Author: Paul Arden

OK first up, sorry I was flat out for the past two months! Fishing and fishing with friends got in the way of the Competition! Of course, it’s the best and only excuse around here 🙂

Talking to a few of our HT owners we have some new rules now: there are no rules and anything goes! Therefore you don’t have to write the entry from the perspective of your rod, but tell any HT story in any way you want.

And now we have something new: EVERY PUBLISHED ENTRY GETS A FREE STEALTH CAP! I know many of you have been asking when the Sexyloops hats will be available again – well quite soon!

So a free SEXYLOOPS STEALTH CAP to every entrant. Monthly winners get a Sexyloops Stealth Shirt of their design. And the grand prize is a new Hot Torpedo Fly Rod. Yes – it’s our fantastic biennial give-away!

Here is what has happened so far… https://www.sexyloops.com/htoc/2019/04/30/sexyloops-hot-torpedo-owners-competition-2019/

Cheers, Paul

• The Sexyloops Hot Torpedo is arguably the finest fly rod every made. You can find out more here.  Here are our customer reviews. And finally, it’s the only fly rod to come with a comprehensive user manual 😀 GOOD LUCK!!!

The Comp5 V2 for one of Bart’s Dutch Fly Casting Team’s fellow members. I’m looking forward to meeting Antony and all the rest of the team in Sweden next year!

This is the rod I’ve been using in the last two World Championships in the Trout Distance event – and the one that Bart has been using to set British Records.   It’s a superb 5WT distance rod and also a wonderful 10WT fishing tool!

Full personalisation is included in the price, until the end of the year only. After this custom builds will come at a premium.

You can see the compete Sexyloops HT range here. Remember: it’s an exploration! 🙂

Stu Tripney MCI has all of our rods now, often in different colours and custom builds! This is a white Instructor HT4 with a New Zealand flag 🙂

Fine workmanship from Lee on the build as always.

White HT4s are a special order (from memory we have two white HT4s out there, one yellow and one camo!) – mostly they are a matt finished carbon for stealth.

You can find the complete Sexyloops HT range here and the “user manual” here 🙂

We are flat out busy at the moment, with the new trout season underway in the Southern Hemisphere – consequently at this moment in time most rods are being made to order with approximately a two week delivery time. I do have one HT4 in stock ready to ship from Malaysia – this is one I brought with me from England.  Email me directly if you would like this!

Hot Torpedo blanks are designed by Paul Arden in conjunction with Alejandro Viñuales in Spain. They are unique to Sexyloops! The blanks are rolled in Spain and the rods are built to the highest standards by our rod builder Lee Martell in the UK – using Portuguese, British, USA and Japanese components. You will not find a better fly rod!

For enquiries please feel free to email me direct on paul@sexyloops.com I deal with all communications to give you the guaranteed best service.

Sexyloops fly rods are designed for flylines that conform closely to AFFTA standards. With the HT4 I personally use and recommend a Mastery DT4 from Scientific Anglers.

Thanks, Paul

Here is an HT6 heading for Tasmania. This is Zuie’s third Hot Torpedo, having both the HT4 and the Comp V2 (Zuie is throwing some pretty serious distance nowadays!) I’m expecting some photos of large sea-trout very soon. 🙂

When I was in Tassie last year I used the HT4 for almost all of my fishing, but there are a few times when the 6 is a definite advantage. Mostly I found it necessary when “sharking” the Great Lake casting across strong crosswinds, but also for the coastal fishing I think it’s a must.

You too can be the proud owner of a Sexyloops Hot Torpedo… see the complete range of quite possibly the finest fly rods ever made!

Carp are an invasive species in Australian waterways and lakes. They are declared a noxious pest and must be destroyed. There are annual carp buster days in many dams and waterways to catch and destroy as many as possible.  There are some commercial enterprises that make fish fertiliser from carp.  Carp are active in the summer months.

