An HT6 Pro off to Gavan in California š Gavan already has the Instructor 6. Youāll notice this one has Full Wells grip. Probably about 20% of HT6 rods are fitted with Full Wells grips.
Itās mostly a question of taste perhaps? Where the Full Wells is no doubt an advantage, is for cradling the rod butt against the forearm on the backcast (this is in fact why Gavan requested it). For those who like to grip with the āfinger pointingā grip, the cigar shape we more commonly fit to 6 and 4WTs is perhaps more comfortable.
We have fitted Full Wells to the HT4 In the past, but interestingly we have never had a request for a cigar shape grip on rods heavier than 6WT! š
You can see our standard 6WT grip here. If you have a special grip that you would like then just let us know. We can sand any shape you desire!
What a beautiful looking rod! I’m really liking the hot orange whippings that many are choosing for the instructor rods. Douglas’ first instructor rod – the “Goose” – had Racing Green whippings, so this will be an excellent contrast.
As you can see this is our new HT7 rod, Instructor version with Torzite Titanium rings. The Torzites add an extra 100USD to the finished price but I think are most certainly worth fitting on the HT7 and above.
I’m excited to hear new of the Goose II landing in Canada. š
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I had a very nice email from Andy last night on his recently acquired HT4. I don’t normally publish these emails, Ashly asked me why not, and I couldn’t think of a good reason, so here is what Andy wrote:
Mate, I just got back from the water casting and fishing the HT4 for the first time. And, well, how do I say this. Let’s see: Whatever wicked and absolute unreal magic it is, that you put into making this rod, keep doing it.
It’s amazing, it’s beautiful, it’s perfect.
I am far from being an expert when it comes to the huge variety of rods on the market these days. But I have cast and fished quite a few and I can say without any doubt, that this is the best I have ever had my hands on. And it’s mine! I own several other rods. They’re all shit now. So thanks for that!
It feels lovely. Light but strong. Smooth without any stiffness. Sensitive without being wobbly. Powerful with, at any moment, just the exact right amount of feeling. And the precision this thing allows me in my casting is insane. I lack the right terminology to describe it all. But Paul,Ā Ā it’s simple: I love the HT4. It’s already, my new favourite rod. By a long haul.
Thank you.Ā
š š š That’s awesome and always makes me really happy to get emails like this. Thank you Andy!!!
As per usual, if you have any questions at all you can reach me on paul@sexyloops.com
Just before lockdown, or in fact technically during the start of lockdown (because we were in the jungle and never heard of it!), Richard joined me for some Trophy Snakehead fishing and caught a fantastic free-riser on my HT10.
Not a bad fish at all, particularly since it was a free-riser and not a parenting fish. I believe Iām right in saying it has since qualified as a line-class world record fish!
Richard liked the Sexyloops rods so much that he ordered both the HT8 and HT10. Heās currently hunkered down in Thailand!
Lots of Instructor rods being ordered this week! Itās great to see that many of you are coming out of lockdown and can go fishing again. Here in Malaysia we are still under home curfew!
If you have any questions about the HT rods then please drop me a line on paul@sexyloops.com
Iām liking this font! This is the HT4, which is off to Germany.
If you thought of a 4WT as a spineless noodle then think again! A remarkable rod – can throw a team of three 90 feet across a reservoir to reach a windlane and fish with unsurpassed (?) sensitivity š Can throw a weighted streamer down and across for BIG Kola Trout. Can topple over 5KG Giant Gourami. And finally, does exactly what it was designed for: will fish 7X or .10mm tippet and tiny flies with both skill and precision.
Why fish a 5 when you can fish a 4?
Any questions please feel free to drop me an email on paul@sexyloops.com
This is, almost certainly, the first wooden insert on an HT. Actually there are prototypes with wooden inserts, but I donāt count those! Iāve always liked the aluminium inserts that we have specially cut and anodised for us, however this the wooden insert on Nickās new Instructor rod looks awesome!!
Tremendous build quality from our master rod builder Lee Martell – and I love the removable fighting butt. You too can have a rod like this. We love custom builds! Email me on paul@sexyloops.com to discuss your dream rod.
Last week we had a shipment of HT blanks arrive and we are building rods fast! The HT7 Pro and HT7 Instructor blanks are in stock and ready to assemble. True, we have various rods stuck with couriers but at our end at least, things are smooth and we are building.
This is Troyāa second HT. The first is expected to arrive with him tomorrow! Yay!
This one is off to a super nice chap in Phoenix. In fact it’s one of two, the other being an Instructor 6. Troy has really got the casting bug and is working seriously on his casting. Training with the Sexyloops Challenge and we are also working through the FFI CCI theory together.
I think one of the very best things about working in this industry (I have no idea why they call it an “industry” but they do!), is that you get to meet some really nice people who ultimately become great friends. In fact I’m not sure if that’s the industry or maybe it’s just Sexyloops. Certainly over the past 22 years that Sexyloops has been around, I have made very many great friends through this platform.
Andy is writing a series of FPs about why we fish. He hasn’t covered it yet, but it’s an in-depth series and so I’m sure it’s coming! For me, one the most overwhelmingly positive things that fly fishing has brought me has been a wealth of friends – many of whom it could be said are completely mad! (And by mad I mean in a good way!)
