Month: April 2017

You park at Wood Road 16, this fabled stretch of water on The Henry’s Fork of The Snake River, ID USA. It’s famous for a reason, or several actually. An abundance of aquatic insect life thrive in the weed beds which also creates something called micro currents, which creates micro drag by straightening your leader. Anyway, this is Oktober wich makes it a little bit easier. You can expect baetis, maybe some mahogany and some small ants. And midges of course.

You observe the water and surroundings. The sky is grey, it’s not too cold, a little wind. Its perfect!

For this trip you bought a new premium Rod from xxxx x. It’s suposed to be perfect for hunting big trout that feed on tiny flies on flat water. Good for long leaders too. The Rod has lots of feel, and bends deep in the butt section. This is THE Rod, they told you so in The shop and on the internet you read that soft rods makes nice presentations and protects light tippets.

So now you’re in the water and since there is a carpet hatch of baetis there is fuckin fish everywhere. You spot a 20 inch fish that feeds steady but it’s a long cast due to surroundings and shallow water, you will have to make a long Reach Cast with the 16 feet leader you cut down from 18 feet, cause the wind picked up. However the mayflies dont mind the wind; they like shitty weather.

To make a long story short, you make 3 presentations which all fail due to the wind and your casting technique. You put the fish down, but you mange to catch a 12 inch rainbow before the hatch is over. Everything you read about the Ranch was True.

This is a True story, and it happend to me 2008. After this I practiced more presentation casts and realized that the fast rods I cast on the lawn were excellent for fishing too.

So what am I saying here? Should we ban soft rods with lots of feel? Of course not. I have two soft ones which I love to use some days on rivers I know intimately. But I never travel and explore with one, cause soft rods have more limitations. Double rigs, streamers, wind and Quick shots are all more difficult with soft rods. And easier with faster ones.

As for The Hot Torpedo (which is The Rod I use on this clip)  vs other premium rods, ask yourself this: how many people have to share the 900 usd you pay for The xxxxx? It’s simple maths. What is premium? Who says it’s premium?

Join Sexyloops, get advice, practice and try a Hot Torpedo. The best carbon rods are designed by a man who lives on a boat in The Malaysian jungle. It’s a brave new world!

Best regards
Simon Svahn, Sweden

I have been fly fishing for about 20 years and been a follower of sexyloops.com for almost as long. As many of you fellow fly fishermen know it is easy to get caught up in the gear-craze, the search for the perfect rod, reel or line and I too have been there. But the gear-craze, for me, stopped when I recieved my Sexyloops HT6 rod some years ago. Suddenly I had a rod that I could count on. That I could use in the salt and in freshwater, with a shooting head or a longbelly line, underline or overline it. I all worked! Some of you might say “other rods can do that” and you are right. But this rod puts my mind at ease, gives me confidence and relieves me of the described “gear-craze”.

I haven´t been fishing as much as I would like to with my HT6 (Kids, work and other “distractions”). But that doesn´t say much if you compare yourself with the other Sexyloops guys. Anyway I would like to share a fishing story starring me, a hungry sea-trout and my trusted HT6.

I was on holiday with my family and my mother in law in her summerhouse by a small marina in the south of Denmark. I was home alone minding the kids and as always I was frustrated by not being able to go fishing. I had been out on one small trip but with no result. I was constantly pacing the room looking at the water from the view from the house. There were many sea birds in the water diving and eating, Every time I thought that it was a sea-trout a sea-bird would pop up, from the depts. But suddenly there was a swirl that didn´t result in a appearing sea-bird. My heart jumped a bit…

In the next 1,5 – 2 hours I watched a hungry sea trout feeding casually right next to where I was sitting drinking coffee, feeding my kids and I had no chance trying to catch it… This was a pretty frustrating but also a fascinating thing to watch.

As soon as my wife and mother in law walked through the door I proclaimed that I had spotted a fish and I was going to go down and catch it. My wife is fairly used to me making such claims so she laughed and said “sure”…

I hurried down in my car and grabbed my trusted HT6 and as sneaky as I could approached the water edge. The sea trout was still there… I had a shooting head on the reel and had in my eagerness forgotten to do the obvious… to change the line from the shooting head to the Thunderbolt #6 line that fits the rod so well. Anyway I managed to make an somewhat acceptable cast at the area where the fish was last seen. Two jerks of the fly and STRIKE! But It broke off moving further out… Second cast also went well and BOOM… A really nice sea trout had (literary) swallowed my fly! A very nice sea trout that I almost felt like knowing personally since I had followed it for hours…

The sea trout was unfortunately hooked really deep so a release was out of the question but the fish served as a fine meal and education for my kids on what a fish looks like inside. And I returned 10 minutes later to the house with the fish that was promised. It is always reassuring to have a rod that you know and count on when the chance appears ?

Tight lines!

Mikkel Hald

Proud owner of the Sexyloops HT6 Serial nr. 102

Hello Paul,

if I understand well you need an article to advertise your rod. I honestly think that HT Torpedo competition does not need to be advertised because it is a valid rod and this is the best advertising!

Let me tell you about my fly fishing history so you can understand why I came close to your rod. I started with fly fishing at 6 year old. The fact was that I did not want to go to school and make a lot of whims until my dad knew me well, promising a fly rod if I quit her with whims. In fact I stopped immediately. Soon fishing and casting became familiar, thanks to the many hours spent with the rod in hand and I could cast the all line with great ease.

The years passed and I decided to measure my ability by trying to become a casting instructor. I can safely take the exam of the highest level in a short time, then 20 years later the cold shower I am diagnosed with Parkinson’s, youthful form.

