Saturday, July 31, 2010

Five Rivers FTXL..the allround performer..

Hi folks,
This is a project built in mind for dutch guy, a great character and a good fishing buddy that I guided last summer on romanian rivers, expert dry fly fisherman. Peter wanted an allround performer, a pretty fast action rod, so I selected the fairly new FTXL9044 from the Dan Craft line. Allthough this blank is advertised as extra fast action, to me it feels like a mod-fast to fast action, very fishable, having great feel in close, very good recovery speed and great lifting power on the butt section. Quite some nice features I can say. You can notice the minimalist build on this one, no thread contrasts, just a simple, nice and clean build, all Peter's choices. The guides are slightly oversized but light wire on the first two sections to avoid sloppy tip and to maintain recovery speed. This rod loads and shoots well at all distances, has great feeling with a 4wt. line in close or at distance and good reserve even with a 5wt...
Peter, if you're reading this please post a comment..and sorry for the long wait..
Tightloops!!








Friday, July 9, 2010

Small stream addiction..

It's been some time that I wanted to take some cool shots on a magic trout stream in the Carpathians mountains..I ventured in the wilderness on a deadly rod without a 4x4 car and had a very short solitary fishing session on the way back from work..found and "captured" this piece of heaven through my lens, luckily still unspoiled from human civilization...I wanted to share a bit of my small stream flyfishing addiction..many of us disregard the beauty of fishing small streams..and like all small things in life, they really make a difference..I can only hope, if someone will find this place, it will still be the same on my next visit.
To me, in these gin clear waters it's not the size of the trout that really matters. It's maybe their breathtaking colours.. I actually don't know what it is, but when I'm casting a seven foot one weight rod and a size 14 elk hair caddis and watch it float like it is floating on air until a trout makes it disappear..well I don't think there is something more graceful and peaceful than that and truly believe that this the purest form of flyfishing...cristal clear streams, spooky wild trouts and perfect fly presentations, three of the most important things that make the game..give it a try, you'll know what I'm talking about.



No fish was harmed or killed during this photo/fishing session..
Protect your trout waters!!