FLY RODS


Fly rods

WHY THE HOT TORPEDO/TORTUGA SHOULD BE YOUR NEXT ROD

- Sexyloops rods are designed using AFFTA conforming fly lines and don’t require a brick on a string to bend.
- The price you see is the price you pay. And includes door to door International courier shipping. For USA we mainly use FedEx. For an extra 30USD we can use FedEx express, which generally takes two days to arrive. (Assuming we have the rod in stock and there is no custom work).
- We will refund import duties resulting from Brexit and or Trade Wars, up to 20% of the rod’s value.
- With the new X System for ferrules, we can ship replacement sections out without having a broken rod returned to us, saving you time and money. Currently replacement sections cost 150USD and this includes global courier shipping.
- Every purchased rod comes with a free Zoom flycasting meet. We can cast, deal with any casting questions you may have, chat about fishing and drink a beer.
- Each rod purchased enters you into the Sixty-Six Six competition where names will go into the sock lucky draw, and the winner will win a 2 week all-expenses paid saltwater fly fishing holiday on the soon to be launched (and later shipwrecked) Sexyloops yacht. Good luck!!

Note: apart from the decal there is no difference between Hot Tortuga and Hot Torpedo fly rods. The Flaming Tortuga is to celebrate moving rod building from UK to Spain, where turtles are considered sexy.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH A TOP PERFORMANCE FLYROD THAT YOU COULD CAST?

It's quite possible that you've bought a "high performance" fly rod in the past and been disappointed that it hasn't lived up to your expectations, this may explain the cupboard full of rods that you never use. We can promise you one thing: the HT fly rod will never live in your cupboard! For every one of our customers the Hot Torpedo has become their "go-to" rod. In fact we're so sure that you will love it, we give you a 7-day no-quibble full-refund guarantee. A curious trend has happened in fly fishing, to make "high-performance" mean "very stiff", consequently fly lines are often heavier than the line ratings standard, no doubt to compensate for the effort and skill it takes to work the rod effectively. That is NOT the approach we take when designing your rod. Hot Torpedo rods are designed for the actual line weight. High Performance - yes, absolutely. Too stiff - not at all.

While a lot of true casting experts absolutely love our rods, you don't have to be an expert caster to be able to use one - although it might help you become one...


A FLY ROD SHOULD GIVE DECADES OF SERVICE

Anyone new to fly fishing would believe that rod manufacturers are making massive technological advancements every few years. Quite frankly, this is nonsense marketing. Sure, we would all like to be in the midsts of a technological revolution. That would be fantastic, but the truth is the distinction between fly rods has to do with design, types and blends of graphite sheets used, components and build quality. What really sets apart the Hot Torpedo rod series apart is the combination of all of these. I'm bringing 45 years of full-time fly fishing obsession, 30 years of international flycasting instruction, demonstration and competing and 27 years of Sexyloops flycasting knowledge into rod design. I work very closely with highly experienced Spanish rod designer, and a great caster in his own right, Alejandro Viñuales. It takes on average eight prototypes to produce one finished blank. It's a long, time-consuming process of consultation, tweaking, casting, fishing, all involving a very highly experienced team - and this goes around and around until I'm completely satisfied.

In order to understand the Hot Torpedo rod design this is what you need to know… for the light line models it's important that the tip is flexible enough to handle the lightest leaders that you might use. For example with the 4-weight Hot Torpedo, you might choose to fish very fine .10mm/7X tippet, so you'll need a relatively forgiving tip to fish effectively. In the case of heavier line models the tip only needs be flexible enough for short line accurate casts. The butt in each case however, should be stiff enough for long powerful into-the-wind casts - there is no reason to make this part soft - yet it should still have enough flexibility to feel the rod flex below the hand, this helps give us that all important "feel". The bend should smoothly progress along the rod, so that you don't have to think too hard about your casting. The rod tip should be completely stable - the HT tips don't bounce repeatedly after the loop has formed and I spend a great deal of time working on how well the rod damps. And finally, the overall feel should be light and crisp. I liken the HT feel to be a "Cannon with Finesse". There is a misconception that "fly casting" and "fly fishing" have different rod requirements. I don't believe this to be true. Competition fly casters do of course sometimes require specialist rods, but fly casting and fly fishing are wholly interrelated for me.


TOUGH, DURABLE, LONG LASTING

Your fly rod also needs to be reliable. Prototype HTs are taken to fishing shows, put through literally hundreds of angler's hands, of all abilities, prototype rods are cast in Sexyloops distance competitions and of course they are all used extensively in fishing situations (by me mostly!), all prior to final production. Some flaws only appear after extensive testing. This process is so that both of us can live safe in the knowledge, that your fly rod will not explode when you take it fishing!

Hot Torpedo/Tortuga blanks are rolled in the EU in Spain, and are now built there too, using the finest components with our fantastic in-house rod builder. We use the finest Portuguese cork grips and either REC recoils, and Fuji Titanium Torzite rings - the best. The reel spacer is our own, machined and black anodised in the UK. We use REC reel seat fittings and Titanium stripping guides. At no point in the process do we cut corners. Because we focus purely on the top end, we can ultimately create a higher quality product for you.


WARRANTY AND THE X-SYSTEM

Since May 2024 we have created a new system for fitting rods sections, where, instead of having to have the rod or ferrules returned to us for fitting replacement sections, we can simply send a replacement section out, straight by courier. The current cost of this service is 150USD which includes International door to door courier. Rods older than this that need repair will still need to be returned to Spain, however once there we can convert your rod to fit the new X system so that replacement sections fully fit.

If you would like to order a spare tip for your rod at the time of purchase, we can make you a spare tip for an extra 150USD (180USD if fitted with Torzite rings) and we will provide you with a 5-piece Sexyloops rod sock. Most rod breakages are caused in the tip, with ceiling fans and car doors being the two main culprits.


CUSTOM WORK

We also custom build Hot Torpedos. You can change just about anything you want, from your favourite thread colour, to rings, to grip shape, to reel fittings, as well having your name on the rod. There is no additional cost for this service apart from any difference in the wholesale price of components. Depending on build and how busy we are this service can take a few weeks. You will be informed at the time of order.

BLANKS

We do sell blanks to home rod builders. Please enquire if this is what interests you. We also sell the cork grip, sock and Sexyloops rod tube, if these are required as well. We don’t sell the other fittings however.

Don't just take our word on how good these rods are... read our testimonials!

Paul Arden

Sexyloops Manager

For enquiries or any questions whatsoever please email me at paul@sexyloops.com or WhatsApp me on +60198549552