A short while back I acquired my first vintage cane fly rod. I’ve enjoyed exploring and revisiting different materials used for fishing rods and have found positive and negative factors of all styles. I have a couple of old solid glass spinning rods that are robust and reliable , Carbon that is super light and hollow glass fly rods that have become my preference.
Cane though had not really featured on my radar. It was problematic and high maintenance, prone to warping, could become brittle and likely to break. When a second hand rod dealer with a good eye for decent vintage rods at an affordable cost offered a vintage Japanese cane rod for not a lot of cash I decided to take a punt. The rod was a cheap mass produced cane rod from the 1960’s with the Olympic brand on it. This company had links with Seiko/ Daiwa as far as I know and Japanese vintage tackle is generally of a good quality in my experience. The seller described the rod as a good one and it came with three top sections – 2 for the fly rod and one that made a short general purpose rod without the middle section.
When the rod arrived it was indeed a nice little rod. It required a varnish and a small tidy up of one or two of it’s whippings, but crucially it was straight and the fly rod did indeed have a very enticing feel to it. After completing the work I acquired a decent rod bag and tube for it and awaited a chance to use it.
Last week I finally got to use the cane rod after partial easing of the Covid 19 lockdown. My first trip out was to a quite remote hill loch that I had wanted to fish for a while. My fitness is not what it was and I have been walking regularly to try to improve this. It was a hike of 4 or 5 miles to get there but for the effort you get truly spectacular surroundings and the tranquility of being in a wild place. I love this aspect of hill loch fishing in Argyll.
With my cane rod slung over my shoulder in its new case I covered the miles slowly but steadily on a beautiful late spring morning. It felt great to be able to get into the hills , follow a map and cope with the climb comfortably.
On arrival at the Lochan I was struck by the magnificence of my setting and by the strength of the
NW wind that was funnelled through the crags producing a good wave on the water and a chill factor I had not anticipated on such a beautiful day.
I set up in eager anticipation expecting to move a wild trout quickly. The rod looked and felt great and the 4 weight floater was effortless to cast.
However the anticipated take never happened right away. At an elevated altitude the season unfurls slower and although late May it felt earlier than that on this Lochan. Changing the point fly from a Zulu to a Doobry I moved down the bank a little.
Two wild geese and a diver were watching me , a rare visitor, with caution and interest. As I was watching them the ferocious take came out of the blue and I connected with a lively half pounder. The wee rod seemed perfect for this type of sport and arched gracefully as the trout dived. After a short but strong fight the fish was carefully landed, quickly snapped and slipped back into it’s remote Lochan. Satisfied I finally sat down and had a break, feeling that all was well in my world again !
I fished a couple of hours , landed one more similar fish and lost a few others. Conscious of the long trek back and the persistent wind I was happy and content to leave this special place but vowing to myself that I would be back.
All the elements of my favourite fishing had been experienced in a great day out.
Argyll Trout Fisher 