[Hamish Young]

So the roof on the steading next to my house needs to be replaced - this means that I am obliged to start sorting out the contents of the steading which are... how shall I put this.... somewhat chaotic.
This in itself has naff all to do with discussing tackle here, but what I found does.

Find #1.
Some 13 years ago now I was given two 10' 3 piece Orvis prototype rods to mess around with which had not been adopted for production.  I thought I had lost one but no It was in the steading.  It's a 10' #7wt (more like a #9wt) which I used for Pollock and casting stuff and... well.... it's still there. Good news as I thought I'd lost it, for the craic I'm going to take it out of retirement after Pollock again this summer.

But there was a surprise waiting.....

Find #2.
I was given a rod a couple of years ago which had never been out of the rod bag until yesterday. Mainly as the rod bag said Shakespeare President, but the rod in the bag was an as new Bob Church IM6 15' Salar.

Now in the fly fishing world Bob Church is perhaps better known for his stillwater (largely) trout fishing exploits. However, Bob fished for everything and it's little known he was a regular rod on the Ness and others across Scotland. In the hand the rod feels like it's not a noodle with good blank recovery, so I do believe I'm going to take it out for a cast 
Any forum members used one or familair with it

Find #3.
I've also found the 'Ark Royal' my Caddis float tube. It has been inflated that for the first time in 7 or 8 years. Two days after inflating it's still holding air.... so I may be obliged to try that again.

Unfortunately, I still need to re-roof the steading 

H

[Iain Cameron]

a Caddis Navigator? The King of float tubes

[Hamish Young]

Aye Iain, it is indeed and one of the very first to come to the UK 
Looks a little war weary, but then again it is high mileage 

[Euan Innes]

It is indeed a rival to this,



Worlds biggest boat (and one of my clients)
And H, I want to try out the Bob Church 

Euan 

[Hamish Young]

I might take the Bob Church rod out for a chuck tomorrow lunchtime or on the way home from work.
It's intriguing me Assuming I don't do anything silly with it, of course you'll get a cast chum 

[Hamish Young]

And H, I want to try out the Bob Church 

Soooo..... I finally managed to get the Bob Church 'Salar' 15' out for a cast yesterday on the mighty Ness with young Mr Dixon.
For starters, depsite this being a 20 plus year old rod, it's got balls 
Sure, it's a wee bit heavier than almost anything made today and it is a wee bit softer than most but recovery is good.

How does it cast
You know what It's a hoot. Whilst it's rated as a 9/10 I think it wants more - quite a lot more - and Ben agrees.
Regardless, I could pop out pretty much a whole ISSi 9/10 with careful timing - but it wanted more weight. The 10/11 Mackenzie G2 Spey line I happened to have with me was better, but I suspect that somewhere in my cache of fly lines is an original Barrio Mid-Spey in an 11/12.... it's going to get a shot I think.

Will I use it
Yes.

Conclusions.....
Well, just because it's old doesn't mean it's useless 
As the proverb says, there's many a good tune played on an old fiddle    The right line will turn this into a rod that's used rather than a neglected rod  I'm not saying you should rush out and buy one, but I am saying that there's many a good rod going to waste because it's not the latest thing..... a nice new line on it may make all the difference.

H

[Steven Sinclair]

This rod is really beginning to sound like the MK1 15' peregrine of Sinclair Seniors.

It hasn't seen the light of day in years but was an absolute tank of a thing and is one of the only DH rods I havnt witnessed shatter into a million bits in his hands 

I think it's time it too got taken out of retirement. 

 

Steven

[Eddie Sinclair]

Steven, just because I have a somewhat agricultural forward stroke and I have managed to break some fine rods (indestructible in normal peoples hands) from manufacturers such as Hardy, Vision, Mackenzie, Greys etc does not make me a bad person nor does it make the Peregrine indestructible, need to take the old girl out for a cast sometime😃👍