Category Archives: Tackle

The largest Cooper & Son mounted Carp!

30 Friday Mar 2012

Posted by in Tackle

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

In a couple of weeks the largest example of a carp set up by Cooper & Son will go under the hammer at Angling Auctions in Chiswick, West London.

The year was 1954 and the month September, Jack Opie had just arrived with his fishing companions Gerry and May Berth-Jones to find the Kefford brothers, Dick and Harry, leaving  after a week-long session on the now famous pool. Opie asked Harry Kefford for permission to cast out into Redmire’s Willow Pitch where he had been fishing all that week and alas with no success. As Jack Opie helped the Kefford brothers to load up their  car, his buzzer sounded and after a long  drawn out fight the 27lbs 5ozs fish was safely netted.  The following morning Gerry Berth-Jones asked the then Redmire owner Colonel Maclean if Opie could take the carp away to be mounted which he granted. The carp was taken to London and mounted with the inscription “King Carp, 27lb 5oz, Caught Redmire Sept. ‘54 by E.J. Opie”

Friday the 13th & 14th of April will possibly be the last chance to see this important piece of history unless of course you have  between £5000 and £8000 or quite possibly a lot more? To view this splendid example and other angling items click here http://angling-auctions.co.uk. The Tuesday Swim shall be in attendants over the two days on the rod stand, and a report on the more unusual items in the auction will be winging its way back here to those who cannot attend.

Tackle boxes part six – The Henry Aiken of London tackle box.

08 Thursday Mar 2012

Posted by in Tackle

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

I pretty much dragged this box around lake and river throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s, it could take a lot of tackle and an impressive float collection. It was only when I discovered a low-fi approach to angling that this box was shelved, but it still remains the tackle box that has shared more personal angling experiences than any other. The interior wood is still stained with strawberry flavourings from my early days of carp fishing on a small pond near Ansty in West Sussex, in search of my first ‘double’. Eventually with the help of Carp Fever it did happen, a 11 1/4 lb specimen.

Even now, twenty five years on a light waft of strawberry essence mixed with pilchard oil lifts the nostrils as the lid is opened and a memory ignited, this box shall never be passed on!

Fishing tackle boxes part five – The Old Crown & Cushion Pub Piscatorial Society scales case?

19 Thursday Jan 2012

Posted by in Tackle

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , ,

We have a mystery here that I really would like to un-earth. I’ve owned this box for a while now and I was told it came from a pub in Yorkshire? Well after a little investigating on the net there is a pub in North Yorkshire called the Old Crown & Cushion in a place named Welburn. The story goes that the box used to be fixed to the bar top (the underside does reflect this, as it is a bit rough) but I can only conclude this was for storing either scales or match returns?

If anyone could tell me about the Old Crown & Cushion Piscatorial Society or any other tales of such boxes nailed to bar tops I would like to hear from you. At present I’m looking at bars I have frequented in the past, in London and their Victorian piscatorial club connections, invaluable research…trust me! I hope to find more tales of boxes glued to bar tops, at present without these bar top boxes, the public bar seems a little impersonal?

Now the box rests on my book shelve awaiting Bagpuss to come along and unravel its past and find me a story but in the meantime it holds a fine collection of british fishing reels of the twentieth century.

Fishing tackle boxes part four – The Marco & Efgeeco bait box!

23 Friday Dec 2011

Posted by in Tackle

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Not strictly a tackle box but it is included under the ‘fisherman’s tackle kit’ banner and what a beauty! I don’t want to get weepy over a plastic container that is intended to store gentles or worms but this Marco version is the only one I have ever seen. I grew up using (as did millions of anglers from the 60’s and 70’s) the Efgeeco bright green and cream version but this one is a rare breed.

Just to top off the bait box rare breed piece today at the tuesday swim we also have the dark olive green Efgeeco bait box. Some rare nostalgia to place your gentles in…

Fishing tackle boxes part three – The spring clip fly box by Malloch’s.

07 Wednesday Dec 2011

Posted by in Tackle

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

With the trout season now put to bed for the winter your fly boxes should be cleared out, properly dried and stored away from moths for the next few months. Here we have a natty little Malloch’s fly box suitable for a selection of small dry flies or nymphs.

The spring clip fly box can be a fiddle to use compared to modern foam versions but on special occasions when a small fly box is required that fits into your shirt pocket, this is ideal when stealing  a quick hour or two on a small stream in the summer months. Measuring just 2 1/4 x 3 1/2 inches this little fly box is perfect! A small box, for small flies, for delicate presentation.

Traditional tackle shops – Wadsworth & Son of Leicester.

11 Friday Nov 2011

Posted by in Tackle

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

Always in search of fishing tackle shops of the past I present local angling legends Tommy and Tony Wadsworth (Tony is now a local radio show host) of Wasdworth & Son of Leicester. ‘Let Tony fix ‘u’ up’ alas no longer possible.

Also I have a short film from 1968 sadly with no sound..

Fishing tackle boxes part two – The cigar box!

10 Thursday Nov 2011

Posted by in Tackle

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

Back in the days when Stewart and Efgeeco weren’t producing plastic injected tackle boxes, a visit to see grandad could result in a cigar box perfect for fishing tackle items. In my case, some pike tackle.

For those observant types the hypodermic needles are for injecting oils into dead-baits not a nasty habit picked up in the east-end of London!

Fishing tackle boxes part one – Pezon et Michel.

04 Friday Nov 2011

Posted by in Tackle

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

The future is bright the future is orange? The Pezon et Michel box is strictly speaking a display box from the sixties for spools of leader material but suits my meagre kit. With the optimism of the sixties viewed through yellow celluloid tinted specs these boxes are a true classic. Part two coming soon…

Found on sunday at Brick Lane Market, a Chapman’s 450.

26 Monday Sep 2011

Posted by in Tackle

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Whist roaming around the more desperate but interesting end of Brick Lane market, I came across a Chapman 450 rod in fair condition and complete. Measuring 9′ 2″, cane coloured but made of fibreglass, the rod is a mystery, is it a spinning rod? The design is like that of a 550, 500 and 700, detachable handle with a two piece section. I’m a big fan of these rods as they are nice and compact to take on the motorbike and I don’t feel too precious about them. This one I will strip and replace the rings (once I’ve sourced some). If anyone can shine some light on the Chapman 450, I will add it to this post, nothing comes up on the internet.