New member

[Mattjb]

Hello all,
I'm Matt from Bristol and have unexpectedly developed an interest in traditional fishing! I'll explain.
Back in January I saw someone round the corner from me was selling some rods on gumtree and I was after a light carp rod made of that material we are not allowed to mention for canal zander fishing.I purchased said rod and when I got back home I happened to have another look at the other rods he had for sale and one was a split cane fly rod, a chapman 500.I thought from the pictures it didn't look like a fly rod and after a quick google I found it was an Avon rod and for £15 I thought I would sell it on and make a small profit.
For a long time I've been a serious pike angler putting in a lot of time on Chew, rivers,lakes and pits and being a member of the pikers pit forum I started a thread on the collectors section asking for info about the 500.
A very kind chap on there offered to restore it free of charge,I was taken aback at first and declined as I was going to sell the rod on but after a bit of thought and not being able to stop looking at the rod I took him up on his offer.
While it was being restored I have been looking in on here with interest and have bought a rapidex to go with the rod and have been having a go at making some quill floats.
The rod is now back with me and is now a thing of beauty ,having been stripped and reringed along with a replacement decal to replace the damaged original. Also as I'm keeping the rod he asked me if I'd like intermediate whippings and I went for those and I'm glad I did as they look fantastic.
This generous man even sent me an intrepid elite he'd had since 1965 ,a landing net pole and some old floats.We keep in touch most days by whatsapp,text and email an have interesting conversations about angling and life in general.
I'm now itching to get out and use the tackle and try some new to me old techniques!
And this is how I've been sucked into the world of traditional angling!

Regards, Matt

[Mark]

Welcome to the forum Matt.

[Shed_Monkey]

Welcome to the forum Matt.

You won't go far wrong with a 500

[Keston]

Welcome to the Forum.
That generous chap has helped give you a good start , hope you enjoy using it all .

[Duebel]

What great story, Matt! Welcome to the TFF.

The Chapman 500 together with the Rapidex are a perfect match. I'm sure, you'll enjoy using them.

I hope we'll see some of your floats soon!

I went trotting today (no closed season here in Germany) with a Sealey Strikerite (wich is very similar to the 500), a Rapidex and a homemade quill and elder pith avon float.

[Wallys-Cast]

Welcome Matt, you certainly struck out lucky when buying the rods.
The 500 and the Rapidex is probably the best all-round combination you could have started off with. You will of course now be addicted to finding more cane rods and your personal bests can all be started again, this time on cane and pin.

Wal.

[Richard Jackson]

Welcome Matt , enjoy the forum

[Eddy Pools]

Hello Matt, welcome to the TFF

[Gudgeon Basher]

Welcome Matt,

I hope some of your luck rubs off on me I've been after a 500 for some time now and keep missing out! I'm sure it's something you will cherish once you've taken it out for a test run.

Regards GB

[Bobthefloat]

Welcome to the forum