In recent years short 'collapsible' rods have been finding favour as easily transported fishing tools, which have the added benefit of being short enough to store in the boot of a car for opportunistic sessions. Harrison's have come late to the party but now have an introductory range of three ten foot models under the Telos banner. Harrison's have this to say about the make up of the blanks: The…
12ft 2.75lb Torrix x 2 - £600 Full duplon handle, American Tackle reel seat and six Delta rings plus tip. Axiom 6824 x 1 - £200 Ultra matt blank, dark blue threads tipped aquamarine, Fuji Alconite rings and Fuji reel seat. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Axiom 6824 x 1 £220 Ultra matt blank, dark grey threads tipped gunmetal, Fuji SiC rings and…
For a few years now I've been using leger stems for my eel fishing. I know full well that when the line is tightened they don't stand upright, but once the line is out of the clip they do, which might help the line flow more freely. The way I've been making them is quite simple and so far has withstood casting using two ounce leads. I've tried pulling them apart with my hands and failed so I…
Over the last dozen or so years of my intermittent eel fishing I've tried all sorts of bite indication set-ups (apart from float fishing). I started out fishing open bale arms using light weight rear drop-offs with the Gardner clips I use for pike fishing. Then I tried the same bobbins at the front on a long drop and baitrunner engaged just in case. Next it was short drops and heavier bobbins…
I thought I'd write a bit of a post partly because I've got a boring evening to pass. Mostly because I need to get some writing practice in. I've got rusty. Last winter was too wet for me so I didn't fish much and there was nothing tow rite about. My piking didn't start until February when there were a few milder, drier days. Even then it was only three short afternoon/evening sessions. The first…
The sun shone and I got motivated to have a few chucks with the heavier of the two 8ft 6in two-piece American Tackle Bushido rods. I took the usual box of lures plus a regular Bull Dawg and a Mag Dawg. The regular was clipped on and I made my first cast with the heavy rod. It flew out smooth and easy. A rod length out a greedy little jack grabbed the Dawg! I'd not bothered taking a camera as I was…
The winter break saw me working as usual. In among the standard builds were some odd jobs. First up a Sledge-Hammer 60H that I was asked to build as a sea boat rod. Neither I nor the customer are sure if it will work, but at least the handle, including gimbal type butt cap, are right! Another odd job was rebuilding a pair of old, as in over 25 years, Harrison Baby Ballistas that had been chopped…
Summer, such as it was, has certainly slipped away now with out me getting much fishing done. I don't like rain so that stopped me fishing for some time - instead I went to agricultural shows and got drowned! When the sun came back it was too bloody hot for me. I might not be fishing as much as I used to, but the rumour I got wind of that I have retired from rod building is well wide of the mark.…
Overconfidence is a terrible thing. There was I thinking I'd got this eel fishing lark sussed and was eager to have another go, this time to succeed big time. The eels brought me back to reality. Conditions had changed. There was a nice breeze coming from the west putting a ripple on the water. Cloud cover was partially obscuring the watery sun. I needed a sweatshirt to keep the wind chill off me…
My annual 'what rods shall I build myself' spree went into overdrive this year and in addition to my tench rods I built myself another set of eel rods, which means last year's models are up for sale As the post title says they are three 10ft 3lb Torrix. Build is minimal. American Tackle 1k woven reel seats, AT butt caps, Fuji Alconite rings, hook keepers on left side dark grey thread. All…
Making hooklinks on the bank, in the dark by the light of a headtorch, isn't the easiest thing to do! So much so that I've packed an LED light to put on my camera tripod for my next session. It'll only be needed if I run out of the spares I'll be making at home! Years ago I bought a spool of Mason Hard Type Nylon to make leaders when I was fly-fishing for pike. Leaders, not tippets, the flies were…
The tight finish in the opening Ashes test match left me needing to chill. I rigged up two of my latest eel rods, sorted the gear, put the worms I'd bought last week into a bucket and set off. There was no rush, I wasn't expecting any action until half nine on a still, hot, and sunny day. After a short look around I took the easy option and started setting up in the peg nearest the car park. My…
I'm expanding the ring options for my rod builds. Not everyone likes the look of the grey frames Fuji now have and, as with reel seats, prefer the look of black framed rings. Kigan are available with a black frame but cost more than the BCLSVOG Fujis, Seymos are available but are more bulky and a pain in the bum to fettle before whipping in place, American Tackle (AT) Vortex rings are nicer to…
