What are your targets for the new season?

[Neil Smart]

Can't take it with you.

And for many years, working hard to ensure the kids had a great education and were set up, which meant going basic tackle, I love treating myself.
Because I can.

Don't suppose you are not the only one on here that has disposable income, but that is not the point when someone might have a very different view on buying tackle, to a point whereby it could be an obsession that hs got out of hand.
But well done you..

 

[Paul Richardson]

To be honest this place has got a bit elitist, and anything other than top end tackle just doesn't cut it, which of course is nonsense.
You don't need thousands of pounds worth of gear to fish well and enjoy jour wonderful pursuit.

Thinks that's a bit sweeping Neil. I don't see that at all. Yes there's a lot of banter about Harrison this and Free Spirit that but really don't see it as elitist. There is some bloody good advice - like I wouldn't have considered Shimano OCs without reading comments and overviews on here and would have continued with 25 year old GTEs, which work but had got tired and did cost me one or two fish with their snatchy clutches.
Don't see that as elitist , just pragmatic as they'll see me into a pine jacket if I look after them. Buy cheap, buy twice etc..
I'm the same as Graeme, still have a lot of my old crappy gear, which is all I could afford when the kids were little and I think I've earned the right to be able to get some nice kit if all the bills are paid and family looked after.
I have to confess getting a 2nd hand bargain lifts my frock more than anything, recently spent a huge £40 for 2 x 40lb Avons in cases, An Abu 507 and a river platform - all stuff I was after and for the price of a takeaway. Elitist??

 

[Joe Winstanley]

I think the word 'elitist' was a little clumsy, but I do get Neil's wider point.

It's one thing buying a top end tackle that you intend to regularly use, and for a good number of years. We are all entitled to the luxuries that hard work and graft can bring, but it's quite another to just buy expensive gear merely for the sake of it, and with no real intention of ever using it. Tbh it's a bit cringeworthy when you consider what's going on in the world at the moment.

 

[Adam Wylie]

Adam admits he has a problem, and tbh he doesn't need any encouragement to go on another spending bender, of course the Rouges are not going anywhere other than the loft.
Adam comes across as a good bloke but that level of losing money is frightening. Of course all sorts of compulsive behaviour comes in different guises, most of us have a similar addiction, I do to a certain extent, but sometimes it needs a bit of self control.
To be honest this place has got a bit elitist, and anything other than top end tackle just doesn't cut it, which of course is nonsense.
You don't need thousands of pounds worth of gear to fish well and enjoy jour wonderful pursuit.
In fact less is very much more I reckon.
Tin hat...

Hi Neil.
At 71 yrs old I care what other people think !! I don't smoke or gamble ,but I do buy fishing tackle and I pay for the Quality I think is appropriate. It's no different than some one buying a PORCHE or Ford Focus ,massive difference in price, but they do the same thing where getting from A to B is concerned .I do sell on tackle ,some of which hasn't been used But " hey ho "that's my problem .I do very much suffer from OCD at times and realise this is probably the reason I do what I do .Roll on the River season. ( I was only joking about getting rid of the Free Spirit rods )
Regards Adam

 

[Adam Wylie]

me too !

Spot on !

 

[Mike Thompson]

Can't take it with you.

And for many years, working hard to ensure the kids had a great education and were set up, which meant going basic tackle, I love treating myself.
Because I can.

The kids will get the house when we're gone, so I'm trying not to leave them too much cash.
Trouble is the better half has other plans on how to spend it.

 

[Paul Richardson]

I think the word 'elitist' was a little clumsy, but I do get Neil's wider point.

It's one thing buying a top end tackle that you intend to regularly use, and for a good number of years. We are all entitled to the luxuries that hard work and graft can bring, but it's quite another to just buy expensive gear merely for the sake of it, and with no real intention of ever using it. Tbh it's a bit cringeworthy when you consider what's going on in the world at the mom

