Lovely upper Stour Chub! I must get back to those stretches I used to fish around Fiddleford. I have caught much bigger Chub but those upper river fish and the stretches represent the essence of Chub fishing in winter. Fished Havelins last Wednesday. Clear and hard going but as I'd bothered to drive up there I hung on and ended with a decent catch of Roach, a few Perch and the tiniest of Pike. All on maggots fished fine. 🙂
Nice vid mark.....it appears the rivers are a bit out of sorts...maybe need a bit if rain or a bit of wind to get some oxygen back in the water....I know some local lakes are struggling with leaf matter taking up dissolved oxygen and no wind to get it back in the water....will give the upper stour a go after we've had some rain...
All fixed spool reels for light line floatfishing have compromises. I know your comment is tongue-in-cheek but logically the Mitchells still do the job for me despite inherent disadvantages. On the plus side (for a Match): I've got loads of them plus lots of spare spools The rotor revolves the correct way They have an auto bale arm They are fast-retrieve The spools are good to use No need for anti-reverse as they don't spin out of control if you pull off line The line lay is excellent Still plenty around as so many sold Easy to reach the spool lip with my forefinger On the minus side Getting parts is haphazard as most of the ones I own are 40+ years old though I have a small stock of spares and can butcher one of the parts reels if necessary They need frequent maintenance They're a bit heavy - around 11oz Lots of bits that tangle line, especially on a windy day. I've got some older Shimano Stradics in 1000 (circa 1998) and 2500 (circa 2003) sizes which are bombproof, with high speed and good line lay but the following disadvantages: Rotor goes the wrong way No auto bale Replacement spools have a sharp lip which I don't like for trotting The spools on the 1000 size are a bit small and the reach is a bit long top the spool Not significantly lighter than the Matches I have toyed with the idea of an older Daiwa TDR 2508 but it means getting into a new system. Shimano do some lighter Stradics - C14 - that are front drag but no antireverse, sharp lipped spools, and the rotor/lack of auto bale problems.
Lovely upper Stour Chub! I must get back to those stretches I used to fish around Fiddleford. I have caught much bigger Chub but those upper river fish and the stretches represent the essence of Chub fishing in winter. Fished Havelins last Wednesday. Clear and hard going but as I'd bothered to drive up there I hung on and ended with a decent catch of Roach, a few Perch and the tiniest of Pike. All on maggots fished fine. 🙂
I thought that was an old Mitchel match Mark, my go to reel when I was on the bank, used to love one finger bailarm release.
Nice chub to finish on..👍
Great vid
Fished those swims( and others) ealier this morning mark, very quiet apart from one small chub.
The chub bites on the three larger fish were dipping the float about 2mm, that's all.
Nice vid mark.....it appears the rivers are a bit out of sorts...maybe need a bit if rain or a bit of wind to get some oxygen back in the water....I know some local lakes are struggling with leaf matter taking up dissolved oxygen and no wind to get it back in the water....will give the upper stour a go after we've had some rain...
Ten days before this when it had more colour and flow the small roach were prolific on the same stretch.
About time you bought some decent reels Mark 🤣
All fixed spool reels for light line floatfishing have compromises. I know your comment is tongue-in-cheek but logically the Mitchells still do the job for me despite inherent disadvantages.
On the plus side (for a Match):
I've got loads of them plus lots of spare spools
The rotor revolves the correct way
They have an auto bale arm
They are fast-retrieve
The spools are good to use
No need for anti-reverse as they don't spin out of control if you pull off line
The line lay is excellent
Still plenty around as so many sold
Easy to reach the spool lip with my forefinger
On the minus side
Getting parts is haphazard as most of the ones I own are 40+ years old though I have a small stock of spares and can butcher one of the parts reels if necessary
They need frequent maintenance
They're a bit heavy - around 11oz
Lots of bits that tangle line, especially on a windy day.
I've got some older Shimano Stradics in 1000 (circa 1998) and 2500 (circa 2003) sizes which are bombproof, with high speed and good line lay but the following disadvantages:
Rotor goes the wrong way
No auto bale
Replacement spools have a sharp lip which I don't like for trotting
The spools on the 1000 size are a bit small and the reach is a bit long top the spool
Not significantly lighter than the Matches
I have toyed with the idea of an older Daiwa TDR 2508 but it means getting into a new system. Shimano do some lighter Stradics - C14 - that are front drag but no antireverse, sharp lipped spools, and the rotor/lack of auto bale problems.