Tackle and Tactics
Mike Ladle

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Update on spinning gear..

I was just glancing back through the Tack-tics pages and realised that my spinning gear has changed quite a bit in the past three years. Anyway - time for an update. My favourite rod for bass spinning used to be a twelve-foot, one-and-three-quarter pound TC carp rod. eventually it gave up the ghost and I replaced it with a spinning rod - eleven-foot, casting 10-60g and very effective. More recently, to accommodate my holidays abroad, I have begun to use similar rods in four or five pieces so that I can pop them in the suit case. The 'travel' rods have been so effective that I now tend to use them even in the UK.

My old bait-runner reels were a bit heavy and clumsy but worked well. They have now been supplanted by the Shimano Stradic 4000 (I never used the bait-runner facility anyway!). Excellent line lay, a smooth clutch and considerably lighter in weight than the old bait-runners. The new reels seem pretty resistant to the use and abuse that I give them and work very well with the Whiplash braid. I can put 300m of 30lb braid on the deep spool and never seem to have any trouble with knots or tangles.

The end of my braid is usually tied to about a metre or so of 15lb nylon (40lb in the tropics) by an Albright knot and the wire trace (if I need one) is blood knotted to this by a tiny swivel (25-40lb BS). My lures are no longer clipped on but simply attached to the nylon (or the wire) by a simple surgeon's loop knot. For my tropical fishing the wire traces are permanently looped onto the lures and only changed if they get tatty or damaged. The lure box now contains about equal numbers of surface and sub-surface lures. A couple of shads and Redgills, a Mepps or two and a few spoons (Tobys and 'pike' spoons).

If you have any comments or questions about fish, methods, tactics or 'what have you.'get in touch with me by sending an E-MAIL to - docladle@hotmail.com

INFORMATION SPOT

Update on spinning gear.

Old bait-runner.

Still serviceable but not a patch on my new reels.

Stradic 4000.

Small, compact, excellent line lay and clutch.

Loop attachment.

Loop in 49 strand wire used to attach plug.  The knot is a bit crude but can be improved with lighter wire and more care if you want to use lighter lures.

Albright.

It is hard to imagine a neater or more secure join between braid and nylon.

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