So recently I had a few days on the North Esk at Balmakewan. - super beat, we were scunnered by the low water conditions and heatwave.... but that's the wonders of fishing in Scotland
Anyway.... I took a rod with me that I have never used and I do not recall exactly where it came from. It's a 10' Daiwa Osprey Professional rated for 8-10wt lines - this was originally considered a
trout rod
It has an extension butt and is generally mint, almost unused condition. Anyway, I wanted to try it out as it has a nice through action - dare I say parabolic? - it was the perfect thing to play around with some lines on. Ultimately, I'm glad I took it along as I caught the only fish of the week on it! It was an absolute joy to play a fish on a rod that
really bends.
More interesting was chucking some lines on it of the type that were just distant glimmers in the eyes of their creators when the rod rolled off the production line. The absolute revelation was with a Rio Skagit line which the rod
adored handling the line and T tips with ease, but other lines including a #8SLX , my own homemade skagits and shooting heads plus a Ballsitic line were all tried. You know what
It was a joy. For sure I'd change the ring set for something less agricultural and I do have other rods I'd probably reach for first - but it also reminded me just how far fly lines have come and, maybe, the thing to do is to always try a new line on an old rod before casting it aside (pardon the pun) as there's maybe still many a good tune in an old rod still to be played with a new line.
H
