First coast trip 2011
I managed to get to the coast last saturday. Finally. The sky was a clear blue and there was a fair wind blowing from the west.
I was supposed to write an assignment, but due to a missed course day, I failed entirely at understanding the task at hand and thus elected to go fishing instead.
The water was clearer than schnapps and/or vodka. I was entirely alone on the coast. Birds were singing and I felt the sun on my face.
I started out with a piggy on the bombarda and fished a stretch of about 300 meters in 30 minutes. Nothing at all. I swapped to the 12g stripper, but lost it to a very stubborn bit of seaweed after 10 minutes and swapped back to a Polar Magnus on the bombarda and fished back the stretch to the car. On my last cast, the line got all tangled and snapped by the fly so I lost that as well.
I did get to try out my new wading jacket and can't understand why I haven't acquired one before now. It's great with the pockets and my new net sits nicely in the loop on the back for just that. Ohh, and the extra handwarming softly lined pockets behind the other pockets. It's magic.
New gear
My old fishing rod and reel have both seen better days. I bought them about 2 1/2 years ago and they have been with me every time I have been either at the coast or by the lake. I have cought numerous rainbow trout and 3 sea trout on it. I have alto caught 2 small cod on it and a hell of a lot of seaweed.
All this use has made the ferrule (the join between the two sections of the rod) quite worn and loose, so for a while, I have gotten used to checking that it's still put together firmly every 5-6 casts. I have been very close to loosing the tip sections several times.
The old reel has actually been excellent and it still works. Ok, it doesn't run as smoothly as it did when it was new and the break is getting slightly wobbly. The chrome on the handle is starting to chip from all the saltwater as well.
So I have ventured out to spend a little bit on a new rod and reel.
This could be a review of the new items, but it isn't. I simply have neither the experience nor the desire to review anything these days. So this is just what it is:
The Rod:
Seems like a really nice rod. A whole foot longer than my old rod and carbon fibre, which makes is significantly lighter. The cork handle is nice quality and the fastening mechanism of the reel will take a little getting used to. The rod is in 3 sections and while this is a potential disadvantage to the action of the rod, it is outweighed by the compact size of the rod in the bag. I drive a Lupo and haven't previously been able to fit neither flyrod nor spinning rod in the boot, so this is a welcome change.
The rod just feels nice. Mind you, I still haven't had the time to fish with it, but from everything I hear and my own hunch, it's gonna be really nice.
The Reel:
If not pretty, this reel is cheap. It feels like my old reel, but comes with an extra spool included. The two spools are identical. It has rear drag (old one had front drag) which is quite a sensitive thing with a small ratio, making it slightly more difficult to adjust accurately. I'm sure I can get used to that. The line placement is better than my old reel, more even. It's a fine reel. Nothing more to it.
The rod and reel in combination feel kinda strange. The reel is quite heavy compared to the rod, which means that the weight is distributed kinda strange. I hope it will be an advantage when casting, but I will find out monday.
A note on line:
I have been fishing with Fireline in 0.17mm for a while now, and while it was a huge improvement on traditional nylon lines, it has bothered me that the line is flat and not round. It also seems to fray quite easily. It's hard to tie knots with it and it feels kinda stiff.
So I have bought some Spiderwire Ultracast in 0.14mm and it feels better. Not only is it nice to have it so thin, but it actually feels more supple and round. I look forward to fishing with the whole setup to see how it works.
I had a full 1000m roll of clear 28mm nylon rolling about, so I have filled the extra spool with that. It might come in handy if fishing on a day where the air is below freezing - as this tends to make braided lines quite stiff.