the pole, I sold the seat box,and went back to my old ASI and an original BOSS box depending on the venue.
My rods range from a couple of years old to 30 years old,same with my reels, they all get used, A couple for nostalga reasons,I must look like I cant afford new tackle when sat on ASI and using 30 year old rods, The best things I would suggest anyone to buy is a decent brolly and a good set of waterproofs. There is nothing worse fishing in the rain and your brolly or wet weather gear is not up to the job.

 

[Jim Crosskey 2]

I think some of this is just wrapped up in whether the angler in question has disposable income to spare? If it were the case that I had none whatsoever, I would still be using the Shakespeare float rod I was given when I was about 10, because it does still work just fine! However, it remains the case that whilst I have no actual NEED of any new tackle (I'm probably into double figures on rods an reels, covering various different scenarios), there is still an occasional WANT that comes along. When it is just a case of WANT, I will research endlessly on difference manufacturers and models, absorbing as much information as I can (usually via the internet).... on many occasions, that's actually as far as it goes and I will ultimately convince myself that I don't NEED it. The last couple of years have also seen an interesting new development in this as I'm more and more frequently taking my 11 year old son as well, and I don't want him trashing all my good stuff, but equally if I'm going to buy him something to use then I want it to be fit for purpose, up to the treatment it's likely to receive and still value for money (so potentially different research parameters than I'd use for me! ) However, the other side of this is if I really NEED something, i'll probably just go in to the local tackle shop and buy it today.

It's funny, I was chatting about some of the issues above with a mate of mine who's recently returned to angling after a bit of a lay off. He's currently re-supplying himself with tackle and lets just say for him it's not a financial burden. Anyway, we were fishing away for tench on a local lake and we were talking about hook sizes. He was on a size 10 with a big bunch of maggots and I was on a 14 with a pair or triple maggot. I seemed to be getting more bites and asked him if he'd thought about changing down a bit, which he eventually decided to do. I asked him if he wanted a hook off me, whereupon he showed me the front pocket of his shiny new fishing rucksack, which must have had about four or five packets of hook to nylons in each and every size you could ever want to use. I asked him why so many... he just replied that as a kid, on more than one occasion he'd had to go home early from a fishing session because he'd got no hooks left, and I remembered exactly what he was talking about....

 

[Mark Wintle]

There was a time, maybe 30 years ago, when I'd buy a new rod just for one match if I thought I needed it; one 5 metre Silstar whip, bought on Friday, used it Saturday for 14lb of skimmers, won with it on Sunday, hardly used since! One local man used to ask me about the latest match rod with monotonous regularity back then - 1980s - and would buy a new rod every month, often getting rid of one cheaply, yet never won much, catching fish was his problem not the rod.

 

[daniel121]

My last two major buys were 3 years ago, A Daiwa G50 pole, and a Preston innovations absolute compact seat box, I still have the pole, I sold the seat box,and went back to my old ASI and an original BOSS box depending on the venue.
My rods range from a couple of years old to 30 years old,same with my reels, they all get used, A couple for nostalga reasons,I must look like I cant afford new tackle when sat on ASI and using 30 year old rods, The best things I would suggest anyone to buy is a decent brolly and a good set of waterproofs. There is nothing worse fishing in the rain and your brolly or wet weather gear is not up to the job.

What do ya think to the g50 mark? I was thinking of swapping from map to Diawa.

 

[markcw]

I have always had top end Shimano poles until they stopped doing them, A friend recommended the G50 after I bought a Maver and was not keen on it after a while, I had a few goes with his G50 and went and ordered one, It is a good pole, not the lightest out there but it is one that gives you confidence when you hit a decent sized fish, I have had carp to 15lb on mine,and at the other end of the scale roach that look like razor blades with eyes and fins, Another selling point for me was the choice of match or power kits, I got power kits and a couple of match kits, the match kits are rated to 16 elastic and the power which are pre bushed for side pullers rated to 20, Plus it is a UK made pole and spares are readily available and Daiwa have brilliant customer service, The only thing I did change when I got it was the cupping kit, I have the Preston spot on cupping kit and that seemed stiffer than the tournament one you get with the pole, Expect to pay around £1250 - 1300 for one. They do the G50 XLS meaning extra long sections, I cant comment on that model due to not using one, Hope the above helps.

 

[daniel121]

Cheers mark your a star buddy :thumbs:

 

[carpinbob]

Most of my tackle is well over 6 years old , might be a few scratches here and there , plus the odd dent and it's all still usable and catches.
And as the saying goes if it ain't broken.

 

[markcw]

A lot of people who buy what you may call top end stuff and sell after say a couple of years often do so to get a better resale price than if they had hung on to it for a longer period.