Speedia, Trudex or Rapidex

Tags

Centre Pin, JW Youngs, Rapidex, Reel, Speedia, Trudex

Recently I have noticed the prices of Speedia reels are changing hands from £99 to a staggering £200 on a well known on line auction site, the question I would ask is why so much?

There has always been a centre pin craze focused around good quality reels and namely the Allcock Aerial where a reasonable reel would set you back £150-200 with the odd one found at auction for £100 but to find the average price of a Speedia exceeding £100 surprises me.

For years I have fished with a narrow drum Speedia or my trusted JW Young’s Trudex but again the Trudex is changing hands at £180 for a clean wobble free reel, so where are prices going? One thing for sure you can pick up a clean Rapidex for £55, still a very usable and capable reel.

I guess I do have to question why such high prices, it’s not for rarity as they are often found at tackle fairs and appear on eBay, at least half a dozen are up for sale each week, so is it that the average angler wants to fish with vintage tackle to capture the nostalgia of childhood memories or is it that modern reels just don’t live up to expectation.

For me you just can’t beat the timelessness of an old British reel and its ‘click click’ sound, like a vintage car there is something that draws you in…but at what price?

Hibernot….

Tags

Black Cap, Dace, Feeder, Fishing, Hibernot, Kammasan, Perch, River Itchen, River Thames, Trotting

It feels like a 24hr fishathon, this time last night we were heading back up the M3 from another outing to fish the River Itchen, the only thing we caught were two small fish however at dusk we saw two large sea-trout and one salmon resting in the margins. What is memorable is the atmosphere, a light mist coming off the meadow, cows silhouetted against the backdrop of trees and a bird of prey circling high above, the river flowed like a stream of indigo dye and starlings formed patterns in the sky as they twist and turned forming patterns in the sky, the evening light fell away and we packed the car to head home. Joining the red snake of tail-lights on the motorway I said to young Tales that we would try again the following day but instead of targeting grayling we would try and catch a good perch.

As daylight broke I put all the tackle in the hallway as young Tales slept. The clocks had gone back an hour so it was much lighter at 6.30am. Before we headed off fishing later in the morning the House of Tales took a brisk walk along to tow path, something we hadn’t all done together for a while. Herons stood on guard in their grey tunics as they watched for small bait fish, mitten crabs and shrimps in the outflow steams and pools left by the outgoing tide. After a good hour we had done a circuit via the Wetland Centre and then stopped off at Sonny’s Kitchen to reward ourselves with a light breakfast before the final leg home to pack the car and head of to Lower Sunbury.

Close to the Lawns at Lower Sunbury we set up on our usual swim in order to target a few autumn Thames perch. With the water flowing with a little colour we decided to float fish but this turned out to unproductive so we switched our set up and attached a small Kammasan Black Cap feeder after a couple of casts this was met with a favourable response as a couple of small dace took the maggots offered on a small size 18 barbless hook. A good cast to the far bank under a tree with deep aubergine coloured leaves resulted in a fine Thames perch, a real little fighter and in top condition came to the net, for young Tales there was a brief level of excitement but he was keen to catch his own. Cast after cast he managed to catch another dace but still not the perch he was so keen to catch, frustration soon led to tears, was this just tiredness, a lack of sustenance or the fact that Percy the perch was shy of making his acquaintance. For young Tales it had been a busy day, two fishing forays in as many days, no hibernating on dark autumn days but more memories.

And the runner up is ……

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Fishing, Friends, Pasture, Perch, River Itchen, sea-trout

I’ve been totally out fished this season by my young son affectionately known as Young Taleshe’s caught the most and the largest fish. Although I’ve been out a few more times and caught fish on most outings I don ‘t count the small perch, dace, roach and other sea fish in the tally.

Yesterday there was a small window of opportunity to head back down to the Itchen and to catch up with my old fishing companion Shaun. We’ve been fishing together for nearly three decades, mostly trout fishing and when time and conditions allowed spent the odd autumn day grayling fishing. It just so happened that we’d both taken the Monday off to do some general maintenance on our properties. Shaun was in the middle of fitting out his bathroom in his cottage near Bentley and I’ve been busy painting the the inside of the house, however the temptation of such a warm and clear day got the better of us so we downed tools and agreed to meet up mid morning for a couple of hours on the river.

The conditions were good although the river was still flowing quickly and with a bit of colour from some overnight rain. There was a slight breeze that put some ripple on the open water and to our surprise we were pretty well the only people out fishing. Most of the river on the spot we fish is lined by trees with the occasional stretch of open pasture that leads to the river where it is lined with bank-side vegetation. There are several small tributaries that run into the main river and it passes underneath a couple of bridges the there are some deep pools that hold fish.