But if it's a hobby that someone can afford and it keeps them active and involved and they get some pleasure from it I think it's a good thing.
My mother is recently widowed and would worry if she didn't have anything to worry about.
She needs to have an interest like this ( sorry Adam but she's only a few years in front of you)
We keep telling her she cannot take it with her( we told my dad the same thing and we were proved correct) but she won't spend or bequeath it to the grandkids and we all know it will end up going to HM Govmt for her care , despite paying into the system all her life? What is the point?
I'm squirrelling a bit of gear as I think it's better than money in the bank and high end stuff may well retain a decent percentage of its value
It's simply so if and when I can slow down I'd quite enjoy moving it on and getting some money back in .I'd imagine in a similar way to Adam.
If I snuff it , the daughters have a decent understanding of what they'll inherit.
I mentioned that I snapped up some bargains in the local tackle shop recently , and that was a chap who'd passed on and his kids had just asked the shop owner to get what they could to get rid of it. There was a lot of tat to be honest that will go to landfill. Stuff that - I want people to get a buzz and a decent bargain if they end up with my stuff. Until then I'll enjoy it as much as I can.

 

[Joe Winstanley]

But if it's a hobby that someone can afford and it keeps them active and involved and they get some pleasure from it I think it's a good thing.
My mother is recently widowed and would worry if she didn't have anything to worry about.
She needs to have an interest like this ( sorry Adam but she's only a few years in front of you)
We keep telling her she cannot take it with her( we told my dad the same thing and we were proved correct) but she won't spend or bequeath it to the grandkids and we all know it will end up going to HM Govmt for her care , despite paying into the system all her life? What is the point?
I'm squirrelling a bit of gear as I think it's better than money in the bank and high end stuff may well retain a decent percentage of its value
It's simply so if and when I can slow down I'd quite enjoy moving it on and getting some money back in .I'd imagine in a similar way to Adam.
If I snuff it , the daughters have a decent understanding of what they'll inherit.
I mentioned that I snapped up some bargains in the local tackle shop recently , and that was a chap who'd passed on and his kids had just asked the shop owner to get what they could to get rid of it. There was a lot of tat to be honest that will go to landfill. Stuff that - I want people to get a buzz and a decent bargain if they end up with my stuff. Until then I'll enjoy it as much as I can.

I think we are maybe at cross purposes Paul. Nothing wrong with owning a collection of tackle, I dread to think how many rods I own, but in the main they all get used at various times of year. Tbh, very little of my tackle was brought brand new, other than my 3 tench rods which Lumby built for me, everything else is second or third hand. Like you I enjoy finding a bargain. But, I do think buying brand new gear only to unload it a fortnight later at a big loss is just needless consumerism, which lets face it comes at a very heavy environmental cost which is a pretty shite inheritance for future generations. And bragging about it seems a bit insensitive when many people are struggling to pay their bills (not that I'm implying you are).

 

[Graham Elliott]

Each to their own. No right or wrong.

 

[Damian Kimmins]

I think we are maybe at cross purposes Paul. Nothing wrong with owning a collection of tackle, I dread to think how many rods I own, but in the main they all get used at various times of year. Tbh, very little of my tackle was brought brand new, other than my 3 tench rods which Lumby built for me, everything else is second or third hand. Like you I enjoy finding a bargain. But, I do think buying brand new gear only to unload it a fortnight later at a big loss is just needless consumerism, which lets face it comes at a very heavy environmental cost which is a pretty shite inheritance for future generations. And bragging about it seems a bit insensitive when many people are struggling to pay their bills (not that I'm implying you are).

Needless consumerism is abound, Joe. It is why we are here really. It's a sad state like.

 

[Joe Winstanley]

Needless consumerism is abound, Joe. It is why we are here really. It's a sad state like.

Yep.

Apparently on average each angler spends £400 a year on tackle. Imagine how much better the fishing would be if just 10% of that was spent on prosecuting polluters and improving riverine habitats? Won't ever happen though, who cares if the rivers are fucked so long as your set up looks neat.

 

[Damian Kimmins]

Yep.

Apparently on average each angler spends £400 a year on tackle. Imagine how much better the fishing would be if just 10% of that was spent on prosecuting polluters and improving riverine habitats? Won't ever happen though, who cares if the rivers are fucked so long as your set up looks neat.

It would be nice mate, but in the words of Carl Gustav Jung...

Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol, morphine or idealism.

The way of nature is rarely according to what we would like to see or feel, thus we just have to go with the flow.

 

[Joe Winstanley]

It would be nice mate, but in the words of Carl Gustav Jung...

The way of nature is rarely according to what we would like to see or feel, thus we just have to go with the flow.

The flow on my local river included 269 documented raw sewage discharge events, totalling a combined 766 hours (32 days) in 2021. 15 litres per second.

