Choprider

I agree about the sharpening on the Kamakura hooks, when I finish a trip they get taken off and thrown away.. whether I have had a fish or not as they can come back easily damaged ( bent point ) I quite like the pattern of the wide gape version.. and will try and find something similar on the Johnson Ross website as you recommend earlier in the thread.

I normally sharpen my own and check them after each cast, if in any doubt I would then throw them away, I usually put a bit of vaselin on the sharpened points. But recently I have tried Kamakura wide gape hooks, these things are very sharp and I have had carp on them that I could have possibly missed on in sharpened hooks ( I have found these hooks can be damaged very easily ) but after reading this thread I have looked on Johnson Ross tackle website and will probably try their ready sharpened hook.. as it has got to be easier than doing it myself with vice and magnifier... must be getting ol

I have had a few on choddies, but wouldn’t have a clue where to start with Zigs ( me and my mate keep saying we are going to try Zigs, then we lose our bottle )

Spot on, blue label you are not wrong there.

Fair game to your wife, my wife also holds a full licence and has been riding for years.... you are right about the insurance .. it sure is cheaper the older you get ( until you get to a certain age then it go's back up again 🤣 )

The bottom pic is my husqvana fe 501 (500 cc single) which is one hell of a beast, I also have a husqvana fe 350 ( same bike but 350 cc ) it is a bit lighter and it also demands a bit of respect when riding off road if you don’t want to go over the back.. both husqvana’s are enduro bikes that somehow ( loophole in the law ) you can get registered for the road.. here is the 350.. alongside my mates husky 701 I recon now I am sixty, I should settle down and stop all this off-road nonsense 😉, but there again you only live once..

I saw your bike with the plane, nice pic. I took a triumph thruxton out for a test ride, whist it was a nice bike the guys in the dealership were less than helpful so I opted for a bmw R nine T special.

And here are a couple more,

Mad keen biker and bike builder here, probably got too many bikes now ( eight at last count) including dirt bikes retro naked R nine t ) couple of harleys and a old school Xs 650 rigid chopper ( not yet painted, built in the last lockdown ) the two below being my favourites.

Nice one, look forward to seeing the pics.... another mad keen biker here..

They look lovely... optonics ???

Quest for carp is a good read, and I have read it many times over the past 40 years... it’s been sitting on the bench in my workshop for the last few years and I still pick it up now and then and read a chapter or two..

Lovely rods, I have certainly had some fun landing carp on mine.. I have several others and they all get used when needed.. they are never going to be as good as my modern stuff.. but good fun when you do use them..

Sorry I couldn't do anything that looks Blingy 🤣 if you saw the motorcycle that I built during last lockdown you would know why (old school chop)

If i decide to whip the intermediates ( which i probably will ) luckily I can still see where the original intermediate whips were so i should be able to get them back about right.. I don't think I would ever sell any of my vintage stuff, I have 5 built cane rods in all and they all get well used.. hence this one being refurbished.