We’d been fishing for a couple of hours and without success. The only other fisherman seen out on the river had caught a couple of small sea trout, a roach and a healthy sized perch. He was fishing an area of slack water in between some trees and having to cast to the far bank with a feeder full of maggots. Walking further downstream we came across a deep pool and started to fish. Casting out a small Avon float and suspended below were two red maggots. As the float bobbed its way in the swirling current it momentarily dipped either from snagging the bottom or from smaller fish chasing the bait. Time and time again I ran the float down the swim in search of a larger fish that were clearly their as they would tease us by surfacing causing a big swirl as they would take the odd fly from the surface, possibly a sea trout as they were clearly running the river in good numbers. After several casts in search of grayling the only taker was a small sea trout that upon being hooked jumped out of the water several times before gracefully gliding into the net, this was a pleasant way to end a day out and some consolation after having been witness to my sons achievements of Sunday.

A Lower Itchen Sea-trout.

A cry for help….

Tags

Float, Grayling, Momories, River Itchen, salmon, sea-trout

The weather was unseasonably warm, broken cloud gave way to intermittent sun, red kites took to the skies gliding on the thermals and cows grazed in the lowland pastures. Every now and again the peacefulness of the Hampshire countryside would be broken by the buzz or roar of the planes taking off from Southampton Airport, we were on this day fishing a free stretch of the River Itchen in search of ‘the lady of the stream’, the grayling.

Having watched the weather forecast all week the conditions seemed favourable however the overnight rain would impact on our fishing. After the hour or so drive from South West London we arrived by the River Itchen at just after 10.30am. The rods were put together and appropriate reels in order to float fish using maggots as bait.

There were several people already on the water, it ran clear if not a little too fast so fishing wasn’t going to be easy. Having spoken to a couple of local fisherman they mentioned that there was a good run of sea-trout so there was the likelihood that one of these fish may also take the bait. As the hours past the only bend in the top of the rods came from the bunches of weed that made its way downstream with the flotilla of autumn leaves. Every now and again we would see a fish rise in a swirl of water, the rippling water fading out as the current dispersed the rings.

I had found myself a small opening on the riverbank, I placed the old Efgeeco tackle box on the muddy bank and set up the rod on the rest and watched the tip. Gazing across the meadow I was aware the young Tales was doing his own thing, now a competent fisher I left him to fish on his own, always mindful of the dangers of any river he was safe enough and within constant watching distance. Young Tales would now and again shout out “dad, there’s a big fish”…was this just the eagerness to catch something, could he see the trout running through the weeds or was it his imagination. It wasn’t long before I heard another shout, this time, “dad, I’ve got a fish!”, I glanced to the right to see his rod bent right over and Young Tales hanging on for dear life, what on earth had he hooked. I rapidly made my way to him, net in hand and when I got to him he said, “it’s huge!” Looking over the bank down to the water sure enough there was a large mass of Silver and dark grey swirling around in the water. I needed to look twice, it wasn’t a sea-trout but a salmon he had hooked. I could only deduce this from the prominent ‘kype’ on the lower jaw. Clearly a large male fish. It ran and thrashed about for some time as Young Tales held on. I told him to walk back and keep his rod up in the air so I could lean down and get the net beneath it in order to land it. Well this was more than we had bargained for, a sea-trout was one thing but a salmon was a surprise. Once netted and on the bank we carefully unhooked it, took the trophy photograph and then returned the fish to the water.

I’m so proud of my Young Tales. He’s out-fished me all season and good for him. To see the excitement in his eyes and to know that memory will last a lifetime is worth every minute of taking him to the river. .

Tempted by Mrs Simpson…oh yes!

Tags

Andrews of Arcadia, Edward VIII, Flies, Mrs Simpson, Spitalfields, Tin, Vintage

In much the same way as Edward VIII could not resist Wallis Simpson neither could I pass up the opportunity to add two more Mrs Simpson flies when presented in a vintage Dickson & Son Inc Alex Martin tin on the stand of Mr John Andrews of Andrews of Arcadia at Spitalfields Market.

Mrs Simpson…

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Coarse, Fish, FlyFishing, Mrs Simpson, Perch, River Thanes, York

In this mornings post a letter from York had enclosed in it a packet of deadly Mr Simpson lures. Like the lady herself these are dressed to deceive. These sculpin imitations are ideal for predatory fish such as perch.

I will head out later with a light #3-4 7ft rod in order to catch Edward the perch.