Paul Arden | Monday, 17 October 2016
Ash and I had a great trip down to Bosnia last week, fishing midday hatches for Grayling and Trout on Pliva and Ribnik, with good friends Robert and Velibor (and Nikola) as well as catching up with Djordje, Aitor and Pliva Master, Zelko. It's always a fishing lesson on these waters, particularly fly fishing with Zelko, learning the French Nymph, waking Grayling up and even herding them around the river! Anyway more of that some other time...
We're back in Hungary now and will be here (probably!) for the next three weeks before heading back to my favourite learning fly fishing destination at the moment; Malaysia. We'll be heading straight back into the beginning of the Wet Season which is both good and bad. Good for Jungle Perch, bad for sleeping in the boat! Between now and then is the time that I've set aside to update the shopping cart on Sexyloops, get things back into order, launch the HT10 and RAMPAGE, organise the next 6 or 12 months of Jungle fishing - as well as sort out Latohegy for another year or two and ignite the Hot Torpedo Owners' Club.
It's always going to be challenging running a business when fly fishing is your priority in life! Particularly if you've decided life's achievement is simply measured in the number of days spent fishing! I think we all know that. So three weeks out from the calendar year to get my head down and organise things is not a great deal to give. However, today I fished the Drava with Ashly and my good friend from Croatia, Ivica, and we (well they actually!) caught two excellent Asp... so maybe I still have to fish a little every day while doing these important things
I have to say that I really can't wait to get back to the jungle fishing. This is where my soul is right now. Europe has been wonderful - I made a trip based around the World Championships in Flycasting with Flyfishing Tackle, and it's been great, my truck has covered over 7000 miles, we've fished England, Jersey, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Germany, Hungary, Croatia and Bosnia. We've met old friends and made many new ones. It's cost a shit-load of money! But it's been well worth it on all counts
I'm not sure if we'll be back next year or not - there are many opportunities, particularly with Sweden and Bosnia, but most likely it will be 2018 with the World's in England and another European Adventure Tour. Maybe every second summer in Europe is the way forward for me. We shall see!!! I know that while I like learning the technical side of fishing that parts of Europe has to offer, it doesn't compare to the incredible and unique experience that I'm not only getting but in some ways (with one species anyway), pioneering, and there isn't very much left in fly fishing where you can truly say you are a pioneer!
OK so here's to the official launch of the Hot Torpedo Owners' Club! This will be a "blog" a bit like Ronan's NZ Report, but I'll keep you updated with product news and developments as well as in-the-field / on-the-river successes. This will allow me to separate my Front Pages from Sexyloops Gear. Next month will see the return of SexyloopsTV, coming from the Jungle. The first couple of months will be WET!!!
Have a great week!
Cheers,
Paul
PS If you want to join the Board of Boards, then drop me an email on paul@sexyloops.com