The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

What is traditional lure fishing tackle? Like what rods, reels, lure, line etc is considered traditional? Thanks.

Just a personal opinion. A cane rod of 7 or 8 feet, normally with a screw reel fitting. A small fixed spool reel, something like a CAP or Mitchell 304. For me it was spinners such as Mepps and Ondex.

Wooden plugs and tank aerial rods! Funny enough, I'm just about to go lure fishing when my son turns up. And the only traditional bit of kit we use is wire trace. In my humble opinion, when lure fishing all day one can't beat modern tackle where with the right balance of lure to rod, line and reel, one can feel every little tug.

Thanks.

This is something I have done a great deal of. When I moved into Swindon in Autumn l976 I was pleased to find out that spinning was allowed on the Thames during the close season. A visit to Hardys in Pall Mall found me buying a 6ft Spinning Rod. I used a small Mitchell for a time till I got hold of an ABU 3. Caught Perch, Jack Pike, Chub and even Trout at Buscott Weir. Great fun. Any small spinners worked OK, even a Mackerel spinner but the best was a little ABU droppen. Line was 4lb breaking strain. One of the most fascinating aspects of using this tackle was that you knew as soon as you got a strike what fish it was. Most fish caught were Jack Pike which were great fun on the tackle used, many tailwalked and/or jumped and I do not recall lost fish, All hooked in the corner of the jaw, teeth well away from the line. Much to my regret I caught my biggest Chub on one of those trips. Never had another even close to that again.

Please do not consider spinning in areas with a pike population without using a wire trace. Jacks may get hooked in the corner of the mouth away from teeth but bigger pike are likely to take the lure into the mouth with only one (disastrous) result. There a plenty of fine trace wires available that suit lighter tackle and insure against bite-offs

I agree with Wagtail regarding wire traces, at the time I was writing about the only wire available was alasticum (anyone remember that?) Now there are some superb wire available and I would use a wire trace today.