March

This video made at Birch House Lakes, includes a rod I’m pretty sure I had as a teenager. A 10’ Shakespeare Omni-Match float rod with a black foam handle and black whipping with a red line either side of the line guides. I recognised the rod amongst a job lot of several rods for sale locally. I bought my original rod from Belper Fishing Tackle Shop for around £70, which was a lot of money for a teenager in the mid-1980s. I also bought a small Shakespeare Cosmos reel which was all I could afford after buying the rod. Unfortunately, the rod was stolen from my parent’s garage around 1989, although I did have an enjoyable few seasons catching small roach, rudd and perch, and learning the basics. Here I’ve matched the rod with a Daiwa 1600X reel which looks of the same era.