Penn Battle 2 8000

Having spoken with the local tackle shop it appears that the Penn Battle 8000 might be a better choice due to an occasional issue with the gearing. The Battle looks to be of a similar construction and a similar price.

Penn Spinfisher SSV 7500

I think this is the reel I'll replace my Squadra 75 with. Its got a fully sealed body, holds about 450m of 60lb braided line and most importantly it has a friction action on the bail arm to prevent accidental closing during heavy casting.
The Penn Spinfisher SSV 7500 retails for around £100

Lesson Learnt

I discovered something quite interesting about my main beach reel, Vega Squadra 75 fixed spool, after my session on the beach last night. When casting hard its possible to create rotation of the handle and bail arm which causes the bail arm to snap over automatically and crack the lead off. It happened once to Martin last night and once to me, it also happened on a previous trip.

Some reels have done away with the handle turning engagement and I remember seeing some years ago some anglers used to use elastic bands to hold the bail arm open.

Back to School

Heading on to the beach again tonight with martin for a spot of casting practice, he was fairly unimpressed with my achievements distance wise over the winter so we may be making a few changes. Apparently its like swinging a big hammer ..... technique is important but its nothing without power and speed.

Old School Chub

I visited my club controlled section of of the River Tees at Low Dinsdale last night and found it low and clear, well I say clear but the Tees always has a peaty tinge to it. I approached it using a link ledger set up with cubes of luncheon meat as bait. The beauty of link ledger is that its easy and quick to add or remove weight. I'm no expert on fishing for chub but I'd like to think I can at least deal with the basics.
My first swim was a favourite of mine of previous trips but I failed to get a single bite other than an occasional knock or twitch on the tip.
 My next swim was alongside some bankside snags and earned me a savage take and a 3 1/2lb chub in the net. My last swim was a lot more open and and I was able to swing the rig onto the edge of a crease in the flow where the gravel sloped steeply into the deeper and faster channel and it wasn't long before a 4lb 5oz chub slid into net after a spirited fight.

Both fish were hollow, presumably after spawning, and by the winter would hopefully have filled out a bit. I'm looking forward to returning with my float rod and a bucket of bread.

New Season

Well June 16th has come and gone and the season has finally opened on the rivers again. I'm heading to the middle stretch of the River Tees tomorrow after work armed with my quiver tip rod and a tin of luncheon meat. Wish me luck.

Blast from the Past

I was back at my favourite local water on Tuesday night, I'd been the previous week and pulled the hook on a decent fish late on during an evening session. For the last few seasons I've been playing fish on the clutch with the anti-reverse engaged but after last week I decided to go back to backwinding with a fish on.
Last night I returned and fished a rod down each margin and keeping the line slack, runs develop into screaming takes with no prior warning but with no snags to worry about and fishing reasonably close the lack of indication didn't concern me.
A small stock fish around 5lb kicked the session off before a big mirror picked up the bait and led my on a strong surging fight. I quickly disengaged the anti-reverse and felt like I'd gone back to my younger days. I eventually slipped the net under a 17lb 8oz mirror with a tail like a paddle which on further investigation I discovered I'd landed 18 months ago at pretty much the same weight.

17lb 8oz