Testing fly rods

[Iasgair]

Everyone who fly fishes loves testing out fly rods, but it can be over whelming at times because no rods are built the same and it doesn't matter the material they are made of. You have four actions typically with rods: soft, medium, medium fast and fast action. But lets narrow it down a bit because not all people like the same action rods. When it comes to bamboo rods, I like a medium fast action because of it's relaxed feel when casting and it pretty much casts naturally to me. In graphite, I prefer a medium or medium fast rod. But if you don't know the different of actions, how can you tell what it is? It's easy.

Before I go on, this is for those who are not experts and want to have the pleasure of using a fly rod right off without having to try many different lines for just one rod and spending a thousand quid or dollars on lines trying to find that "one" line. So if your an expert angler and have different specialty lines for different purposes, this is not for you. You can check out Ian's fly tying tutorial instead of reading this.

All you have to do is take a rod your interested in and hold it like a sword in front of you with the tip raised up. Now, I'm not going to say give it a wiggle test. I mean, what the heck does that really say about a rod. Not much. Hold the rod like a Samurai warrior and then quickly bring the rod down about mid way, like your striking something with a sudden stop. Watch the rod tip. If it quickly comes back up and stays still, it's a fast action rod. If it bounces back up and then down and then up a bit to it's normal position, and bends about 3/4 up the rod, it's generally a medium fast rod. As for a medium action rod, you got it, it bounces a bit more and bends around the mid point of the rod and could even bend a bit deeper into the blank. So of course a soft action bends way down the rod and will bounce longer. Ok, great, so how do you pick one in the action you like? Well, it's easy for us who fly fish and are familiar with different actions and we generally have our favorite action or actions. Though some of us, like myself, like more than two actions. Now we can narrow it down again. Let's say you prefer a medium fast action rod, you did the Samurai sword test and now you would like to cast it. Good idea, because now your going to feel the rod as it loads and unloads the line. But what line should you use???? Oh no. A dilemma has occurred. Augh! That's the problem these days because like I said, you have typically four types of rod actions but there is a plethora of fly lines out there. Well, I'm here to help you with that because I was taught a way by a good friend who had way more experience than I did at the time, and to be totally truthful, many think he's crazy by doing this trick on choosing a rod. I tried it and believe me, it works and it takes much less time to choose the rod you want.

So this is what I have done for many years on how to choose a rod that I like, depending on the action I'm looking for. The trick is the line you use. It's true. A good quality line built for the action of rod you have will bring soul to your rod.

Ok, so now you're casting the rod, trying it out and trying to feel what it's telling you. I bet it feels pretty good, doesn't it? You bet it does as you can feel the rod load and unload and the line is flying above your head and the rod just sings. Here's why. The salesman put a reel on the rod with a line generally half the weight heavier than a true to weight line. And that will help you with the feel by making it load and unload easier. S.A. MPX and Rio Grand are two popular lines that will do this. And these lines are excellent for medium fast to fast action rods, depending on the blanks on how stiff they are. Some fast action rods like a line weight that's a whole line heavier, so just buy a 6 weight line f you're trying out a 5 weight rod. You don't need a specialty line for that.

What I do is bring my own reel with my own line. Why you ask? Simple. There are 100's of different lines out there and I'm only testing maybe four to six different rods, depending on how many rods the shop has that are in the action I'm looking for. So what I'm saying is, go by the line to choose your rod, not the rod and then pull your hair out trying 100 different lines. Ah ha!!! In my years I have bought line that just didn't work for my rods. Here's where I'm going to badly explain this. Even though there are many different medium fast action rods, they are still not exactly the same. That's another problem we have to deal with. And going by the line will help with choosing the rod.
So to make this simple to understand, buy a line that you really, really like and stick with it.

By the way, this will save you money in the long run.

I really like Airflo lines, along with S.A. lines. Most of my lines are Airflo Elite and Exceed. I hear it's all been changed these days, so I have to relearn these lines when I need some new lines, but that's another problem for me in the future.

