Never judge a book by its cover.
I think I have always written truthful blogs and articles, and I always give honest and heartfelt opinions. It would be correct to say that I wasn’t exactly enamoured or enthusiastic about either of the aforementioned rods, mainly because I hadn’t really got a use for them.
I felt all the other Cadence match rods I possessed covered all of my requirements, particularly on the Trent, but over the last 18 months or so I’ve been proven inadequate in my judgment.
Fortunately, I am not one who’s unable to taste a bit of humble pie and admit where I might have been wrong. So I would like to explain why this has come about and how happy I am that it has done so.
It started with a session I had on the Trent a while back where I was doing my usual thing of catching silvers with the hope of the odd bonus fish. The river was fining down and had a tinge of colour with about twelve inches of extra water on, and the silvers weren’t really forthcoming for one reason or another. I then hooked and landed a nice chub and a 4lb plus barbel on the CR10 15ft #0 Match Rod. As much as I love this rod to pieces, I thought that if I was fishing a match, I would want to get these fish in quicker.
Rather than carry on with what I was doing. I quickly threaded some 5lb Edge Tackle Float Mono on a CR10 15ft #2 Match Rod I had in my rod bag and never actually used, and made up an identical stick float rig whilst still feeding my swim. I thought if I upped my feed of casters, tares and hemp, then I could hopefully get the chub and barbel into a feeding frenzy.
That’s exactly what happened as chub and barbel came one after the other, and the rod played them absolutely fantastically. I’d learned a lesson, and a very valuable one, and I started using the rod a lot more when the conditions were right and warranted.
After the horrendous autumn and winter of last year, and frustratingly not being able to fish the Trent for nearly six months, I decided to have a go on the Wye at Hereford. I was missing my fishing so much, particularly on the float.
Not knowing the river so well, I decided to start cautiously, on a CR10 15ft #0 Match Rod and probably lighter gear than they generally use there.
After ten chub in ten casts it soon became apparent that I could actually step up my gear. I reached for the CR10 15ft #2 Match Rod straight away, and it proved to be the correct decision with chub after chub coming, with the odd roach for a lovely day’s stick float fishing.
I decided to go back two weeks later but really aggressively attack the river this time, like the locals do, and I’d brought along the CR10 16ft #2 Match Rod, which I hadn’t used for five years.
The wind was blowing a bit more, which meant the extra control I would get with this rod would be invaluable.
It proved exactly so as I bagged up from the off on chub, feeding ground bait, casters, and hemp for an estimated 65-70lb haul including a lovely Rudd. A great session that, I thought, would cap my season off with only a couple of days to go. However, I caught a personal best fish on the last day which rounded everything off perfectly.
I have fished with both rods many times since, and they now stand as great pieces in my armoury for those bagging up sessions on stamp fish. Furthermore, where chub and barbel come into the equation, none more so than landing a 5lb 14oz chub in a match on the Trent in the summer. They’re obviously great in those deeper swims also, especially as we’re into autumn now and the rivers are likely to be carrying a little extra water on from their normal summer levels.
As I get older it’s inevitable that I think I know what I like, however occasionally, it’s great to be reminded that lovely surprises do come along, and thank goodness they do.
Another lesson learned about not coming to a hasty conclusion about something straight away, and a fine example of not judging a book by its cover.
