STREAMSIDE - Rainbow Angler No. 71 Panekire Bluff Fly Reel

You may remember a previous T.F.M. post on the Rifleman Viscount 150 Fly Reel that was created by Streamside Bespoke Engraving and we're following that with a story from Nick Hensman on first fly reel that he gave an in depth upgrade to.  Take a moment to scroll down to see this Rainbow Angler No. 71 to go from beat up to beautiful. 

I'm fighting every urge not to send him a vintage J.W. Young fly reel from my collection for the Streamside treatment.

 

 

Nick wrote...  "I was 11 years old when I first watched a friend attempt fly fishing at a school camp near Lake Waikaremoana.  I was lucky that our small rural school had amazing camps in beautiful wilderness areas!  Before I even had the chance to try casting the line, out of nowhere appeared a giant tangle of flies, leader, rod, hat and fly line.  Fishing stopped for the day...but something made me really want to learn.  The idea that we could see and possibly catch these fish with a tiny little fly was quite amazing to me. 

I knew my grandad was a keen fisherman, so after some obsessing and blabbing about it, I was very kindly gifted an old rod and reel for Christmas.  This rod had seen some action...  Miles of trawling on the lake, five kids learning how to fish and loads of casting.  The eyelets were scored from the line and it is now a bit worse for wear.  But I still have the rod which maybe is another project!  It came with a sinking line and felt like I was casting an anvil but I learnt to fish with that!

The reel was this old Japanese Angler Rainbow #71.  I knew nothing about any of the gear, I just fished!  It took two years on our local stream of sight 'fishing', or sight 'spooking' before I finally hooked my first trout!  The rest is history.

When we launched Streamside, I looked at this old reel with fresh eyes.  It isn't a reel I will use on the river, although I think it would be rude not to land at least one fish with it, and is a very special keepsake. From dusty wall ornament to website hero! I'm so happy with how it turned out.

It features the hand carved Panekire Bluff, which breaks the horizon of Lake Waikaremoana.  A lake view and a solid gold hunting Rainbow Trout…not to mention the tiny gold mayfly resting into the film of the water.  This reel took days of work, and I enjoyed every moment of it!  I particularly enjoyed carving the mayfly and trout in gold.

We are really excited to offer our engraving services to fellow fisherpeople who really appreciate the fine detail, craftsmanship and the special sentiment that comes with quality gear.  Maybe you can hand down a special reel to your loved one some day?"

Take a few minutes and visit the Streamside Bespoke Engraving website and follow on Instagram.