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As the clock turns the midnight hour another coarse fishing season on our rivers will get underway. Many I am sure have spent the day dusting down the rod bags, piling reels and finding all that terminal tackle that thrown into the bag on the last hour of last day to fish in March.

It has been a while since I wrote about my fishing adventures and days out searching for vintage tackle. The winter months passed by all too quickly and with another set of lockdowns due to the Covid pandemic there was little opportunity to get out before the season finished in March.

I did have the opportunity to collect some new vintage tackle. a few cane and glass rods plus a couple of reels. In my quest to find some new sticks and cotton bobbins as my wife refers to them I met some interesting people along the way at all at a rods length.

The two items that stood out from the crowd were a pair of cane rods that were very different in the colour of the cane used, one being a Chapman The Stort and another an unnamed 10ft Avon style rod very similar to a Chapman 500. On the reel purchase I found a clean and tidy Speedia wide drum and a K Dowling of Harrow centre pin. For me the season will start by giving these rods and reels an outing on the River Thames.

The two items that stood out from the crowd were a pair of cane rods that were very different in the colour of the cane used, one being a Chapman The Stort and another an unnamed 10ft Avon style rod very similar to a Chapman 500. On the reel purchase I found a clean and tidy Speedia wide drum and a K Dowling of Harrow centre pin. For me the season will start by giving these rods and reels an outing on the River Thames.

Earlier last month I was kindly given a box of small taster bottles of a Whisky collection by The Firkin Whisky Co. The company is a small producer of whiskies that are finished in different casks that were previously use for Madeira, Tawny Port, Marsala, Oloroso and Amontillado Sherry. These casks are carefully selected then a cooper hand builds a new cask using staves from the French Oak barrels and marries them with hand selected staves from America Oak bourbon casks. The founder of The Firkin Whisky Co then selects a range of fine whiskies from distilleries such as Aultmore, Tullibardine, Benrinnes and Caol Ila, these whiskies are then individually paired to the selection of wine cask conditioned cask to make an outstanding selection of whisky. You may ask why I and debating this but it reminds me of the selection process that goes into creating the finest cane rods and when paired to a precision made centre pin give you the ultimate tool for the job, that being catching fish and then sharing that moment over a good dram with close friends. You see, for me it’s all in the wood. The colour, the texture and the test curve of the rod, is it soft or is it hard, is the grain really fine or is it made if Spanish Reed with a split cane top.

Detailed above is the Speedia I purchased from one of the online marketplaces

I guess for all of us it a matter of taste and preference. Some will be traditionalists with an Allcocks Wizard, others B James Avon, Chapman 500 or Peter Stone Ledger Strike the list is endless but for sure you’ll have found a set up that works for you. Can I wish you all tight lines as that magical hour approaches that starts the new season on this 16th day of June. I’m sure I’ll let you know how I get on whilst contemplating the day with a dram of The Firkin Whisky Co whisky.