TomBettle

Yep! I do use a Shimano Speedmaster 6 / 12 which will just about cope with 10oz and bait / lure, but it is extreme and the tip is doubled over. A rod that will take 12oz is going to be closer to 12lb class. Kam, why do you need 12oz when drifting? Even mid channel you should hardly ever (somwetimes Hurds Deeps) require more than 10oz on the drift. UK rods are roughly rated as follows (the rules are differnt for IGFA ratings). The line class of the rod is +/- 5 times the test curve. The test curve is the amount of pressure to bend the rod into it's 90degree fighting curve. Therefore and approximate as all manufacturers vary a little. Also I have shown an approximate coarse fishig rating for the lighter rods to get an idea of how our gear compares to the fresh water anglers. 6lb class = 1.2lb test curve (Typical Tench rod power) 12lb class = 2.4lb test curve (Typical Carp rod power) 15lb class = 3lb test curve (Typical Pike rod power) 20lb class = 4lb test curve (Ideal for Nile Perch!) 30lb class = 6lb test curve (Monster Catfish!) 50lb class = 10lb test curve (what's the point in skull dragging?) Line class bares very little resemblance to the actual size of fish you can capture. Remember the above are UK based ratings for "our style" of fishing. They very roughly indicate the sort of line braking strain that can be used to balance the gear although this is becoming less relevant nowdays with ultra thin and strong braids. I for one use 12lb to 16lb braid on my 6lb class rod and 16lb to 23lb braid on my 12lb class rod. IGFA ratings are, for some unknown reason, totally differnt from our own. I have cut and pasted this directly from Alba rods website. Again this is an indication and each manufacturer has their own ratings. IGFA STANDARD 12lb 20lb 30lb 50lb 80lb 130lb UK EQUIVELANT 30lb 50lb 50- 80lb 80lb none none Blue Water anglers will often use a rough ratio of 10:1 for their IGFA ratings. What I mean is that they will choose a rod of about 1/10 the rating of the typical size fish they expect. 12lb class will be used for fish to 120lb and so on. This is not a science and much larger fish can be taken on improbably light gear and then on the flip side, some reef based game fish like GT's do require a level of bullying or you'll be smashed on the coral. Using UK ratings I set my own guidelines of what I am comfortable with to handle the conditions on the day. Very rarely do I set my gear to the fish I plan to catch, more to the amount of lead I require to fish. The possible exception to this would be Common Skate for which I would edge around the UK 50lb class purely because brute force is required to shift these rather ponderous kites. Not a science, my own guidelines. Each angler will set their own. 6lb class up to 10oz of lead MAX (more comfotable with 6oz on the drift) 12lb class up to 12oz of lead MAX (maybe 1lb at a real push downtiding) 20lb class up to 1.25lb lead MAX (will use 1.5lb if I really have to, but hard work) 30lb class up to 2lb of lead. If I ever need to use more than 2lb of lead I simply don't bother fishing. The fish we catch in UK waters are just not worth the effort on a heavy 30lb class rod whilst dragging around 2lb of lead. Tom

...can't see anything? Is there a picture?

Why on earth would they get stolen....? Even if they did, make sure you get the builder to put your name on the rod along with maybe the production number of the range then it is 100% unique to you. If the spotty herbert really wants to take off the high build to etch out the ID details then he will now have lost virtually all the value in it in the first place. I am not quite sure of the problem here Rich. I am not selling these rods, but have been asked to test one, offer constructive criticism to the builders and review the rod publicly with some genuine opinions of my own. That is what I have done. There is always a place for the low end gear and the high end gear. There was never an argument expected about price. The difference is one uses high quality parts, fittings and is hand crafted whereas the other uses cheap parts and is turned in Japan. No problem with either. The whole point of the builder asking for it to be tested is he wants feedback from normal anglers about the rod, not the price. Personally I feel that

That's the kiddy Duncan. Amazing butt, fantastic priest and a top that was great for tieing in knots! *** I directed Stan to take a look at the comments on here and he found them useful. Thanks for the feedback!!!! He has mentioned in passing (through email, he's Scottish and doesn't speak English or certainly not in any dialect I have ever heard) that there are UK spec 4lb and 6lb class rods available. I have asked him for the low down on length and action of both of these rods and as always the basics (grips, rings, wraps) will be customised for you. Adam, and for that matter anyone else, would you like the details when I get them? Tom

Just as an add on to Rich getting the wrong end of the stick (pardon the punn) on the Ugly Stik inference... An Ugly Stik is a very useable rod, if that is what you like, but the weight of them is phenomenal and the materials, whilst good are very dated. (don't get me wrong, I was brought up with an original Ugly Stik 15lb class and still have fond memories) The rings alone on the Alba cost more "trade" than the whole Ugly Stik at retail. This is tackle snobbery at it's best, but there is something very special about knowing you are using one of the best tools for a job and even more snobbery knowing that it was built just for you with the grips of your choice, the wraps of your choice and even the rings of your choice. If anyone wants to wave it around, I'll bring in the mark 1 at the next meeting... If I have the butt back from Stan as I have sent this away for some mods to make it more user friendly for downtiding in it's current "mark 1" form..

