As soon as you see the Vivarelli fly reel, you can tell it's a little different. It's the lever obviously. Worlds have been moved with such things. While this lever couldn't quite manage that, a pull quickly sends the spool whirling. Then, if they haven't already crossed your mind, you ask yourself two things. What makes it go? And is that lever going to get in the way?

HeadStart is Scientific Anglers’ for beginners and “occasional casters”, but after I’ve tried and used one, I’ve found out that it is much more than “just” a beginner’s line.
The HeadStart is designed with several features to make life a little easier for the learning flyfisher. It is made half a rating heavier than the AFTM (or AFFTA as it’s called now) standard. I find this allows the beginner to quickly get the feel of a loading rod, even with a relatively short amount of line in the air.

I've had this line on a reel for some time but haven't had a chance to give it a road test this season. I have tried the DT version of this line and liked it a lot, but I would say that, wouldn't I? There's not much to say about the double taper Ultra 4, except that if you love a DT - and I do - you just don't get any better. Cranky old bastards like me who just hate change just don't have to bother messing with any other type of floater

UNDERSTANDING TRADITIONAL, SCANDINAVIAN, & SKAGIT STYLE SPEY CASTING WITH A SINGLE & DOUBLE-HANDED ROD.
Topher Browne, Greg Pearson, and Way Yin

If you’re interested in taking up the two handed rod, Spey to Z offers a top class, no-nonsense introduction to Spey casting. The DVD covers the differences between the three primary styles of Spey casting - Traditional, Scandinavian, and Skagit. The “Three amigos” also do a great job of placing single-handed Spey casting up front and center. Their stated goal was to make the transition from a single-handed rod to a double-handed rod as easy as possible, and Spey to Z does an excellent job of achieving this goal. Well shot, clear, concise and non pretentious, Spey to Z is a practical introduction to the art of the big rod and it’s associated styles. This is a very good Instructional DVD.

Proceeds from the sale of the DVD will be donated to various charitable and conservation groups, including the BC Steelhead Society, the Atlantic Salmon Federation, Trout Unlimited, the Native Fish Society, and FFF Youth Casting Programs.

A review of any, natural flytying material really has to be about quality. And quality is very different from skin to skin, from hide to hide. You need to be able to assess quality to get it every time you buy. Hair, fur, feathers etc. are all natural materials that differ from skin to skin.
Cookshill Flytying is run by Steve Cooper, who also runs the British Fly Fair International, and this partridge skin is from him. When I tied at the British Fly Fair in 2004, I bought a few skins from Cookshill Flytying – different gamebirds. They were all of a quite remarkable quality.

Arbor to Fly: Knots and Rigs for Fresh and Saltwater Fly Fishing DVD

The whole deal about saltwater fly fishing is pretty daunting to a newbie. Everything about it is writ large - the fish, the tackle, the boats, the expense, and, especially, the water. It's fly fishing in the ocean after all, not sneaking around on some intimate little spring creek. One thing you get to understand from the get-go is that, presuming you manage to actually get stuck into one, staying hooked up to one of these big fish means you have to learn a lot about lines and knots, and knot strength. There's a huge lore just on knots, and, between slugfests with back-wrenching fish, our salty brethren spend a lot of time arguing over them.

For many years extreme sports enthusiasts have enjoyed the benefits of high tech outdoor clothing, now fly flingers can stay warm and dry thanks to the innovative range of clothing produced by Under Armor. Featuring clever innovations such as Armour Block - a technology which neutralizes the microbes that cause odor. UPF – giving ultra violet protection from the suns harmful rays. And a special moisture transport system which wicks moisture away from the skin keeping you dry.
Under Armor Clothing falls into three main gear lines: (and yes, they make camo’ !)
• heatgear – designed to keep you cool and dry.
• allseasongear – designed for changing weather conditions
• And coldgear – keeps you warm and dry while keeping weight to a minimum.

Whether you’re into Bone fishing in Belize, Taimen fishing in Tibet or flogging tarpon in Florida the Under Armour range of clothing promises gear that is quick drying, provides UV protection and will keep you warm in colder climes.

Under Armor have been making specialist clothing for athletes for over 10 years and although their existing range of gear is readily available in the U.S. The new range of specialty clothing for anglers won’t be in stores until spring/ summer 2007. We’ll be taking a closer look at Under Amour gear over the upcoming months - so stay tuned
~ Carl
[Good Lord! - is that Rick Hartman?]