Things get complicated and much, and coordination between the right and left of the body becomes complicated, very complicated. I have a tough head and I do not want to give up the fly fishing I hear as part of me. Start workouts and slowly begin to recover lost skills and in particular precision and casting suitable for dredging, in other words I can fish dignitously and thanks to my friends who accompany me, I can no longer drive, I go fishing… and I go there often.

With the distance things are not going well yet and I’m still far from what I would like, even though at the moment I have no problem fishing 20 meters – a bit for my merit and a bit thanks to your rod.

That’s all Paul, I do not know if what I said can help but it’s truth and not publicity. Thank you very much for Paul Arden and especially for the broken tip promptly replaced. I would very much like to fish with you but beware I’m strong, joke obviously, hello soon!

Giordano

ciao Paul,se ho capito bene ti occorre un articolo per pubblicizzare la tua canna. sinceramente penso che la HT Torpado competition non abbia bisogno di essere pubblicizzata perchè è una canna valida ed è questa la migliore pubblicità. permettimi di raccontarti la mia storia di pescatore a mosca così potrai capire perchè mi sono avvicinato alla tua canna. io comincio a pescare a mosca all’età di 6 anni, anzi prima. il fatto è stato che io non volevo andare a scuola e facevo molti capricci finchè mio padre che mi conosceva bene, mi promette una canna da mosca se io la smettevo con i capricci. in effetti ho smesso immediatamente. ben presto la pesca ed il lancio diventano familiari grazie alle molte ore passate con la canna in mano e riuscivo a fare il tutto coda con grande facilità. gli anni passano ed io decido di misurare la mia abilità tentando la strada dell’istruttore di lancio. riesco senza problemi a prendere il brevetto del livello più alto in poco tempo, poi 20 anni fà la doccia fredda mi viene diagnosticato il parkinson, forma giovanile. le cose si complicano e parecchio e la coordinazione tra parte destra e sinistra del corpo diventa complicata, molto complicata. io ho la testa dura e non voglio rinunciare alla pesca a mosca che sento come parte di me. iniziano gli allenamenti e lentamente comincio a recuperare le abilità perdute ed in particolare la precisione ed i lanci adatti a combattere il dragaggio, in altre parole riesco a pescare dignitosamente e grazie ai miei amici che mi accompagnano, io non posso più guidare, torno a pescare e ci vado spesso. con la distanza le cose non vanno ancora bene e sono ancora lontano da ciò che vorrei anche se al momento non ho problemi a pescare a 20 metri un po’ per merito mio e un po’ grazie alla tua canna.
questo è tutto Paul, non so se quello che ho detto possa aiutarti ma è verità e non pubblicità.
grazie di tutto Paul Arden ed in particolare per il vettino rotto prontamente sostituito. mi farebbe molto piacere pescare insieme a te ma attenzione io sono uno tosto, scherzo ovviamente, ciao a presto

Giordano

Hot Torpedo and Snakehead – Tim Kempton CI

I spent some days fishing with Paul for Snakehead on Lake Temmengor on the Condom Titanic.   Unlike its namesake, this boat did not sink!.  It rained like buggery when we arrived and the lake rose 1-2 metres. That made the Snakehead sluggish.

These Snakehead don’t make fishing for them with fly very easy.  They were rising and diving again very quickly and were not aggressive.  I was getting close, but not close enough. Snakehead do not turn around, and landing the fly near their tail, or too far away does not work.  No time for false casts and land the fly on a dinner plate within 2 secs. And…decide which way the fish is going to turn so you cast in front and not behind. And… decide which fish if both rise.

I was feeling like a beginner.  Slow perfect loops in the park did not crack it.  Frustration and deep sighs!

So the casting lessons and practice began.  Pick up two metres of line from outside the rod tip and cast 60-80’, and land on a dinner plate with no false cast says Paul.. Show me says I, and so he proceeded to hit leaves at 80’ at any angle. Righto…I think I will take up bowls.

Finally, the perfect rise. The male and female rose together, I cast at the female on the left (Paul says wrong side, as he only saw the male on the right).  I said, no I picked the big one…lol.  An aggressive chase, a massive explosion and fish on.  These fish are incredibly strong and you have to point the rod at them and effectively handline them to avoid high sticking and busting the rod.  A beautiful 5 kg fish came to the net. A quick photo and back.  What beautiful colours. Celebrations and a big sigh of relief.  Thank you Mrs Toman!

The leader was 80 lb butt section, with a 40 lb tippet tied with a Bimini Twist and a Slim Beauty. This is the strongest knot combination.  We also had 8” on 40 lb AFW camouflage wire as the tippet, then a gurgler. I tied on more wire this time…the fish I hooked last year bit above the wire and through the leader…fish lost!.  I started with a nice blue Sage Xi310 WT and a 10 WF Tarpon Technical line.  This Sage rod was stiff , had little feel and was giving me a sore wrist. I then tried Paul’s new Hot Torpedo 10 WT…completely different feel, much easier to cast and less strain on the wrist and arm.  He has spent years perfecting these rods and you can certainly feel the difference.  My HT10 is on order to go with my HT4, HT6 and HT 8 rods. ..the complete set!

We have a new and very exciting competition for Hot Torpedo Owners where the most inspirational story/photo/movie will win a special Hot Torpedo of a build and line-class of the winner’s choosing. Not only that but the four best picked entries all win prizes and there will be random prizes selected from a sock.

Here are the competition details… http://www.sexyloops.com/index.php/ps/the-great-sexyloops-hot-torpedo-competition-2017

Please send your entries to me paul@sexyloops.com (images should be resized to around 200Kb each for Jungle Internet).

Good luck!