Fred says "Always wear sunscreen." It was needed on Friday, possibly the hottest day of the year so far. T-shirt and shades weather. Possibly not ideal conditions for fishing. Nice to be out in the warmth though after the not too cold, but miserable, winter, followed by a spring that didn't want get going. I had the choice of swims, so went for the one I'd have liked to fish last time out. I don't…
First off I have a pair of one-off rods for sale at a bargain price! RODS SOLD! They are 12ft/2.25lb multi-carp blanks trimmed to 11ft. Suitable for close range carp or flood water barbel, maybe zander or canal pike. Cork handles, American Tackle black DPS reel seats and AT rubber butt caps, seven Seymo Hardlon guides plus tip with black frames, hook keeper, black thread. Nominal test curve is 2lb…
So much for pike fishing. After a reasonable start everything went rapidly down hill. If I didn't blank completely, as in get no action at all, I got dropped takes (I never get dropped takes) and the one better fish I connected with fell off almost at the net. It was unbearable so I gave up. The constant rain through March didn't encourage me either. April is always a bit hit and miss for any…
When I was put on the waiting list to have my gall bladder removed in late 2021 I was told it would be a simple keyhole surgery and I'd be back home after no more than 24 hours, and back in action after a couple of weeks or so. The date finally came round in October last year. As the pike fishing where I've been going for the last few years never seems to get going until November I reckoned I'd…
I got the eel urge again yesterday. A warm day with a sprightly southerly blowing it was over 20 degrees when I arrived at the water. With the lake deserted my swim choice was unlimited. Fancying a change I plumped for one I haven't eel fished very often, the reeds to my left keeping the breeze off me and with a few features to fish to. The usual rigs and baits were in place by eight fifteen. Two…
Thursday saw my eel fishing going to the opposite extreme. Even while I was setting up the third rod something was chomping on the bunch of worms dangling from my running paternoster. And so the evening progressed. It was one of those sessions when the bootlaces were homing in on worms almost as soon as they settled. In one case before I could get the bobbin clipped on the line. As usual when eels…
A blank was guaranteed for my first eel session of the year. Three new rods rigged up with three new reels was enough to enforce the new tackle hex, but a new foot pedal release for my camera to make self-takes easier was the cherry on the cursed cake. It being a Monday I had the place to myself when I rocked up around eight fifteen on a warm evening with sunshine between the clouds being blown in…
I've been off the water again, waiting for this month to maybe do some tenching. But that's not happened yet! I've been busy working, when I've not been ill, and doing some unusual custom handles. First up is a set of rods I'm building myself as eel rods. 10ft 3lb Torrix to replace my current 2.75lb versions. Nothing wrong with the ones I've been using for a few seasons now, I just wanted to try…
Making my foamy drifter got me wondering what other floats I could make from the orange eggs. The obvious one would be a tubed 'bung' shaped slider, but I don't use those much these days preferring bottom end floats for still water piking from the bank. My fat cigar balsa floats have done me proud for a long time now. However they have been in need of a touch of varnish here and there, and I also…
It's always the same, I get my fishing head on and 'life' intervenes. For reasons I can't recall now, but I think involved rain, wind and work related issues, I didn't manage to keep rolling after the session outlined in my previous post. Eventually I snapped and thought, "Stuff work", and in autopilot headed for the swim I'd caught from last time out. Even though conditions told me I should have…
Knowing that the weather was set to turn wet for the weekend and that I'd have no time to fish next week I made sure I got a session in this week. Luckily the UPS van turned up nice and early on Thursday so I was able to get a decent length session in. I was going to fish into dark anyway to spin it out so I filled a flask, something I've not bothered doing recently just to keep the weight in the…
After my last session I'd been thinking about piking quite a bit, the idea of covering water with an off bottom bait had inspired me to get making prototype drifters (see previous post) and also mess about with some other float ideas that are probably superfluous. I'd even stocked up on deadbaits as my supply in the freezer was limited in both variety and quantity. Reluctantly I'd bought a pack of…