Kalyn Hoggard | Monday, 2 February 2026
Yes, that sounds a lot more complicated than it really is so let me catch you up. Back in October I was afforded the opportunity to see Bruce Richards, aka Bruce, aka Bossman, at the Fly Fest event in Michigan. I believe I wrote about this event at that time. Feel free to dive into the archives and give it a revisit if you like. One of the highlights of the event for me was that Bruce got to cast the Flaming Hot Cheeto rod (maybe the same FP I talk about the event actually). I wasn’t sure if Bruce had thrown the 5wt HT rod, but I knew that the one I had felt right under the weight of the MED. It therefore made it necessary for me to share the in-hand experience of the rod with the man that made the line that goes with it. He loved it. He loved it so much so in fact that he refers to it as my magical rod. After we had been casting for a while Bruce mentions that he has one of the HT 6wt instructor rods, and he now needed to check to see if it was magical as well.
Now I can’t confirm exactly what took place after Bruce and I casted together at the event, but I like to think it went something like this:
An hour or so after Bruce and I casted together he thought to himself, “WOW, Kalyn and Marty really do cast much better every time I see them. They really are some great guys. What a wonderful job I did as a mentor, and oh yeah, that 5wt rod Kalyn had was magical.” Given that the first bit was expected, Bruce kept thinking about how awesome the Flaming Hot Cheeto casted the 5 MED. Now, he needed to know. Was there something that he missed when he casted his instructor rod? Does it have the magic? As he looked out the window of the plane on his way home, he could only see in the reflection the perfect loops he will also cast with his long lost 6wt instructor rod…
I am almost positive that is exactly how that part went down. Bossman had mentioned at the event that if he got his old rod out and tested it for magic and it had the same kind, then he would consider me as a recipient of that rod in his will. However, if it did not have it for him then maybe it would for me, and he would be happy to find a way for me to have it.
Some time later…
I received the instructor rod that Bruce had gotten from Paul. An instructor from an instructor to an instructor, and then to me. Welcome back, but there is more. I have been throwing the Flaming Hot Cheeto really well. The last time I was out at Long Beach practicing with the Team I was throwing distance and accuracy better with the FHC than anything else, and it has been pretty much the same since, until I got the instructor rod. As regular readers may know, I’ve been casting inside of doors, because outside of doors is a frozen hellscape. I have also been filming my casting looking for anything good at all. The white rod looks awesome on slow motion video. Add in some bright orange line, and a decent backdrop, and we are seeing some cool stuff. The video is currently classified, of course. Through my process I discovered that there is no doubt that I cast the 5wt MED line consistently farther with the instructor than I do with the FHC. There are only a few problems with this discovery. The first problem is that I don’t know that to be the case for sure, because I am casting inside, but I did cast it once outside with a favorable yet swirling wind. It went really well. The second problem may have been ironed out and was an issue of consideration before all of this began, but I am not throwing my 10wt HT, which was built (purchased) specifically to cast trout distance competitively, as far as my 5 or now 6 wt rod. The third problem is that I must cast whichever rod I am currently casting the best in the tournament NEXT WEEK.
Now this is a special kind of problem. I don’t have any issue casting any of the three rods next week. I’ll be able to get a practice in outside before the competition and all matters will be resolved. However, If I had to cast for all the marbles right now, then I would pick the 6wt Instructor rod for distance. I am blessed to even have that rod as an option… however, I am a sucker for a good story. I have a competitor like need for superstition and lore. This is not just any rod. Mr. Sexy Loops designed this rod to be awesome. He even made it white specifically for instructors. This is not just any rod. This was Bruce Richard’s 6wt instructor rod. The bossman’s rod. Now that Excalibur is in my hands I am bound to bring peace to the casting world. I must go forth and break ground as an instructor, make learning to fly cast so easy that even Marty can do it, and single handedly settle all the casting mechanics debates one slow motion video at a time. How could I ever risk snapping this 6wt under the pressure of casting glory? (I have not had the best luck with rods at Long Beach)
All bullshit aside, I think both gentlemen would prefer I use the rod. Furthermore, if this is the rod that I am bending the best, then I assume they would prefer that I compete with it. The two of them make the rod meaningful to me, and I would hate to break it. I don’t know what a rod that has been bent so much by a cast that it explodes looks like in slow motion video, but I have been videoing my casting. I will say that it blows my mind that the rod bends the way that it seems to in the video. It has been quite educational to say the least.
Do I risk breaking the Excalibur? I suppose that if I do break the rod at some point while practicing or competing I could still display it like a museum piece on my wall. “This rod was owned by two of the most influential fly people of all time, and I broke it down at the ball field throwing my big cast into the wind. I knew she was going to go down at some point, but why then why there?”