Lincolnshire.....
We left off last time with me catching a decent pike from a local drain. With the exception of the day it had been dredged I haven't failed to get a take off a hungry Pike. With this in mind I rang my friend and Pike aficionado 'poacher' Ken. You may remember me telling him about dead-cert Pike venues in the past only for us to go and blank. Anyway at the start of the month Ken popped over after work one evening and we stopped off a Big Catch Tackle in chapel St Leonards on the way. I bought a few lures while Ken emerged from the rod room with a shiny new lure rod and a big smile.
The drain looked in fine condition as we pulled into the layby and we both hurried out expectantly. Two hours and about half a mile of drain later all we had to show for our efforts was one dropped fish to my rod. I couldn't believe it, it was almost devoid of life, very odd. Fishing had made me look an idiot again........or was it Ken? I had suspicions about him being a jinx before and now I'm almost convinced. Seriously though, I'm not that superstitious but it is very annoying. I'll put him on some fish soon (please dear God). At least the sunset gave us something to look at..........
Where Next?
I quite enjoyed my lure exploits at the forgotten lakes so I headed back there on my next day off. As usual something pretty special was going on in the depression they sit in. You approach them high on a ridge and it gives a great panoramic view for miles around. It is like a amphitheatre for wildlife. I often see Deer, Rabbits, game birds and the occasional Fox. On this particular day all the action was in the sky. A big bird of prey (prob a Buzzard) was being chased and harried by a murder of crows. Fascinating to watch and it was cutting up pretty rough. How was the fishing Phil? Well, for want of a better word it was rubbish. Once again the sunset saved the day..............
Next up to try was my favourite river, surely I could tempt something from there? With one of the driest Septembers on record it was low but that wasn't the main problem. I had hoped the Environment Agency would have been and dragged the banks as they do every year for drainage purposes. Unfortunately they hadn't and even in the places I could get down to the river I either had to contend with floating weed.....
or a carpet of bank-to-bank streamer weed.........
It was a dead-loss and I was running out of ideas. As you can see it was a lovely day and I suddenly thought of the lake behind the farm where the Carp would feed off the top in warm weather. A quick stop off at the shop to get some dog biscuits and I was in business. I only had my nine foot lure rod but I was confident it could handle anything I was going to (hopefully) hook. The lake was devoid of other anglers but I did have company in the shape of the owners dog, a little dog-biscuit-loving terrier. He eagerly ate any spillages out of my catapult as I floated some biscuits across the lake. Sure enough after a few minutes the Carp started feeding sporadically. They were a bit far away but luckily they followed the baits all the way to the opposite bank. I made my way around and cast out a free lined biscuit on a size six hook to 8lb double strength line.
The first fish I hooked was an absolute beast. It stayed deep and was fighting slowly but doggedly. I was sure it was a very big fish so took my time and tried to tire it out. The fish was having none of it though and after gaining a bit of line it kited left and tried to go around an overhanging tree. I sank my rod tip as far under water as I could in the hope the line wouldn't snag on the branches. It was however, too late and my rod was too short. A few minutes later I pulled for a break and the Carp had already shed the hook as it came free from the snags. I was gutted although luckily I did manage one more fish, a nice mirror of fourteen pounds.......
It was tough going. Carp are never easy fooled on the top, even less so at the end of the summer when they have seen every surface set-up there is. As you probably already know my ethos is simple- a nice reliable low-diameter line and a hook buried in a softened biscuit. Forget a controller, I can cast a wet Bakers Meaty Meal fifty yards or more. Even with these tactics the Carp would more often than not reject the offering at the last minute, sometimes comically. They would come up and brush past the bait, flicking it with their tail as if to say- I'm not falling for that, try again. Nothing spurs me on more than being taunted by a creature with a brain the size of a golf ball so I went back a few times (with a proper Carp rod) and luckily I managed to catch on every occasion. A nice Common of just over fifteen pounds.......
Another lovely Common carp.......
The biggest fell on my last visit. A Common again, Sixteen pounds seven ounces........
You may remember me telling you about some rumoured big Perch also in the venue. On each visit I had a few casts with some small rubber lures. It wasn't until the last visit that I had some takers. Unfortunately they were tiny but it gives me hope just getting a few takes. The fading light seems to trigger them into action........
Last chance saloon
The end of the month was nearing and was conscious of the fact that apart from some relatively unimpressive Perch I only really had some Carp to tell you about and that would never do. I decided to head over to the Bream river to see what was about. The river was desperately low but I did manage a few Roach on legered breadflake. Not really what I was after but nice all the same..........
