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Tackle that has gone up in value

Chris Jones said:
I own several Aerocasts, float rods, feeder rods and carp rods. I really wish they'd made an Aerocast Barbel rod. I think that the biggest problem they had was that people screamed "gimmick" without even bothering to pick them up. Unfortunately, if they did pick them up, the excess weight, over an average round blank, was (understandably) likely to put many off. The fact that many match and general coarse anglers were openly slating Shimano, for almost everything they did at the time, really didn't help. I think that the oval blank had merit, at least for some applications. If they could have found a way of trimming some of the excess flab, it may have had greater appeal.
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I’ll take your word for it Chris as I personally haven’t used one.
I’m sure there will be something added to the blank as you can’t change the shape without having an effect and I suppose it’s down to the individual as to whether it’s positive or negative. My initial thoughts would be doubtful as to whether it’s actually game changing cos I’d expect to see other top end rods following suit if it was but until I handle one I’ll remain open to the fact. Perhaps shimano still hold some patents for it... dunno.
 
Richard Isaacs said:
I’ll take your word for it Chris as I personally haven’t used one.
I’m sure there will be something added to the blank as you can’t change the shape without having an effect and I suppose it’s down to the individual as to whether it’s positive or negative. My initial thoughts would be doubtful as to whether it’s actually game changing cos I’d expect to see other top end rods following suit if it was but until I handle one I’ll remain open to the fact. Perhaps shimano still hold some patents for it... dunno.
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The Aerocasts weren't actually the only Shimano rods to use the oval blank. They did an Aspire Limited Edition Match rod too. I wouldn't claim the oval blank concept as being a game changer. However, that's not to say the concept was a total waste of time. I found an advantage in the different strengths depending on the plane of the rod. It allowed a rod to play fish softer in the horizontal plane whilst retaining casting ability in the stronger vertical plane. A more useful point in the carp and feeder rods than the float rods, but not totally useless in any of them. I found the carp rods to be the most useful. They allowed high test curve rods to be distance casting tools yet offer a softer playing action in the horizontal plane. Spot on for big waters where not every fish you hooked was massive. Some of the match fraternity were keen on the feeder rods for similar reasons, especially those fishing large venues for bream. The downside was that I've found the float and feeder rods less useful on flowing water where a strike was more likely to be made in the softer horizontal plane.

Ultimately, the oval blank concept will go down as nothing more than an evolutionary blind alley. That's if anyone really remembers it at all. I only bought my first Aerocast because it was massively discounted. Without that discount, I'd have ignored them as the majority did.
 
Does anybody remember the centreline rods from the 70,s where the rod was internally ringed so the line exited the reel into the centre of the rod and exited through the tip
 
Yes Terry, I'm old enough to remember those rods. Looked at one at my local tackle shop and thought "that will never take off" and it didn't.

My nomination for a reel that has increased in value dramatically is the Abu Suveran . Probabaly the best made fixed spool reel with the best clutch. It was probably over engineered hence the original price tag of around £175 in the late 90's. Only a short production of this classic and you could pick them up for around £100 as they didn't sell that well.
Now a Gold presentation boxed example with all the bits can fetch £400.
I must be bit of an Abu tart as i've got 6, 4 working reels and 2 unused in their boxes.
 
Chris Jones said:
The Aerocasts weren't actually the only Shimano rods to use the oval blank. They did an Aspire Limited Edition Match rod too. I wouldn't claim the oval blank concept as being a game changer. However, that's not to say the concept was a total waste of time. I found an advantage in the different strengths depending on the plane of the rod. It allowed a rod to play fish softer in the horizontal plane whilst retaining casting ability in the stronger vertical plane. A more useful point in the carp and feeder rods than the float rods, but not totally useless in any of them. I found the carp rods to be the most useful. They allowed high test curve rods to be distance casting tools yet offer a softer playing action in the horizontal plane. Spot on for big waters where not every fish you hooked was massive. Some of the match fraternity were keen on the feeder rods for similar reasons, especially those fishing large venues for bream. The downside was that I've found the float and feeder rods less useful on flowing water where a strike was more likely to be made in the softer horizontal plane.

Ultimately, the oval blank concept will go down as nothing more than an evolutionary blind alley. That's if anyone really remembers it at all. I only bought my first Aerocast because it was massively discounted. Without that discount, I'd have ignored them as the majority did.
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Costs associated with it must of been horrendous too. I’d imagine ovel mandrels cost a lot more to manufacture.
 