Now, lets say I am looking for a medium action rod and I bring my Airflo Elite because it's a true to weight line, and medium action rods prefer a line like that. Now, you're probably asking yourself, why not buy the line that was on the reel that the salesman had on? You can if you want, but sometimes that doesn't work with all rods in the same action. Here's a true story I'll share with you. I was looking for a rod to help me in windy conditions, but I can also use it on bigger rivers during non windy days. So I wanted a fast action 9 foot 5 weight rod. When I got to the shop I told the guy what I was looking for and he grabbed a few different 5 weight rods, a Sage One and the Scott Radian. One line, two rods that were fast action. Now, this is where your casting stroke comes into play, because we as humans are not exactly the same when it comes to casting strokes.
The salesman put the reel on the Sage One and gave it to me. I couldn't cast that rod to save my life. I couldn't get my casting stroke to work the rod correctly because the line would fly about twenty feet and then pile up on the ground. The line was S.A. GPX at the time. I tried and tried casting that rod and changing my stroke to where it was no longer natural to me. I never got it. So we switched over to the Scott Radian, same line.
This was a whole other story here. I was casting that line effortlessly and my accuracy was spot on. I was able to lay the fly line on my trailer hitch on my truck 3 out of 5 times at 45 feet. And when I missed the hitch it was only by a few inches. This taught me not all rods in the same action were built the same.
So now I take my line and I don't have to try many different lines to find the rod that will match the line. There are more lines out there for a fast action rod than there are fast action rods. Got it? Or whatever action your looking for. Keep it simple.
So in short, backing up here, I said I was looking for a medium action rod, so take your true to weight line and go test drive a few rods and see which rod performs better with a line you really like. Believe me, it makes life so much easier this way because I have a friend who's sock drawer is full of many different lines from the same company and really he only needs one or two.

I will say, different heads on a line perform differently, so if your throwing streamers, a long head with a long rear taper is good for that because it'll help mend the line from long distance and roll casts beautifully. But that's a specialty line built for a specific purpose. What I'm talking about is normal trout fishing with dries, wets and nymph rigs. You don't necessarily need a "special" line for that. Just a weight forward floating line is about it. So find the one you really like and stay with it and find a rod the line will help bring the soul out of.

So with my medium action rods, I like either Airflo Elite or SA Mastery Trout. On my medium fast rods, like Airflo Exceed.

What you can also do is look at the rod manufacture's recommendations on what lines to use, but finding a line that you like on a rod is a personal thing. Scott recommended Airflo Elite for their Scott Flex rod. I tried it, but being a medium fast rod with a fast tip, I find the exceed works a lot better. At least for me. Maybe not you, but it does for me. But that's just it wth fly fishing, it's ALL personal preference.

So you find a line you prefer and then find a rod that matches that line. Stay away from specialty lines because then you're getting detailed, and trying to find that perfect detailed specialty line can get expensive. If you're a person who only fishes Euro nymph style, find that specialty line for Euro nymphing that you like and stay with it. If you're a purist and only fish dries, find that Weight Forward floating line and stay with it.

Trust me, this will be easier than it sounds and costs less money. Basically what your doing is finding a line that will help load and unload your rod easily with attributes in the line that you like. I like Airflo because I don't need to clean it as much and it won't melt when you're using deet to protect you from bugs. Also it also stands up to UV light and won't crack. I like S.A. because it's just a quality line, hands down. Good coating that glides easily through the guides and fishes very well.

I hope this helps you out the next time you're looking at a fly rod to buy. If you have a line you like, take it with you and try it on some rods. The line will help you choose the rod. But ultimately the rod chooses you because of your casting stroke. So with your casting stroke, the line you like, you'll find the rod for you.

[Moley]

Very informative.

Most of my fly fishing is on Chalk Streams or rivers with good visibility.

However Fatty likes Soft/slow action glass rods about 7ft long. The line is always Cortland Peach DT.

