Paul Arden | Tuesday, 11 January 2022
So it’s the 11th Jan and I’ve managed to fish all 11 days so far, not all day every day, but every day. As many of you will know Bernd always tries to fish more days than me in a year and for the past three years he has managed it. One year I think he managed 358 or something ridiculous. This won’t do at all of course and so this year I am aiming for the full 365. It’s actually quite challenging to do them all, especially if you have a long haul flight. But I shall endeavour to do my best :))) If I get arrested at Singapore Airport, fly fishing for Koi Carp, then you know the reason why.
The fishing is challenging here in Malaysia (as always!) but there are baby snakehead around and so I’m expecting another trophy fish soon!
Next month, Sungai Tiang will open for the Mahseer and Jungle Perch fishing. I’m looking forward to that day very much and it will be great to see the Orang Asli guides finally working and this all coming together. Thank you everyone who has helped make this project happen; thanks for providing tackle and cash support. I’m delighted to see something really positive happening here, both for the fishing and for the Orang Asli. In the next week or two, I plan to visit the river with the guides again, to see how practical it is to pull a whitewater raft upstream. It may actually have stopped raining here in North Malaysia, however it’s never possible to know if the Wet Season is over until considerably after it’s finished!
International travel border restrictions makes it still impossible to get to me. I have no idea when this will change. In the meantime I’m still giving Zoom Fly Casting lessons. I have a few new Zoom guests booking courses at the moment and so I will be giving these the next three months at least. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed doing them and have learned a great deal — and of course helped to produce some excellent fly casters :)) At the start of last year I wasn’t even sure it was possible to teach via Zoom video conferencing. I’m of the opinion now, that it has been some of the best teaching I’ve done, if only because I get to give courses over many lessons. 24 lessons anyone? Unheard of for me prior to this.
Granted, it’s hard to teach single-handed Speys. It’s also difficult to give an instructor pre-test. So it’s not perfect in every small detail. But for long-term students, who are developing their cast to a high level, who are practising regularly, then it’s quite possible that there is nothing better.
Last week I mentioned that we have started taking orders for the HT5, our latest addition to the Sexyloops Hot Torpedo range. We will start delivery of these in mid March (possibly slightly earlier). If you want to get one of the early serial numbers, or just reserve your rod so that you have it in time for the start of the new season, then now is a very good time to order. In fact now is an excellent time to buy any of our rods! We are getting rather busy (January is always busy) but not so much that we are bogged down yet!
I shall make an existing video about this rod either later today or tomorrow. What I always like about our rods is that (in my mind) they have very solid “gear changes”, no doubt this is because of the way it bends. The HT5 has a particularly nice 1st and 2nd gear! Remember, when you are testing or learning a new rod, always start off by casting it in first gear. The vast majority of anglers I watch always seem to try casting a rod in 3rd gear, without knowing where that is. Which makes life really very difficult! In fact arguably this is the reason why flylines are often being manufactured overweight.
So my advice is to start off in first gear and see what 1st gear is capable of. This means leader only, maybe a few feet of flyline, s-l-o-w casting stroke, narrow casting arc, playing around with soft casts, flicking the tip, playing around with speed, and so on. Only once you’re truly familiarised with “first gear” should you then add a couple of yards of flyline and move into second gear. Same again: really s-l-o-w casting stroke and mess around with different “stops”, increase speed (but not line length) and so on. Your ultimate objective, is to get to really understand how the rod feels and performs with all line lengths, at all speeds.
If the line is right, and the rod is right, and you are right, you should feel connected and in unison and the casting adjustments will become second nature. You may notice a halo appear above your head. If it doesn’t feel right, or stops feeling right, then start again from first gear with minimum power. Trying to figure out a rod by only casting in third gear is a road to nowhere!
Originally I started giving 1hr Zoom Casting sessions with every rod sold. The idea was that more lessons would follow — pretty cunning marketing plan right? However they’ve been so useful to many people, that even after borders reopen and I’m guiding again (happy days that will be!), I will still continue to give these sessions for those who want them. It’s always great to meet Sexyloopers / HT owners / all fly fishermen too of course and to talk fly fishing! :)))
And remember, if you are a HT owner who is studying for CCI, MCI or any other instructor acronym, then please get in touch, because I go through casting and exam theory, for free, via email, for all HT owners who would like it. You have to do most of the work of course but I am here to help :)))
Right — now I must go fishing! This week we are going to head East. Ant Island, Snake Island… Haven’t been over there in a few weeks and I think it’s all about to happen.
Have a fantastic week.
Cheers, Paul