Quote Originally Posted by jigtosser View Post
The people that fish this type of equipment do not shun reels. Some of the finest reels that I have used are for both types of competition. The Daiwa match reels are not even available here any more and the bait runners are all but gone. If you want some serious reels check out the sites in the EU. You can order the reels from them directly.

...They don't eschew reels. It's just that the long pole has become much more important in many matches. If you're fishing at pole distances (50' or less), the rod and reel generally can't compete with the pole. In other situations, the rod and reel shines.

The best English anglers are very good with rod and reel floats. At the international level, you have to be.
Aint that how it goes - Ive never saw much rod and reel stuff in Europe, back when I was there. Only on the coast of Spain did I see people casting much. Usually it was some clever kind of wicked long rod. I wasn't really interested in fishing then, anyway, it was just sort of in the background.
Then what do I see on these new YouTube vids? - guys casting to carp with rod and reel. Go figure!


I still have 2 new in box line alarms with ground steaks. They have some great tackle that will never sell in this country. Too hard to educate the public. For example i have a casting rod that will out perform any standard casting rod on our market but every company that put them out discontinued them due to lack of sales. They did not look traditional. Go figure.
Precisely why I'm so interested in the methods they use, like the floats. I figure one way to possibly get better results is to do something different.
By the way, thanks for the great links guys.