Usually the weight of the line is 3 sometimes 4 if in a head wind. Three flies are used and cover most occasions:

1. Klinkhamer dry. Usually grizzled green or grey. This fly catches trout, be in no doubt, the difficult bit is matching the size of the hatch to the fly or vice versa. The klink starts by floating proudly but should be allowed to sink a little or a lot through the meniscus.....then the fly becomes deadly.

2. Sawyer Nymph. Fished single fly Netheravon style. Shortish leader so pulls become hard to miss. The current fashion for really long leaders can mean genuine bites are missed quite a lot because for a sight angler like me you are too far from the fish to really see what's going on merely relying on line pulls to indicate a take. My preference is to see the 'wink' then you know that fish is yours.

3. Killer Bug. Again fished Netheravon Style as a single fly on the line. Can fish this on a longer leader as this fly is fished deeper than the Sawyer so seeing the take is harder but not impossible if you have developed your water sight. Contrary to more modern thinking Polaroid Sunnies make you lazy and don't help much. Using them becomes a habit, hard to break and do not help develop water sight.
A good cap pulled down to your brows, no Sunnies, and perseverance pay dividends in the long run but results are not instant. Like all skills time needs to be taken to develop your sight but once learned properly you can astound onlookers by seeing bites and fish they can't. So many anglers think you are making it up until you catch more than them consistently.

Most other anglers recognise this skill but some sadly accuse you of being a fishmonger as your catches dwarf theirs. But hey ho that's another story!

So what Fatty is trying to say is that yes the right tackle and knowing how to use it is important. However developing your skill set is the most useful.

So many anglers spend an absolute fortune on the best tackle every season in the belief they will become suddenly better fishermen because of this. There is no instant panacea, sadly little realising the best anglers have taken many years to develop themselves to suit the environment they fish in, with tackle taking a secondary role.

So often when river side you see anglers with all the gear but no idea. Casting beautifully after so many expensive lessons but nowhere near the fish because they have no river craft or water sight to help them. Five minutes with Fatty and they catch, looking in almost wonder at the short Fat 'erbert who said 'chuck yer fly down that side run', little knowing the perceived oaf had seen the fish first.

Any ways that's my two bobs worth.

As ever,....

Moley

[Nigel Rainton]

I only use a floating line. I caught my first trout on a fly at Weirwood Reservoir in Sussex in 1975 with a floating line and I'll catch my last in the same way. I used Peach Cortland 444 DT floaters for several decades. Then Mr Robjent in Stockbridge bullied me into buying a ridiculously expensive Rio Chalkstream Special. It was a big improvement and my brand allegiance changed. My lines get a lot of abuse from trees and brambles that jump towards me when I'm not looking but they last for years.

I use carbon fibre and split cane rods. Most are around 10'. I waggled one rod in the shop before buying it, the others that I've collected predate the AFTM numbering. I know the AFTM rating of one carbon fibre rod because it's written on the bottom section. I use a #3 line on every rod. I don't worry about matching line to the rod or 'balance' and other such considerations pushed by tackle manufacturers.

If someone asks me for advice about rods and lines, I tell them to keep well back from the water's edge and not to wear a white shirt

[Iasgair]

So what Fatty is trying to say is that yes the right tackle and knowing how to use it is important. However developing your skill set is the most useful.

So many anglers spend an absolute fortune on the best tackle every season in the belief they will become suddenly better fishermen because of this. There is no instant panacea, sadly little realising the best anglers have taken many years to develop themselves to suit the environment they fish in, with tackle taking a secondary role.

So often when river side you see anglers with all the gear but no idea. Casting beautifully after so many expensive lessons but nowhere near the fish because they have no river craft or water sight to help them. Five minutes with Fatty and they catch, looking in almost wonder at the short Fat 'erbert who said 'chuck yer fly down that side run', little knowing the perceived oaf had seen the fish first.

