Post by theoldfart2 on Jun 11, 2015 6:45:37 GMT
Unfortunately TOF isn't with us but I thought the older members of this site may find this interesting.
Thanks to my son who got this on the website.
We all miss the old bugger and it has taken me a bit of time to go into his shed and sort it out.
I hope some of the things that I found in his fishing tackle will prompt memories ,or encourage younger members to look on line and see the things that were used years ago to catch fish. I wonder if they work today?
So.....We have ,a selection of 'split cane' rods, with cork handles all in canvas type rod bags that nearly fell to bits when moved.
A fibreglass five foot boat rod that he bought the 'kit' for from Angling Times around 1964.
I remember him making it. Basicly it was a Green fibreglass stick about as thick as your thumb at the base and slightly thinner at the tip. Supplied were a set of rings and the handle at the base. You had to tie the rings on and glue the handle on.
He was chuffed to bits when he made it, I remember going out in the boat with him after he made it. That rod had as much bend in it as a piece of steel, but he made it and it was his!
One small green canvas topped fishing seat that folded flat.
Then we had some rusty Mackerel spinners. Made of metal, triangular shaped with a hook at the end.Do they still make them? I must have a look next time I am getting some gear.
Moving on were a selection of artificial fish,hinged in the middle with a sort of bib at the mouth to keep them down I presume.
Cuttle Fish Bones, lots of these, used to stick hooks into and also as Lead Weight Moulds.
He used to cut a shape out of the Cuttle Fish, melt some lead in a tin on the stove and pour it in. You get a fair few out before it burns away. He used to do fish shaped ones with a bit of wire running through so you can put a hook on one end and a swivel on the other, then spend ages painting them. Can't remember him catching anything on them, but it kept him happy.
Spark plugs, tap the bottom over and used as weights and a selection of lead weights using spoons as a mould the theory to that one was when you pulled hard on the line the weight would pop up owing to its shape and when on the bottom would stick down like a Ray does. He lost loads of the things.
There was a fine selection of fixed spool reels and some more vintage ones that seemed to just be a spool with a handle on the end.
In one of the old tackle bags were a packet of five Park Drive ( empty) some old photographs used to cut up into fish shapes as lures off of Yarmouth Pier, a rusty Thermos Flask with cork stopper and two hand lines equipped with 12 rusted hooked feathers and some perished Red Gills from back in the 70s when there used to be Bass down at Brook and we used to get down there with our Seagull Outboard and lots of petrol.
Chuck in a bottle of still liquid fish oil,a jar of salted Cuttlefish that you could use as shoe leather ,'Yes but it stays on the hook,nipper' he used to say. Of course it did, no fish is going to eat that. Then he would take it off after an hour or so and put it back in the jar.
That stuff must go back to the 50s! A Pifco touch with moveable beam and flashing top light,alas not working owing to dissolved battery inside.
One of those fishing knives that are inside a rule that has smaller than real measurements on them ,presumably so the photos of the fish you took looked bigger. I wonder if they still make them?
And apart from his beloved canvas bag that held some of it,and a selection of old Tobacco Tins used for holding small hooks,swivels etc, that was about it.
Fairly basic by today's standards, but as he always used to say to me 'all you need is a hook,weight and swivel,and at night don't cast out further than you can throw a stone underarm'.
Still he did catch a fair few and loved his fishing. He got more with his spear at night, but that as they say,is another story.
And to quote the last words he ever said..
'Take Care'
TOF....RIP
Thanks to my son who got this on the website.
We all miss the old bugger and it has taken me a bit of time to go into his shed and sort it out.
I hope some of the things that I found in his fishing tackle will prompt memories ,or encourage younger members to look on line and see the things that were used years ago to catch fish. I wonder if they work today?
So.....We have ,a selection of 'split cane' rods, with cork handles all in canvas type rod bags that nearly fell to bits when moved.
A fibreglass five foot boat rod that he bought the 'kit' for from Angling Times around 1964.
I remember him making it. Basicly it was a Green fibreglass stick about as thick as your thumb at the base and slightly thinner at the tip. Supplied were a set of rings and the handle at the base. You had to tie the rings on and glue the handle on.
He was chuffed to bits when he made it, I remember going out in the boat with him after he made it. That rod had as much bend in it as a piece of steel, but he made it and it was his!
One small green canvas topped fishing seat that folded flat.
Then we had some rusty Mackerel spinners. Made of metal, triangular shaped with a hook at the end.Do they still make them? I must have a look next time I am getting some gear.
Moving on were a selection of artificial fish,hinged in the middle with a sort of bib at the mouth to keep them down I presume.
Cuttle Fish Bones, lots of these, used to stick hooks into and also as Lead Weight Moulds.
He used to cut a shape out of the Cuttle Fish, melt some lead in a tin on the stove and pour it in. You get a fair few out before it burns away. He used to do fish shaped ones with a bit of wire running through so you can put a hook on one end and a swivel on the other, then spend ages painting them. Can't remember him catching anything on them, but it kept him happy.
Spark plugs, tap the bottom over and used as weights and a selection of lead weights using spoons as a mould the theory to that one was when you pulled hard on the line the weight would pop up owing to its shape and when on the bottom would stick down like a Ray does. He lost loads of the things.
There was a fine selection of fixed spool reels and some more vintage ones that seemed to just be a spool with a handle on the end.
In one of the old tackle bags were a packet of five Park Drive ( empty) some old photographs used to cut up into fish shapes as lures off of Yarmouth Pier, a rusty Thermos Flask with cork stopper and two hand lines equipped with 12 rusted hooked feathers and some perished Red Gills from back in the 70s when there used to be Bass down at Brook and we used to get down there with our Seagull Outboard and lots of petrol.
Chuck in a bottle of still liquid fish oil,a jar of salted Cuttlefish that you could use as shoe leather ,'Yes but it stays on the hook,nipper' he used to say. Of course it did, no fish is going to eat that. Then he would take it off after an hour or so and put it back in the jar.
That stuff must go back to the 50s! A Pifco touch with moveable beam and flashing top light,alas not working owing to dissolved battery inside.
One of those fishing knives that are inside a rule that has smaller than real measurements on them ,presumably so the photos of the fish you took looked bigger. I wonder if they still make them?
And apart from his beloved canvas bag that held some of it,and a selection of old Tobacco Tins used for holding small hooks,swivels etc, that was about it.
Fairly basic by today's standards, but as he always used to say to me 'all you need is a hook,weight and swivel,and at night don't cast out further than you can throw a stone underarm'.
Still he did catch a fair few and loved his fishing. He got more with his spear at night, but that as they say,is another story.
And to quote the last words he ever said..
'Take Care'
TOF....RIP