In my quest to catch unusual species as in 2019, I embarked on an early morning trip to a local dam in South East Queensland.  I was armed with a HT 6, WF6F line,  a 12lb leader and a shrimp fly. As we were walking the banks and sight fishing, we had to wait until the sun was high enough to spot fish. There were plenty cruising 10-20’ from the bank. Stealthy stalking and casting was required, as these fish easily spooked. Once they saw the fly, they either ignored it or attacked with gusto. 

The best fish were 70-75 cm and 10-15lb. Their power was amazing!. Runs to the backing were commonplace. The trick was to keep rolling the fish by changing direction. All went well in clear open water. Busted leaders and lost fish was a common result in the timber.

This is exceptional sight fishing.  It seemed strange to a dedicated catch and release fisherman to kill the captured fish and leave it rot on the bank.  After all they are a pest.

The mid-summer lull is well and truly over and we are flat out again. This is the busy time of year for orders from New Zealand and Australia. The HT6 was designed specifically with NZ Backcountry fishing in mind, the HT4 is the perfect stillwater trout flats rod, the HT8 is spot on for Kahawai and the HT10 is your ultimate fly rod for Kingfish… but I digress 🙂 🙂

This particular HT10 I’ve just posted to Australia. In three weeks from now it will be fishing Hinchenbrook for a wide range of fish and hopefully a few Permit! I took the original prototype HT10 to Australia some years ago and caught Permit using it on both coasts – North of Cairns around Claremont Islands on the East Coast and Exmouth in Western Australia.

Incidentally we do try to carry stock and not only manufacture custom rods to order. This particular rod was part of my Malaysia stock. So I’ll be replacing that as soon as possible!

And remember, if you are a Hot Torpedo owner you can win another one – just send us your story!

A new prototype Hot Torpedo for testing in the jungle. The question is do I test it on Giant Snakehead or just Gourami and Jungle Perch? Well obviously I need to test it on Snakehead 😀

Incidentally coming very soon: the 7’6 3/4WT!

 

The incredible HT10 off to Singapore. Chuan loves the HT series so much – and because is also an adventurous fisherman – he has two of the HT6 and HT8s. This is his second HT10.

Chuan is a bit like me in that unforeseen things happen. I’ve always doubled up my rods too, ever since my early Stillwater days (two identical Hardy Sovereigns, followed by two Loomis IMX 9’ 6WTs. Then I doubled up on other rods – in fact with Sage TCRs I not only doubled up but also had many spare sections).

This way there is no downtime when you fall in, trip over your rod, run them over with the truck, or have a fish catch you out and pull the rod at extreme angles

We can make sure that sections are interchangeable but we need both rods to do this.  Rod building is not only a science, it’s also an art!

A few photos from Sexylooper Stu Tripney. Stu has all the Hot Torpedoes, many in Instructor white, and a stealth camo rod that is a first for us.

The Sexyloops Hot Torpedo – the greatest fly fishing rods ever made 😀

The Instructor 6 is one of our top-sellers! As a teaching tool it is superb; a joy to cast, has great feel and can be handled comfortably by all skill levels – this is important when teaching, I’m sure you’ll agree!

What I’ve noticed over the years is how much longer your student’s attention span becomes. Instead of struggling to see a rod which is difficult to see, everything becomes big, obvious and there, right in front of their eyes.

Using a matt dark grey carbon rod, while excellent for stealth, is the equivalent of trying to teach loop control with a clear, green or blue fly line! Hot Orange is what you want for line visibility.

So if you have any fly casting instruction to do, then this is the rod you want. We can and have produced Instructor versions in 4, 8 and 10WTS. These are special orders and can add around a month to build-time. We’ve also made them in yellow and hot orange!

I believe that as instructors we really owe it to our students to give them the absolute best display of casting that we can. Never use a rod they can’t see! Instead join hundreds of other instructors and use this rod to enhance your teaching.

This particularly rod is off to join an instructor at the Golden Gate Casting Club in San Francisco. Some day I hope to visit this hallowed ground!

You can read more about this rod here. If you live in a warm climate then here is the best line for the job. And finally if you want to see the rod in action, then check out our Fly Casting Masterclass!

Remember every rod comes with a free casting lesson – you just have to track me down in order to get it! 🙂

Cheers, Paul