- Joined
- May 19, 2002
- Messages
- 12,511
We were down in Skegness last week and having spent time there before I knew there were a couple of places where I might pick up some of the gear I either owned or always wanted to own when I was just starting out fishing and wouldn't involve having to sell a kidney to fund it 
There's a little indoor market in Skegness, just behind the High Street, and within it is a small tackle shop - it's nearly all second-hand stock varying from nearly new to the 1960s. I always pop in when we're down there but rarely see anything much that I'm looking for - however on this occasion stood in the rod rack was this:
For those unfamiliar with the model it's a Shakespeare Match International from the late 70s - in many anglers eyes the peak of glass-fibre float rod design.
Very, very light for a glass rod with a very tippy action - courtesy of the spliced tip.
They're not uncommon but this was in very good condition and even came with the original cloth rod bag.
The best bit was the price though - after a bit of haggling I got him down to £18 so was very happy with the deal
He also had an original closed face reel where the backplate had been repainted so the model number wasn't visible and he wasn't sure what model it was - I confirmed that it was an ABU507 and also pointed out that a collector wouldn't pay decent money for it due to the paint job. A couple of days later we were in town again and I popped back in the shop and relieved him of it - £15
It's mechanically excellent, the infamous 'part5579' has already been removed, allowing the reel to backwind
Just got to decide whether to leave it strapped to the Match International - where it probably won't get a great deal of use to be honest - or fix it to one of the other spliced tip carbon rods that I normally use on the rivers.
I also visited a couple of car boot sales whilst in the area - the larger one at Addlethorpe had a couple of stalls with a fair range of gear and I did ponder about buying the Daiwa Dennis White Clubman waggler rod. It was one of the early mid-priced Daiwa carbon rods (£85 in 1986) and I bought one at the time, although sold it a few years later as I didn't use it anymore. This one was only twenty quid but I had no nostalgic yearn to use it again so I didn't bother in the end.
The last two items I'm looking for are proving harder to source though - Mitchell 840 Match (the high speed version) - come up on ebay occasionally but go for upwards of £100 - I'm looking to pay about half that.
And the old glass float rod I owned in the late 70s I don't think I'll ever find - Rodrill Yellowhammer
Simon
There's a little indoor market in Skegness, just behind the High Street, and within it is a small tackle shop - it's nearly all second-hand stock varying from nearly new to the 1960s. I always pop in when we're down there but rarely see anything much that I'm looking for - however on this occasion stood in the rod rack was this:


For those unfamiliar with the model it's a Shakespeare Match International from the late 70s - in many anglers eyes the peak of glass-fibre float rod design.
Very, very light for a glass rod with a very tippy action - courtesy of the spliced tip.
They're not uncommon but this was in very good condition and even came with the original cloth rod bag.
The best bit was the price though - after a bit of haggling I got him down to £18 so was very happy with the deal
He also had an original closed face reel where the backplate had been repainted so the model number wasn't visible and he wasn't sure what model it was - I confirmed that it was an ABU507 and also pointed out that a collector wouldn't pay decent money for it due to the paint job. A couple of days later we were in town again and I popped back in the shop and relieved him of it - £15


It's mechanically excellent, the infamous 'part5579' has already been removed, allowing the reel to backwind
Just got to decide whether to leave it strapped to the Match International - where it probably won't get a great deal of use to be honest - or fix it to one of the other spliced tip carbon rods that I normally use on the rivers.
I also visited a couple of car boot sales whilst in the area - the larger one at Addlethorpe had a couple of stalls with a fair range of gear and I did ponder about buying the Daiwa Dennis White Clubman waggler rod. It was one of the early mid-priced Daiwa carbon rods (£85 in 1986) and I bought one at the time, although sold it a few years later as I didn't use it anymore. This one was only twenty quid but I had no nostalgic yearn to use it again so I didn't bother in the end.
The last two items I'm looking for are proving harder to source though - Mitchell 840 Match (the high speed version) - come up on ebay occasionally but go for upwards of £100 - I'm looking to pay about half that.
And the old glass float rod I owned in the late 70s I don't think I'll ever find - Rodrill Yellowhammer
Simon