Anglers far better bred, and more highly financially recompensed than me, who choose to fish for trout describe (so I'm led to believe) some nymph and mayfly as "ephemera" due to the fleeting and brief lives of said (and presumably sad) mayfly. Much modern fishing tackle could also be said to be ephemeral, and most of us anglers have items in our tackle boxes and sheds that bear witness to the fickle fads, fancies and changes that drive a lot of fishing tackle production. While a lot of my tackle remains modern ( a friend once remarked that my gear falls into two categories: "state of the art or out of the ark"), over recent years I have increasingly enjoyed using old vintage tackle and fishing in a more traditional style. All of which is why I was delighted this week to take delivery of a CAP Mitchell 304. I've long been an admirer of the unmistakable round body shape, and detective work suggests that my "new" reel was probably made in 1969, making it just a year younger than me. It's now loaded with line, and set to become my "go to" perch reel on days when I'm not in the mood for using a centre pin.
My collection of older reels also includes this Intrepid Black Prince, which deals easily with small carp, a Mitchell 300 that has been in my possession for 31 years, and still gets the occasional airing for summer stalking or floater sessions, and the 1960's centre pin pictured below.
However, despite the 304 being a new prized possession which will be in use before the end of the month, I'm not entirely devoid of pragmatism, and my next trip, a pike fishing sortie to the Broads in seven days time will see me committing traditionalist "heresy" and employing an oh-so reliable Bait-Runner in pursuit of my toothy adversary.
Regular followers of this blog will know that in November I joined up with my friend and fellow angler and church minister Stewart Bloor to make some films commissioned by the Christian Vision for Men (CVM) organisation. One was to be of me talking about my faith, one of Stewart talking about his, and one a short 60 second promotional film for UK Christian Anglers (www.christiananglers.co.uk) which Stewart and I help run. The video's have turned out really well, and our wit, wisdom and spoken words were several times interrupted by fish, including a 2 pound 5 ounce perch for me. I was even made aware of a comment on Twitter about them (the films, not the fish!) emanating from a member of the Archbishop of Canterbury's staff! The films can be watched by clicking the links below:
Me fishing: https://vimeo.com/150926146
Stewart fishing: https://vimeo.com/150810596
UK Christian Anglers promo: https://vimeo.com/150820766
I suspect, sadly, that for me and Stewart "fame" will prove to be as ephemeral and passing as life is for the mayfly, and as fads are in angling fashion. Now, to get my pipe and slippers and put some grease in that Mitchell!
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