Last month I lauded the simplicity of surfcasting, using only the bare essentials to get a fish. However, I do admit to having a few extra pieces of kit to enhance my surfcasting experience. One of such items is my ‘television aerial’. This piece of alloy rod is from a high voltage power line that I acquired on the West Coast over fifty years ago.
I first used the alloy rod to make a device for keeping my fishing pack out of the water when fishing the holes on Westport’s North Beach. In those days the holes were exposed at low tide and I used to fish very successfully for snapper in them. However, as the tide came in, the water level rose and it would spill over the sand at my feet so I bent a hook shape at one end of the two-metre rod, poked the other end in the sand and hung my fishing pack on it. This allowed me to fish well after the tide had turned, knee deep in water.
Once those days were over, I repurposed the device by adding in some extra bends at the hook end and using it to hold my surfcasting rods in place, out of the sand and accessible for setting up, baiting, etc. when at the beach.
It has proved to be a very handy device, as good as having an extra pair of hands and has served me well on many beaches. If a beach is too stony to allow the holder to be pushed in, I simply mound up rocks around the base to hold it up. It has saved a lot of reels from getting sand in them and makes attaching rigs, baits, sinkers etc. so much easier.
It can also double as a walking stick if I have to traverse uneven ground on my way to my beach fishing spot. Sometimes I carry it by poking it through a couple of the biggest rings on my surfcasting rod. With over fifty years of service my ‘TV aerial’ is a well-tested useful surfcasting accessory.