Stunning upgrade to the photo's, THANKS! Just as an add on to this catch report, as mentioned the, tackle being used was being tested by me and reviews writte for the WSF website. I thought it might be useful to simply cut and paste the reviews onto PBSBAC for reference by anyone looking for new gear. Tom

Hi Guys Another tackle review from your truly. I purchased this reel to balance to a rod that I have also just tested (the Alba 6lb class "Longboat"). The review below has been cut and pasted directly from WSF. Feel free to add your own take on this reel if you have used it. I thought these reviews may help would be buyers make up their minds. Avet SX Around

Hi guys For information, this review was done after a forum member of WSF sent me a rod to try. Stan Massey hand builds rods from various blanks manufacturers, in this instance it was Conoflex. Stan's brief was to try and build a really good all rounder, my brief was to try and pull it apart: The initial review cut and paste from WSF Expected selling price of this hand crafted rod will be around

I think Jack has sussed it. A slight sea is anything that you could describe frm just more than smooth to the biggest of "short chops". Basicaly, slight can still be very uncomfortable for us small boat anglers. Most bigger boat owners don't need to wory until sea states get to moderate or beyond, but we are usually thinking of coming home when the word moderate is mentioned. Tom

It is a good reel I agree. I certainly wouldn't put it anywhere close to an Accurate (I have owned several), but worth it's weight in gold for most applications. ...It doesn't particularly suit drifting a wreck for no other reason than the spool is too small and even with it's 5:1 retrieve ratio it is flipping tiring working a lure with it. My little (or big in comparison to the Avet S) Torium 16 is a dream for drifting wrecks and the Avet will stay firmly in it's box when trips like that are on the card in future. I am doing a bit of "Big" fish fishing this year and the Avet will be pressed into action for some improbable action against Blue Shark etc. Please read the reviews I have written and comment if you would like on the new review section on the WSF website. Tom

Dan I think the one above is 14lb 8oz and this one was 15lb 14oz..... ....Can't actually remember.

