Fishing The Fly Scotland
Index => Rod Building => Topic started by: Korrie Broos on 13/12/2010 at 17:08
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It is strange the twist and turns that fly fishing can bring into your life.
Alex Burnett(Catman) and I have, over the last year or more become good friends (another long story, involving another forumer)
During Alex's last visit, to Cape Town, he showed me his Barrio #3 9' rod.
What a lovely rod, with a stunning wooden handle.
Easily shoots out line, with a lovely short casting ability.
We did not managed to get out on the streams, but we did manage to play around at the pond, at his girlfriend's house.
In the Cape Streams, the ability to cast short lines, are very important, as a lot of the fishing is done short, in pockets.
18" leader with a 6" flyline is suffice in most spots.
Andre, another friend of Alex, invited us for a braai (in South Africa, you dont barbecue, you BRAAI) on Friday evening.
I was early and had the fire going outside, standing with a beer in hand, enjoying the summer weather.
Alex rang the door bell and I went to greet him as well. As Andre opened the door, Alex handed us both a lovely tartan rod sock, saying "Merry Christmas"
Inside the rod sock, was a custom built, #3 9" rod, each with the name of our favourite stream on it.
What a christmas present, WOW.
I am not sure what we did to deserve this, but we are very grateful for this.
Over the weekend, Alex and I went to try out my new Christmas present.
It performed lovely, even in the windy conditions.
Landing a couple of lovely trout.
Thanks again Alex, for a super Christmas present. :z16 :z15
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attached is one of the first fish, to be caught of hopefully many more on my new Christmas box.
have a look at the sunny conditions, we were thinking of all of you in cold Scotland. :z4
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Hi Korrie :z16
You guys have really made Alex feel welcome in your part of the world and he certainly knows how to show his appreciation ...... yes, Wow! :cool:
Thanks for posting the photo, excellent stuff!
Best wishes
Mike
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And from the photos that Alex has posted, those two pressies looked awesome!!!
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And from the photos that Alex has posted, those two pressies looked awesome!!!
Always a gent.
:)z
sandy
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It was a pleasure to build these two rods for two very hospitable :wink :wink
gentlemen who are always willing to give up their time & more than happy to
pass on their vast knowledge of the Cape Streams to anyone.
:z18
Doubt there are two more deserving guys, although they would never admit it. :z18
(http://i52.tinypic.com/2q1uq8x.jpg)
This was taken just after 7pm on Friday night just prior to a lovely Braai :wink
Bet you guys are jealous. :z4 :z4 :z4
I can even go wet wading the weather is so nice :z4 :z4 :z4
Alex
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See you guys there in a few weeks. We can have a forum gathering in the shadow of table mountain :z13 :z18
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See you guys there in a few weeks. We can have a forum gathering in the shadow of table mountain :z13 :z18
Best you bring plenty of Suntan lotion & a fist full of Nymphs :z4 :z4 :wink :z4 :z4
Alex
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Hi Noel
Looking forward to your visit.
And, you know about my love of fishing nymphs. :grin
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Hi Gents, I am the other recipient of the special gift from Alex. What a priviledge to have had something so beautiful, made especially, and presented as a total unexpected surprise. Thank you Alex.
As for the action of the blank itself, it seems to have been made with a great deal of thought around the taper and performance. While a reasonably fast action, it is soft and flexible enough to preserve even the lightest tippet.
Regards
Andre
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Hi Andre
Welcome to the forum, it is a lovely blank and Alex does them proper justice :z16
Sandy
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Hi Andre
Good to hear from you :z16
As I said to Korrie ..... You guys have really made Alex feel welcome in your part of the world and he certainly knows how to show his appreciation! :cool:
I'm very pleased to read that you like the blank and from what I hear, you have some great streams for this type of rod ...... I hope you spend many enjoyable hours on the water with it.
Best wishes
Mike
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I would love to go to Scotland, and fish this rod on some of your waters.
From what Alex and Noel have described to me, there is some fantastic waters, still and rivers, to be fished.
Hope to be there in the not so distant future.
Merry Christmas from a sunny and warm Cape Town.
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Would like to see you up here Korrie would especially like to see how you would do on our local river The Don with your nymphs. It's not a popular method on this river at all at least not amongst the guys I know.
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Thought I would post these pictures of Andre's rod set up ready to go fishing.