As luck would have it a few days later I had been left in charge of the chaos twins so I decided to take them down to the drain were Ken and I had visited at the start of the month. With the dogs running riot in a freshly ploughed field I prayed they wouldn't get shot by the farmer while I had a few casts with some rubber lures. The drain was painfully low and clear but I had one of these little blighters every twenty yards or so............
It was a total turnaround from the frankly embarrassing visit with Ken. It was like a different place altogether. Seriously, I lost count of the number of Pike I caught. A better specimen.......
Biggest of the day.........
Tackle talk
I can't remember the last time I bought a brand new reel so with a few pennies saved over the summer season I decided to treat myself to a couple. As I am always getting sidetracked they would be used for pretty much everything. I've always stuck to a couple of well known brands too and I wanted to try and be more open minded about that.
First up is the Okuma Trio 30 in white.
The next one I bought was a Fox Rage Ultron 2500 for £49.95.
Wow, what a looker. Could the performance live upto the looks? Sadly not. It seemed to tick all the boxes- light, good spool size, 6 bearings, drag markings etc. First up the reel isn't nearly as smooth as the Okuma. Mine even has a very slight 'click' on retrieve. Barely noticeable and fine by me, I like a bit of character. The foam handle (presumably a weight saving feature) is bordering on unpleasant to touch. Again something I could live with. The thing that really annoys me though is the bail arm. On a forceful cast it would occasionally flip over resulting in me looking like a novice with my rig/lure crashing into the water by my feet. It's had several outings (handling a double figure Pike admirably along the way) and I really tried to like it but for the fishing I do I can't live with it. For gentle work or jigging off a boat it would be fine. I put it almost straight back on eBay. A shame really. Overall a 4 out of 10.
Just a quick word about the Carp rods I used this month. A while back a pair of Shimano Perfection 2 1/4 lb test curve rods came up on one of those facebook local items for sale sites. They were at a second hand shop nearby for £30! The mind boggles at the price they must have got them for. A bargain and a real joy to use. Look out for some........
It was made from three pieces of cast aluminium - the reel back, the spool backplate and the spool front. It was finished on his lathe (a Myford lathe made locally at Beeston in Nottingham) with brass drum pillars. It ran on two ball bearings around a central shaft, rather than a 'centre pin' like the Aerial or Young's reel. This made it spin very freely - ideal for trotting on the local river Trent.
Harry Reynolds made the reels in his workshop - a shed behind his house at Twelve Houses and later at Queens Avenue, Ilkeston. He bought the sand and aluminium, needed for casting, from the Stanton Iron Works. The brass for the drum core pillars came from a local shop and the bearings from Ransome and Marr of Newark. The fact that so many of the materials needed to make the reel came from the Stanton Iron Works, has led to the theory that the Works management influenced Harry to re-name his reel 'The Stanton' - as collectors know it today.
During the Second World War, the Stanton Iron Works joined the war effort and Harry began working in the Mould Boring Shop, making gun barrels. The green, or virgin sand, needed for casting his reels was now in short supply, so Harry was unable to make any more reels until around 1942.
A man of many talents, Harry Reynolds made all the furniture for his large family as well as finding time to act as the local barber in 'The Checkers' public house at Stanton by Dale and mechanic to many local car owners!
His two elder sons having joined up, his youngest son, Derek, began helping in the workshop, learning his father’s trade. They made a range of cigarette lighters from bullet cases, large nuts, and one called the book type, as well as his fishing reels, although neither were anglers. Derek's job when making the fishing reels was to make the drum spokes from lengths of brass rod.
Harry made the reels in two sizes, a large 4 3/4" and small 4", with the options of handles and a check. Derek remembers his dad charging two pound ten shillings for the reels around 1955. He later offered the option of a black anodised finish to dull the shine of the aluminium of a newly finished reel.
They would make around half a dozen reels, and then Harry, on a Saturday morning, would get on the train to Sheffield, and sell the reels around the pubs, only returning once all of them were sold. I am led to believe that Sheffield at this time, had one of the largest population of anglers anywhere in the country, so Harry had little problem selling his reels.
Derek stopped helping his dad when he became pre-occupied, having met a young lady who later became his wife, whilst Harry carried on making his reels until his tragic death in a motor accident in 1968.
A reel based on Harry's original design is still available today - the Adcock Stanton.
Many thanks to Derek H. Reynolds, Harry's son and Tom Duro of Cotmanhay for their help in the research for this article."
