The problem with taking care of your tackle!

Had a sort out of my gear a little while ago. I was brutal with the clear out when I left the UK, but kept some rods and reels. Aside from the fact that most of the gear I brought to NZ with me is not very useful, it is really showing it's age.

20 year old rods and reels are heavy compared to modern stuff and less salt water resistant. My current soft plastic setup is light as a feather. I can't believe that I used to spend whole days casting lures at pike with an 11 foot fibreglass rod and a big reel! Most of this stuff is medium price stuff and in A1 condition.

Another thing is stockpiling gear. I bought a load of the original Fireline when I was in the USA in the early nineties. It was a godsend compared to mono at the time, now it just looks like a nighmare on a spool!

First world problems as they say!

Much like everything else really fishing tackle evolves with the passing fo the years.

I am happy that I have kept much of my own original kit as well as buying so much more from the same era for my collection; many of those rods still get an annual airing too.

In fact I would go as far as to say that many of the new generation of anglers don't realise how lucky they are with the modern lightweight equivalents having never experienced the earlier rods and reels.

I missed the cane era and my initial efforts were with hollow fibreglass rods. Anyone who's used them will remember the mighty WHOOSH! generated by casting a float into a stiff headwind. Mind, despite the advances in materials it hasn't stopped the production of some very poorly-designed rods by established manufacturers - a recent purchase of a mid-priced Browning float rod bears testament to that truism. In general, though, carbon makes terrific rods, and once the teething troubles were ironed out a succession of amazing tools were produced. Some are now well into their third decade and apart from marginal improvements in lightness, action and fittings are still perfectly good in a modern setting. A thirty quid carbon float rod is probably my personal favourite - the balance and action are both perfect, the fittings more than equal to the task; it's a miracle of lightness and tremendous fun to use. Best of all, it has such a soft tip, allied to a true progressive action with a fair amount of power in the butt, that it can truly be called an all-rounder. Fifteen years on, I've yet to pick up another ten-footer that comes close, regardless of price. Mind, Western consumer goods are now made in Far-East factories where suicide nets are fitted and the workers are little more than slaves, so cheapness does have its price, unfortunately.

As far as taking care of it's concerned; I had very little in the way of material possessions as a child, so consequently I looked after what I did have and that's something that's carried on into adulthood. I have great respect for its value and hate to see anything that's potentially useful to someone else discarded like trash - better to put it on Freecycle for others to take advantage of. I think this is why my wife calls me Steptoe; she positively hates it when I anchor up next to a skip and dive in!

Peter Jacobs said:

In fact I would go as far as to say that many of the new generation of anglers don't realise how lucky they are

Click to expand...

Sounds very familiar Peter :wh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe1a1wHxTyo

I still use my Trudex pin which I bought for the princely sum of £3.18s.6p in about 1963/4. That was about 7 weeks paper round money.

I am ashamed to say I have never actually looked after it apart from renewing the rivets on the reel fitting. It goes on and on. Its doing better than I am:wh

Taking care of tackle is really not an issue for me as I just don't do it
The only thing I could class as cleaning is the wheels on my box, they only are kept clean to save me from getting leathered because of trailing mud on the way to me tackle room.