Blog Update – 2025
Has it really been 4 years since I’ve been fishing? Really? Honestly no, it hasn’t (as you will see from my recent blog post about Ash fishery). But it has been an incredibly busy time. Life has a way of either taking over, getting in the way, dropping a bombshell, throwing out obstacles and various other hyperbolic adjectives. Much has changed since my last post, we welcomed another child to the Murphy household then very soon after lost a loved one. But you don’t want to hear about life’s trials and tribulations. You want to hear about some rod bending action.
Truthfully the last 6-9 months have been quite productive for me from a fishing perspective. My eldest is showing more and more of an interest in getting out there and wetting a line, which means I too have slung a lead, feeder or waggler a fair bit recently. I think the following statement I wrote at the bottom of one of my last blog posts back in 2021 came back to haunt me – Go through reels and assess what state the line is. I didn’t. This was costly both financially and emotionally! I have now. Doubled down on an Amazon special and bought multiple spoons of either Daiwa Sensor and Berkeley line in strains from 4-8lb (as some initial feedback my observation is the “Feeder flex” Berkley line is comparable to Sensor, the 7lb “Trout line” is a bit crap, and twists and kinks after a few fish.
I also had a revelation. I have a Shimano Super Aero 3000 GTM, and a Shimano Aero 3000, which I believed had come to the end of their lives. These reels had been hammered, used for nearly 20 years, from heavy feeder fishing, to fishing the slider float at a distance in Port Talbot dock, trotting on rivers up and down the country and much more. The drag on one reel was almost non-existent and the auto back wind stop was hit and miss on both. Enter Felindre Innovations Reel Maintenance and Servicing. I sent the reel off, and for less than £30 I had a fully fixed and serviced reel back. Honestly I was overjoyed, and have since had multiple reels serviced. If you have Shimano reels I recommend you do the same if you want to breathe new life into your old reels.
Anyway, I’ll try and keep this post as concise as possible but I already think it may turn out to be a lengthy one, simply for the ground I need to cover. I won’t be going into the individual particulars of each trip, partly because I can’t remember the individual details and mostly because there are a few to get through. I shall link to each individual trips below, so you can jump to a read of your choosing option.
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