… as one of my eco-warrior pals is always saying.
And thanks to Bim at Sexyloops for this shot of inspiration, there’s surely no better place to start practising 2009’s fashionable New Parsimony than right here on the Wandle.
Forget conspicuous consumption: who needs to spend all their hard-earned moolah on the latest big-name, big-fish-stopping rods and reels when everything’s ready to roll from the rubbish pile at an average Wandle Trust cleanup?
Half a stolen bike, a bracket rotting off an unidentifiable bit of scrap metal, and a decent length of discarded rebar should all be stern enough to subdue even our feistiest Wandle trout or barbel.
Assembly time may be an issue, but dig deep enough in that silt bank, and you’ll find the right weight of clothesline to balance the action nicely, with extra style points for rescuing someone else’s hooklink and float from a danger-loving coot’s nest.
That warm fuzzy feeling you’re noticing?
Yup, it’s all part and parcel of spending next to nothing on your new composite go-anywhere, tackle-anything, bling-free rig… and being a great fishing conservationist too…