vintage,and no i'm not talking about my age

[hunters moon]

vintage fishing tackle, how many members of this forum get pleasure from
using fishing tackle that they bought many years ago it could be a rod or reel
maybe even some floats?.
being a self confessed nostalgic using some of my vintage rods and reels etc
gives me such great pleasure.
tight lines
hunters moon

 

[Ray Roberts]

I use an old Speedia Centrepin that I bought second hand about 25 years ago, apart from that the gear I use is pretty well up to date.

I think tackle has come on leaps and bounds both in quality and value for money. I wouldn't gain any extra pleasure from using inferior tackle when I could use something better..

 

[symonh2000]

Depends on how old you mean really.

I have a few rods which are about 20 years old, but being carbon and good rods when new they still fish very well and are nice to use.

Also have here a 1960's glass match rod, and it is dreadful to fish with compared to more modern stuff. It is heavy, floppy and just not really up to the job.

 

[The Sogster]

The oldest bit of kit i regularly use is my aluminium extending net handle made by Efgeeco.
Had it since I was a nipper in the early 70's.

I do still use a Shakespeare aerial float rod from about 25 years ago - the stepped up C.T.B version along with my Shimano technium feeder rod bought in 1997. They still perform perfectly well today and I tend to reach for them over my much more modern rods.

 

[stillwater blue]

I have a pair of wide drum speedia pins, old but a fantastic pin. One gets used regularly for trotting and the other is matched with a barbel rod. I do like a pin

I bought an old drennan im9 this year, being softer than most of the current float rods on the market it makes, IMO, a very nice silvers rod.

I keep toying with the idea of buying a cane rod. I enjoy making my own floats and fishing with a pin so a cane rod just seems to complete the circle. I'm sure it wouldn't make my fishing easier or me a more successful angler but it might just put a smile on my face and that's the important thing.

 

[john step]

My favourite bit of old tackle which gets used regularly is my Trudex centrepin.
I bought it with paper round money about 1963. I do have my first proper rod still, an Edgar Sealy 11foot split cane float rod of the same vintage. However after getting it out the other day for a wave about in the air I do wonder how I coped with all that weight. Maybe I was stronger then.

 

[jacksharp]

I think if I could get my hands on an Alcock's Aerial, I would be delighted to use it, but other than that I have no interest in using old tackle.

 

[Keith M]

I still occasionally use my Abu506 closed face reel which I bought back in the early 70's when trotting for Roach, Dace and Chub.

I still love using my '13ft Diawa Amorphous Whisker Light float rod (AWM13L)'
Which I bought in 1995 which is extremely light, crisp and well balanced and made to handle hooklength's from as light as 8oz up to around 3lb max.
NB: However I might be replacing this with the new Drennan Acolyte Ultra rod this Xmas.

I still use an old 10ft carbon leger rod that I made myself back in the 70's whenever I want to use a swingtip, (once or twice a year at most).

I still occasionally use a 6mtr Shakespeare Annex Excel match rod (bought in 1998) when fishing extra deep swims on the float or trotting tight up against the far bank below the rod-tip on a local small stream when after big Roach.

I still use a 12ft 2lb tc Diawa Powermesh Carp rod for stalking Carp on the surface; which I bought in 1995.

Most of the time I am using modern up to date rods but I still use the older rods described above when conditions dictate and modern rods are hard to find for the job in hand.

I do still have most of my old reels (Mitchells, Abu's, Diawa' s etc.) plus a B.James & Son MKIV Carp rod but I haven't used most of these for a long time now.

Keith

 

[Peter Jacobs]

In my case, the list is endless:

A Wallis Wizard, MkIV Avon, MKIV Carp, Aerial reels, Fred Crouch reels, Mitchells, Abu 501's and 506's

I get a lot of pleasure from fishing with the "tools" of my younger years and it is amazing how many split cane rods you can actually see on a weekend on the Hampshire Avon for example.