Moley

Amen to what you have just said. Skill set is the most important thing. I once watched a nymphing competition here in Colorado on the Big Thompson River and a young man who had patched up waders, work boots for wading shoes and a inexpensive rod compete against others who looked like they were walking advertisements for Orvis. They all looked like cut outs from a magazine, but this young man, and this is no joke, he knew his equipment very well as in his rod wasn't the most accurate rod, but he knew how to compensate where it failed him. For instance, he told me the rod always seemed to be casting to the right of his target even though he would be looking at the target and lining up the line to land there. Was it the rods fault or his? He couldn't say. But it always went to the right. So he would compensate by casting just left of the target and hit the spot dead on every time.

The line he was using wasn't expensive at all because he knew he wasn't going to be casting long distance, only within 25 feet. This guy was just amazing to watch as he caught fish after fish while the others were doing well within their own rights, but not to what this kid was doing. He took the competition and went home with brand new gear and a pocket full of money. No one took this young man seriously because of his gear. That goes to show you, never judge a book or weld by it's cover.

When talking with him after the competition he told me many things about how he came to be. He was from a very poor family and he fished almost every day so they could have food to eat. So he learned how to read the water very well and weather patterns as well because it effected fish behavior. His gear was his grandfather's before he passed away. I don't remember the maker of his rod, it was old and needed a little TLC, but it served him well. Like Excalibur with King Arthur, or Mjolnir with Thor. But this young man knew his gear and how to make it work for him, for his purpose. And he went home with new gear that could "possibly" make it easier for him. At least he won new waders that wouldn't leak on him anymore. He was happy about that the most I think. I wonder if he continued to fish that old rod or hung it on a wall for an eye piece or had it refurbished. I would like to think he had it refurbished and still fishes with it.

As I said in my opening post about choosing a rod, Kelly Galloup shows exactly what I said. But this is what you do before putting line on it. Choose a few rods you think you like in a certain action, so maybe four fast action rods, do this simple test that Kelly shows you to see how you may like what you see and feel, because not all fast action rods are the same, and then go outside with the four rods, put your line and reel on it and see how they cast. Then you will find what rod performs best with the line you like best. That way you only buy the rod and not anymore line.
https://youtu.be/kTDgAld4En0

I only use a floating line. I caught my first trout on a fly at Weirwood Reservoir in Sussex in 1975 with a floating line and I'll catch my last in the same way. I used Peach Cortland 444 DT floaters for several decades. Then Mr Robjent in Stockbridge bullied me into buying a ridiculously expensive Rio Chalkstream Special. It was a big improvement and my brand allegiance changed. My lines get a lot of abuse from trees and brambles that jump towards me when I'm not looking but they last for years.

I use carbon fibre and split cane rods. Most are around 10'. I waggled one rod in the shop before buying it, the others that I've collected predate the AFTM numbering. I know the AFTM rating of one carbon fibre rod because it's written on the bottom section. I use a #3 line on every rod. I don't worry about matching line to the rod or 'balance' and other such considerations pushed by tackle manufacturers.

There you have it. Mr. Robjent sounds like he did you a favor. Sounds like a winner of a line made for your rod specifically. And that's what you want. Now keep that line and the next time you acquire a new rod, test the rod with that line. If the rod feels and casts good, buy it. But beware, just because a line feels good and casts well doesn't mean it'll mend well or hold up to the wild beasts like tree branches and bushes.
Well done.

[Beresford]

Nigel, what will the Rio do that the Cortland can't?

[Watermole+]

Have just read all the preceding posts twice over and after a lifetime’s dabbling in small streams with the fly, I realise more than ever now, just how little I have understood or learnt about the rod & line, or how I should have been using it..
Even to this day, I don’t fully understand about rod actions and why it is considered important to have a certain line to match it.

When I started fishing with the fly after the war, like everyone else, you had the one rod for everything. All rods were split bamboo or greenheart then, with the latest glass rods just starting to appear. They were usually categorised as “wet fly” or “dry fly” -or mostly with no name or description at all to speak of. You bought a certain length of rod to suit the water, in my case anything between seven and nine feet did the job and as most of a certain length were very much alike, you bought a line to suit that. Some were better made than others; all were made to a price and you bought what your pocket would allow.

