Hmmm, that is a good question...maybe because of my passion that won't let me sleep night after night or maybe from my ambition to always create something even better than the last time... the truth is hidden somewhere in the past of a flyfishing and flycasting fanatic...
Tightloop's story begins in the spring of 1995, when I have received my first composite fly rod, a Shakespeare, wich was pretty heavy from what I remember... it had a medium-slow action.
At that time in Romania was very difficult to find a decent fly rod and it took some time until the first graphite fly rods were available. My first graphite rod was a german brand ( called Balzer Edition IM6, 10' 5 weight) wich was a bit lighter than my first, and this was the rod that I went with on my first national fly fishing competition..he served me well but unfortunately it ended up broken by my good buddy on his first session on our home river Basca Mare.
I did save the rosewood reel seat though..
In the summer of 2003, as a student, I've managed to get to the States for four months, in a small town of New Hampshire.
I was within a two hours drive from the legendary Orvis, the Connecticut River and some very beautiful brook trout lakes and streams from the northern range of the Appalachian Mountains.
Here I was about to embrace my new passion for fly rodbuilding. I had the chance to talk to some of the very best people in the industry, true craftsmen that were here before flyfishing rods becomed what they are today, and long before fly rods started to be made in China...they adviced me to start building my own rods to have something truly unique and designed to my specific needs...but they forgot to mention that this wasn't going to be easy...and I was about to experience it for myself..it is amazing what I could find out about fly rods from this people.
In the fall of 2003 I ended up building my first fly rod, on a Cabelas blank for wich I used the old reel seat from my Balzer rod..to me, that reel seat marks the beginning of my new passion.
The rods I carefully craft are mostly built on advanced graphite blanks turn into modern fly rods that generate tremendous line speeds but they are classic built fly rods. With blazing line speeds it's easy to form a tight loop than with the slower action of the early graphite rods, placing the fly wherever the fly fisherman wants to put it. The tighter the loop the easier to beat the wind and to get the best accuracy when delivering the fly to a rising fish.
Of course many will say that throwing the line into a tight loop is independent of the material the blank is made of and its action but we have to take into consideration the recovery speed of a blank, not necessarily the stiffness of a rod. The faster it is, the easier is to speed up the cast. Speeding up the fly line and stopping the rod in an abrupt manner will form the tightest loops. On the opposite side, sometimes we need to slow down and look for rods that let us relax when fishing, rods that load easy and are best for close fishing. Fortunately I can build some of those too. There are still some old-school medium action blanks out there that I love to build and fish with.
I love the classic looks on a fly rod no matter what type of graphite the blank is made of. My goal is to build you a rod that will help you cast and fish better, that looks and performs better than any other, one that will help you cast and fish well at any range.
We all now or we should know that some the most beautifully and correct built fly rods out there are handcrafted by only some fellow flyfishermen, true craftsmen that dedicate maximum amouth of time to create masterpiece rod works that are superior fishing tools, meticulosly built with maximum attention to details. In my humble opinnion, two blanks rated with the same action and weight are not perfectly identical. This is where all the differences between a custom rod and a factory rod come into place.
These fly rods are created with one goal in mind...to make the best possible fly rods for the specific need of a certain individual. For this job, only the best blanks and components available in the industry are to be used. The handles are hand shaped for the best comfort and from the highest grade cork that can possibly be found with various shapes and sizes to match the lenght and weight of the rod.
The guides are properly sanded, aligned and positioned in relation to the blank's spine to get the maximum of performance.
I did save the rosewood reel seat though..
In the summer of 2003, as a student, I've managed to get to the States for four months, in a small town of New Hampshire.
I was within a two hours drive from the legendary Orvis, the Connecticut River and some very beautiful brook trout lakes and streams from the northern range of the Appalachian Mountains.
Here I was about to embrace my new passion for fly rodbuilding. I had the chance to talk to some of the very best people in the industry, true craftsmen that were here before flyfishing rods becomed what they are today, and long before fly rods started to be made in China...they adviced me to start building my own rods to have something truly unique and designed to my specific needs...but they forgot to mention that this wasn't going to be easy...and I was about to experience it for myself..it is amazing what I could find out about fly rods from this people.In the fall of 2003 I ended up building my first fly rod, on a Cabelas blank for wich I used the old reel seat from my Balzer rod..to me, that reel seat marks the beginning of my new passion.
The rods I carefully craft are mostly built on advanced graphite blanks turn into modern fly rods that generate tremendous line speeds but they are classic built fly rods. With blazing line speeds it's easy to form a tight loop than with the slower action of the early graphite rods, placing the fly wherever the fly fisherman wants to put it. The tighter the loop the easier to beat the wind and to get the best accuracy when delivering the fly to a rising fish.
Of course many will say that throwing the line into a tight loop is independent of the material the blank is made of and its action but we have to take into consideration the recovery speed of a blank, not necessarily the stiffness of a rod. The faster it is, the easier is to speed up the cast. Speeding up the fly line and stopping the rod in an abrupt manner will form the tightest loops. On the opposite side, sometimes we need to slow down and look for rods that let us relax when fishing, rods that load easy and are best for close fishing. Fortunately I can build some of those too. There are still some old-school medium action blanks out there that I love to build and fish with.
I love the classic looks on a fly rod no matter what type of graphite the blank is made of. My goal is to build you a rod that will help you cast and fish better, that looks and performs better than any other, one that will help you cast and fish well at any range.
We all now or we should know that some the most beautifully and correct built fly rods out there are handcrafted by only some fellow flyfishermen, true craftsmen that dedicate maximum amouth of time to create masterpiece rod works that are superior fishing tools, meticulosly built with maximum attention to details. In my humble opinnion, two blanks rated with the same action and weight are not perfectly identical. This is where all the differences between a custom rod and a factory rod come into place.These fly rods are created with one goal in mind...to make the best possible fly rods for the specific need of a certain individual. For this job, only the best blanks and components available in the industry are to be used. The handles are hand shaped for the best comfort and from the highest grade cork that can possibly be found with various shapes and sizes to match the lenght and weight of the rod.
The guides are properly sanded, aligned and positioned in relation to the blank's spine to get the maximum of performance.
The estetics sets my rods apart from all the other rods that we may have access to, in fly shops or on the internet. In order to really make a difference between a factory rod and your very special custom fly rod, they are painstakingly handcrafted to your specific needs and taste with elegance and class.
Thank you for your interest in my rods and tightloops to you all !!
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