 

[Derek Funcks]

Don't suppose you are not the only one on here that has disposable income, but that is not the point when someone might have a very different view on buying tackle, to a point whereby it could be an obsession that hs got out of hand.
But well done you..

Fair play to anyone on here, who can afford extravident kit, i for one, cant. But i don,t begrudge any that can, good luck to all, and may your lines be pulled tight.

 

[Damian Kimmins]

The flow on my local river included 269 documented raw sewage discharge events, totalling a combined 766 hours (32 days) in 2021. 15 litres per second.

The same happens up and down the country. The country's population has grown by approx 6million since 1997, yet in order that the impact of that increase was not felt in the environment, the investment that was needed has not been there, thus drinking ready has readily been abstracted from ground water sources, rivers and lakes and wastewater has just been returned, literally!

 

[Dave Quinn]

I know spending money on luxuries doesn’t sit well with our more conservative instincts but “wasting” money on free spirit or Harrison rods hand built by quality builders is not contributing to the moral collapse of society.

Businesses, especially small ones are facing very uncertain times, the cost of living crisis hasn’t started hitting yet, energy costs will continue to rise. Supply chain issues mean increased costs, and credit and liquidity problems. Meanwhile low interest rates and rising inflation mean our savings become worth less and less.

There are far worse things to do for yourself and the economy/society than spend your money on high quality fishing rods manufactured and built by responsible British companies and individuals. You’re doing more good than harm if you do and you’re doing fishermen a favour if you do - you’re keeping good companies going, the money is better in the angling economy than sitting earning money for a bank. And if they rise in value you’re earning more from your money than if it was sitting in a savings account.

 

[Joe Winstanley]

It's a bit far fetched to suggest that anybody was suggesting buying custom fishing tackle is contributing to a moral collapse of society.

But it is undeniable that consumerism (in most sectors) carries a enormous externalised environmental cost and that tab will have to be picked up by future generations. You aren't going to convince me that buying tackle with the intention of never using it is good for angling (or anybody) in the long term.

 

[Joe Winstanley]

The same happens up and down the country. The country's population has grown by approx 6million since 1997, yet in order that the impact of that increase was not felt in the environment, the investment that was needed has not been there, thus drinking ready has readily been abstracted from ground water sources, rivers and lakes and wastewater has just been returned, literally!

Looking at data on my local rivers shows the situation has got progressively worse in the last 5 years. The 2758m3 of raw untreated sewage (approx the volume of an olympic swimming pool) discharged by 3 treatment plants into my local Bollin in 2021 is only the amount we know about and is licenced by the EA. United Utilities and the EA have withdrawn the discharges for 2022 from the public domain, only available on a FIA now.

Guess where the EA takes it sampling point for this area of the river from? Exactly 100m upstream of the treatment plant discharging 80% of the raw sewage. You couldn't make this stuff up. Meanwhile UU are in the courts trying to prevent anybody making a legal challenge against raw sewage discharges.

 

[Terry Simner]

I have to confess getting a 2nd hand bargain lifts my frock more than anything, ....... Elite??

Well I think whether or not this site exhibits 'elitism' may be arguable but ..... good on BFW for being so 'inclusive', and thanks for sharing that with us @Paul Richardson
BTW ... I 'dipped my toe' into post-GTE Shimmys waters last winter. I managed to buy 2 brand new 4000OC going cheap and a 2nd hand one.... and I bloody hated them. Yes the clutch was smooth, but with my RE's and GTE's I never get line trapped behind the spool. That happened every time I used a 4000OC, and then I'd have to pig about resetting that oh-so-smooth clutch. Vile things, the devil's food mixer IMO!

 

[Huanzhou Zhu]

Well I think whether or not this site exhibits 'elitism' may be arguable but ..... good on BFW for being so 'inclusive', and thanks for sharing that with us @Paul Richardson
BTW ... I 'dipped my toe' into post-GTE Shimmys waters last winter. I managed to buy 2 brand new 4000OC going cheap and a 2nd hand one.... and I bloody hated them. Yes the clutch was smooth, but with my RE's and GTE's I never get line trapped behind the spool. That happened every time I used a 4000OC, and then I'd have to pig about resetting that oh-so-smooth clutch. Vile things, the devil's food mixer IMO!

The line trapping behind the spool seems a new fashion on Shimano reels these days. I think it happened to all my Shimano reels?