 

[barbelboi]

In my case, the list is endless:

A Wallis Wizard, MkIV Avon, MKIV Carp, Aerial reels, Fred Crouch reels, Mitchells, Abu 501's and 506's

I get a lot of pleasure from fishing with the "tools" of my younger years and it is amazing how many split cane rods you can actually see on a wekeend on the Hampshire Avon for example.

Yes, I heard that they were using them for fencing now........................

 

[Wilko]

I've got a 35yr old old shaky Alpha 11ft carp rod (translucent orange polystel blank) that I still use for off-the-top carp, it's surprising light and well balanced with a nice, even through action. Evenually I will get rid of the reel rings and put a fuji reelseat on it.

I also still occasionally use a East Anglian Rod Co 'Piker 10' by Barry Rickards partnered with a Mitchell 300 reel, again about 35 yrs old.

It was my first Pike rod, it's a slim but thick walled brown blank with green whippings, it is heavy but it can lob a decent sized deadbait as far as I need it to. The reel was recommended by him in his, 'How to catch Big Pike' book that I treated as gospel! I use them mainly for sentimental reasons as my early days were deeply influenced by Dr Rickards. I wrote to him a couple of times and treated his reponses as if they were from a divine being. IMO modern piking owes a great debt to him and Ray Webb.

 

[no-one in particular]

Not one I bought years ago but, last year I used a cane rod. It was solid cane the two bottom sections and split cane the top. I guess it was circa 1950's. Sounds awful but, I enjoyed using it. Played fish extremely well, good tip for playing small fish and some backbone in the bottom for the larger ones. Loved the cork handle and the look of it. I know that's not important but, it does give some atheistic pleasure which in my view all those modern shiny rods don't give much of.. However, as with these rods - on the heavy side and a bit unwieldy when casting. I have gone back to a modern rod now but, it scratched an itch as they say.

 

[mick b]

If you've fished all your life, 'lived a bit', AND have managed to retain most of your gear you will certainly have more tackle than you can remember.

My 'pile' is so great I often rediscover something I had forgotten I even owned mg:

Recently I have thrown out an original Efgeeco seat box only to retrieve it again, even tho I have a 'modern' 1970s Shakespeare plastic box and havent sat on a box for 30+years

What I have done is to compile a stock list of all my high-end gear so atleast whoever inherits it will know what I paid, where it came from, and what its worth today.

BTW My oldest bit of tackle is a float given to me by my uncle 63 years ago.

 

[tiinker]

Old tackle is like a old friend and always a joy to use especially if you catch a few fish with it. Just because it is old does not mean it is rubbish good tackle does not become bad tackle just because it is old. There may well be improved tackle on the market today but that does not make the old rods and reels of yester year rubbish unless it was rubbish when you first bought it and there was rubbish about years ago as there is today . But if you bought well in the past it will serve you well if looked after and hold many memories for you.

 

[elliottwaters]

Old tackle is like a old friend and always a joy to use especially if you catch a few fish with it. Just because it is old does not mean it is rubbish good tackle does not become bad tackle just because it is old. There may well be improved tackle on the market today but that does not make the old rods and reels of yester year rubbish unless it was rubbish when you first bought it and there was rubbish about years ago as there is today . But if you bought well in the past it will serve you well if looked after and hold many memories for you.

Well said!

Guilty as charged when it comes to vintage gear I’m afraid and I regularly use split cane rods, centre pins and Mitchell 300 reels. Some inherited from family members, some picked up at jumble sales or boot fairds and re-furbished.

For all forms of still water fishing and ledgering on rivers, I still use it and seem to do as well as those with more modern tackle. However, for trotting, I can only assume anglers in the past were made of sterner stuff, but cane is too heavy and out comes the Drennan Ultra light but its matched with a Speedia ‘pin or an Abu 501 with a combined age of nearly a century.

In fishing tackle as in most other things, “old” does not necessarily mean worse. In my view a well looked after Mark 4 carp rod, a Speedia or Allcocks centre pin, or an Abu 501 0r 506 perform as good, if not better than their modern equivalents, and will almost certainly lost longer

 

[tiinker]

Well said!

