Little varmints --- Grrrrrhhh xx##xx#

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John Pleasance

Guest
I've had a visit from a mouse in the garage which for some strange reason took a liking to the cork handles on a couple of rods and has eaten a large portion of one and a smaller lump from the other.

The one with the large amount of damage is not a problem as it is right at the blunt end but the other is very near to where the reel is positioned.

So now I need to repair it, but what with?

I'm thinking of perhaps some cork dust or shavings or similar mixed with glue and then filled and rubbed down but the question is what sort of glue?
 
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Paul Williams

Guest
John....i'd probably go for cork dust in araldite.......i had a similar thing with slugs, i have a few rods with cork handles and one day a couple of them were covered with groundbait (fishmeal) when i put them away and the bloody slugs loved it......they were buetifully finished untill the buggers got at them now they look like the corks have just been put on!!!
 
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Gerry Castles

Guest
John, cork shavings are a good idea, but try mixing them with white 'water based' glue (external quality, the one in the blue plastic bottle) It has a longer setting time and will enable you to manipulate the repair a little longer, and being waterproof will not 'melt' in the rain. Make a fairly stiff mix, using as little adhesive as possible but make sure all of the cork sandings are coated with the adhesive, that will give the most unnoticeable repair. Too much glue and the repair will sag. The bigger repair job on the other rod sounds also relatively simple. Take off the butt cap,remove the damaged cork with a Stanley knife and sand off any remaining(down to the blank) Then replace with fresh cork/s and a new butt cap if required.
 
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Chris Bishop

Guest
Cork handles on some of my rods have the holes filled with this sort of mixture - it soon seems to fall out. I'd go for Araldite, the normal one, not the rapid which sets in five minutes flat.
 
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John Pleasance

Guest
Thanks chaps,I'll give one of those a go,I wondered if Araldite might be a little hard when it comes to rubbing down,but I'll have a practice first.

I'll try the PVA too Gerry,and I've got some Cascamite somewhere to try as well,there's no hurry as the problem one is a Tench rod.
 
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gary knowles

Guest
just leave 'em alone. It gives your gear character. My rods, reel handles, bivvies, rod bags, etc are full of mouse chewings but it doesn't effect what I catch....
 
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Gerry Castles

Guest
Cascamite's not a bad choice. I did of course mean 'water soluble' not 'water based' The only problem with araldite type adhesives is that they dry to a dark finish. If you want to use a two pot finish then do what the pros do, add just a little drop of white paint to the mix.
 
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John Pleasance

Guest
UPDATE: That particular mouse will not be chewing anything else.
 
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Tony Wainwright (Twainy)

Guest
At least I'm not the only one to suffer from mouse damage.
I was working in India for 4 months and my seat box with the majority of my small gear was left in the shed hanging from a nail in the centre of the ceiling.
When I next looked at my gear it was a mess!
Mice had chewed awat the catches on the box(A Shakespeare)so they could get in. They had nested in the box and everything was ruined. The mouse urine had constantly trickled down for 4 months and ruined 2 reels, one of them the old Mitchell Match. All of the metal was corroded. Serves me right for leaving half a bag of ground bait in the box.
John, if you can still get them, many rod handles used to be made from cork rings so you could just slide on new rings.
 
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Paul Christie

Guest
Been there with the mouse in seat box myself. Mouse piss lingers forever and the bastard ate my waggon wheel.
 
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Paul Williams

Guest
Barney, your gear has bits missing cos you keep falling on it!!
 
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Andy Doughty

Guest
Got a bag of them in my bait freezer. Had a few runs on them whilst piking and zander fishing in floods, but never landed a fish on one. Dont seem to be able to work out the best way to hook them. One treble through the top lip and the other in the back leg is the current idea. Any ideas about mouse presentation are welcomed!
 
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Ron Clay

Guest
That is most interesting. Way back in 1961, Frank Guttfield hooked a big trout under a road bridge on a live mouse!

He let it run alond a ledge whilst fastened to his line and then pulled it into the water when it was level with the trout. At least that's what he told me. The trout, a brownie estimated to be in double figures got off unfortunately.

Reference to this incident is in Framk's great book: "In Search of Big Fish".

He even invited readers to contact him regarding this rather special angling technique.
 
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Chris Bishop

Guest
I read about a survey some months ago, in which they examined the stomach contents of grayling from somewhere or other and one of the commonest things they found were shrews.
 
GrahamM

GrahamM

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The only way I've mounted 'em is with a spring-loaded metal rod across the back of the neck.

But my mate says that's cruel, he has one of those box thingies with a trap door that lets them in but won't let them out.

Then he stuns them with a drop of ether and flushes them down the toilet.
 
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Ron Clay

Guest
Both catfish and American Large Mouth Bass love mice. I have also found them in the guts of rainbow trout.

Cast them live out onto the furface of the water near a bass or catfish haunt and you should soon have a take.

Or you could use a lure by Heddon called a Meadow Mouse.

It's not as exciting as the real thing though.
 
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Ron Clay

Guest
If you're after catfish the method is called "Playing Cat and Mouse.

Uuuuurrrgghhe!!!! Joke? :eek:D

Perhaps not. ;o(
 
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Stuart Johnson

Guest
Bloody Hell Ron, sounds like a great bait for the antis to home in on.
 
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Ron Clay

Guest
It's also a great bait for big pike, zander, perch, bass and cats to home in on!! :eek:)
 
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