With this motley array of bits and pieces I got to work, it was not going to be pretty, in fact as ugly goes it was at the front of the queue. It took a couple of days but this was the final product.
As well as being a coarse angler I also for many years have loved sea angling,both beach and boat fishing. Back in early 2015 I was aboard the charter boat ‘Famous’ at Hartlepool, looking around at the anglers it was noticeable that all the gear, including my own was very modern, no fibreglass to be seen, and even less cane, also, the reels were all very modern high spec multipliers.
Speaking with the skipper, another David, I mentioned that a big centrepin reel of the type that was used probably 50 years ago would do the job just as well, and in fact I bet him that I could make a rod and reel for next to nothing and catch fish. It was not a bet really , but it had got me thinking.
In the next week or two the thought just kept niggling away, so one day I decided to make a big wooden pin and a bamboo pole rod, everything was to be done on the cheapest of cheap, I sourced an old iron bed frame, and timber from a skip just down the road, I already had a plentiful supply of bamboo canes, the whippings were old shark dacron and a spool of blue nylon thread that had been thrown out when a local clog factory had ceased trading. The rings were made from galvanised farming wire that a local farmer had donated.
With this motley array of bits and pieces I got to work, it was not going to be pretty, in fact as ugly goes it was at the front of the queue. It took a couple of days but this was the final product. I know it will cause shock and horror amongst the readers and contributors of this fine internet publication, but it was made to prove a point, that things do not need to be expensive, or have a good brand name to be serviceable and do the job.
The rod was as stiff as a bargepole, virtually no bend in it at all, the reel was agricultural at best, but however it was a ‘true pin’ as the spool if you can call it that was lined with a steel tube and had a central pin in the tube to stop any undue wear. It had cost probably £1.00, and that was for the epoxy glue that I used. When it was finished I admit it made me smile. I christened it ‘The Beast’ for compared to modern tackle, indeed any tackle that is what it most certainly was.
The day arrived, we had booked the charter boat, and I was to use “The Beast” to prove that rods and reels do not have to be expensive . There is only a poor photo of the trip, fuzzy and lacking in any finesse, however it shows that “The Beast” was capable of matching any expensive outfit , in fact the lack of finesse just about sums up the Beast.
I caught any amount of Cod and Ling that day using ‘The Beast.’ It proved itself beyond all expectations, although I will say that my arms ached at the end of the day . It had provided at first very wry looks from the other anglers, then in use laughter, but when it handled anything that was thrown at it the crew actually started to warm to the idea.
One thing that amused me more than anything was the comment from the skipper, “You could have made it a bit prettier.“
I would think that had the beast been around 60 or 70 plus years ago and in use, nobody would have raised an eyebrow, for such as that is all they had. Fast forward a year. I was browsing through a well known internet auction site and came across the genuine article, a split cane but un named boat rod, with full whippings, cork handle and good chrome, at less than £5.00 including rod bag and some end gear I had to have it, especially as it was collect from less than ten miles away.
I decided I would show David the Skipper that ‘The Beast’ had a prettier relation, but the agricultural reel could not be used or adapted, I started again, still using the cheapest of ingredients, I constructed a second pin for use with the new split cane boat rod. This time I used brass fittings, rescued and remodelled from an old brass letter plate, nice brass screw cups, stainless bolts and nuts (rescued from a redundant fuel pump) I painted the bed frame reel seat and gave the plain redwood reel body a coat of stain, then yacht varnish to give it a bit of protection
Alongside ‘The Beast’ it looked quite upper class with its shiny chrome, split cane and intermediate whippings and clean cork handle. I had to give it a name, Beauty did just not seem to suit it, so I called it Archie, I know not why , I had only ever given one rod a name before and it was laid there next to it, Archie it was . As always I had strived to be as frugal as possible in the reel build , the remainder of the bed frame had been used, and a rescued wardrobe had provided the timber but this time there were a few strokes of stain and varnish to add to the cost and a few brass screw cups.
All else amounted to a few pennies. Soon a trip was planned, we turned up on the alloted day and I presented ‘Archie’ to the other anglers and David the skipper, this time there was no derision, no wry smiles, but a lot of interest, how would it perform? I admit I was a tad worried, the cane felt ok, but the strain put upon it may be just too much , what would happen if I caught a fish that would put a bend in the rod ? What would happen if I snagged the bottom and could not release line fast enough?
This and a thousand other questions shot through my mind, but they were all misplaced, Archie and his classy brass clad reel performed faultlessly, again proving that expensive does not always mean the best. Archie with a little help from myself tamed some Cod, Ling, Mackerel, Pouting and Whiting that day, without so much as a murmur.
Archie and ‘The Beast’ now have earned a respectable retirement, but still get used once a year to remind myself as well as anybody else who cares that names, brands, and cost mean nothing when it comes down to basics, which is where all fishing rods, in fact all fishing tackle was developed from way back in the mists of time.
OMR August 2022.
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