Leaderboard

And another one

Rare fish nowadays

At Mars ( Mike and Allan's Reel Service) we receive all sorts of different reels. I hope to put up a picture showing an Abu Garcia Fixed Spool called a D4. The clutch is located on a dial ring located under the reel with nos. 1 to 10 on it. Internally, parts are quality stainless or metal and quite heavy by today's standards. Some of the Abu Garcia reels in mint condion from the 60's and 70's are fetching thousands in the States. From the picture, it can be seen that this classic reel has very few parts. The second picture shows a modern big Pit Reel used by Carp Anglers with a bait runner feature which has not yet been stripped down. In this case, a Wychwood costing around £80 new. Much lighter, long cast coned spool, better clutch etc. There are a lot more parts and they are far more complicated.However, lots of plastic and nylon and the bearings are not stainless. I don't think it will be around in four or five years time if used regularly.

One for Stuie !

Thank, sorry to hear you've sold your boat, but I'm so impressed by the generosity of club members to keep you fishing, on another note, the boat I was trying to buy in Spain has fallen through so I'm back in the hunt. Can't think of a better way to enjoy the day.

Easy my 25 year old abused one is fully functional but tatty, my little used second hand model is in near new condition however, it really doesn't matter which one I use as both are loaded with 25lb Crystal Whiplash and work equally well

There are 2 different knots both called FG. I use the single mono version ending in 7 or 8 half hitches like Charlie. It's really strong and thin. I'm pretty quick tying it now but if I was wrecking for instance and need to re- rig fast I'd use a double grinner/uni. One thing about braid to leader knots they are subject to wear on the braid and it's not always obvious, particularly when using lures. It pays to cut them off and strip back a metre or two of braid and re-tie fairly regularly. It can seem like a waste of time until that is the braid gives way under surprisingly little pressure. This particularly seems to affect whiplash, probably because it is so thin to start with.

Thanks Stuie, now collected. I look forward to having the opportunity to use it.

That's what we're hoping for Greg.