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Porcupine quills
Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2018 7:41 pm
by Catfish.017
Having just per used the nine pages of this section I was surprised not to find one reference to the 'porkie'. Surely it must rate as the most traditional of old floats and I doubt there is anyone on this forum who has not used one at some time or other? I always liked them as a lad for their dart like casting quality and later I used one cut in half for hemp fishing. I have been watching out for a couple with original paintwork but they seem quite scarce. Plenty of repainted examples of course, not quite the ticket though. Just another of those quests that motivate the traditionalist/collector.
Re: Porcupine quills
Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2018 8:14 pm
by Mark
If you search for 'porcupine' 82 pages of references are found.
Re: Porcupine quills
Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2018 10:12 am
by Nobby
I think their hard nature and insufficient 'prep' creating a key for the paint might explain why so many have damaged paint and are therefore re-painted. I suppose they weren't expected to stay in the angler's possession for too long ( mine never did) so making them last was pointless....?
In 1953 Bernard Venables wrote a book called "British Sports Past and Present: Fishing" for Batsford. It's quite famous for it's flysheet painting of an 1885 fishing match. Inside Bernard wrote about the London Roach fishers using poles and tiny porcupine floats. If they were good enough for those fellers they were probably without equal. Previously, they had reputedly forked out up to £5 for a Tapered London Quill Float when the weekly wage was just a few bob!
If you really must have varnish yellowed old originals, and I can well see why you must, look out on Ebay for the odd packet of 'new' unused Nevamiss quills by Auger, they show up quite often, but don't bid cheaply if you really want them...mine cost me £11 after too many losing bids.
http://andrewsofarcadiascrapbook.blogsp ... s.html?m=0
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Re: Porcupine quills
Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2018 4:57 pm
by Catfish.017
Nobby wrote: ↑Tue Apr 03, 2018 10:12 am
I think their hard nature and insufficient 'prep' creating a key for the paint might explain why so many have damaged paint and are therefore re-painted. I suppose they weren't expected to stay in the angler's possession for too long ( mine never did) so making them last was pointless....?
In 1953 Bernard Venables wrote a book called "British Sports Past and Present: Fishing" for Batsford. It's quite famous for it's flysheet painting of an 1885 fishing match. Inside Bernard wrote about the London Roach fishers using poles and tiny porcupine floats. If they were good enough for those fellers they were probably without equal. Previously, they had reputedly forked out up to £5 for a Tapered London Quill Float when the weekly wage was just a few bob!
If you really must have varnish yellowed old originals, and I can well see why you must, look out on Ebay for the odd packet of 'new' unused Nevamiss quills by Auger, they show up quite often, but don't bid cheaply if you really want them...mine cost me £11 after too many losing bids.
You're quite right Nobby. They're often found with a few remnants of the original paint clinging on doggedly. I think I may have read that book at some point. Did it have a chapter about carp and the formation of the Carp Catchers Club?
http://andrewsofarcadiascrapbook.blogsp ... s.html?m=0
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Re: Porcupine quills
Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2018 5:16 pm
by Gary Bills
I've been experimenting with tiny porkies turned into tiny wind-beaters, for close range stuff. The stabilizing bulb at the bottom is a large black rubber ledger stop; and to aid my poor eyesight, the smallest possible sight bob is spiked on the top. The whole thing cocks with the weight of one small swivel (this property found only by trial and error, and some 'trimming" of the porkie if needed), allowing me to use a short length of braid along the bottom, as a hook link. The swivel is set one to three inches above the bottom - precise but sensitive plumbing is possible by wrapping tungsten putty around the swivel - the putty being removed, of course, once the depth is found. It's a drift-liner rig, where the bait anchors the float... I was doing this kind of stuff a few years back - indeed, I used a very similar rig when St John and I first fished (the much lamented) "Clay Farm Pond" together - but gradually, over the years, my obsession for "sight bobs" re-asserted itself. This Friday, however, I will have my first carp session of the year on a nice little, rather old carp pond - and an adapted "porkie" will be my float of choice...This said, I'll probably blank....!
Re: Porcupine quills
Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2018 12:44 pm
by Nobby
"You're quite right Nobby. They're often found with a few remnants of the original paint clinging on doggedly. I think I may have read that book at some point. Did it have a chapter about carp and the formation of the Carp Catchers Club?"
I believe so, but I haven't finished it yet....BV is hard reading!