Lines were nearly all from dressed silk; double tapered being the usual choice but weight forward ones were gaining in popularity. You lightly polished with “Mucilin” to make it ride high in the water unless you preferred to fish wet fly casting downstream. The only downside was that they really needed to be run off the reel after fishing to dry them out. A great many couldn’t be bothered then moaned when the line went sticky with linseed oil after a season or two. (I still have my very first Kingfisher No.2 line in perfect fishing condition because it has always been dried after use and kept away from sunlight).

The point was-is-that you had a fly rod and line-and that was it. It was regarded-quite correctly-as merely the delivery system for putting your cast (now known as ‘leader’) with a fly on the end where and how it was intended to be (hopefully..) without wrapping around a tiny twig or leaf en route… A question I often asked myself here.. Why does even the thinnest twiglet require a pull of about 100 pounds to snap it off?

One thing that does stand out though.. Probably because I don’t regard my fishing gear as having any great monetary value, once I began casting, I don’t pay the slightest heed or regard to either rod or reel-providing they do their job, the sole concentration being focused on where the fly is and how it is fishing-and never have done!
Most rods are capable of doing their job. As I see it, you learn to fish with what you have in hand and it’s a poor excuse to blame it for your own limitations. Rods don’t catch fish..water knowledge and well-delivered flies catch fish. The line is more important than the rod anyway and a good silk one will do most things very well, some things better than any plastic one.

That man who out caught everyone on the Colorado didn’t have inferior gear…He had better gear-because he understood it and knew what it could do and therefore had no need to pay any attention to it, focusing his attention fully on the water!

I remember my late stepfather only ever had one rod all his life-and that was a greenheart one given to him with a short top! Yet, he never complained, learnt how to get the best out of it and enjoyed his fishing as much as anyone .

I think it was F.W.Holiday who wrote “…it is far better to be a very competent user of one rod and line-no matter how poor-than an indifferent performer with half a dozen!”

However…all that is just my own view. If you own many rods and can cast well with them all-and more to the point-enjoy it, that’s all that matters,
One of the things that I completely fail to understand is; why do some spend good money on an expensive fly reel with the latest drag systems, then, when they hook a fish, haul it in from the first rod eye, leaving yards of line strewn around their feet..???
You see it everywhere, even by “experts” on TV…. It’s just nuts!

Great post by the way, Iasgair…Keep them coming!

wm+

[Iasgair]

However…all that is just my own view. If you own many rods and can cast well with them all-and more to the point-enjoy it, that’s all that matters,
One of the things that I completely fail to understand is; why do some spend good money on an expensive fly reel with the latest drag systems, then, when they hook a fish, haul it in from the first rod eye, leaving yards of line strewn around their feet..???
You see it everywhere, even by “experts” on TV…. It’s just nuts!

Great post by the way, Iasgair…Keep them coming!

wm+

With everything you just said in your post, I completely respect and understand. Know your equipment and learn how to read the water and present a good presentation is key to being successful. Just like the young man I spoke with.

Rod actions are a personal choice, but I have to say, who wants a fast action 7.5ft 3 weight rod? To me, that isn't a fun rod at all. If you get my point. Kind of like fishing with a broom stick. No feel in it.

I must say I have always wondered about the same thing when it comes to reels. Why spend so much money for something you don't need? Especially at today's prices. I guess they can. At the time I bought my reels, they were all under $200. Now, I won't even bother with the big name brands because they have just priced me out. The last reel I bought was a Pfueger Medalist at $120 and it does just fine. But I will say you can go too cheap in buying a reel. My Cabela's Premier reels have plastic pins for the drag, and one day I hooked into a fish that totally destroyed those pins and the reel never worked again. That's when I promised to never spend less than $100 on a reel. You get what you pay for sometimes when it comes to fly fishing.

You said something else, about not really understanding rod actions and to have a certain line to match it. It's actually pretty simple. If you have a cane fly rod, knowing how flexible it is, you don't want much of a heavier line than what it calls for because a heavier line will slow it down even more. Now, if your fishing close in, within 20 feet, ok I can see that, but casting farther isn't going to be so great.

