I've always had good use of a quick actioned 9' 4wt rod: initially for larger streams and rivers and occasionally for stillwaters. I was really excited about getting my hands on a 4wt Zenith after casting 10 and 12 wt prototypes back in February with Steve Peterson, marketing manager at Hardy. I cast the 12 wt for 30mins, backing out the tip on every cast and it felt like a 10wt!! the 10 felt lighter and more effective than my 8wt Loomis GLX which has been my favourite saltwater stick for over 10 years... not an easy rod to beat.
I've had my 4wt Zenith for most of the summer but hardly fished it because I've been "in the shrubbery" with my 3 and 2 wts in the little streams around Kent. So with a full 6 days of fishing on the huge San River in Poland last week I got an opportunity to really play with this new rod.
so how was it?
I loved it! yes i know everyone is saying that about the Sintrix range... but I put the media hype and other (very positive) opinions aside and just focussed on fishing with the thing.
It is very light and very responsive. all without being too stiff. it loaded long and short casts equally well and with flawless leader turnover, which is impressive considering on most days I was fishing 18 - 24 foot leaders, sometimes in duo manner, normally to 6 or 7X.
I caught some good grayling and browns and always felt the rod had the sensitivity to allow me to "give the fish some Welly" without compromising the tippett.
I would very much like to see a 10 or even 11ft version for a 3wt line. this would make me very happy indeed!
Well done to Howard Croston and the whole Hardy team, an exceptional bit of tackle!
15 September 2011
14 September 2011
Polish Grayling!
I was on the River San in Poland last week with a great bunch of guys. Thanks Jeremy and Wojtek!
biggest grayling and most challenging river fishing I have ever done, I will definitely be back.
see the album on the right of this page for more photos.
looking forward to autumn!
Keith
biggest grayling and most challenging river fishing I have ever done, I will definitely be back.
see the album on the right of this page for more photos.
looking forward to autumn!
Keith
4 June 2011
my biggest grayling?
a few weeks ago Garth, Jacques and I spent a few days on the upper Wye in Wales. We got some good grayling and browns in spite of the very low river. The low clear conditions made for careful approaches and thin tippets... nothing wrong with that!
One evening, around 8pm, as the pub was calling, Garth and I spotted a steady riser: the fish was about 10 yards away, downstream, in about 6 inches of water over gravel. It was my turn... after about 20 or 30 drifts the fish ate my #16 CDC emerger. I think it was my biggest grayling, pushing 2lbs. now note that the fish might look smaller in the picture because I am 6'10" with big hands so all fish look small in my hands, really :-)
the fish jumped as Garth took the pic...
One evening, around 8pm, as the pub was calling, Garth and I spotted a steady riser: the fish was about 10 yards away, downstream, in about 6 inches of water over gravel. It was my turn... after about 20 or 30 drifts the fish ate my #16 CDC emerger. I think it was my biggest grayling, pushing 2lbs. now note that the fish might look smaller in the picture because I am 6'10" with big hands so all fish look small in my hands, really :-)
the fish jumped as Garth took the pic...
28 September 2010
striper in New England
I was in the Boston (waltham) office week before last. With mid september normally being peak striper season i decided to hook up with a few friends for some time north of Boston and then down on Cape Cod.
I'd never caught striper before, although I dreamt of catching them for decades, so even though the locals said the fishing was slow I was very happy with my few schoolies up to about 24".
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I'd never caught striper before, although I dreamt of catching them for decades, so even though the locals said the fishing was slow I was very happy with my few schoolies up to about 24".
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22 June 2010
SIM Festival at Castel di Sangro in Italy
What a weekend!
For a few years some friends have been telling me that if there is one show in the world you want to be invited to demonstrate fly patterns at it's the SIM Festival. Finally I got the invite and the dates worked.
The show is held in an ancient building that also houses the Italian museum of flyfishing which in itself is amazing. I did two tours of it on saturday and again sunday to take in all the fly patterns, paintings and tackle.
