Picked these up last week

[Simon R]

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

 

[floatfisher]

Brings back some memories that. I had that rod, the 12ft version, around 1977 I think I bought it and the match international closed face reel that matched it. Best glass float rod available at the time I reckoned and it replace two LERC home built jobs I had been using for a while. The reel was pretty good as well. Didn't bed line but it did start to squeak a bit with use. I sold the rod but the reel just disappeared somehow.

 

[NoCarpPlease]

507 for £15 .... absolute bargain!! you'll pay more for a shallow match spool for it ...

I suspect that you'll find the match international 12' rather better than your shaky "strike"!
At the beginning of lockdown I thought about trying to get one, just to prove that it wasn't a quantum leap behind current carbon rods.
I butchered mine years ago to make a short rod for fishing the local brook - but have happy memories of the start of my match fishing career in the early eighties using that very model.
Of course - it could all be rose-tinted specs!

 

[Mike atkinson]

I remember me dad having that rod si

 

[nejohn]

My 1st proper float rod was a Rodrill goldcrest, I think it was 12ft, a deep brown blank, served me well during my early teens, it was joined by an inherited sealy black arrow before I saved up enough money from my paper round to buy what was at the time a top class milbro Coleshill classic which if I remember rightly was a direct competitor to the match International that would be around 1975/76. I later bought what would be my last fibre glass rod with my 1st proper pay packet... blew the lot on a B&W CTM.... Tried it in the garden at the start of lock down, as well as looking like a saturn 5 rocket it nearly weighed as much as one, the difference between that CTM and my 1st carbon rod a Hardy spliced tip was like night and day

 

[warrington63]

Some years ago I was in Tenby, and driving around came across a large car boot sale, A stall on there was selling fishing tackle, mainly sea fishing stuff, with a bit of coarse stuff mixed in with it, I came across a couple of pole roosts, the bloke didnt know what they were, and said is a quid for the two ok. That was the first bargain , the next was a Mitchell 300, this was in a box of sea reels, Pulled it out and asked the price, Got told a fiver, so duly passed a £5 note over ,keeping a grin off my face, Was mentioned I didnt try to knock him down in price, didnt have the heart to tell him he could have got around £25 for it.

 

[MarkW]

I bought a 840 Match in about 1979 and after 3 weeks of line spin took it back and swapped it for a 440A plus £8. Then nearly two years ago I got a non-working 840 as part of a job lot of 3 x 440A, a 300, a 410 and 10 spools for £20 and have since got the 840 working nicely (did change the handle knob to a twist grip from a torpedo). It's a good stillwater reel as the high speed sinks the line well and it's soooooo smooth.

I never had the Shakespeare International; I had the ABU Mk 6 and a B&W XLS 12ft which was probably the longest casting waggler rod I've ever owned. I sold the XLS on but three years ago I acquired an Edgar Sealey Contestant 12ft in glass which dates to 1969 and belonged to a neighbour back in the day. That rod is under ringed but a very light and useable rod which I've had a 13lb carp on 2.5lb line.

 

[Simon R]

I did own an 840 Match back in probably the early 80s, it was second hand when I bought it, and after suffering pigtails galore I was quite pleased to swop it for an ABU506M with one of my mates. Never owned an ABU rod of any description back then (in fact still haven't) - I was contemplating buying the new Matchmark that came out in 1979 - they were around the twenty quid mark so almost in pocket money range - but ultimately bought the Rodrill I mentioned above.

It all became a bit academic after that since glass rods became almost obsolete overnight in the early '80s - I got the Bill Knott Fibatube copy of the first Hardy carbon rod - lovely 12' spliced tip rod, that I've still got and still use occasionally - and can confidently say I've caught more fish on that rod than all the other carbon float rods I've owned since put together. I did use it for many, many purposes for which it was completely unsuitable though - including light legering but it coped admirably.

Simon

 

[breadflake]

I bought a Shakespeare International in the early eighties, second hand (from Jack Greenwoods pawn shop in Doggy, Simon) nice rod,
had been using a Abu not sure of the name but was dark green and far to powerful the shaky was a joy to use after it.
Was moving a wardrobe for a mate after fishing and the rod was in the back of my van and some lowlife lifted it as soon as our backs were turned.

