Fosters of Ashbourne – fly rod refurbishment

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Nigel Rainton
Rainbow Trout
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Re: Fosters of Ashbourne – fly rod refurbishment

Post by Nigel Rainton »

Pete,

I agree, I made the ferrules fit by attaching the male to a drill chuck, it would have taken ages if it was attached to the rod and therefore unable to rotate !
I think that it is generally accepted that about 1/4" gap should be left to allow for wear. I bought a brass ferrule for £5 and that fitted perfectly as supplied. I think the problem is caused by the parts being produced on a CNC milling machine which is incapable of marrying the two components, that can only be done by hand at extra cost. The male ferrule still had the machine marks on it. I will still use these ferrules in the future but I will be prepared to finish them off :-)

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Nigel Rainton
Rainbow Trout
Posts: 3337
Joined: Thu Nov 29, 2012 6:07 pm
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Location: Dartmoor
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Re: Fosters of Ashbourne – fly rod refurbishment

Post by Nigel Rainton »

I tested the rod at Hazel Copse. It is heavy ! I had to slow my casting action down. I used an AFTM #4 floating line, the rod would probably suit a heavier line. Next time I will try a #5.

I had the main lake to myself and the weather was perfect, a gentle south westerly breeze and broken sunshine. The fish were moving and it wasn't long before I had a confident take on a black buzzer. The rod soaked up the lunges of the fish and it wasn't long before I was netting a rainbow trout.

Image

The next fish tore off 20 yards of fly line in its first run and I didn't see it until it was nearly ready for netting, it fought very deep and I thought it might be a big brownie. It was a rainbow about 2 1/2lbs foul hooked in the side :-(

The last fish was also a rainbow which I hooked, close to the bank, under the branches of an overhanging tree.

While I was nursing the last fish in the landing net prior to it's release, a signal crayfish crawled into the landing net and attacked the trout ! It nearly had my fingers !

The rod has a nice action and is quite powerful but it is too heavy for me. Despite all the hard work on this cane rod I prefer my carbon Hardy Favourite AFTM #4-5.

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