The National Vintage Fishing Tackle Fair Is Back!

Do you ever have one of those days when you go fishing and everything goes wrong? Well that's how my first session this month started! Tangles, a broken float, the wrong float, and then line got wrapped round the back of the spool of my Ambidex No2 reel. I ended up using a Columbian No62 reel I recently bought in a job lot.

On the bright side though, once I had got every thing sorted out I did actually start to catch some fish! I haven't been to BJ's Fishery since earlier in the year. It's a nice fishery, full of fish, but it's not very big, so in summer it gets busy. Plus they have regular matches at the weekend. It was a Monday morning, very mild with hardly any wind and just two other anglers, so nice and quiet.

I'd only got half a pint of red maggots and following the old rule about feeding little and often, I was soon into some Roach, Skimmers and Rudd and the fishing was steady all day.

Even thought it's cooled down recently, temperatures still managed to reach 11 degrees which is mild for November and even the Carp were jumping near the island. I changed from a size 18 to a 14 hook and attached a heavier float so I could cast to the island where I'd seen the fish jump. My double maggot was taken almost immediately and I was into a good fish and after a short fight I was rewarded with a nice Ide.

After a two year absents due to the Covid-19 pandemic, The National Vintage Fishing Tackle Fair at Redditch was back, and I wasn't going to miss it! I arrived later in the morning than planned due to the traffic. I took my first look at the vintage treasures for sale and noticed there weren't the numbers of stalls or people as in previous years.

My usual plan is to have a list of anything I want or "need" and look at the stalls a few times before I start thinking about spending any money. As I only had one item on my list, a John Wilson Avon Quiver rod, I was being very specific as I looked at each stall. A few circuits later I spotted just what I was looking for. I needed a closer look at the 11 foot, 1¼ pound test curve rod, with its two top sections, including the famous white tipped section. The cork handle had a reel seat which I was told had been added later, although I've seen other similar rods with a similar reel seat. Being the last of the great procrastinators, I said I'd have a think about it and I looked round a few more times, distracted by other rods, reels and floats.

I didn't see anything else that took my fancy, so I went back to the stall with the rod I coveted, and after a short discussion I parted with my hard-earned cash and took my prize safely to the car. A cup of tea was needed to celebrate and then I went back into the fair, when I heard a familiar voice. John Bailey was chatting to some chaps near the entrance and I said a quick hello and shook hands with the angler, writer and presenter whose books I've enjoyed for many years.

A ponder at some floats - because you can't have too many floats - although I didn't buy anything else, and a final look round, then it was back to the car, a happy angler. My drive home was full of thoughts of which reel I would use with my new rod. We'll see.