Thursday, January 04, 2024

New Year, new rods

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 down to 10ft 6in. One needed a complete rebuild, one needed the tip replacing, and a third new one was to be built to match. Full Duplon handles with short flare foregrips. Now looking as good as new.
 
 
Last up in the 'something different' category is a rod which I'll be adding to my list shortly. I had one on show at the PAC Convention and it met with approval. The blank is an American Tackle two piece, fast taper, 'Bushido'. There are two models, the one shown here is the lighter.
 

The blanks are woven for the most part, with the weave ending part way up the tip section as per a Harrison Chimera, joints are overfits. 8ft 6in long, rated to cast 130g, I've found this model to be best with lures that are cranked straight back. The tip is much softer than my Axioms and Sledge-Hammers, and indeed softer than the heavier Bushido. As soon as I can get motivated I'll be taking the heavier rod out for a play. It should be good for big swimbaits, and even for working jerkbaits as the tip is stiffer. This one is the same length but rated to 150g.


Tuesday, September 19, 2023

I'm still building rods

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. If anything I'm more enthused about it than I have been for a while. A good job too because my retirement plan is to keep working! Having new rod making products to mess about with always gets me thinking of ways to incorporate them into functional, but aesthetically pleasing, rods.

Way back I took delivery of a new blank. New as in one I've not seen before. It's a two piece American Tackle lure blank. Fast action with a fine tip and rated to cast 130g. I got a handle fitted straight away but the AT rings I wanted to use on it were out of stock. After much chasing an alternative set arrived last week and when they were whipped on and the varnish dried I was eager to give have a chuck with it. That's what I did yesterday. Only for a fishless hour, but I dodged the rain and got an idea what the rod will do.

 
My take on the 8ft 6in Bushido rod is that it needs 2oz to load it for smooth casting. It will work with less, but it isn't optimal. While it fished a Burt well enough I'd rather use something slightly shorter with a stiffer tip for that. I'll be using it mostly for spinnerbaits and inlines, plus soft swimbaits and suchlike. I reckon it would also be useful for fishing bigger jigs.

After missing the PAC Convention for various reasons for four years I've got a stall booked for this coming Saturday's event at Newark Showground. I'll have the Bushido on show, plus my P-6 and another rod I've built up with a reel seat that I've just had a sample of. It's a very comfortable reel seat to hold and looks quite distinctive. That rod will be going in the PAC's raffle.


Getting out among the autumnal dragonflies and bright red haws got me itching to have a go for some pike. I don't want to start too early though, and there are still sheep to be photographed! Another month and the time could be right.


Tuesday, June 27, 2023

Two steps back

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 and selected a slightly sheltered swim. Not for the shelter but because it gave me a number of options for positioning the baits.

 
The semi-fixed leger rig has been swapped back to a running one and a wire trace had replaced the hard mono hooklink. I'd dug some deadbaits and squid out of the freezer, both to give me a bit of variety and to eke out the worm supply. You get through a lot fishing three or four on a hook on three rods when pesky eels are pinching or mauling them.
 

Currently I'm suffering the results of chilblains on my right hand last winter. It seems to have damaged the fingernails on two fingers and the damage has now grown out to the tips causing the nails to delaminate like a badly wrapped rod blank. The flaky nail edges catch on things and break. So I'm taping the fingers up with plasters. Which makes picking up small things like crimps and hooks a real problem. Baiting up the hook points also love to snag in the plasters causing even more cursing!


All three baits were out 8 o'clock, the first take being a strange one at a few minutes after nine to the legered worms. Although the baitrunner was slack the tip kept pulling round. of course there was nothing there when I struck, and the worms were intact. Odd. It didn't happen again. Almost an hour later the craziness and frustration began with three takes, one after the other, to the three rods in succession. Almost simultaneous takes happen quite frequently, despite the baits being spread over quite an area. It feels like the eels are conspiring to drive me mad from not knowing which rod to strike.
 


It was gone half nine when I eventually swung an eel ashore. Another sub-pounder to the off bottom worms. This was not to be the first of many. Takes and runs came in bursts as the light left the sky fell and continued well into darkness. It was only at five past eleven that I connected with another eel, this time to the legered ball of squid.

I didn't need to retackle or make any fresh traces so didn't have the chance to try my swim lighting set up, but it was fine for baiting up. Although I only used it once as my headtorch was doing me OK for that after putting fresh batteries in.
 