 

[Simon R]

(from Jack Greenwoods pawn shop in Doggy, Simon)

My first ever rod & reel came from there Rick
Rod was an unbranded glass-fibre brown thing just shy of 11' long - had a threaded-end eye so could be (and was) used for legering too
Reel was a bright green 'South Bend' - it wasn't until I went on holiday to the states in the mid-90s that I discovered they were a massive American tackle brand.

https://www.south-bend.com/

I wasn't aware of any north-eastern tackle shops that sold South Bend gear so how that reel ended up in a back street pawnbrokers in North Ormesby will remain a mystery.

Simon

 

[Neil ofthe nene]

I have two Match International rods in my garage. I have no idea why I still have them as I am unlikely to ever use them again.

 

[OldTaff]

Mt first rod was a Bruce & Walker CTM match rod - local tackle shop / pet shop would let us kids pay weekly for kit from our paper rounds or pocket money, we even got little savings club cards showing how much we had paid to date.

Was stolen from my garage along with a load of kit in my twenties but recently I’ve been thinking of hunting one down for old times sake.

Seeing this makes me think it’s time to hunt around the boot sales and secondhand shops too.


Karl

 

[DevonDangler]

I have the Match International, in its original green, though a bit tatty, rod bag sat in the shed. Will never part with it as it reminds me of all the hours I worked as a young teenager to pay for it. One day I shall team it back up with the Mitchell Match reel, also toiled long and hard for, and fish with it once more.

 

[Arry]

I used to have a Sealey Blue Match 12' that was a cracking rod in its day... I got rid of it to buy a Shakespeare Alpha 13'... wish I'd kept the Blue match to be honest... it went well with my Mitchell 300 in the day then I got one of the Shakespeare closed face reels.... worst reel ever.... line spent most of its time behind the spool... I still have the Alpha... I have a Sealey Black Arrow 12' too but that needs a new butt ring.... I dabbled with glass vintage rods but only briefly... I saw the light and turned from the dark side (carbon... well nearly all) a wee while ago

 

[Simon R]

The thing with the Match International - and it's 'replacement' the Alpha (which I also own) - is that they are still decent rods.
I certainly wouldn't worry about having to hold the International all day - although I might worry about the bites I missed

I've done the compare and contrast thing twice to date - with the Shakespeare Strike rod - heaven only knows how we ever caught so many fish with them 'cos they are bloody awful and last season with the Mk 1 President - the first carbon offering from Shakespeare - stiff as a poker but a horrible action. I was only catching roach but my Acolyte Carp Waggler was far superior even though it wasn't designed to catch small fish. No wonder Shakespeare dropped it and brought out the Supermatch which was the rod the original President should have been.

I got one of the Shakespeare closed face reels.... worst reel ever.... line spent most of its time behind the spool...

They also dropped to bits - which is why you never see many of them for sale.
Shakespeare made some awful reels in the late 70s / early 80s - other than the closed face, their flagship reel was called the President II and at £30+ was a similar price to the Mitchell 410 or 440 - it had a skirted spool but the 'automatic' bail arm return involved it clouting the reel stem to close. I had a similar system on an old Daiwa reel and you really did need to hit the stem pretty hard - especially when the bail arm spring started getting a bit worn

Simon

 

[Arry]

I spent a day trotting on the Kentish Stour at Plucks gutter a couple of years ago... I used a mitchell 400 and the Sealey Black arrow 12'.... got 3rd with 3lb of tiny dace, bloody hard work... you had to send the tip a telegram if you wanted to strike at a bite.... got a bit of ribbing about the old gear at first.... folks soon shut up when I waved me envelope at them...???

 

[bryan white]

Recently a bit of nostalgia came my way.
managed to buy my first rod, 10ft dam minor match along a Mitchell 324.
really surprised that the action is actually quite good considering.
will be taking down the canal soon..got 5 weeks off work, so hopefully going to see some bank time