Another HT4 on its way to Tasmania – the perfect place for an HT4, I fished mine there for 3 months before Zuie took it off my hands!
This rod blank was originally developed for stream and river fishing in Bosnia and Croatia, where tippets of .10mm (that’s 7X) and hook sizes 18-20 are used most often. But being the sort of man I am, I didn’t want a wimpy slow rod that requires patience just waiting for the bloody backcast to unroll. Also I like to put tight loops under trees, cast in strong winds, catch big fish (of course) and so something a bit more “Torpedoish” was required.
We made a lot of prototypes and I wasn’t happy with any of them. We were on number 8 (or something ridiculous) and I decided “one more rod blank”. Normally of course it’s one more last cast, or one more beer, but in this case it was one more rod blank and I really meant it this time. I was starting to think it was impossible to make a 9ft 4WT Hot Torpedo.
When the final prototype rod arrived there was a parting of the clouds and harp music could be heard. I said “turn that shit down, I’m trying to test a rod here.”
It quickly became clear that while I had developed the rod I wanted for my sort of fast approach to river fishing, here was also a rod that could stick the fly out to windlanes, throw light streamers, and had incredible sensitivity – it transformed my lake fishing overnight. Being able to distance cast a 4WT DT line “out there” really is a game changer. You don’t have to take my word for it; you can buy one and try it yourself.
One thing I would say however, is with all the current bollocks with fly lines being heavier than they are supposed to be, often by one or more AFFTA/AFTM ratings, you actually need to find a line that is bang on the weight it should be… ie 120 grains at 30ft (minus level tip). If you need help finding the right 4WT line then let me know. If a line weighs 140 grains at 30ft then it’s a 5WT, not a 4WT, despite what it may say on the box, and the manufacturer got it wrong. Conversely if the line weighs 120 grains, you can use this, no matter what it says on the box.
Hot Torpedo rods are developed with and for AFFTA/AFTM conforming lines. Yes all rods will cast a wide variety of line weights (we cast varying line lengths at varying speeds every time we fish – so this is a given by design) HOWEVER if you want the HT4 to feel like the fast, zippy, lightweight, highly sensitive and amazing fly rod that it is, then you need a 4WT line that weighs what a 4WT line should.
This is particularly important if you are going to let someone else try your rod!!! The first question you need to ask someone incidentally, whenever you cast their rod, is “what line am I casting?”. If you are casting a 4WT line that weights a 5, or 4 1/2 FFS, or even a 6 then you are going to say “this is not blowing my socks off.” So please DT4 that is a DT4. If you want to use a WF4 – for some reason – then use a WF4 that is a WF4, ie also weighs 120 grains at 30ft.
Finally, if that’s not working out for you then you need to learn to cast. We have an entire video section devoted to teaching you this fine skill…
And here you can find the HT4… full customisation and world-wide shipping is included in the price.
Cheers, Paul