The action didn't slow after midnight. Encouraged to stick around I stopped until quarter past one. The takes were still coming. I was still failing to connect with them. With no eels landed worth weighing I've not bothered photographing any either. So here's a pic of my latest eel rods. They're 10ft 2.75lb Ballista Stalkers which have a tippier action than my P-4s making them better for casting leads and small baits. The only time I've had a decent bend in them so far has been 'playing' a ball of weed. There feels to be enough in the butt section to cope with decent fish.

I went for a low profile look with all black fittings from American Tackle and a different look to the abbreviated Duplon. Thread is my favourite shad of grey and all (minimalist) lettering is on the underside of the rods. They balance well with the near perfect 6000OC Baitrnners.


There's rain forecast. I might dust the barbel rods off and give the eels a break for a couple of weeks. Or I might restock the worm tub and keep the roll going...

Monday, June 26, 2023

3 x 10ft 3lb Torrix for sale

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 lettering underneath except 'DLST' on top between the whippings for the hook keepers.

New build price would be £340 each or £1050 including carriage. Selling these three, hardly used, £700 including carriage.







Saturday, June 24, 2023

Hard Nylon eel traces

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 attached to wire which was attached to the leader. It's strange stuff. Very tough, very stiff, and very 'coily'. It's also difficult to get hold of in the UK. Mine came from Veal's, and while they still have it listed on their website it is currently out of stock and has been for some time. There must be an alternative but buying unseen could lead to a lot of money going down teh plug hole. Is the stuff carp anglers use for Ronni Rigs the same? 

Other than the nylon everything else is simple. One hook, two double barrel crimps, a rig sleeve.

 
Not all of the tools shown below are essential. In fact the crimping pliers are the only ones you cant do the job without. I use the lighter to put a blob on the tag end of the nylon before pulling it snug into the crimp at the hook. It isn't a big deal to leave it sticking out without a blob. Crimped correctly the line won't slip. The tag end can be left longer at the loop end as that will be sleeved over.

The nail clippers are what I use for trimming all nylon lines. they're especially good on tougher and thicker monos I find. The knot testers are used to test the connections, and have the added benefit that when doing that the curve in the nylon is pulled out.
 
 
Just a close up of the jaws of the pliers. 
 

The crimp should be placed 'crossways' in the groove of the pliers, so it squashes the two barrels together flattening each barrel. Ideally the crimp should stick out of the jaws at the loop end to give an angled transition for the nylon. I suspect this is more critical when using heavier gear to big game fish than it is with this sort of tackle. The crimps I'm using are very small and fiddly enough to align correctly in the pliers without having to get a bit to stick out - the crimp length being the same as the width of the jaws. There's no chance in the dark! To give an idea of size these are one inch squares on the cutting mat.



I'm using quick change swivels on the end of my mainline hence using a loop on my hooklinks, but a swivel can be attached just as easily. Crimping is ideal for people who have to have all their hooklinks exactly the same length. Much easier than trying to do that with knots - although having a loop at one end works.




These are only used with worms or other non-fishy baits. Anything that I think has a greater chance of being picked up by a pike is fished on wire.


Friday, June 23, 2023

Progress?

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 approach hadn't changed from last year. the running paternoster was dropped close in to my right, the running leger cast out close to the pads. What had change were the hooklinks. Both were much shorter than in earlier years. I've been reducing the length of my eel hooklinks for some time, but now they are only about four to five inches long. It's quite tricky tying such short hooklinks in any material, but the Hard Nylon I'm favouring is a bugger to knot at any length. It can be done. More on that later.


By 8.30 I was all set up and settled in listening the the birdsong and watching the sun sink low enough to stop dazzling me. Bang on cue, an hour later, I had a take on the legered worm and soon swung my first eel of the year in. Only about a pound, probably less, it was still a start.

The second eel took the off-bottom worms at ten past ten. One eel each to the new rods on their first outing. So much for the new tackle jinx! From then on indications came regularly. Some the annoying twitches that resulted in pinched worms, some proper runs that spun the reel spool. Most were coming to the leger rig.

It was half past eleven before I landed another one, half an hour more until the third, and ten past midnight when the smallest of the evening came in. All to the bottom fished worms. I packed up twenty minutes later to the sound of a distant owl hooting.

One of the eels had mangled my hooklink forcing me to tie up a replacement. This didn't go well in the dark. First of all I had run out of the size 6 hooks I'd been using. Go larger or go smaller? I went smaller for an eight. The first knot was messy. So was the second. Eventually I got a rig tied up. Then I had a light-bulb moment. I'd used the hard mono to make lead links by crimping it. Why hadn't I thought of crimping it to use as hooklinks? D'oh!

