Anyone want an Avocet at stupid money!

[The Sweetcorn Kid]

Come on Jim, keep up old son!!!

[JerryC]

B.James put a lot of pressure on Southwell to produce blanks for them exclusively.

He refused, wanting to keep his eggs in several baskets, and B.James had to make their own.

Or if there was a rush on buy elsewhere.......


And there was a fair old rush from time to time...they sold 15,000 Mark IVs alone !

Consequently, I don't think you can ever say a certain rod is by Southwell without doubt.

And as to the hot node press story one hears so often.......I have it on good authority it's all hokum!
Knowing the source of that story........I wasn't surprised.

I'd be interested to know where you got your information from Nobby as, obviously Bob Southwell blanks were used by many shops and rod-makers, but I seem to remember that Jim Bruce Snr (B James & Son) bought most, if not all, his blanks from BS prior to the mid 50's when he acquired his own machine.

[Chubman]

allthough avocets are nice rods,£700 is a bit steep ,was it a whole cane butt version?,a kennet perfection went for £205 on the bay a couple of days ago,some sellers have to remember money is a bit tight for a lot of people at this moment in time.

[Kevanf1]

Money is tight but, if somebody really, really wants something.....

[Vole]

And if two people really, really want it....

Sometimes I'm glad that I'm too poor to make a fool of myself.

[Aitch]

as a crossover from the other post about names and rods, I find that the prices that some dealers/sellers are charging for rods is waaaaaay out of order.... especially for rods without names.... I've seen several un-named rods with huge markups and what you are getting isn't anything special other than the price tag, I have to agree to a point that fora such as this go some way to boosting prices on popular auction sites...

Cane and pins have suddenly become the hot commodity of late and I think you'd agree that this forum has contributed in part to those price hikes.... I can certainly say that I cannot afford some of the prices being charged and if we are honest we'll see prices hiked even further if the demand for cane continues to rise... I, as a working man cannot afford (monetarily or in time) to sit scouring the bay in the hope a bargain surfaces either... it seems that my meagre collection of beansticks will have to suffice till I acquire the skills to rebuild the bits I have, or until the prices return to something approaching normality....

[Kevanf1]

Bluelabel, what I am about to say may well make you weep... Others may well remember a time when one could pick up a Speedia for £20. Add to that be relatively assured that you were buying a decent example. I've bought most of my de-luxes for no more than £30 too. Trudex's? I have two (possibly another winging it's way to me but it may be a Rapidex or another similar other maker badged clone) both of my current ones I got for around £10 each. Part of the resurgence in popularity of the pins, especially the Speedia is in part down to the Internet Angling Club of which I have been a member of since around 1998 (it started in about '97). The wonders of the Speedia were soon spread from there through to the old UK Fishing website (I think I have the site name correct but forgive me if I am wrong) run by a guy by the name of Geoff Maynard. I watched the price rise steadily over the years. Back in the late 1990's it was also still possible to get hold of named rods for quite low prices. I saw many Aspindales at £10 to £20 going unsold. Very few people wanted them, they were, in the main, seduced by the lure of carbon (apologies to Mark for mention of that word, it will be the one and only time in this post). Then along came 'A Passion For Angling' and Chris Yates with his wonderfully quirky, old fashioned style of fishing. I think many people realised that fishing was not all about the latest, most modern tackle. That big fish could be caught with that old tackle that your grandfather used to use, as demonstrated admirably by Mr Yates when he caught the record UK carp.

Since that time, just over 10 years ago, things have snowballed and vintage (and not so vintage) tackle is of course highly sought after. Will we perhaps see a time when Shimano offer a split cane rod?

[Nobby]

I think Geoff Maynard was the creator of Fishing Magic, but that he has since sold the site....????

[Kevanf1]

I think Geoff Maynard was the creator of Fishing Magic, but that he has since sold the site....????

Graham Marsden was the first editor of the site. It was started by a company called Magicalia and they had one or two other sites. Bike Magic was one. Graham left after a good few years and then Geoff took over as a temporary measure for around 12 months. In between manning the barrow on the London market ;)

Geoff now has a very nice stretch of the Wye for which I do have an invite as long as the length is not booked up. Geoff being another long (er) term member of the IAC which I have mentioned before Very nice guy.

[Nobby]

Yes I met Geoff fishing at Marsh Farm a couple of years ago, after the crucians of course.