No fishing, just rod and tackle news

Having lost my mojo, yet again, with a few agricultural shows finally taking place over the last month, lots of work to be caught up with and a week of illness I've been away from the water with no great desire to get back to it. This is a period of transition. It's too early for pike on my pit and the river is still short of water. Can I face some back-end eeling, or should I set my stall out for whatever comes along to a set of feeders on the pit? Indecision and lack of enthusiasm has kept me indoors trying to up my game at the product photography job to update my website to show the new look rod fittings from Fuji. This is just a post to put some of them in one place. More will follow as I get more builds done using them.

First off my standard bait rod handle.

All these are the new 'black chrome' finish. This is the trigger reel seat I fit to baitcasters.

 

 

18mm DPS used on standard cork handles.

And on a set of custom full slim Duplon handles.

 

I've changed the standard thread colours on Axiom rods to a tricky to photograph dark grey tipped with metallic Pewter. Shown here with the new Gunmetal finish on the SiC rings. It's a bit shinier than the old Gunsmoke.

 In addition to the new trebles I introduced a while back I now have some traditional bronzed ones in bulk packs. Sizes 4 and 6, barbed or semi-barbed, in packs of 25. Available here.

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The final straw

Regardless of the stream of small eels continuing to pester me I was still keen, although running out of cunning plans, following my post last month. It was on the third session that I finally had enough. If I'd done what I usually do and fished a swim out of sight of anyone else I'd have carried on in blissful ignorance, but I reasoned that the angler tench fishing across the pit would be packing up shortly as I'd arrived late. So why not fish a swim I fancied rather than one which was out of sight?

 
I got my rod pod set up, baits in position and had settled down on my low chair in what was a reasonably spacious peg, for a change. Then I looked up and saw the tench angler was playing something and having a fair old tussle. He was in a swim I always fancy for eels but which has never thrown anything much up for me.

The tench kept on fighting until it broke surface. That was when it's snake-like head became obvious. Maybe he was just making a meal of it. After a couple of attempts the eel was in the rather too small for it landing net. When it was lifted ashore its size, even from 100 metres (Google maps) away, was obvious. After looking at it for a while the angler removed the hook from the eel and put it back. Unweighed. It looked as big as any I've caught from the pit, maybe bigger. Who's the idiot who said effort equals reward? At least the eels were feeding, I supposed.

Dusk fell and I had the place to myself. And the eels. It was no run fest. I had a few runs and finicky takes before I connected with one. Yet again to the off-bottom worms. It didn't feel all that big. It wasn't. Possibly the smallest eel of the year. But what it lacked in size it made up for in tangling technique. The lead link on my off-bottom rig was over three feet long, but somehow this tiny little bootlace managed to wrap itself up in the link sufficiently to have the lead dangling directly below it';s jaw!

I tired letting the tying untangle itself in the margin. To no avail. I had to resort to cutting the bloody creature free just so I could get my forceps on the hook. A complete re-tackling was called for. I fished on with waning enthusiasm until midnight when I was glad to see the back of the place.

Since then it's been a case of work turning up (at long last blanks are beginning to trickle through) followed by a wet spell which further reduced my eeling drive. I've taken a break and done some photography top revitalise my fishing mojo.

The ring situation caused by the change I've mentioned before is still causing me confusion as to what is available and what isn't. SiC rings being the latest ones to have me baffled. I think I've got that sussed now and should have some back in stock soon.

With the new 'grey' (which is similar to the old gunsmoke) frames on the standard rings I use I'm going to change my standard thread colours on Axiom rods. I've no blanks to build for them at present so can't show a photo of what they'll look like but I have built a couple of X-1s using the thread colours. Shown below with an 'old style' gunsmoke reel seat.

I think the grey thread tipped with metallic pewter looks good along with the grey reel seats and rings on Ultra Matt blanks. It's as near as I've managed to 'invisible' whippings.

In other news I have some new size four and six trebles in stock to replace the Partridge hooks I used to carry. These are a round bend treble with a round eye and a slightly shorter shank than the Partridges. Wire thickness is a bit heavier but not excessively so and the barbs are small and crushable. Available from my webshop - www.dlstshop.co.uk at £4.50 per pack of ten. More sizes might follow later in the year.

