freeline-104 - Flipbook - Page 185
ASH
KRISGEDEN
FORD
a 10lbs carp, a bit like mo d e r n d ay c a r p a n gl e r s h ave ad o p te d
f rom the Europeans so tha t i t ’s h a rd to te ll i f t h ey a re ly i n g
o r not about a claimed we i gh t . N o t eve ryo n e h a s re ad D i c k
Walker’s “No need to L ie” an d a d o p te d i ts e t h i c .
So a pair of Richard Walke r M ark I V ca r p ro d s we re a c q u i re d
a n d a pair of Mitchell 30 0s a n d t he al m o s t o b l i ga to r y E fg e e co
S p ecimen Hunters landing n e t , n o t to fo rg e t t h e e s s e n t i a l He ro n
b i te alarm s with their high vo l um e ve ry ra spy b u z z e r b ox a n d
t h e even more essential ma x i mu m s p a n 4 5 ” ( 1. 14 m ) u m b re l l a .
I c aught a fair number of c arp o n t h i s t a c kl e, an d a l t h o u gh t h e
M K IVs were a delight to u se , th ey h a d s e ri o u s l i m it a ti o n s a n d
were under-gunned to put i t m i l dly. L u c ki ly S o u t h e nd b o a s te d
o n e of the best tackle sho p s i n t h e c o u n try, G o i n g B ro t h e r s ,
n o t just selling the mass-p ro d u c ed i te ms l i ke t h e m a j o ri t y o f
s h ops, Going’s managemen t ha d a d eve lo p me n t a l s i d e .
Going’s pedigree was t ha t t hey, o r ra th e r t h e i r m a ste r
ro d builder, Bill Roberts, a n d h i s li eu te n a n t M a rt i n A s h by
( n o relation to Bruce) ser ve d a c li e n te le t h a t i n c lu d ed ve ry
d e manding fly fishermen , be a c h an d b o at f i s h e rm e n , p i ke
f i s hermen and now the g row i n g ar my o f c a rp a n gl e r s . S p l i t
c a ne and Tonkin had been a n d g o n e , s o l i d f i b re gl a s s wa s o n
i t s way out and hollow fib re gl as s wa s t he n e w ma rke t l ea d e r.
He re began the other esse n ti al an d c ri t i c al d i m en s io n fo r t h e
t h en modern day carp angl er, s e l f -re li a n c e. W i t h a l o t o f h e l p
a n d instruction from Bill an d M a r ti n, I b ui l t my f i rs t s e t o f
ro ds, built on 10ft Fibretu b e S S4 b la n ks t ha t we re r i n g e d w i th
c e ntre-bridge hard-chrom e r i n g s , f u ll l en g t h c o rk h a n d l e s a n d
s l i ding winch fittings for t he re el s . Re el s to o we re u p g ra d e d
f rom 300 LHW to 301 RHW a n d t h en to 4 1 1 R HW as ex p e r i e n c e
switching hands when net t i n g f i s h w i th my s t ro n ge r r i gh t
FR E ELINE 55
