How much tackle do you reallly need?

[steve2]

Talking to a friend on the phone yesterday we got round to talking about the amount of rods and reels I have and don’t use.
He as 2 Carp rods which double as Pike rods, 2 cheap Avons for Tench, Bream, and Barbel and a Hardy fibreglass match rod for most of his float fishing and few reels where he changes the spools to match the rod or method on the day.
His big fish count far outweighs mine but than he did fish 2 or 3 times a week at one stage.
I have more rods and reels for just lure fishing than he as for all his fishing.

Just how little tackle do you think you could get away with using?

 

[xenon]

When I started out as a kid I had a light bomb rod and a match float rod for the tiny rivers i fished back then. These days I have stuff to cover pretty well everything apart from sea fishing and fly fishing. What do I actually use 90% of the time? You guessed it-see above. Doh!

 

[mikench]

I haven’t reached that stage as my buying fever hasn’t peaked yet . I liken it to having never travelled abroad and then visiting Greece and leaving it at that. There are so many different countries to visit and so little time to do so. I could cope with perhaps 5 different rods but where is the fun in that.

 

[markcw]

It depends on how many venues you fish, it's no use taking canal setup to a commercial or specimen water,
As for your friend changing spools on reels, I used to do it, took 1 reel, 3 spools with different bs of line and 3 rods with me. Set up as normal on each rod, keep line in spool clip on rods not being used, then when changing methods or style, remove reel from rod take spool off reel and put reel on next choice of rod.
Sounds complicated but it's not, also spare spools cheaper than another reel.

 

[john step]

I have actually during this lockdown thing found a couple of rods in my locker I had completely and utterly forgotten about. The trouble is when I buy a new rod I cannot just get rid of an old friend. It gets relegated to the back of the locker until another pandemic.

 

[108831]

Lets be honest,you could fish with bamboo canes,with safety pins for eyes taped on,do I want too,certainly not,I want decent gear,it maximises my pleasure,catching fish on a Hardy fibreglass rod would be an endurance,one i'm certainly not prepared to endure...

But if the govt made it a requirement,i'd dig out my Fred J Taylor trotting rod immediately so as to get out...

 

[sam vimes]

It depends on how eclectic your fishing styles, and venues, are and whether you are happy either making do or avoiding certain scenarios.

 

[Tree123]

Ive cut down massively.
So i know have one feeder rod
One light lure rod and a 10ft float rod all of my tackle fits in a savage gear lure bag. But i only fish for perch so that does limit my need for kit a lot. No banksticks as i just hold the rod or touch leger.

 

[MountainAsh]

As a kid, you wouldn’t entertain a 12ft glass fibre float rod unless it had a threaded end eye to fit a swing tip to do a bit of ledgering with it

 

[Keith M]

I’ve still got two rods that I’ve never ever used but I acquired them ‘just in case’ I ever did need them; like a fly rod that I bought because I had watched John Wilson catching Carp using one and fancied doing the same, but never did; and a canal wand that I won in a match but never used it.

I also have a 17/20ft float rod which I’ve only used half a dozen times since I bought it; but I’ll keep it ‘just in case’.

I have a few old rods like a 10ft swingtip rod, a Richard Walker B,James & Son MKIV Carp rod and a home made Jim Gibbinson Clooper Carp rod which never sees daylight but they just bring back memories of days gone past and stay in the back of my fishing den.

I have around 25 current coarse rods of which only 6 or 8 get regularly used however over a season they might all get at least one outing.

Then there’s a few Whips plus my beachcasters and bass rods that might only see daylight a few times every couple of years and spend most of their time on a rod rack.

Keith

 

[markcw]

I used to go to matches with around 60 pole rigs already made up. I would use around 5 of these, and they always seemed to be the same 5.
Used to take what felt like half hundred weight of leads and feeders, half a drawer of stick floats, the other being wagglers. Which was daft because most of the matches were on canals or commercials, so didnt need stick floats.

 

[rich66]

As a kid, you wouldn’t entertain a 12ft glass fibre float rod unless it had a threaded end eye to fit a swing tip to do a bit of ledgering with it

I was going to say when I was a kid it was a match rod with a screw in tip and that was all we needed.

