Recent content by Neil Blood

If you can see the river bed, be prepared to spend more time walking and fish spotting rather than actually fishing. Introduce small amounts of bait to see how fish react, or to try and draw them out of nearby cover. Between now and June 16th is the ideal time to do this and if club rules allow...

The back to back grinner knot is very easy to tie and seems to go under the radar. I use it frequently in my Perch fishing, joining braid to fluorocarbon and without issue (landing accidental Pike to 18lb). So I did a test joining 15lb ESP Soft Ghost to 15lb Drennan Gravel Braid. Attached it to...

The original Drennan Medium Feeder and Big Feeder, were very different rods. The MF has a nice through action, whereas the BF feeder was quite stiff and fast actioned. The BF was good for fishing at range with the carbon tip fitted, and with a bow in the line, waiting for drop back bites. A rod...

Mainline Active Maple 8, brilliant Barbel boillie/paste.

I recently picked up an unused original Drennan IM6 Medium Feeder Rod, which still has the clear plastic covering over the cork handle and info label tied to the first line guide. The rod is over 30 years old and is immaculate! The info label made me smile, as the rod has line rating of 3 to...

Another comment with the Drennan, is look after it to prolong its life. Following every few trips, I push a couple of damp sheets of kitchen towel through it with fairy liquid, to keep it clean. To be fair thats probably sound advice with any similar telescopic handle.

I’d replace like for like. My Drennan twist lock 3 ME handle is now 15+ years old and still going strong. The one time it did develop the known issue and that was 10 years in, Drennan sent me a replacement locking mechanism FOC. I recently bought the 3.5 ME version too, as the extra length...

This is the problem with all marine pellets, in that we are at the mercy of what the aquaculture feed industry produces. The original Hinders mini high betain pellets, mixed with small original elips pellets, was the greatest ever barbel pellet combination IMHO

My last 2 sessions on the Severn have consisted of the following tackle wise: Single rod and reel 2 bank sticks Landing net handle Original Korum XL Bait and Bits Bag (best roving bag ever IMHO) Landing net (clips onto bag) Hard foam garden kneeling mat for a seat (clips onto bag) Unhooking mat...

I didn’t get along with this rod. Initially it seemed perfect as a 13ft rod, which I could rig up at home then transport to the river bank in a 6ft rig sleeve. Primarily I used it on the Severn for laying on under a float with lobworms. The action in the top two thirds, was just too light and...

I’ve used it for years on my trotting reels/pins, in 5.5lb, 6.6lb and 7.9lb, without issue. Always considered it 100% reliable. However, my local tackle shop, suddenly stopped stocking it. On enquiring why, I was informed they’d had quite a few complaints as the diameter was suddenly and...

I heard the tightening of Japanese quality regulations as the other story too. Apparently they had to check the line diameter for every meter produced and weren’t geared up to do so. Therefore they had to suspend production. So perhaps we are now dealing with two total bollocks stories 🙂

There was a story doing the rounds on other angling forums that the current shortage was due to the factory burning down. No idea if its hearsay/total bollocks 🙂

They had bulk spools in Dave’s of Middlewich several weeks back

A guy who works in my local tackle shop has the 14ft Vertex Float Rod. He said its good for general trotting and not as delicate as an Acolyte. Guess it depends on your budget? I have an Acolyte Plus 15ft and tend to carry it to the river bank, already made up in a 5ft padded rod sleeve.