Birthdays

Musing this morning. I'll be 56 on Wednesday, an unremarkable birthday. However, thinking back, on my 16th Birthday, my Mum and Dad bought me a 13' Hardy Matchmaker. A wonderful piece of kit in it's day. About 5yrs ago I re-ringed it. Because I don't do a massive amount of float fishing I still use it when I do. Last time out, I matched it with my wonderful Alcocks Match Aerial to catch my first Grayling on the Itchen (and another 29 to go with it before I got bored and Ledgered for Roach (had a 1-12, not a bad day!))

So, the rod will be 40 yrs old on Weds. I'll have to take it out of it's bag and give it a day out.

Just wondered if anybody else had kit that they've had for a long time and still used.

By the way, I'm not a tackle traditionalist, if I need better, more modern kit, I get it. This rod has never let me down and for the amount of float fishing I do still does its job, so I still use it.

Stu

Yep, a '57 BJ RW MK1V Avon - a birthday present, also a couple of 50's 300's and 70's 55's that live in the loft. Most other pre 90's stuff was either broken, lost or dumped.
Jerry
PS The rod comes out for an airing every now and again - the reels stay put

My Wallis Wizard always gets an airing or two every season as does my Match Aerial as well.

I rarely use my mint Mitchell 300's but once in a while they get to see the bankside.

Otherwise I have a lovely old MkIV Avon rod that always sees a few trips to my local Hampshire Avon during the season

I still have the Abu 505 and Edgar Sealy Black Arrow 2 that were inherited and I caught my very first fish on in the early eighties. The 505 very occasionally gets used even now. The Edgar Sealy hasn't seen the light of day for years and won't be getting used again by me.
The vast bulk of the stuff that replaced those two items has also long gone, A Shakespeare Omni Match rod being one thing I particularly remember. However, I do retain old stuff if it happens to be good stuff.
Several Daiwa Powermesh rods, both carp and Avon, will be used until they are no longer fit for purpose. I suspect they'll be renovated when that day comes. I also have almost all of the reels I've purchased since I started earning. One of the oldest being a Japanese made Shimano Perfection 3510M that's still going strong.

barbelboi said:

PS The rod comes out for an airing every now and again - the reels stay put

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I totally understand Jerry, I got one of my old 300's out a couple of years ago out of nostalgia, after 10 mins I realised just how good my modern reels are by comparison! They will, like yours stay put from now on.

Peter, smashing rods, my cane rods are well and truly retired now, they look fabulous but frankly I think that good quality carbon fibre is different class.

Sam, was the 505 the previous version of the 506?

Stu

Got two ABU 506"S .Probably 3o years old now,sadly all my other old stuff i,ve let go over the years......

stu_the_blank said:

Sam, was the 505 the previous version of the 506?

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Stu,
not as such, as far as I'm aware. Plenty of the original Abu models were all available in a similar time period. They didn't seem to discontinue one model on the introduction of another. However, this would suggest that the 505 was actually the first to be produced. The 505 differed from the rest in having a star drag knob.

Another enthusiast website for your perusal.

chefster said:

That was the red one ,was,nt it?, and they did the 503 which was bronze,but they did,nt do a 504 did they?.......

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Click on the links and all would have been revealed. Yes, the 505 has a red cowl and red star drag. The 503 was indeed bronze. The 500 series included 501, 503/520, 503, 505, 506, 506M, 507, and 508. No 504 or 509.