LC blues

The day had to come I suppose. My last outing was a short session after work, broiling under a ferocious sun and wafting a rod at some trout who declined to rise. I fished on lazily, not bothering to change tactics or flies. Work had been tough that day so I was simply unwinding a little. The cooling effect of the water was nice on such a hot evening, making up for the lack of fishy action. After a while I figured casting up the bank near some reeds might be worth a try so I turned and wound the line in, and that’s when it happened.

The reel seemed to be stiff or tight on a couple of revolutions so I sort of forced it a little and it jammed solid. Neither forward nor back would it turn. I waded to the bank and fiddled with the spool but I couldn’t budge it. A spare reel in my bag was quickly swapped on to the rod and I carried on as the sun finally dipped and the air thankfully cooled a little. When the midges came out in force I retreated to the car and drove home, mulling over the critically wounded reel and how I was going to fix it. This same reel had given me a bit of bother last season but just a thorough clean and lubrication kept it in service. Maybe I’d get away with that again this time? With the aid of some oily tools from the roll of spanners I keep in the boot, I went at the LC80 the very next evening. That operation turned into a post mortem rather than restorative surgery. Spraying WD40 in copious amounts combined with prising and twisting finally moved the plastic spool. Dark, uneven marks on the spindle showed the reason for the jam up, it was worn out and no amount of lubrication would compensate for the damage. It was time to say goodbye to this one.

A pair of these fly reels have been my companions for decades. One was bought second-hand in the ’90’s for a song but I am pretty sure the one which lay in front of my in bits now was my ‘original’. Bought in Aberdeen when I was in my late ‘teens I reckon it had seen forty five summers. Spare spools were added, each filled with different lines to the point where I lost track of what line was on each spool. Years of hard use ensued, fishing in brackish water for sea trout, stockie bashing on Fitty or the Meedies in Fife, a chance encounter with a large salmon which did not end well and of course my lough fishing in Ireland. You could say the old gal had let a full and varied life. Now it was just three bits of plastic fit only for the bin. Well two actually, I can use the spool itself as a spare for the other surviving LC80.

With a gap yawing in my armoury now, there was an excuse to buy a new fly reel so I went online to see what there was on the market these days. My dislike of modern reels has been well documented in the past but I wanted to see what the tackle trade had to offer in case there was something new and better on the go. I like the look of some American reels but they are very expensive and with no knowledge of them I resisted the temptation of parting with a kings ransom for a line winder from across the pond. In the end I bought a second-hand British made vintage System2 for not much money. I own a couple of them already and love the solid feel and reliability of these metal reels. This one came with a spare spool and a pair of brand new sink tip lines, so it feels like I have not just replaced but actually upgraded a little. Yes, they are heavy but I don’t mind that. Yes, I will be the butt of the same old jokes about mean Aberdonians when my mates see this latest acquisition. I have a thick skin.

I’ll give the ‘new’ System2 a whirl one evening next week. A drop of oil and a clean up has it ready for action, the scuffs on the cage just adding to that appearance it is a workhorse and not a work of art. It will fit in nicely with the other BFR’s and Hardy’s in my battered reel case. I am also looking forward to using a sink tip line again. They were my ‘go to’ lines for many, many years but of late they have drifted off of my radar. Time to try them out again I think.

That I am in so many ways stuck in the past does has set me thinking. Is it nostalgia for simpler times or am I in fact at least partially right in thinking for all our ‘progress’ we actually did make things better a few decades ago? Possibly my values have changed over the decades and what was important to me then no longer is. That now defunct LC could be viewed as a metaphor for my own rapidly ageing body, stiffening and seizing up. I pray my other half does not decide it is time to exchange me for a newer model!