Following on from our lead article from Tony bishop, here’s a few words from the man that won the peoples choice award at the recent FFF International Fly Tying Competition.

“I had never thought of entering a fly tying competition ever in the 27yrs I’ve been fly tying. But I was surfing the net and found the FFF(USA) International Fly Tying Competition, and thought to my self –go on, have a go. There were a few categories and I picked some of them and entered. I sat in front of the vice and tied up a very large bionic Bug and decided to enter it under the peoples choice section- for West Coast, Surface, Steelhead. I was gone for sometime overseas and when I returned I found my post box stuffed with boxes of gifts and a first prize medal - boy was I stoked!!
The funny thing is that I’ve never fished for steelhead!

I don’t have any kids or pets and I always swore to myself if I did that the word Bionic would be used in their names. But my lovely wife recons NO WAY! - So after many years of trial and error I finally got my first funky bionic fish catching foam bug together and it had to be called Stu's Bionic Bug! As it’s a sort of small child come pet! ?

The Bionic Bug is a lot of fun to tie. When I tie it on to a client’s tippet in the height of summer when the terrestrials are about they have one look at it and smile and think, no way! - When they catch a fish using it they smile even more. I’ve also found when I’ve been teaching children to tie flies this is the one that they love and want to try to make, maybe because in a way it looks like a toy in their eyes, but it sure gets them interested in fly tying and being creative. It just goes to show we all don’t just shag sheep here in New Zealand, we’re also fascinated by foam and rubber - Go the Kiwi fly tiers!!”

Using Google Earth and a barrel of tracking beacons secretly implanted into the reel seats of many board-dwelling trout- nailing fly fishers and more than a few of the salty variety, Eric’s made a file with all of their locations. You click the member name, and Google Earth spins the planet and zooms into an aerial view of that person!

If you want to be added to the map, send Eric an email with your location or reply to the Sexy Earth post

We’ll, we’ve drawn the winner, how did we do it?
Unfortunately Magnus broke the patented world famous Sexyloops winner generator so we turned to science instead. To make the prize draw a truly random selection from eligible entries first we needed a truly random number.

Enter http://www.random.org/

This site produces true random numbers generated using atmospheric noise (If you want to know more, and of course you do, read the introduction to randomness and random numbers at http://www.random.org/essay.html

Anyhow, for the sake of simplicity I chose to generate one random integer between one and the number of correct entries on the Sage Reel Comp’ thread on Sexyloops. Only correct entries were counted, one per entrant, each entrant was assigned a number, the number generated at random.org dictated the winner.
...and the winner was Hutch! Congratulations Hutch you’re now the proud owner of one of the sexiest reels around - and a big thanks to Sage for supporting us by putting up such a great prize.

If you’ve not read through the thread, you should take a look – it’s hilarious.
~ Carl

Hang on to your shorts – we’re giving away a sage TCR!

Yes, Sage’s famed thunderstick will be up for grabs in Snapcast. We’ll announce the competition rules in the next edition and draw the winner just prior to Christmas!

This month's G-spot came from a conversation with a reader and if you've caught me daydreaming, this might be why!

In the southern portion of the world's longest mountain range, there's a beautiful National Park with lakes and streams filled with both native species like the pejerrey as well as trout. A huge larch forest towers between the banks and the snowy glacial peaks. It's just west from Esquel in the Chubut Province. Lat: -X2.65° Long: -X1.92°

G-Spot: Name this National Park and the country it's in Bonus: Name the glacier above Lago Menendez to get a second entry.

For a chance to win a new fly line (anything but a multi-tip) sponsored by the good people at Scientific Anglers (Thanks Bruce!), send your answers to Eric@Sexyloops.com
The winner will be chosen with the Sexyloops random number generator from correct entries, and three additional winners will get a Sexyloops "Flyfishing, Flycasting, and Socks" sticker.

What will we feature in the next edition of Snapcast?
What will we do to keep up this scintillating flow of flyfishing articles, info and advice?

I have no idea – But I’m sure we’ll make something up.

Until then – Cheers, tight lines and keep your powder dry!

~ Carl McNeil
Bumcast