Hello all, I was out boat fishing recently, and looking around was thnking how much we pay for "modern " gear these days, The "C " word is all around us. Which got me thinking Hmmmm..
I know I can make a rod and basic centrepin reel for boat fishing, how hard can it be, and how cheaply can I do it for ?
Anyway...after a trip to the garden centre for a suitable bit of cane ( 49p ) I used the following to make a basic boat fishing kit.
Some gardening wire,a paint bucket handle, a bit of spare timber left over from making the neighbour a cabinet for his van, a bit of angle iron from an old bed frame,some left over "Eltex" string from about 30 years ago, a spool of thread that had been thrown out from a local cobblers, a bolt, 3 x nuts, and a couple of washers and a bit of steel tube , oh and two screws and two rubber washers.
I have quite a few vintage sea angling books, I searched through the pages and eventually found a plate that showed a vintage boat angler with his rod and reel.
After a few hours of tinkering..... using a bandsaw, a blowlamp and battery drill, plus a few hand tools I had the rod and reel ..
Here is the result.
I used the rod and reel on the next boat trip and caught Ling, Cod, Pouting, and Whiting, much to the amusement of the other anglers, it worked well, equally as well as the hundreds of poundsworth of gear the other anglers were using, and far better than some.The crewman made a video of the trip, showing a Ling being boated using ghe rod and reel .
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mjLUM8W-0yg
I deliberatley did not make the build with any finesse, I could easily have taken more time,and taken greater pains in the whipping and varnishing, but that would not have in my opinion been in the "spirit " of the excercise. I believe in the early days of boat angling at sea, the rods and centrepin reels were at the most workmanlike, with little or no "dressing". In any case
Sadly the end gear got snagged in a wreck and as I tried to pull for a break the rod snapped, undaunted I took it home and repaired it, and now have the Mk 2 version.
I will be using the rod again on my next rough ground boat trip.
OMR
New " Old Style" Cane Boat rod an reel.
- Old Man River
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New " Old Style" Cane Boat rod an reel.
Hurrumph....... whatever happened to Handlines ?
- AshbyCut
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Re: New " Old Style" Cane Boat rod an reel.
What a splendid project, Sir. My glass is being raised in a toast as I type.
"Beside the water I discovered (or maybe rediscovered) the quiet. The sort of quiet that allows one to be woven into the tapestry of nature instead of merely standing next to it." Estaban.
- Barney
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Re: New " Old Style" Cane Boat rod an reel.
Brilliant,well done sir and long may it be of service to you.
Barney
Barney
- Duebel
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Re: New " Old Style" Cane Boat rod an reel.
Just great! Could you please upload a few more pictures with some details.
- Old Man River
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Re: New " Old Style" Cane Boat rod an reel.
Thank you for the kind remarks gentlemen !
Duebel, I will take a few more pictures and do a short explanation on how the reel was constructed.... a very simple build, as economy was the watchword ! I wanted to prove to a few "Tackle Tarts" that expensive equipment does not automatically mean fish, and that our grandfathers manage very well indeed with what they had to hand, which in a lot of cases was not much I suspect.
OMR
Duebel, I will take a few more pictures and do a short explanation on how the reel was constructed.... a very simple build, as economy was the watchword ! I wanted to prove to a few "Tackle Tarts" that expensive equipment does not automatically mean fish, and that our grandfathers manage very well indeed with what they had to hand, which in a lot of cases was not much I suspect.
OMR
Hurrumph....... whatever happened to Handlines ?
- Duebel
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Re: New " Old Style" Cane Boat rod an reel.
"Tackle Tarts"!!! Well, I'd say it's the angler who chatches the fish not the tackle, isn't it.
Keeping it simple and building your own equipement is a fantastic approach to fishing. Well done, OMR!
Some passerby once thought I was fishing illegally only because I used a very simple homemade bamboo pole rod for bleak. He wouldn't have noticed me at all if I'd been fishing with an expensive modern carbon rod. I'll stick to traditional now more then ever!
Keeping it simple and building your own equipement is a fantastic approach to fishing. Well done, OMR!
Some passerby once thought I was fishing illegally only because I used a very simple homemade bamboo pole rod for bleak. He wouldn't have noticed me at all if I'd been fishing with an expensive modern carbon rod. I'll stick to traditional now more then ever!