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Shakespeare Pro-Am 135 Fishing Reel
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Written by Julian Grattidge
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It never fails to amaze me how cheaply you can buy tackle that does the job in terms of catching carp. Yes, it’s often true you only get what you pay for, but for those willing to investigate a little further, there are some real bargains to be had – and at under eight quid, this little reel just has to be one of them!
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not about to try and compare the Pro-Am reel to a Shimano Baitrunner, but in the same vain, I’m sure many of you would be surprised at just what a cracking little workhorse this reel is - I certainly was! The reel had been sat on my ‘products awaiting review’ shelf in the office for quite a few months. Truth be told, I was not expecting much from it and had not really made any effort to try it out. Most of my fishing is done with either Shimano Baitrunners when fishing static, or a selection of old vintage reels when out stalking, so it was difficult to see where it would be of any use, however, a session brought about just a couple of weeks ago seemed the perfect moment to take it out of the box.
Although my firstborn, Izaak, had been on countless waters with me since birth whilst on reccies and visits to friends on the bank, I had not yet thought he was old enough to try and actually come and do a session with me. He’s just over two now and is well into fishing - he can identify most coarse species and can even tell the difference between mirror, common and leather carp – although all are from the ‘arp’ family as he can’t yet pronounce his C’s! The upshot is that he’s been asking more and more often to come with me - and so a test session was arranged.
I wanted to try a water where I knew there would be plenty of action. Enough so that he’d see a few on the bank but not so many bits that it became boring. Capesthorne Stock Pond on the SOTAS Ticket was the perfect venue with quality silver fish and loads of small carp. Most of my normal reels were spooled up with heavy line for more weighty specimens, and on deciding what to use I suddenly remembered the Pro-Am reel which, quite handily, came pre-spooled with 5lb Shakespeare mono. Perfect!
Once at the water I began trickling maggots and particle mix into the swim. I was fully aware that the session might last no longer than twenty minutes if Izaak got board, but luckily, the action was pretty much instant and he loved it! Our set up consisted of a simple 2grm self-weighted carp float set up on my 1.5lb specimen rod. The line lay on the Pro-Am was surprisingly good, and I was able to cast the float (without any shot) a pretty impressive distance - and with great accuracy - allowing me to nestle nicely up to an open water pad line. No sooner had the float settled on the first cast and we were away; to cut a long story short, we spent the next two hours catching fish after fish. Carp from around ten ounces to three or four pounds, and quality roach to over a pound were amongst a whole host of other species unable to stay away from the combination of particle mix and maggots. The reel performed admirably throughout – I was totally amazed at just how good it felt when playing the larger carp – not to mention how much fun it was!
The rear drag worked a treat whilst playing the larger carp and it was really enjoyable to use, and as the whole reel is so small and compact, it always felt as if you were right in touch with the fish rather than being a bystander, which is how it sometimes feels when using the more big and bulky coarse reels many seem to opt for nowadays.
The funny thing is, I enjoyed the session so much that I went back up again the next week on my own to have another go using the same set-up. This time however, I fished from swim to swim stalking in the margins. The result was another thoroughly enjoyable session, during which the reel helped me bank a steady stream of quality silver fish and some much larger carp. Each was a joy to play on such a light set up and I think it’s safe to say the reel will be getting plenty of use from now on.
Only last week a friend told me of a nice catch of roach and rudd had by one of the members on my syndicate, and immediately I fancied having a go with this fun little set up. What’s more, I’m off out tomorrow to try my hand at some specimen tench and bream and have already packed it up ready to take with me – it’s just so much fun to use!
You can pick up the Shakespeare Pro-Am for just £7.99 at http://www.nwac.co.uk
Julian Grattidge
August 2008
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