Terry Harman said:
Does anybody remember the centreline rods from the 70,s where the rod was internally ringed so the line exited the reel into the centre of the rod and exited through the tip
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I don't remember those, but Daiwa (Interline), Shimano and Fox have all had a stab at similar rods more recently. Most have been carp, spinning and sea rods, but Daiwa did at least one 15' float rod. I suspect that it may not have been a UK model though. I suspect that it may have been intended for the Italian market. One popped up on eBay a few years ago and hung around like a bad smell for several months. I was tempted, purely for the novelty value. However, as I managed to blag a go of a Daiwa Emblem Interline Carp rod, it rather put me off. With respect to the carp rod, it made using a fairly standard bobbin and alarm set up rather awkward.
 
I bought a pair of Daiwa AKN116 rods about 10 years ago - if i hadn't had them rebuilt, they would have made money. Fabulous rod to play fish on...
 
Jon Elliott said:
I bought a pair of Daiwa AKN116 rods about 10 years ago - if i hadn't had them rebuilt, they would have made money. Fabulous rod to play fish on...
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Had you sold them though Jon, would the gain have outweighed the enjoyment you obviously get from them ?
 
Getting classic rods rebuilt is one of the best ways to get something really special.
while these classic 90’s blanks are often better than a lot of the stuff you get today, they were also often let down by naff flimsy undersized rings, old sliding reel seats that have lost their grip and looking a bit tired on the cork.
todays Fuji products are excellent ways to make a brilliant blank into a brilliant rod.
Quite a number of production rods were built with little consideration to the blanks spine. Just putting the rings in the right place improves the rod action for a start.
 
Richard Isaacs said:
Getting classic rods rebuilt is one of the best ways to get something really special.
while these classic 90’s blanks are often better than a lot of the stuff you get today, they were also often let down by naff flimsy undersized rings, old sliding reel seats that have lost their grip and looking a bit tired on the cork.
todays Fuji products are excellent ways to make a brilliant blank into a brilliant rod.
Quite a number of production rods were built with little consideration to the blanks spine. Just putting the rings in the right place improves the rod action for a start.
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Yes, have done a number of my rods. Improved (IMO) a couple of my Drennan Tench Floats with better cork, real reel seat and slightly larger guides. My Daiwa Nash Dictator Whisker Kevlar 2.25 and Tricast MLs and CMs have also got some special attention.
All good clean fun.
Currently building a pair of Harrison Acurix 2.5 for carp fishing, but with cork handles.
Cheers
Bob

Drennan Tench Float.

IMG_5756crop1000.jpg

Some better guides:
IMG_5770 crop 600.jpg
 
Bill Walford said:
Had you sold them though Jon, would the gain have outweighed the enjoyment you obviously get from them ?
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I will never sell them. i paid about £180 each for them, Original retail in '93 was £205. I then spent £95 each on rebuild with a cork handle and barbel ringing pattern. They're the best meat rolling rod i've used, much better than Torrix 11ft 1.75, which a lot of people consider the best of recent crop. they're as light as feather and pencil slim, how they were ever branded a carp stalker is a mystery though.
 
I was wondering if 'improvements' on older rods actually decrease their value to a collector, although a bit of fine tuning might suit the owner it might be a problem if they intend selling?
 
Neil Smart said:
I was wondering if 'improvements' on older rods actually decrease their value to a collector, although a bit of fine tuning might suit the owner it might be a problem if they intend selling?
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Much depends on the buyer. However, there's little doubt that genuine collectors prefer things to be in best possible original condition. I don't consider myself a collector, just a terrible hoarder. Everything I buy is intended to be used. I wouldn't buy a mint old rod and have it modified.The prospect makes me uncomfortable. However, I'm not averse to buying a less than perfect example to modify for use though.
 
I think it depends on what the improvements are, how they have been done and what it is that’s actually for sale.
we ain’t exactly talking high value stuff here really. In the best of original condition the most these sought after rods are fetching is £150-250 and if we lose £50 on the original re sale value cos we’ve re rung it does that wound us deeply? I doubt it.
spraying go faster stripes down the length of a hexagraph May see you loose a good few quid but in most people’s cases re ringing a classic to make it better if done well shouldn’t have too much a negative impact if sale day arrives.
 
Terry Harman said:
Doesn’t the carbon deteriorate on older rods over the years Changing the action of the rods
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It supposedly depends on the resins used rather than the carbon itself. It also seems to be something that's far more prevalent in rods pushed to extremes such as carp and beachcasting rods.
 
Terry Harman said:
Doesn’t the carbon deteriorate on older rods over the years Changing the action of the rods
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Never noticed that before.
I haven’t got any really old rods but plenty of early 90’s classics that perform as well as they did.
some of my favorites are the original mark 1 blue diamonds. an absolute gem of a blank.
 
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