(http://i53.tinypic.com/2pql3xy.jpg)
(http://i56.tinypic.com/dwrrip.jpg)
Alex
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What's the green stuff Alex? ...... the ground is white here :z4
Nice photos :cool:
Cheers
Mike
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If you look carefully, you will notice the sunny skies, reflected in the polished woodwork. :z12 :z4 :z7
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What's the green stuff Alex? ...... the ground is white here :z4
Nice photos :cool:
Cheers
Mike
If you look carefully, you will notice the sunny skies, reflected in the polished woodwork. :z12 :z4 :z7
I could not have answered Mikes question better if I had tried Korrie. :z4 :z4 :z4 :z4 :z4 :z4
Alex
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We are currently having great fun working on a new version of this rod for 2011 :wink
Best wishes
Mike
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We are currently having great fun working on a new version of this rod for 2011 :wink
Best wishes
Mike
I hope it is going to be the 4pc Blank. :wink
Alex
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I hope it is going to be a 4pc Blank. :wink
Alex
Yes Alex ..... a 4pc blank :wink
Cheers
Mike
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Yes Alex ..... a 4pc blank :wink
Cheers
Mike
Oh Goody...can't wait to try the porototype :wink
Alex
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Oh Goody...can't wait to try the porototype :wink
Alex
Hi Alex
I know you are generous, but you don't have to build me a second rod.
One is enough. :wink :z14
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Hi Alex
I know you are generous, but you don't have to build me a second rod.
One is enough. :wink :z14
Might be good to have a Spare :wink :wink could call it "The Nymphing Special" :z4 :z4 :z4
Alex
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For a dedicated nymphing rod, we need to add another 1 foot.
Then it will be the Nymphing Special. ;)
The 9" is a good overall rod for our streams, long enough the reach, short enough to have good dry fly fun.
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I think the rod as it is, should be quite agood nymphing rod for the purposes of the Cape streams, Korrie. Most of our nymphing, as you know, is done at fairly short distances, compared to a lot of the nymphing done in Europe. Ok, apart from Czech nymphing. A 9 foot 6, or even a 10 foot version of the Bario, might be usefull for reach though.
Mike, many dry fly anglers, from our neck of the woods, still rate a 9 footter and unneccesarilly long (poor uninformed souls). Bear in mind that the vast majority of people who fish the Cape Streams, choose to go with the dry only, due to the trout here, being unusually prone to rise to the surface in just about all conditions. Dry fly fishing in the Cape, is generally accepted as the first choice tactic of most of out anglers, and I do understand the advantages of a shorter rod for close in, dry fly work. There is however a small group of "renegades" namely Korrie, and myself (plus a few others) who find great pleasure in the more technical elements on trout nymphing, and tend to look at rods and lines, with slightly more critical eyes than the general "dry fly" public, many on whom, view nymphing as a "dry and dropper" setup, or a "nymph and indicator" setup, which in my opinion, neither technique is able to fully exploit the conditions, although both are technically, a rudimentary nymphing tactic.
If we look at straight line nymphing, where it becomes critical to manage the fly line and leader to makimum effect in order to detect the subtle bites of the trout, and the more subtle takes of the larger fish, who simply open their mouths and use the vacum inside the mouth to "suck" the fly in, line and leader managment becomes more critical in order to detect the slight movement transferred along the line and down to the rod tip. The less line between the rod tip, and the fish, the better to detect the subltle movements. If a rod has an extra foot, or a few more inches, that is less line between rod tipo and fish, and therefore a better chance of bite detection. A soft tip for bite detection, and light tippet protectin, is essential. A Bario rod, with a similar action to the one that Korrie and I have , but with an extra 9 to 14 inches, would be a great specialist rod for nymphing the Cape Streams, and if you ever choose to produce one, please keep one aside, as I will definatly be a customer. In fact, why not produce a prototype, and get Alex to test it in the Cape... better still, why not come out, and test it yourself, with Alex.
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Hi Mike
As Andre mentioned, why don't you come to the Cape for a week or so.
We have enough spare beds, plus, the weather is much better in the Cape. :D :D
Really enjoy the rod, and if you do make a longer version, would love to try it.
Having seen some photos of the River Don, it is a lovely open river, and a 10 foot rod will work beautifully on it.
hope to see you soon in Cape Town.
Noel and Alex can vouch for our hospitality.
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Hi Korrie
Thank you for your very kind invitation :z16
I would absolutely love to come and fish your waters, but I'm afraid that I don't really get the opportunity for many holidays and when I do, a family holiday comes first :wink
Keep the photos coming .... I really enjoy seeing them!
Best wishes
Mike
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took another trip to test the Barrio rods
great weather, good fishing, lovely scenery.
And good company.
some evidence
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oops the photos did not post
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another
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some more
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Hi Korrie :z16
Thanks for posting the great photos ........ Wow, that's beautiful scenery!
Best wishes
Mike
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one more
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PS: the long sleeves are not to keep the cold out, but to keep the sun of our skins. :z4 :z4 :z16
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Nice, very nice! :z16
How did you manage to get so many photos of Catman catching fish? ..... You must have been out on a 6 month fishing trip! :z4
Best wishes
Mike
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:z4 :z4
I have showed him a couple of my secrets. :oops
If you come to Cape Town, will show them to you as well.
:wink :wink
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Nice, very nice! :z16
How did you manage to get so many photos of Catman catching fish? ..... You must have been out on a 6 month fishing trip! :z4
Best wishes
Mike
Thanks Mike
You Cheeky Bu**er :wink
Alex
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Hi Alex
:z4 :z4 :z4 :z4 ...................... :z14
Cheers
Mike