 

[S-Kippy]

I got rid of shedloads of rods last year.....some of which had never been used. I still have far too many but, like clothes, I like to have a choice.

I could not get by with 2 or 3. The minimum I could see me with is 12-15. I probably still have double that at least.

 

[Steve Arnold]

Before moving to France I sold a lot of rods I felt would not be needed. Lots of other tackle as well, spent almost a year clearing out my tackle room until I had what I thought were just the essentials.

When we moved we had just my Peugeot Partner, roof box and trailer. That held all our worldly possessions - clothes, kitchen stuff, telly, two folding electric bikes and my remaining fishing tackle. Fortunately the Peugeot has a high roof and I had bought the optional interior rack.

There were 40 rods there! Well, I did not know if we were going to end up living by the coast or inland! Needed to cover all the bases, sea, boat, spinning, predator, fly, carp and coarse - have I missed anything?

Still had to buy a couple of quivertip and avon rods since settling near the river Lot!

Maybe that is madness, but it has given me something to do during this long lockdown. Plenty of tackle needs adjustment or maintenance. Shortened a few over long rod butts this week, made a loop tying tool for boilies (brought stainless wire with me from Scotland). Just as well I do not throw things away!

 

[Krang]

For lure fishing I don't find I need many rods and reels. I have some **** stuff I've not used in ages and my ultralight and my main set ups. I've not had cause to buy more. Daiwa Ninja with a half decent 6ft rod is fine.

I have quite a lot of lures though. Different colours, styles, sizes. I can adapt to different situations.

I could maybe use some more spools for my main set up so I have a bigger choice of lines.

 

[steve2]

If I look back over the last 2years I would I have used 7 different rods which means there around 30 that have not been used. Add to that poles, whips and fly rods and at least a dozen or more reels. Seat boxes, rucksacks, rod holdalls etc and there is enough unused tackle to stock a small shop. I also now have my late father in laws tackle to add to the list.
It would seem my friend had the right idea don't buy anything you don't need.

 

[John Keane]

I tend to buy, sell, trade fishing tackle frequently and only ever bother with one rod per discipline. My current tackle store comprises:

1 Shimano Beastmaster 8.5m Margin Pole with ext. to 10m
3 Top Kits for the above Shimano
1 Daiwa 5m Whip
I Harrison GTi 12ft Spliced Tip Match
1 MAP Dave Harrell 14ft Match
2 Darent Valley Specialist 11ft 0.75lb
2 Abu Max Specimen 11ft 2.25lb
1 Daiwa Matchwinner 10/11ft Quiver Tip
1 Fox Rage 8ft Lure
I Daiwa Wilderness 4pce Beachcaster
1 Daiwa Super Kenzaki Uptide
1 Penn Rampage 12-20lb Downtide
1 Wychwood Drift XL 9’6” #5 Trout Fly Rod
1 Hardy Jet Sintrix 14ft #9/10 Salmon Fly
1 Loop Green Label 13’2” #9 Salmon Fly
1 Shakespeare Scandi Skagit 13’9” 9/10 Salmon Fly

I’ve only listed the rods as they seem to be the most important items and I can’t be ar$ed to list all the reels, boxes, chairs, clothing, accessories etc that I own (and that the mice in the garage haven’t dined on)

I expect we’ll need a couple of pages for some of our number to just list the rods...

 

[markcw]

This thread has got me thinking, I am going to list and photograph my stuff in case needed for insurance claim. Then I may post list on here,

 

[steve2]

Did a recount today and found some more, 55 rods is now about 50 too many.

 

[Philip]

Like most of us I have far too many rods but end up using just a very small % of them.
Actually its interesting that the rods I gravitate to most of the time are very similar to your mates. In my case three 12 foot 2.5 TC Carp rods, two old 11 foot Avon Quivers of 1.25 TC and a stepped up 14 foot match rod.

They cover most eventualities plus I tend to leave my rods made up and fish short sessions so its easier to grab whats already there rather than spend an hour setting up something else.

Of course once we have all the core stuff we then start to add the bells and whistles that in truth we dont really need but its a hobby after all.

All that said a while back I started to get some shorter rods..10 foot Carp rods, 8 foot quivers that sort of thing. As allot of my fishing is right in the edge I have found they really are an advantage in tight swims rather than just another flamboyance.