BIG WATERS Longer float rods are good for tackling larger venues, such as the River Trent in this instance, where a 14-footer provides that vital extra reach to help mend the line when trotting a stick float at distance. This type of rod works well in deeper stillwaters too, especially when launching big wagglers and […]
Category Archives: Dave Coster’s feature articles
18
Nov
Nov
VERSATILE RODS A 12ft quivertip rod covers lots of water, comfortably dealing with casting distances from 30 to 60 metres. Any shorter and 10ft bomb design takes over, while for further out a longer 13-footer can come into play. The new Thomas Turner 12ft Classic+ Quivertip is often the first rod out of my holdall […]
Dave Coster's feature articles, Thomas Turner blog, Thomas Turner Classic+ blogs
REDISCOVERING BOMB RODS
04
Nov
Nov
TIGHT SPOTS Trends are always changing in angling, to the extent once successful tactics sometimes get brushed aside, even completely forgotten. That’s what happened to me with bomb rod fishing. But after recently getting to grips with some awkward “birdcage” swims, where heavy foliage made longer quivertip blanks impossible to use, the only solution was […]
Dave Coster's feature articles, Thomas Turner blog, Thomas Turner Classic+ blogs
A DIFFERENT KIND OF AVON
18
Oct
Oct
THE BEGINNINGS When I first met John Bailey we were working on Hardy Marksman rods and I remember he was particularly passionate about Avon designs, which he uses a lot, particularly on his favourite River Wye. Many years later I joined John on the Wye near Hereford at the famous Red Lion Hotel. The plan […]
Dave Coster's feature articles, Thomas Turner blog, Thomas Turner Classic+ blogs
THE ENDURING MAGIC OF A 13ft FLOAT ROD
06
Oct
Oct
EVOLUTION My first proper float rod was a 13ft Hardy Matchmaker. It had a brown finish, orange whippings, metal line guides, old style aluminium reel collars, and was made from fibreglass. The blank was heavy by modern standards, but at the time it was state of the art for a budding young angler. It went […]
Dave Coster's feature articles, General articles, Thomas Turner blog, Thomas Turner Classic+ blogs
Favourite fishing places
23
Sep
Sep
A NEW ERA After leaving Hardy and Greys in the chilly northeast, I quickly discovered lots of great fishing when I moved to the East Midlands. The rivers Trent and Witham were close by, also a couple of canals, along with many drains and lakes to explore. But after just a few weeks in Lincolnshire, […]
11
Aug
Aug
A GOOD PLAN Roy Westwood was the editor of Angler’s Mail, and I had already been writing weekly features for several years, when he came up with the great idea of a cartoon strip. He had discovered Tony Whieldon, a brilliant watercolour artist, and to this day I still don’t know how Roy found him […]
16
Jun
Jun
OLD SCHOOL Maybe it’s due to my early fascination with canal fishing that I don’t like being cluttered up with loads of gear, wherever I fish. I’ve used seat boxes with drawers and trays for as far back as I can remember, preferring having all my essential terminal tackle close to hand. The Fox bait […]
25
May
May
NOT QUITE GOLDEN OLDIES You might be surprised to hear that iconic rods from the seventies, eighties and nineties are becoming popular again, especially after the pandemic brought many people back into coarse fishing. Thomas Turner sees huge demand for the Hardy Marksmans I was involved with developing only a decade ago, but perhaps because […]
18
May
May
THE GREYS FACTOR During my days as Product Development Manager at Hardy and Greys, apart from the second coming of Marksman Supero rods, I was also involved in a massive launch of Greys Prodigy gear. This included everything from rods and reels, to floats and line. I got all those involved out on the bank […]
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