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Size matters

What is it with hook sizes? The bane of my life these days is finding hooks of a pattern and size to do what I want. If tackle shops stocked a wider range of hooks it would be easy to pop in, look at what there was and select the exact hook I want. But they don't. That means ordering on-line. In turn that puts me at the whim of the hook manufacturers' sizing strategies.

I recently came a cross a commercial which has something in it I'd quite like to catch which has a maximum size 8, barbless, rule. So I ordered some size 8 barbless hooks, sight unseen, and when they arrived they turned out to be smaller than the size tens I use - more like a twelve. This was unusual because I get the feeling that hooks intended for use on commercial fisheries are larger for their stated size these days than hooks used to be in order to get round these daft rules.

It's been no better in my quest for catfish hooks. This search has been continuing among the sea fishing sections of various websites. I've bought hooks marketed for catfishing and been less than impressed. Some have been more like shark hooks in the wire gauge. In my limited experience of catching catfish they are a bit like barbel in that when a hook goes in it stays in, and if a hook goes in to the bend it's unlikely to open out. The same with pike and anything else really, there's no great need for extra thick wire. Thick enough, but not so thick as to make penetration difficult. Another pet hate of mine is rank barbs.

As the top photo shows I have got hold of a few patterns of hook to compare. The Eagle Wave (A below) and Penetrator  (E) are proven catfish hooks, although I'm not keen on the look of them! The others are sea fishing hooks. The Mustad 'Big Gun' (C) was bought years ago to tie pike flies on, but was too heavy. It looks almost perfect in shape and wire strength. The Tronix 'Big Dog' (B) is very similar but a little finer in the wire and with a neater barb. The Varivas 'Chinu' (D) has the perfect wire gauge and a neat barb, and is available in a wide range of sizes from 3/0 to 8 - whatever that will be like when I get some delivered! When it comes to ordering the sizing again becomes a lottery. The hooks below are sized: A - 1,  B - 1/0, C - 2, D- 1/0,  E - 1/0. It's nice that the sea hooks are a lot cheaper than those marketed for catfishing. Surprising, because when you do some internet digging it becomes apparent where the catfish hooks come from, and that their original purpose was sea fishing.

Of course price shouldn't be a major consideration when it comes to hooks. The hook and the line are the most important items of tackle which demand ultimate reliability. But those traces of Scots and Yorkshire blood in my veins mean I can't see any good reason to pay a fiver for a packet of hooks when two or three quid will get me some that do exactly the same job. If the Tronix hooks are up to the job they're only a pound for ten!

I'm also looking out for hooks to use for eels. I slipped up recently when I sold off the last of my stocks of Owner single hooks, only to discover that a couple of patterns were useful for eels. The C5-X makes a good worm hook for eels in an eight, and the size 1 C-4 might be handy for boilies or worms for catfish.

While involved in my hook odyssey I've come across some interesting monos and braids for hooklinks and mainline for various species. I hadn't realised that Amnesia is available in 6lb, for example. It's surprising what can cross over from one discipline to another if you forget the label that says 'sea' or 'game' (I've been looking at saltwater fly hooks) or whatever the marketing people think tackle should be used for. I realise that some anglers only buy stuff that is labelled for their kind of fishing, but that's their loss. I remember when I worked in a tackle shop one customer refused to buy a 3lb test rod because it was called a 'specimen' rod and not a 'pike' rod. I must have a word with some of my rods for catching the wrong species!

It's getting in to autumn now so my chances of more eels and catfish are likely to reduce as the month goes on. More catfish? Well, I have sneaked one out on the only session I've managed since I got the urge. That's how I know the Big Gun is a decent hook but with slightly too big a barb, and that my revised polyball leger rig works as well as its predecessor. If work hadn't been getting in the way I'd have had more cracks at cats instead of snatching short eel sessions recently. I might have to make time before it gets too cold. I'd forgotten how much fun catfishing is, and how cute catfish look. I want to try that suspended worm rig out for the cats now I know it catches eels and pike, and I have a new blank to play with. Sod it. If it's warm next week work can wait!

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