Guilty as charged when it comes to vintage gear I’m afraid and I regularly use split cane rods, centre pins and Mitchell 300 reels. Some inherited from family members, some picked up at jumble sales or boot fairds and re-furbished.

For all forms of still water fishing and ledgering on rivers, I still use it and seem to do as well as those with more modern tackle. However, for trotting, I can only assume anglers in the past were made of sterner stuff, but cane is too heavy and out comes the Drennan Ultra light but its matched with a Speedia ‘pin or an Abu 501 with a combined age of nearly a century.

In fishing tackle as in most other things, “old” does not necessarily mean worse. In my view a well looked after Mark 4 carp rod, a Speedia or Allcocks centre pin, or an Abu 501 0r 506 perform as good, if not better than their modern equivalents, and will almost certainly lost longer

A few year ago an old salmon angler gave me a cane 14 foot spliced salmon rod the weight is unbelievable I have nothing but admiration for the anglers that used these rods they really earned every fish they caught using these rods. A days trotting on the river always knackered me out.

 

[Chris Hammond ( RSPB ACA PAC}]

"I'm sure it wouldn't make my fishing easier or me a more successful angler but it might just put a smile on my face and that's the important thing."

Vintage tackle isn't particularly my bag, but this sentiment is spot on for me. :thumbs:

---------- Post added at 18:03 ---------- Previous post was at 18:01 ----------

I think if I could get my hands on an Alcock's Aerial, I would be delighted to use it, but other than that I have no interest in using old tackle.

I've borrowed my mate's a couple of times in the past Jack and it was without doubt one of the worst pieces of cr@p I've ever had the misfortune to fish with.

---------- Post added at 18:09 ---------- Previous post was at 18:03 ----------

I've got a 35yr old old shaky Alpha 11ft carp rod (translucent orange polystel blank) that I still use for off-the-top carp, it's surprising light and well balanced with a nice, even through action. Evenually I will get rid of the reel rings and put a fuji reelseat on it.

I also still occasionally use a East Anglian Rod Co 'Piker 10' by Barry Rickards partnered with a Mitchell 300 reel, again about 35 yrs old.

It was my first Pike rod, it's a slim but thick walled brown blank with green whippings, it is heavy but it can lob a decent sized deadbait as far as I need it to. The reel was recommended by him in his, 'How to catch Big Pike' book that I treated as gospel! I use them mainly for sentimental reasons as my early days were deeply influenced by Dr Rickards. I wrote to him a couple of times and treated his reponses as if they were from a divine being. IMO modern piking owes a great debt to him and Ray Webb.

They were mostly built on Bruce and Walker blanks weren't they? The company was based in my town. One of my first jobs as a school leaver was to clean office premises in the same building they were situated in. My local GP's are still in that same building. A friend of mine owned our local tackle shop but discovered that he was allergic to maggots so passed it over to his parents and went repping for the EARC and a girl I was at school with was a secretary for them.

 

[Alan Tyler]

Cane and 'pin every time for me, unless it's simply impossible.
It's mostly to do with (for a few years, before I retired) being able to afford a few of the rods and reels I'd lusted hopelessly after as a boy; and partly a reaction against the imperative to be "efficient" in my angling, which can quickly turn it into "Carp Processing":Joyless carp-processing season begins
Once you stop smiling in trophy shots and start actually to read the adverts in fishing mags, it's time to back-track and ask why the heck you're bothering to go fishing in the first place.

 

[no-one in particular]

I have often thought if someone matches the qualities of cane with the lightness of modern materials, they would have a rod worth having. I have been reading a bit about a new material called "graphine". It has the thickness of one atom and is stronger than steel in sheet form. I bet this finds its way into fishing tackle some time in the future. Its very cheap to make apparently and could be used to make all sorts of things, even hooks maybe. Would be virtually invisible !

 

[tiinker]

One company did just that a few year ago they made a range of carbon rods called the Hexograph they did not catch on . I found one on a salmon beat smashed to smithereens. When I asked the ghillie about it he said a client had lost two fish using it and had thrown it on the bank and jumped on it several times then threw it in the bushes this was in about 96.mg: