The rebirth of Adonis and the curse of Apollo’s second rod.

One of the great things about being part of Fishing Magic is that you are part of a wider community of anglers and there is always someone willing to share some of their valuable knowledge.

I have been after a split cane rod capable of landing barbel. I have been using a B James MkIV Carp but always felt it to be a little ‘poker’ like and perhaps at 10ft, a little short for my liking. I also own a Mk IV Avon which I have always suspected to be a little too light in action, but in my opinion an amazing chub rod!

There is almost a mystical element to split cane rod construction. Things that we take for granted such as stated test curves just don’t really exist in the vintage fishing rod market. Due to the variability of a naturally sourced material such as tonkin bamboo, it is unlikely that any two built cane rods are the same. Secondly, the tapers required to construct new built canes are often down to the craftsman’s judgment and taking measurements directly from any given rod.

I was considering having a rod built as buying vintage rods can be a lottery at times and it is not uncommon for a prized and valuable rod to splinter into shards as some undetected flaw emerges when pressured.  The cost of that is however hugely prohibitive. A rod blank in unfinished state will set you back the best part of £250, a completed rod anything from £800 to £1400. Sean Meeghan was kind enough to give some advice and pointed me towards a W.A. Allcock Adonis c1960 that was worth a ‘punt’ on a well known auction site (not Ebay? – editor), (yes – that one).

The bidding was slow, and mine was the winning bid – the rod only received two bids.  Given the modest cost of the final bid (£62) I was under no illusion what I was taking on. In spite of that, it had two things going for it. Firstly a valued recommendation and secondly, it was manufactured by a respected Redditch rod maker. But it was the name itself that was beginning to captivate me; W.A. Allcock ‘Adonis’. Its title itself felt worthy of research. Well, here goes; in Greek mythology, a beautiful youth loved by the Goddess Aphrodite. He was killed while boar hunting, but was allowed to return to the underworld for a period every year to rejoin her. No fishing connection yet, but hang in there!

On hearing the dying groans of Adonis, Aphrodite cradled his expiring body in her arms, took the blood from his dead body. Aphrodite sprinkled his blood with nectar, from which sprang the short lived …… then something about his blood turning the river Adonis red each spring.
There, something about a river. No I haven’t a clue why the rod builders decided that a barbel rod should be called Adonis either – and this one was neither young, nor good looking either!

Adonis holding his rod – in his left hand!

The rod duly arrived and after a little sensitive refurbishment I was certain of a ‘user’. The handle was washed with a little soapy water and a light scour with a washing up sponge revealed the cork that had lain protected beneath decades of grease and dirt. The whippings were in remarkable condition; possibly it had been restored at some time in its life? I therefore felt it unnecessary to strip the blank down to the bamboo, but just very gently cleaned the surface of the rod with a fine piece of wet and dry paper (the stuff my dad called emery paper).  Using a piece of sponge, a thin coat of yacht varnish was applied to seal and protect my investment.

There was only one area of concern and that was a crack that opened up at the base of one of the brass ferrules. I had contacted the seller regarding this flaw and was assured it did not affect the action. I had been advised by Sean Meeghan (FM) that this was probably Ok! But Sean suggested a small 1mm hole drilled just at the top of the split would prevent it spreading further thus preventing a critical failure.

Having only just completed the rod, I was desperate to catch a fish – something Chris Yates refers to as ‘letting the vintage cane, take the strain’!

With the varnish barely dry, I tackled up with a favourite float and felt that something natural would be an appropriate choice of bait. Patiently I waited; dusk fell and the float fished lob worm eventually shot under and I was putting my new split cane rod through its paces. I hate to admit it; I didn’t plan to give it too much of a hard time on its first outing so with this in mind I had only loaded 4lb line onto the Ambidex. Gingerly, the rod sprang to life in my hands, powerful surges were cushioned by this obviously powerful blank – I wish I had gone for 8lb line and given it some stick – it was begging for it. All that could go through my mind was this is going to be some barbel rod! Bring on the glorious 16th and balmy summer evenings, my heart pulling me towards the Hampshire Avon, my mistress river 200 miles from my dreams.

I tend to play fish very differently when using cane rods. I keep the rod at a much lower angle so as not to place too much pressure at the tip. This is actually far more efficient and allows the lower more powerful part of the rod to absorb the strain and apply pressure.  The fight was quite protracted so I turned the rod over, rings uppermost to even out the pressure on the rod. All these things I do to alleviate my greatest fear  of a rod taking on a ‘set’ – a curvature of the cane fibres due to the rod being strained beyond the elastic limit of this naturally steely material.

Now sadly I have to ruin this story of a traditional angler stalking carp in the margins, or casting to ‘bubblers’ (within the recognised traditional close season- I hasten to add). A second rod also sprang into ‘life’. One I am nearly ashamed to admit to under the circumstances; a very modern carbon fibre 1.5lb Drennan Super Specialist rod, slack lining to a business end comprising  4ft of lead core, running lead, hair rigged Dynamite Baits Banana Nut Crunchy bollie, inclusive of PVA bag – yes, to all purposes the mother of all sleeper rods; the soulless trappers rig.  The bite alarm shrieking wildly, my fishing companion Geoff, had to step into the breach and take control of the situation.  At this point we were both wrestling with angry fish tearing around my less than spacious swim.

From marvelling at the Stradivarius qualities that a piece of split cane can introduce into any battle, we were fearful of crossing lines as two very angry and agitated carp set about stripping line from both of my (our) reels. To be fair the fish on the carbon rod appeared to be considerably larger and Geoff was hell bent into this fish from tip to butt trying desperately to prevent it reaching a lily bed to the left, my carp tearing into a bush to my right. Our fish tiring, we were both nearing the end of our battles. Far from out of the woods, we had two tired fish practically at our feet, one wrong step and a tangled calamity would spell a disastrous end to what should have been a triumph!

Fortunately, give or take a few near misses, the larger of the two carp made it into the landing net, followed by the second.  The fish were weighed and photographed for prosperity – after all a new rod can only be christened once! Now we can debate as to the ownership of these two beautiful carp, but Geoff was gracious enough to allow me the credit for both, and me; well I am grateful for his timely intervention and skilful handling of the fish given the cramped proximity of the battle.

The fish were weighed and photographed for prosperity – after all a new rod can only be christened once!

This left me to contemplate on the ‘error’ of my ways. I am torn!! How many times has that second sleeper rod pulled a blank out of the bag? Alternatively, it has probably cost me a fish or two because I have been reluctant to up sticks and move due to the extra burden of fishing a multiple set up. But worst of all, my biggest fear actual came to fruition – two fish on at the same time!!  I am a single rod user predominantly just for the connectivity I feel I can achieve. It allows for those spontaneous moments of inspiration that often puts a particularly special fish on the bank. Other times, when I fish socially, the multiple rod set up allows my mind to drift from the job in hand – but it rarely feels like fishing unless I have a float or quiver tip to watch! It perhaps shocks me that anyone can sit behind a rod pod supporting up to four ‘sleeper’ rods. It just lacks anything that I can relate to as angling – unless liners teasing the indicators gets your heart thumping.

Finally, I am gratefully indebted to Sean for putting myself and the ‘Adonis’ together. To quote directly a PM from Sean Meeghan.
 
‘I’m much the same as you in that all my rods are users, in fact I get a bit nervous fishing with a rod that looks too pristine as I tend to give my tackle a hard time!

Sean’

It is a super rod, deceptively powerful and has a really pleasing action. It was effectively re-born having resided in someone’s loft for decades. As for its mythological connection; it does look more beautiful and youthful and it has returned from its effective resting place in the ‘underworld’ to spend the passage of time with that beautiful Goddess Aphrodite, the river Avon and hopefully its barbel (OK, I am stretching the mythological thing here).  I would just like to conclude with a big thank you to Sean and well, is it a lucky rod? I will leave that to your judgement……

Christian Barker (Chav professor).