Before I go on, let me say silk lines are fantastic, but not everyone, including myself can afford silk lines.

A fast rod using a true to weight line will become an even faster rod because the tip won't load very well quickening your casting stroke. But putting a heavier line, same weight class I remind you, will either make the rod work like it was meant to be or slow it down enough to make the rod load easier and slowing your stroke down a bit that will help the rod cast shorter distance. For a fast action rod, you want a line that will load the rod easily and make casting a no thinking process. Fast and very slow rods are what I consider specialty rods because you need to focus on your casting timing more than a medium or medium fast action rods. In America, fast action is very popular, but more and more, people are wanting to slow down a bit and demanding more of a traditional type rod. Problem is the fly rod companies are not listening. I always preferred a medium traditional style rod or a medium fast action. It's where my casting stroke is at it's normal feel for me, so it becomes a non thinking thing for me. Fast action my timing is off and I have tailing loops and it just ends up in a mess at times. When I fish my cane rods, I have to slow down and retrain myself to slow down to cast properly. I can retrain myself easier to slow down than to go fast.

MY next post you may find interesting because it's a fly rod formula to help choose the right rod, in my opinion, for the right situation. It has been a formula that I have stayed with to bring me the most pleasure out of the rod and the whole fishing experience. It has helped many that I have shared it with to help them choose the proper rod for the type water and fish they will be fishing for. For example, why would anyone want to fish a fast stiff rod, 9' 5wt. on a stream or creek about 20 feet wide that holds and average length of trout that's about 10 inches? My opinion is to get a shorter more flexible rod. But it's not written in stone because fly rods once again is a personal preference to everyone. But all I know is, those who I have shared this formula with are very happy that they followed it.

[Nigel Rainton]

"Nigel, what will the Rio do that the Cortland can't?" - Beresford

It is very supple and has a taper that Rio say is 'designed to load at close range' (WF). It has a very fine running line, which I rarely see !
I found that my accuracy, particularly in the wind, improved with the heavier front taper. The extra weight enabled trick shots around or under overhanging branches. The Cortland lines were great but only lasted a couple of seasons, the Rio lines are still giving good service after 5+ years.

I tried a silk line but despite persevering with it, gave up and spooled it back onto its holder. Watermole and I concluded that I had bought a poor quality line, I won't buy another.

I won't buy another new rod, prices are now over £1k. Lines have breached the £100 mark and reels seem to be about £500. My five Bob Southwell fly rods will see me out :-)

[Watermole+]

I think you chaps are in a different league when it comes to fishing tackle!
I don't understand the technicalities of either rods or lines but do understand that the rod-any rod- has to be matched with a line to get the best out of it.
Sometimes I feel that the whole world has just become too technical for its own good. At one time, we had just one reel and line on it. Go to a big reservoir today and you see people with at least two rods and a case full of spare spools for their reels amongst their 'essential' fishing luggage, each loaded with a different line! Some go just to demonstrate their ability to hit the horizon with a 'shooting head' or what-have-you and the fishing somehow fits in around it..

I fish today the same as I always did; I cast my line and fish for the simple pleasure of doing so and my rod can pitch the line-with fly in tow-to any part of the rivers I have fished, I am guessing the same ones which you now fish Nigel-without any bother and have never felt that I was missing something.. Most times you only cast two, three-maybe four rod lengths to reach any part of the pool..

Yes, I did try plastic lines when they first appeared in tackle shops. I recall buying an "Air-Cel Supreme", maybe 1960? which cost a fortune and remember the disappointment.. Yes, it floated well enough, but was as thick as rope, compared to my 'Kingfisher' and could only get half of it on my reel-which meant buying another reel! It was a garish white and after only two seasons, the outside cracked in a thousand places and it had to be thrown away.

'Fast' rods mean high-speed casting action, if I read that right. In my world, I like to fish as slow and as gently as possible and have always maintained that most fly fishers put ten times too much energy into a cast than is actually needed. In fact, if you deliberately slow down, you will be surprised at how 'lazy' you can cast and still put the fly where you want.. Well, that has been my experience...

