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Monday: Paul Arden
Tuesday: Harps
Wednesday: Bernd Ziesche
Thursday: Mr T.
Friday: Sudesh Pursad
Saturday: Viking Lars
Sunday: Akos

Ronan's report

Saturday May 25th 2013

Continuing on the subject of rod maintenance, let's talk about handles.

The first thing I do when I get a new rod, is to apply Cork Seal to the handle. I use the stuff from U-40 (don't know if there re other brands available). Cork Seal seals the pores of the cork and makes it less susceptible to dirt and grime. And it actually helps to seal in the cork filler that usually goes away within the first few fishing trips.

I apply two coats on a new handle (it says on the jar to only apply one, but you know me - I'm reckless). And it does work - it darkens the cork a little, and it doesn't keep it clean forever, which it shouldn't - patina is nice!

But on a lot of the rivers and lakes I fish, the banks are more or less muddy, and if you leave your rod on the bank as you unhook a fish, the handle will quickly become really ugly. Most don't care, and it's not as if I care a lot about the cosmetics of my rods, but a little T-L-C is good. And it keeps up the resale value too!

Every once in a while, I'll also clean handles on my rods and and if I buy a used rod. Especially on the rods I use in the river for salmon and seatrout - they collect more dirt and grime than the ones I use in the sea. If it's not too bad, I simply use a cloth and some dish wash soap. If a little more cleaning is needed, a scrubbing sponge and some soap works wonders.

If a used rod is really dirty (or well used) I'll take some fine sand paper and simply sand it down until it looks nice. Wipe it off and apply a coat (no two!) of Cork Seal. If you're really into it, you can also apply some new filler to the newly sanded blank if the cork quality is too bad.

Have a great weekend!

Lars

Pic Of Day

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Sexyloops Week:

THE SEXYLOOPS HOT TORPEDO - Available Here.

It's taken more than eighteen months from conception to production, numerous prototypes and experiments, two explosions (!) and many rebuilds and finally we have an outstanding flyrod. There are some truly exceptional rods available, in the high end of the market, so the benchmark is high and there is no question that we want to try raise that standard. That has been a very tall order - but a great rod is built first on a great blank.

I look for several things in a blank. It has to be fishably fast (maybe someday we'll produce a slower rod, but not for me!). It has to have feel; flex for short range accurate casts, with feeling, and yet it has to have action that allows it to flex deeply for long range casts too. There must be smooth progression between these two elements. Finally I have no compromise with regards tip stability, if the tip wobbles or bounces putting a series of waves along the fly leg of the loop then I am not interested. The Hot Torpedo has the best tip recovery of any 6-weight I have cast.

I've been working with Alejandro in Spain who is a tremendously experienced rod designer and one of the finest and most knowledgeable flycasters in the world, to produce an exclusive Sexyloops' rod that we can launch upon the market. Our blanks are carefully manufactured in Spain using four different types of high-grade carbon to our own exclusive design.

These blanks are then transported to Hungary and built by Gampi, a massively experienced rod builder who gives supreme attention to the smallest details. We fit the very best cork handles to an exclusive Spanish design (maybe living next to Portugal gives them access to the finest cork, I don't know, but I do know these are the best production handles on the planet). We use Hopkins and Holloway Single Legs on the Competition 5 and Instructor 6 rods, and Single Leg Recoils on the Pro 6 rod. Our logos have been designed by Al Pyko. Our reel seats are manufactured and anodised for us in Hungary. Our rod tubes are (currently) manufactured in the USA.

My white prototype Instructor rod has been in literally hundreds of casters hands, some of the best distance casters on the planet have thrown it. The feedback has been outstanding and despite six months of incredible abuse there are no ferrule cracks, and believe me, this is very important! Stefan broke one of our prototypes in Scotland in May. The rod went straight back to Spain, with the idea that the broken section should be strengthened around the ferrule. Alejandro's response and action was to strengthen the entire second section. Something that actually went to further improve the action of the rod!

When Mr Hardy first built his company he did so on an idea that nothing was too good for a fly fisherman. That's my philosophy too. You have my word that we will never compromise over performance. We are working on several line weights and currently we have one blank ready for release. With that one blank, we have the Competition 5, the Pro 6 and the white Instructor 6. We have no planned release dates for other products - we are working on many! - they will simply be released when they are right.

The Sexyloops Hot Torpedo... Fly Fishing Without Compromise

To assist me, I have a full-time Retail Manager, Akos Szmutni, who has been busy working on rod production for me in Hungary, as well as filming and editing our soon-to-be-released Flycasting mobile phone App (three hours of downloadable flycasting instruction video, which has taken most of the summer to prepare!). Akos has been working for me full-time for the last two months. I also have a part-time Assistant Marketing Manager, Djordje Andjelkovic. Djordje is a new addition to the fold. Welcome Djordje!

Cheers, Paul

SEXYLOOPS SCHOOLS Flycasting and Barbel fishing in Spain. Contact Carlos for more information. Flycasting in England and Hungary. Contact Paul for more info.

Sexyloops on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Sexyloops. Sexyloops on YouTube: www.YouTube/SexyloopsTV. This is Snapcast - our irregular monthly mailshot!