Magpie, were you casting at the CLA Game Fair at Broadlands, Romsey, Hants.?
I went yesterday - it was huge & extremely well done. There were hundreds of fishing stalls next to the River Test (gorgeous river for fly fishing). With flyfishing competitions, lessons & demos.
I resisted the temptation to buy any fishing gear but got a chance to checkout a few reels & a super fly rod by Orvis that had practically no weight at all. There were also some huge game fishing rods & reels ... including a brass reel the size of one of those mega-coffee cans and squid lures the size of my arm; the sort of thing Miles might use! Somebody showed me a picture of a 1000+lb marlin - how on earth do they get that onboard the boat?
Marlin Fishing in Australia with Australian Marlin fishing Charters
Checked out the
Shimano Exage 2500 & 4000, the Shimano Stradic 2500 and an Okuma 30 (similar size to the shimano 2500s). All seemed pretty nice. The 2500 & 4000s are both strikingly compact/small although the 2500s are noticeably smaller. The Exage & Stradic are both upper mid-range reels. The Exage is glossy & smooth although the Stradic is even smoother, silky smooth in fact. Seems like you can get an Exage for around 30-40 pounds & the Stradic about half as much again. Didn't see many of the lower range models on display but they were available (e.g. one vendor offer to get a Shimano Nexave from their van), the Shimano Alvio seemed smooth but plasticky.
Picked up a leaflet from a guy called Andrew Bett who has just published a book on using
barometers for flyfishing! Apparently insects hatch on a rising barometer, triggering feeding activity in trout and salmon. Didn't have time to hear the whole story though.
Other stuff:
River Cottage had a small food stand tucked away in a corner and the
Countryside Alliance hosted an impressive display tent, refreshments tent & demonstrations all day (gun dog training, game preparation, etc.). Fun off-road rides were given by Toyota in a selection of
Land Cruisers. Climbing wall, mini off-road go-karts, shooting lessons (clays & archery), cowboy show. For the well heeled: a huge Bentley stand, small Aston Martin stand, Purdey & Churchill gun makers (among many others), & the best porta-loos (& showers) I've ever seen at an outside event (real Armitage Shanks procelain!). We only saw half of the show ground though & hardly any of the numerous simultaneous demonstrations.
Lots of kayak stuff too including
Perception (including one with 4 rod holders!),
Seyvlor inflatible kayaks & numerous sit-ons, inflatibles, dory's, a huge RIB, an aluminium canal longboat and a camo kayak with built-on wildfowling hide & decoys! Quite a few offers & bargains to be had if you were shopping for gear or subscriptions.