I have to say that the prices quoted here for rods, lines etc are frightening!
I don't know where you buy from but to my thinking, £500 for a fly reel is incomprehensible ..My first 'bought' reel was a Young's 3" Condex which cost £2 new. It has a reasonable capacity, holding a Kingfisher trout line and 30-40 yards of backing, more than enough for any river I have fished for trout. In fact i have never been run into the backing by any trout.

You can shop around buy the same reel second-hand today in very good condition for maybe £20 or a little more. It has a simple ratchet and does the same job as anything with a couple of noughts on the end of the price. In the late 1950s I graduated to a Hardy 'LRH Lightweight' at 3 3/16" which is lighter than the Condex and still in use today.

The same reel with my Kingfisher line. Rod is an 8', swelled butt and home-made..





Silk lines of good quality are not prohibitively expensive. You buy a plastic line and replace it in a couple of years. You invest in a silk line and don't buy another-if you look after it. A matter of Long-term economics...
Of course, it depends on how you fish. Oliver Kite bought a new silk one virtually every year, but he fished them very hard almost every day without mercy or care. It is up to the individual, how they look after tackle..

My riverside days are now very limited so I try to spend them as slowly as possible and get the maximum pleasure, fishing each little stickle and run without the need to rush about, 'covering' as others do (but seldom fishing..) as much water as possible..

Looking forward to next season now..

wm+

[Moley]

Dear WM

Fat Mole here. Your musings about modern fly fishers with the need for ridiculous levels of tackle has to my mind, admittedly with limited capability at best, the ring of veracity. Most of my fishing is on Chalk Streams where so long as you can cast with some accuracy, the need for prodigious casting effort to sling your budgie sized lure to the horizon is not a skill necessary for success. Trout are, let's be honest with ourselves here, not the sharpest tool in the box and only require a feather wrapped round a hook to be fooled onto the bank. And not even that at times, yes like Mr O K a bare hook, twitched at the right moment has resulted in many a fish on the bank. It is showmanship but used to prove a point about the efficacy of seeing the fish, or at least it is by Fatty.

The point is trout don't care whether the tackle used has a well known label on it or the latest Carlos Fandango piece of equipment recommended by the dedicated magazines. So long as presentation is up to muster, after it is cast in the general direction of the fish, usually a bite will follow as night follows day.

The use of truly eye wateringly expensive reels with breaking systems that can stop a charging Rhino, by anglers that at best are adequate, never ceases to amaze but after some thought Fatty has come to the conclusion that it does no real harm, keeps reel makers in work, they look jolly nice and do give a little frisson of pleasure when attached to the rod at the start of the session. A Hardy Perfection is the guilty pleasure in this case, but in mitigation it wasn't the silly money charged for them today as it was over fifty years ago when it was bought new by a not so Fat young Mole. It still works and apart from a few battle scars looks good and makes the Fat Oaf using it smile when he does so.

The rod is newer but is glass made by a local man who didn't charge the earth and does everything needed, when it is needed.

Unlike yourself silk line is something that I just can't get on with and Cortland was a manufacturer recommended to a Younger version a long time ago. Double taper line is used because the presentation is good and when the line starts to wear it is but a simple matter to reverse and reload on the reel so it's like new again. Once a week usage means in practice and some care ie a wipe down after each session that you should get Ten years out of it. PLUS old line is less stiff and sits in the water in a way that presents the Klinkhamer flies in a more attractive manner.

In fact the most expensive part of Fatty's trout fishing is the membership of two clubs to fish the Chalk.....that really is arm and leg territory with regard to costs.

Everything about the Mole is scruffy and disreputable apart from the bespoke pies. Bought a new fishing bag to house them, as the old bag had rotted, from a previously mentioned purveyor of tackle in Stockbridge and nearly fainted at the price.

Matron nearly hit her spouse for embarrassing her in such fine company but Fatty did get a discount for cash......he may look gormless but is still a cunning old whatnot when it come to parting with readies!

As ever,.......

Moley