Having now fished a few times, both on his own and with Jansen, Harry had decided that he wanted to try a multiplier rather than his trusted fixed spool. Andy had advised him that switching reels would offer no significant improvement in his fishing but Harry pointed out that both Andy and Jansen used multipliers and he wanted to as well! In view of this he was lent an old Shimano Speedmaster and sent off to do his worse. The following day saw Andy removing the large birds nest and detuning the reel to a more manageable state and sending Harry off with the advice to concentrate on casting with a smooth style and being more concerned over finesse rather brute force and distance. Harry took this on board and the next time he fished with Jansen Harry’s casting was more controlled but actual casting distances were possibly slightly less than he had been achieving with the fixed spool. This did not really mater as Harry was enjoying using the reel and feeling pleased that he could cast without suffering from endless tangles. All that was needed now was to catch some decent fish to test the new reel (and new rod which he just HAD to buy to go with it!!!)

The chance to test the new gear came a couple of weeks later when a text message from Andy to Jansen’s phone revealed that Andy was catching hounds and they should get themselves some crab and get down on the beach as soon as they could. A couple of phone calls later and crabs were sorted from Veals in Highbridge (01278 786934) and all was set for a Thursday smutting trip. Conditions on the day were perfect with just a light offshore wind and overcast skies. Rigs were just simple clipped pulleys with 3/0 big mouth hooks and a single crab bait. They had arrived just before low water and as the peak time was expected to be the first few hours of the flood Jansen took the opportunity to point out that hounds can pull a bit and it is important to both set the drag on the reel and also not to go to far from your rod as an unattended rod can quickly become a lost rod. As if on cue no sooner had the tips started to bend slightly to the pull of the new tide Jansen’s rod pulled hard over and the ratchet on his SL20 signalled something more than a doggie had hold of the bait. After a short but spirited fight a starry of about 5lb was landed and returned. Jansen had 2 more around the same size before Harry finally had his chance and managing to control his excitement he landed a starry of just over 6lb. Sport then tailed off but they stayed until nearly high tide when Jansen managed another brace of hounds. Unfortunately for Harry by this time you needed a long cast to reach the fish and with his tackle losses mounting it was time to head home.

Harry was a bit disappointed to have missed out on the final run of fish but with plenty of practice his casting distances should improve and his hound was the biggest of the day which was some compensation.