Myself and Quest II co-owners, Malcolm and Paul, headed off mid channel yesterday after a very lazy start we were underway by about 09:00 and pointing more or less due South 25 miles to our first mark. A gorgeous morning with light Force 2 to 3 breezes saw only a very slight sea and a minimial bouncing as we crossed the race a Portland. The lazy start was for us to use the tide to our advantage and give us an extra knot or two up the rear end. This was important, Quest II, the poor old girl, has hardly been out since the Summer and was rather scabby underneath, but with the extra tide we still managed a 14 to 15 knot cruising speed comfortably. Our mornings wrecks had been chosen to still fall inside Poole Bay club waters and then we were to use the slack tide to head off to the car park of charter boats some distance to the West to fish the flood tide to get us home. I was using the day to test some new gear, both of which now have reviews on the WSF website's reviews page. 1) A stunningly built, by hand, rod from Alba rods. http://www.alba-rods.co.uk StanM on WSF is "Alba rods" and builds these incredible works of art for the same sort of money as a top end off the shelf product. The rod I was trying is still in it's prototype stages and it was set up to try and be as much of an all rounder as possible. This little girl carries an IGFA 6lb class rating, but it has immense back bone and in "our speak" I would give it a UK rating of 12lb to 16lb class. Stunningly put together I have been pretty objective in my review and offered tips for anyone who maybe looking to treat themselves to something ever so special themselves. 2) Matched with the new rod was a tiny little Avet SX reel. This baby lever drag offers incredible levels of power in something that is 5500 to 6000 size. Again it really is a little work of art and again the review I have written of it is totally objective. Back to the fishing. It was close to 11:00 by the time I backed the engine off and the first of our wrecks loomed up on the zoom setting of the fish finder. On the zoom feature of a C120 she looked huge, but in reality she only stood some 12 feet off the seabed. Still, plenty of fish seemed to be showing tucked in behind so after calculating our drift I headed 150metres or so uptide, pointed Quest II north and cut the engine. Drift speed was perfect, we drifted the wreck, nothing. We headed up a further 5 times to drift over the rusting hulk and eventually Paul managed one small Pollack of about 5lb so rather than flog a dead horse we headed a further 3 miles South to a "dead cert".... ....good friend and possibly the countries best charter skipper Chris Caines with a full crew on board "Tiger Lily" were already over the mark so we guessed we were on the money (if he is there then the fish are too!), but as I backed off the engine and settled in for our first drift, he rather despondently waved, started his engine and began steaming North West to the "car park". "Oh" I thought, "doesn't look like this was a wise move after all." However we still had a couple of hours of ebb tide behind us, 12 miles to steam if we were to fish the car park too and we had come some 28 miles so we thought we'd give it a bash. First drift and I missed the main bulk of the wreck just skimming down what appeared to be the bow section. Next drift was spot on and we all hit fish just as what I guess was the accommodation block came onto the sounder. Rising some 30 feet above the seabed she seemed full of fish with soundings showing a further 30 feet off her highest point. We each had different lures on. Paul was on a bright orange 6" shad, Malcolm on a very well used red gill and I was using a Berkley "Gulp" fire tail jelly worm. All of us were fishing typical flying collar rigs and it didn't seem to matter what you put down, for a few drifts the fish were simply "avin it". Initially we were catching small fish in the five to nine pounds bracket. They were all coming just in front and immediately on top of the wreck, but as the tide began to ease a fraction we managed to time it that we missed the smaller fish to drop in tight behind the wreck where I knew the big late winter fish would be hiding. No monsters, but a succession of fish in the 12lb to 16lb bracket found there way into the landing net. The pictures of fish below are actually to try and show the rod and reel off, but in the net is my biggest of the day at an ounce or two short of 16lb and the one with me holding aloft came in at 14lb 8oz. After we had a dozen or so fish between us the tide began to ease. It was incredible to watch, but in the space of one drift the whole shoal of large fish that were showing on the fish finder tight behind the wreck moved on mass to in front of the wreck. A the same time they switched off the feed like a clock. I can only assume that they were preparing themselves for the forthcoming flood tide? One more drift showed all we were to catch now was to be pout so we began a steady steam West to join the melay.... ...As we approached the "car park" we could see dozens and dozens of boats in the distance. A few were dotted about individually, but I counted a total of 8 pairs that appeared to be fishing in perfect tandem. As we got within a couple of miles you could clearly see what was going on. Working around the wrecks were 8 separate sets of pair trawlers . I've never seen anything like it they were simply carving their way through everything and working the whole area. In amongst these sea bed destroyers were quite a number of charter boats from both the Weymouth and Exmouth fleets. We headed a little way past the bundle of boats to fish our own wreck. It soon became clear why nobody else was on it. There were no fish either! The tide had just turned so at about 15:00 we headed East with it shoving us along at up to 17.5 knots cruising (fast for Quest II and my tight fisted RPM control) to fish a couple of wrecks on the way home. By this time the weather had changed and was getting decidedly breezy with a stiff Force 5 and very chilly bite to it. Our hearts were no longer in it and a few half hearted takes from fish didn't see any in the net so we headed on into Weymouth running tight with Tiger Lily once again. The charter boats faired a little better than us by all accounts. Talks of 50 or so fish seemed to be the average for full charter crews. The three of us had a dozen or so to about 16lb, but our morning had been very short and our afternoon little more than a tour of the English Channel. Hard work, hard fishing with an OK result, but simply great to get back out on the water!!! Tom Notes to fish recorder: All Pollack were inside club waters (by a gnats wotsit) with my best of the day being 15lb 14oz (lower reading).

We run a lot of our customer insurance through Denovo (as well as my own) and I was on the phone to them earlier and just mentioned they had lost a deal to Craft Insure. The guy I was speaking to advised to check the level of cover as mentioned above.

Jason With regards to insurance: Seriously recommend you check your level of cover. I use Denovo myself and it is very good cover albeit marginally more. Check that your policy includes use at night (you are going to go out at night at some point) Check that your policy doesn't have an increased excess for "Under water gear" (some don't even cover this) and apart from an accident in a marina, it is this that is going to get damaged on most other occasions. Go with whoever you feel is best, but remember you get what you pay for.....

Yes Terry, both of them and I still have a very smart camera here....

The biggest school of mullet I have seen in ages is currently milling around the fuel berth at Salterns. I have my flyrod here and have spent the last 10 minutes running around trying to find materials to make a fly up, but, alas, all my diddy hooks are at home...

Hoping to get out on Friday. Had a toss up between early Plaice on the Shambles (thin and watery...?) or wrecking for Pollack and the chance of a big Ling (hit and miss). Well the guys ahve voted for the wrecking so that is what we will try and do. If it comes good, I'll place a report. Tom

Good luck with your new boat Jason and Alan, hope you don't mind, but I've mentioned your friends boat to a few people in passing.

That was my window to the world of PBSBAC. Are we getting it back again?

Thanks Paul You are a star

Well I am blowed! That is members of the old Oxford and District Sea Angling club before it was disbanded. Two of the guys fishing are now co-owners of Quest!!!

All I want to say is WELCOME TO PBSBAC the best small boat angling club in the UK. 8lb or 80lb you are very welcome.