Tags
Abu 1044, efgeeco, Fishing, floats, Fly Fishing, Hardy, Hardy's of Alnwick, High Tide, Reel, River Thames, Split Cane, The Crabtree Society, Vintage Tackle, Whisky
With January nearly at a close it is a time to reflect on what a strange month it has been. With Covid 19 still dominating the way we live our lives it has also given me time to get back into writing again about fishing, collecting vintage tackle, gardening and the allotment. I have been grated time again to observe the River Thames as I take my daily exercise during this third lockdown. The odd flurry of snow over the past week and a celebratory Burns Night meal of haggis washed down with dram of Arran Whisky helped conclude what has been a challenging start to the new year.
The month started slowly however by mid-month I had acquired a few items of vintage tackle found on eBay and Facebook Marketplace. I had sold a fair amount of my vintage tackle collection at the end of 2020, most of it simply wasn’t being used and I had decided for 2021 to invest a proposition of the proceeds back into collecting a few rods and reels I could make a return on. I found three vintage Hardy rods, a Wanless cane spinning rod and two Hardy Graphite Salmon Rods all of which were in excellent condition. I also purchased an unnamed 10ft cane Avon rod with a Speedia De Lux wide spool reel. With this renewed interest in collecting I also found several Shimano spinning reels at bargain prices, the first a Baitrunner Aero GT4010 and the other a boxed Shimano Perfection, these are still very usable reels. The other week I managed to find a near mint Orvis Battenkill 8/9# fly reel, a usable Abu closed face reel and finally this week I purchased an Abu Cardinal 40 with spare spool.
I now need to put the brakes on any more acquisitions, it is really hard once you start as I see beauty in the construction of quality vintage tackle especially cane rods and older reels.
I will make a greater effort to fish more often this year, reduce the amount of tackle taken on any trip to just my Efgeeco Packaseat, reel, rod, landing net, rod rests ( beautifully made by Dave Pearce) and a small box of end tackle.
I recently joined The Crabtree Society in order to network with other vintage tackle enthusiasts and to read of their fishing exploits, it is a great community like-minded fisher folk which I look forward to engaging in conversation with. I’m sure it will inspire me to write more this year, it’s not going to be all about fishing but allotments, gardening, adventures, cooking and the odd review here and there of a range of spirits and ales.
tales by the riverbank 