Wow, what a looker. Could the performance live upto the looks? Sadly not. It seemed to tick all the boxes- light, good spool size, 6 bearings, drag markings etc. First up the reel isn't nearly as smooth as the Okuma. Mine even has a very slight 'click' on retrieve. Barely noticeable and fine by me, I like a bit of character. The foam handle (presumably a weight saving feature) is bordering on unpleasant to touch. Again something I could live with. The thing that really annoys me though is the bail arm. On a forceful cast it would occasionally flip over resulting in me looking like a novice with my rig/lure crashing into the water by my feet. It's had several outings (handling a double figure Pike admirably along the way) and I really tried to like it but for the fishing I do I can't live with it. For gentle work or jigging off a boat it would be fine. I put it almost straight back on eBay. A shame really. Overall a 4 out of 10.
Just a quick word about the Carp rods I used this month. A while back a pair of Shimano Perfection 2 1/4 lb test curve rods came up on one of those facebook local items for sale sites. They were at a second hand shop nearby for £30! The mind boggles at the price they must have got them for. A bargain and a real joy to use. Look out for some........
By far and away my favourite tackle story this month concerns a reel I picked up from a local car boot sale. It turned out to be quite rare........
"The 'Stanton' or 'Reynolds' Reel
by Ian Rotherham
Harry Reynolds made his first fishing reels sometime around 1938, selling them to his friends at the Stanton Iron Works, in Sandiacre near Nottingham, where he was an engineer. Local anglers referred to it as 'The Reynolds Reel'.
by Ian Rotherham
Harry Reynolds made his first fishing reels sometime around 1938, selling them to his friends at the Stanton Iron Works, in Sandiacre near Nottingham, where he was an engineer. Local anglers referred to it as 'The Reynolds Reel'.
It was made from three pieces of cast aluminium - the reel back, the spool backplate and the spool front. It was finished on his lathe (a Myford lathe made locally at Beeston in Nottingham) with brass drum pillars. It ran on two ball bearings around a central shaft, rather than a 'centre pin' like the Aerial or Young's reel. This made it spin very freely - ideal for trotting on the local river Trent.
Harry Reynolds made the reels in his workshop - a shed behind his house at Twelve Houses and later at Queens Avenue, Ilkeston. He bought the sand and aluminium, needed for casting, from the Stanton Iron Works. The brass for the drum core pillars came from a local shop and the bearings from Ransome and Marr of Newark. The fact that so many of the materials needed to make the reel came from the Stanton Iron Works, has led to the theory that the Works management influenced Harry to re-name his reel 'The Stanton' - as collectors know it today.
During the Second World War, the Stanton Iron Works joined the war effort and Harry began working in the Mould Boring Shop, making gun barrels. The green, or virgin sand, needed for casting his reels was now in short supply, so Harry was unable to make any more reels until around 1942.
A man of many talents, Harry Reynolds made all the furniture for his large family as well as finding time to act as the local barber in 'The Checkers' public house at Stanton by Dale and mechanic to many local car owners!
His two elder sons having joined up, his youngest son, Derek, began helping in the workshop, learning his father’s trade. They made a range of cigarette lighters from bullet cases, large nuts, and one called the book type, as well as his fishing reels, although neither were anglers. Derek's job when making the fishing reels was to make the drum spokes from lengths of brass rod.
Harry made the reels in two sizes, a large 4 3/4" and small 4", with the options of handles and a check. Derek remembers his dad charging two pound ten shillings for the reels around 1955. He later offered the option of a black anodised finish to dull the shine of the aluminium of a newly finished reel.
They would make around half a dozen reels, and then Harry, on a Saturday morning, would get on the train to Sheffield, and sell the reels around the pubs, only returning once all of them were sold. I am led to believe that Sheffield at this time, had one of the largest population of anglers anywhere in the country, so Harry had little problem selling his reels.
Derek stopped helping his dad when he became pre-occupied, having met a young lady who later became his wife, whilst Harry carried on making his reels until his tragic death in a motor accident in 1968.
A reel based on Harry's original design is still available today - the Adcock Stanton.
Many thanks to Derek H. Reynolds, Harry's son and Tom Duro of Cotmanhay for their help in the research for this article."
Final word
Wasn't that story about the reel just great? Unfortunately not great enough for me not to sell it. I needed to fund another little project which you'll hear all about next month and I really rather excited by it. As ever you can contact me via email here......
Thanks for reading and I'll leave you with a couple of picture of my fishing buddies and the usual errant self-take.......
Till next time................
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