The Reverend FRANK JAMES is a young 82 years of age,
and will in this column tell us about the old days of loads of fish and the tackle
used to catch them.
It was in the years immediately before the last war that sea angling began to be
recognized as a serious sport by all sections of the angling community if not by
the wider population.
Before that humorists could get a laugh by mentioning beer, deckchairs and tiny
flatfish in connection with sea angler. The change was brought about by the
introduction of the development of the tackle available, in particular the
introduction of the fixed spool reel and the multiplier. Rods also were improved,
The old broom handle became a thing of the past to be replaced by lightweight built
cane, lancewood and greenheart with some rods specially designed to handle
specific fish. Allcock produced a rod to handle tope conger and tunny, which
could also be used for trolling for heavy salmon in Norwegian waters. It
measured six feet six inches fully assembled and. cost 82s 8d. (£4-12 1/2p)
It was a rod similar to this, which was used to boat the British Record Tunny
of 385lbs back in 1932. Rods capable of handling flatties of three pounds and
more could be bought for a few shillings. My 1939/40 Allcocks anglers guide
(Price 3d or 11/4p) lists rods as low as 20p with the most expensive at
£5.25p.The 8ft version weighed 2lbs, enough to make the modern angler
flinch at the thought of using one. Not that reels were much lighter.
The "Sea Rover" with a 3 1/4inch spool weighed in at 19ozs and cost
£1.37 1/2p in modern money. It had a capacity of 250 yards of line and
a 2 to 1 gear ratio. Another interesting reel was the Aerialite Surf
casting reel, which rotated through ninety degrees when casting. It
had a 4"spool and weighed 24ozs. Cost 30 shillings. The classic boat
reels, such as The Scarborough and the Brighton were made of solid
walnut. The Scarborough was made in four spool diameters from 4
inches to 7 inches. The seven held 250 yds of 50lb breaking strain
line and cost 75p. Of course there were no nylon lines available.
(Ask your grandmother about nylon stockings). Braided cotton and
Irish flax in lengths of between 25 and 100 yards in breaking strains
from 20 to 68 lbs were the most popular 100 yd spool of 20lb cost
171/2 pence per 100yds. The Neptune twisted flax line came in breaking
strains from 10lbs to 50lbs, 100yds of 10lb line cost 3s while 200 yds
of 30lb set you back 30s or £1.50 This may all sound very strange
to the younger anglers but men caught sizeable fish with this sort
off tackle. The record conger in 1938 was 84 lbs. It hasn't increased
by 40% in sixty years. Work it our for yourselves what the price
of tackle has risen by in the same period. Hooks were pretty much
as they are today - only a lot cheaper. Model Perfect hooks cost
from 6p for six 1/0 to 12p for size 4/0. That was for a packet
of twenty-five.
The old broom handle became a thing of the past to be replaced by lightweight built
cane, lancewood and greenheart with some rods specially designed to handle
specific fish. Allcock produced a rod to handle tope conger and tunny, which
could also be used for trolling for heavy salmon in Norwegian waters. It
measured six feet six inches fully assembled and. cost 82s 8d. (£4-12 1/2p)
It was a rod similar to this, which was used to boat the British Record Tunny
of 385lbs back in 1932. Rods capable of handling flatties of three pounds and
more could be bought for a few shillings. My 1939/40 Allcocks anglers guide
(Price 3d or 11/4p) lists rods as low as 20p with the most expensive at
£5.25p.The 8ft version weighed 2lbs, enough to make the modern angler
flinch at the thought of using one. Not that reels were much lighter.
The "Sea Rover" with a 3 1/4inch spool weighed in at 19ozs and cost
£1.37 1/2p in modern money. It had a capacity of 250 yards of line and
a 2 to 1 gear ratio. Another interesting reel was the Aerialite Surf
casting reel, which rotated through ninety degrees when casting. It
had a 4"spool and weighed 24ozs. Cost 30 shillings. The classic boat
reels, such as The Scarborough and the Brighton were made of solid
walnut. The Scarborough was made in four spool diameters from 4
inches to 7 inches. The seven held 250 yds of 50lb breaking strain
line and cost 75p. Of course there were no nylon lines available.
(Ask your grandmother about nylon stockings). Braided cotton and
Irish flax in lengths of between 25 and 100 yards in breaking strains
from 20 to 68 lbs were the most popular 100 yd spool of 20lb cost
171/2 pence per 100yds. The Neptune twisted flax line came in breaking
strains from 10lbs to 50lbs, 100yds of 10lb line cost 3s while 200 yds
of 30lb set you back 30s or £1.50 This may all sound very strange
to the younger anglers but men caught sizeable fish with this sort
off tackle. The record conger in 1938 was 84 lbs. It hasn't increased
by 40% in sixty years. Work it our for yourselves what the price
of tackle has risen by in the same period. Hooks were pretty much
as they are today - only a lot cheaper. Model Perfect hooks cost
from 6p for six 1/0 to 12p for size 4/0. That was for a packet
of twenty-five.