Decent charity shop find.

robtherake

robtherake

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Went to pick up our son from Redcar and decided to pop into a coffee shop for a non-alcoholic sneck lifter. The street parking was full, but there's always a quick turnaround on spaces so I double parked and waited. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a bloke pick up what looked like a carbon rod from the bargain bin outside a charity shop. After a few seconds and a chat with the Mrs he put it back down. Three seconds later I'm looking at a Mal Storey Severn-Trent feeder rod. Not a mark on the blank and just a patina of age on the corks (and some badly-applied red paint on the tips) to say it had seen use.

It's not a rod I've ever seen before and I wondered whether the original had painted tips before I go ahead and refinish it. It'd be nice to know a bit about it, too - I seem to remember reading that it has a decent reputation, but it'd be nice to hear from someone who has one or has used one in the past.

As you can see, it was a bit of a bargain...

 
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ken more

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robtherake said:
Went to pick up our son from Redcar and decided to pop into a coffee shop for a non-alcoholic sneck lifter. The street parking was full, but there's always a quick turnaround on spaces so I double parked and waited. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a bloke pick up what looked like a carbon rod from the bargain bin outside a charity shop. After a few seconds and a chat with the Mrs he put it back down. Three seconds later I'm looking at a Mal Storey Severn-Trent feeder rod. Not a mark on the blank and just a patina of age on the corks (and some badly-applied red paint on the tips) to say it had seen use.

It's not a rod I've ever seen before and I wondered whether the original had painted tips before I go ahead and refinish it. It'd be nice to know a bit about it, too - I seem to remember reading that it has a decent reputation, but it'd be nice to hear from someone who has one or has used one in the past.

As you can see, it was a bit of a bargain...

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Always have a look in "charity" shops, looking for a rod that i could have a go at refurbishing and never found anything other than 6ft fiberglass things with a plastic handle and sliding reel fittings. :) Was Mal Storey not a football player or i'm i thinking of a guy named Peter? Sounds like a project thingy Rob, and good luck mate:)
 
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binka

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ken more said:
Was Mal Storey not a football player or i'm i thinking of a guy named Peter?
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I still buy stuff from Mal Storey, always very good service.

IIRC the rod should be a good 'un if it's anything like his cunning, I seem to remember he was the first tackle shop to challenge Sunday trading laws back when there were silly restrictions on what type of things you could and couldn't sell.

I think he was unable to sell maggots so instead he sold an apple (for the price of a pint of maggots) and gave away a free pint of maggots with it :)

Not sure if it was successful though...
 
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What a jammy bu**er !!

Here's me getting the wife to keep an eye out for such as this (I just don't have the time.. ) and not a snifter of any sort !!

Sounds a nice find though, and as others have said a nice little project for the colder month. Don't you just love a bargain.........................
 
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Good find Rob, fingers crossed it catches you some clonkers ! :w :D
 
mikench

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What a bargain Rob; well done! A rod for the price of a pint of maggots, you have got to be well chuffed!:)
 
robtherake

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sam vimes said:
mal storey trent | eBay
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I had a look at those, Sam. The lettering on those rods is white under a clear sticker, but mine has a gold rectangle over-written with the logo and lettering in the style of the Tri-Cast rods of the day. I had a Tommy Pickering Kevlar twin tip (11ft) with the product branding done in exactly the same way. It would seem that there's more than one version or the rod had a small makeover at some point in production.
 
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itsfishingnotcatching said:
Mal sold both shops last year, I use the Halesowen shop owned by Stuart, Mal's former manager. Good service and whenever possible Stu will match local offers (had a Diawa TDX reel where he matched an offer from Angling Direct)
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Are the shops still trading under Mal's name Ian?

I'm currently using him via EBay as recent as the last couple of weeks for a couple of orders under the Mal Storey name and wondered if Mal himself was continuing with this, having sold the shops or whether it is the actual shop side of things?
 
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I beleive my uncle had that rod - if not something very similar from storey's, it is probably at least 30 years old. The tip was the same colour as the rod matt black/dark grey.