Charles Darwin famously wrote, “AĀ man’sĀ friendships are one ofĀ theĀ bestĀ measuresĀ ofĀ hisĀ worth.” And by this measure I feel extremely rich indeed. Sexyloops really is a wonderful network of friends – I believe this more than anything is what it’s all about… life too in fact.
The HT7 is available, but we are also catching up with numerous orders, so it’s not listed in the shop as of yet – however if you email me on paul@sexyloops.com we can certainly organise one for you. With Torzites they are 1045USD, with Recoil rings they are 945USD. I would thoroughly recommend the Torzites – on this rod they are superb and are the hardest, slickest rings available.
Here is the first HT Instructor 7, a custom finish for a CCI in the USA. I’m very excited to see this one finished – the first of many more to come I’m sure!
As you can see we have fitted Torzite Titaniums to this rod, in fact our first three HT7s all have these rings fitted. There is nothing in my mind that even comes close.
This rod was specifically designed with the FFI Masters exam in mind, it is a rocket launcher for the distance casts, but has great feel up close for accuracy casting as well. It’s fast become my favourite with the SA MED7.
We sent the Pro version to Bart’s father last week. Bart immediately messaged me to say “Just cast my dad’s #7. What an awesome rod! Well done again :)” And he had to order one for himself, because he “felt a little depression coming up. My dad having such a nice rod and me not :p” š š
So I think we’ve hit the nail right on the head with this one! Which makes me very happy!
They are not currently displayed in the shop, but will be soon, just as soon as we’ve caught up with our small “waiting list”. Drop me an email on paul@sexyloops.com to find out more or to get yourself down on this list before we launch properly.
Incidentally, for anyone training to be a certified instructor or MCI of any association, I regularly go through instructor theory for HT owners. We do this via email over 2-3 months. If you are an HT owner and would like me to run through the theory with you, then simply drop me a message.
Beautiful workmanship again from our master rod builder, Lee Martell š
In the past four years this is the rod that I’ve spent most of my time fishing and casting. But let’s talk about it not as a 10WT fishing rod, for Saltwater and the jungle, but as a 5WT competition distance rod. It would certainly be one of the most used rods in the World Championships 5WT Trout Distance event. Bart de Zwaan is throwing some huge casts with it, breaking my BFCC record with it… twice. I suppose that if you are going to have your record broken then it’s best that it’s a friend using one of your rods š
It’s been an interesting shift from how we started 5WT distance, which as most of you will know, goes back to around 2004 – for me anyway – being inspired by “The Best of the West” casting competition in the USA. Back then “the rod to have” was the Sage TCR905. And what a controversial rod this turned out to be; even I found it too stiff for fishing a 5WT line, preferring to line it with a 6WT line for fishing!
When the World Championship events were created, almost exactly 12 years ago, the rod class was left open – because what is a 5WT rod anyway? – but the line was restricted to a Mastery Expert Distance 5WT in the competition length of 120ft.
I’ve attended every competition; for the first three competitions I used the HT6. In fact for the first competition in Norway I actually took along a couple of the first HT6 prototypes! I reached the finals in two of those competitions but in the first finals Stefan and I made my line so slick that I couldn’t keep hold of it while hauling and in the other the wind did some really strange things to everyone. Something else happened however, and I felt that I was convincingly beaten by Tor the Giant, the Norwegian Javelin thrower. Bart was in that final too, as I’m sure he will remember well!
A bit of research later, led me to the conclusion that I should be trying stiffer rods for this competition. At the Sexyloops Scottish Meet, what was then the British Fly Casting Team had a “shootout” with International rules, using the HT6, an 8WT and two 10WTs. Or it might have been two 8WTs and one 10WT – I can’t be expected to remember everything! What I do remember however, is that everyone involved threw the 8 further than the 6 and the 10 further than the 8. My personal result was throwing the 5MED two metres further on the 10WT compared to the HT6. Yes it’s probably something I should have tried earlier! š
When the HT10 blank arrived – the current production one, not the prototype I took fishing on both coasts of Australia, nor the one I chased Snakehead with out of a kayak in Malaysia – the first thing we did was to fit it with Torzite Titanium rings, as an experiment, and after two weeks of practise I took it to Estonia, where I actually managed to get a Bronze Medal in the Trout Distance.
It’s funny how all these years later, that I now find rods that I once found stiff for the 5WT distance, such as the TCR5, to be soft noodles without backbone. My stroke has changed too, I use pull-back to set the loops on the backcast, my arc is slightly narrower… but that fly casting feeling like no other, namely carrying and false casting a MED5 to 90’… that remarkable feeling… I find even better with this rod, particularly watching the chiselled shapes into which the loops morph.
You don’t need to spend $1000 to get that feeling, and you can get a similar experience lining up a MED5 on any 9 or 10WT rod. I think where our rod particularly excels, is that we have more feeling in the lower sections (certainly compared to most Saltwater 10WTs out there which can be pretty lifeless), we have incredible tip recovery which you can see in the bottom/fly leg of the loop and of course we use these remarkable Titanium Torzite rings. After all it is a Hot Torpedo!
Here is some loop morphing…
On the other hand, and I’m sure it’s one reason why this is one of our top selling rods: this is the rod I use in the World Championships. So if you buy this rod and line it with a MED5 then you will not go far wrong. It will take practise – lots of practise – to get the very best out of it. But it does come with a Video User Manual! https://www.sexyloops.com/flycast/competition-distance-cast/ and I’m always on hand to answer any questions you may have or even analyse video of you casting. I actually do this regularly.