Wednesday morning saw me sat at my desk crimping up hooklinks. I couldn't find my cup-to-cup crimping tool so used the one I'd bought for crimping wire traces with single barrel crimps. It's not supposed to work on double barrel crimps but I couldn't pull the mono out. With a few hooklinks made up I rigged up my third new rod and swapped all my hooklinks to the crimped ones with size 8 hook.

Another empty car park saw me take a longer walk to look at swims. One looked really inviting but cramped for three rods. It could wait for another night. In the end I chose one where I could cover a lot of water with the baits spread out. As I was setting up a very loud bird sang briefly in a hawthorn behind the swim. Not a song I recognised but I guessed it to be a warbler. Once more it was the paternoster in the right hand margin, the two legers out to pad edges. 

Another thought I had during my first session was that a semi-fixed leger might be worth a try. Nothing ventured, nothing gained I had one in operation on the longest cast. After a later start I was fishing by 8.45 only having to wait half an hour until the spool spun on the off-bottom margin rod. I failed to connect. 

 A couple more times I was startled by the loud birdsong. Eventually I caught a glimpse of a little brown job flitting away. I made a note in my diary about the call, a visual interpretation of it that only I could understand,, and resolved to search Youtube to find it.

It was shortly before ten when the indications started to come frequently and a sub-pound eel fell for to the paternoster rod. Twitched, runs, and everything in between. eventually the takes dried up and I packed away the rods at midnight. the semi-fixed rig hadn't been a success. Winding it in for recasts the three dendrobenas had disappeared every time. Stick with it or not?

Thursday morning I was on Youtube searching for 'warbler sons UK'. I found one video that claimed to haev the songs of every British warbler and clicked 'play'. I decided not to watch it but just listen. A few song in there it was! I replayed it. Yes, that was the song. I searched for other videos and other sites for the bird's song just to be sure. No doubt about it. I'd heard and seen my first Cetti's warbler! Not too uncommon a bird these days, in the right places. It was still a new one for me.

In the afternoon I did my 'big shop', calling in at the tackle shop near the supermarket to see if they had a pair of pukka crimping pliers before ordering a pair off the interwebby. They did. And they were cheaper! With the freezer filled for another month, and my bank account depleted by more than I expected (that's food inflation for you) I set about making up another batch of hooklinks. Tea eaten, the miserable Archers saga listened to (if only Helen could have a freak chess-making accident to put an end to it), I was eager to try my rigs out.

A couple of vehicles in the car park this time but nobody in sight in the area I fancied. I still had a look around before climbing down into another peg which offered a range of opportunities. This time the running paternoster was cast to my left, to a gap in the pads. The running leger went straight out to a pad edge, and the semi-fixed rig was cast the farthest to a gap between to lots of pads. I must have been keen because it was only eight o'clock! As I was setting the rods up I heard the Cetti's Warbler again. Not having been on this spring I'm left wondering if it has been around for long.

An early start didn't bring early action. Well, not too early. ten past nine saw a proper run to the running leger. Fishing three small worms I always wonder if it is an eel that has taken the bait when I strike at these runs. Anything is liable to pick up worms and there have been quite a few carp mooching about.

Ten minutes later the only sign of action to the semi-fixed rod was very small twitches of the rod top. Even with my Delkim on maximum sensitivity there was no sound and the bobbin moved not a millimeter. I picked the rod up and... There was an eel on the end, neatly hooked in the bottom lip! I stuck with the rig as the only way to judge its efficacy is to give it a long enough trial. I know other eel anglers are making it work.

After ten the action picked up apace. I landed five more, yet again all a few ounces either side of a pound at a guess, bar the final one which was most definitely a bootlace. Around eleven I had three takes at once and missed all of them. All the takes cam to legered worms, and one on the semi-fixed rig was a proper 'screamer'. I was sure there'd be a carp on the end when I lifted the rod!

All told an interesting few sessions. Eleven eels is a good start in terms of numbers. Not so good on teh specimen hunting scale though. The short stiff hooklinks are working a treat. The small hooks haven't proved detrimental. Quite the opposite. Semi-fixed rigs do work. Not much action to the off-bottom bait, which is unusual. Eels do have the ability to make you think. The rods have all been christened, but are yet to be tested with something worthy of landing net, let alone a photo session.

The next step? Get some different baits. Fishing three rods with worms is boring!