He was a teacher and in the 80's he would take my brother and myself fishing once or twice a week in the summer hols. He used it feeder fishing for barbel on the severn, I remember looking at it as something to aspire to in those days! people might think it was a little undergunned now but back then a 7lb barbel was probably regarded as a specimen.
 
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I bought one for feeder fishing the Trent back in the 1980's, after having a go with one Colin Walton brought back when fishing a match on the Severn, all the Severn Lads were using them then. A terrific feeder rod. I still have it and use it regularly. My Son in Law has one he never uses. I have been trying for years to scrounge it, as it has the extra (third) tip with it that is ideal for bream. Good buy that Rob. Pete.,
 
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robtherake

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bracket said:
I bought one for feeder fishing the Trent back in the 1980's, after having a go with one Colin Walton brought back when fishing a match on the Severn, all the Severn Lads were using them then. A terrific feeder rod. I still have it and use it regularly. My Son in Law has one he never uses. I have been trying for years to scrounge it, as it has the extra (third) tip with it that is ideal for bream. Go buy that Rob. Pete.
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Did they make a couple of different versions, Pete? The Ebay rods have white lettering under a clear sticker as opposed to the black over gold logo on this one: it's like the badging from the 80s Tri-Cast rods.

The plastic collar that joins carbon to cork seems smaller on my version, too, and the blank may be a tad thicker in the butt - unless it's just an optical illusion.
 
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itsfishingnotcatching

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binka said:
Are the shops still trading under Mal's name Ian?

I'm currently using him via EBay as recent as the last couple of weeks for a couple of orders under the Mal Storey name and wondered if Mal himself was continuing with this, having sold the shops or whether it is the actual shop side of things?
Click to expand...

I know Halesowen still trades as Mal Storey Angling Centre Steve, not sure about the Kiddeminster shop though
 
robtherake

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flightliner said:
Great find rob, a nice project now the colder months are looming!.
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It's done, Mick. The dodgy tip paint came off using a thumbnail and a quick rub with wet and dry has freshened up the handle nicely. All it needs is a bit of inner tube rolled down the corks to hold the reel fittings in place. I'll probably do the last 18" of the tips in white, but as it stands it's practically as good as new. :)
 
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I bought one secondhand a couple of years back just out of curiosity, and the fact that it was something of a cult rod back in the (mid?) eighties. I think it was used to break the Trent match record a couple of times with big catches of chub, although I can't remember when or who (was it someone with the surname 'Carroll'?).

Although in very good condition, I can't say I am impressed with the action of either the hollow or spliced tips, and if I was to put it to serious use on the Trent, I would consider replacing the rather spindly rings. The hollow section seems to only start to bend some way down from the tip ring, and the spliced tip has an awful action where the splice is mated with the lower hollow section. For this reason, it remains unused and safely stored.

For me, there are much, much better rods that came only a little later (1988/89) and which I currently use (Daiwa Whisker Kevlar and Lightning Graphite Coil 11/13s).

Good price for your find, though, and a Tri-Cast blank to suit! PS the tips were unpainted.
 
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ravey said:
I bought one secondhand a couple of years back just out of curiosity, and the fact that it was something of a cult rod back in the (mid?) eighties. I think it was used to break the Trent match record a couple of times with big catches of chub, although I can't remember when or who (was it someone with the surname 'Carroll'?).

You are right there ravey. The angler in question was Pat O'Carrol, generally known as "Rat Man", him being a Pest Controller by trade. He took a big weight of chub, in a Notts Anglers Open match at Shelford, from a peg just below Stoke weir. I think it was 130lb or there abouts. . At the time we all said it was a freak result, never to be repeated. The following weekend he fished in a Notts Anglers club match on the same stretch and drew the peg next to the one he'd drawn the previous week. The result was almost the same, 130lbs-ish. I can't remember which on of the results set the record but it was reported in AT. The bait was caster and hemp and a Mel Storey feeder rod, of course. He was an occassional guest member of Nottingham ROF AC and I have fished against him a number of times in ROF club matches, also drew next peg to him in a Nottingham Federation Fur and Feather match. Nice Guy. Pete.
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