The Sangro river and one of its tributaries flow through town and is full of brown and rainbow trout... it was crystal clear and apparently a little low when I fished it (I thought it was perfect) .... and both are stuffed with fish... and they're classified "reserva" so no fishing is allowed in town... apparently late at night the old men of the town do throw spinners at some of the submarines we saw swimming around in gin clear water engulfing chunks of bread fed to them by villagers.
I left England on Thursday afternoon, flew to Rome and then spent 3.5hrs being driven by Lionello to Castel di Sangro. Lionello speaks nearly no English and my Italian sucks a lot... I used google translate to help me with the key phrases such as "let's buy a couple of beers at the next filling station we pass".... thanks Lionello!
I had Friday to myself as the Festival kicked off on Friday night. I got a lift about a kilometer downstream of town and then I walked down a farm track alongside the river for 20minutes until I was well away from the worn paths.... then I bush whacked my way into the river and strung up. It was beautiful, I caught and landed at least a dozen fish in 3 hours ranging up to about 18 inches. I lost two massive fish (at least 4lbs each) that both ploughed into tree roots in under cut banks. I saw a further monster but could not get a cast to it. what a morning!
walking up to the bridge in town for my pickup to take me to lunch I noticed this picture lying on the fisherman's path on the river bank... why would someone be carrying this fishing??? worrying. disturbing. a few hundred meters upstream I disturbed a couple having sex! obviously summer in the mountains makes the locals a little frisky.
Dales in a shirt that only he could carry off!
"The tiers!"
the "award ceremony" where certificates were handed out and participants thanked. I was a little taller than the average Italian and went down on my knees to fit into the photographs. Oswaldo, in the centre, organiser of the show and leader of the SIM flyfishing school and on the right Chris Reeves from England.
and then the wine kicked in!
What a great festival and weekend... next year I'm going for a week and I'll hike the Sangro until my feet bleed!
ciao!
Keith
For a few years some friends have been telling me that if there is one show in the world you want to be invited to demonstrate fly patterns at it's the SIM Festival. Finally I got the invite and the dates worked.
The show is held in an ancient building that also houses the Italian museum of flyfishing which in itself is amazing. I did two tours of it on saturday and again sunday to take in all the fly patterns, paintings and tackle.
The Sangro river and one of its tributaries flow through town and is full of brown and rainbow trout... it was crystal clear and apparently a little low when I fished it (I thought it was perfect) .... and both are stuffed with fish... and they're classified "reserva" so no fishing is allowed in town... apparently late at night the old men of the town do throw spinners at some of the submarines we saw swimming around in gin clear water engulfing chunks of bread fed to them by villagers.
I left England on Thursday afternoon, flew to Rome and then spent 3.5hrs being driven by Lionello to Castel di Sangro. Lionello speaks nearly no English and my Italian sucks a lot... I used google translate to help me with the key phrases such as "let's buy a couple of beers at the next filling station we pass".... thanks Lionello!
I had Friday to myself as the Festival kicked off on Friday night. I got a lift about a kilometer downstream of town and then I walked down a farm track alongside the river for 20minutes until I was well away from the worn paths.... then I bush whacked my way into the river and strung up. It was beautiful, I caught and landed at least a dozen fish in 3 hours ranging up to about 18 inches. I lost two massive fish (at least 4lbs each) that both ploughed into tree roots in under cut banks. I saw a further monster but could not get a cast to it. what a morning!
walking up to the bridge in town for my pickup to take me to lunch I noticed this picture lying on the fisherman's path on the river bank... why would someone be carrying this fishing??? worrying. disturbing. a few hundred meters upstream I disturbed a couple having sex! obviously summer in the mountains makes the locals a little frisky.
Dales in a shirt that only he could carry off!
"The tiers!"
the "award ceremony" where certificates were handed out and participants thanked. I was a little taller than the average Italian and went down on my knees to fit into the photographs. Oswaldo, in the centre, organiser of the show and leader of the SIM flyfishing school and on the right Chris Reeves from England.
and then the wine kicked in!
What a great festival and weekend... next year I'm going for a week and I'll hike the Sangro until my feet bleed!
ciao!
Keith
2 June 2010
great fishing on the Usk
I spent a few days in Wales last week fishing with my friend Mark Lloyd of the Angling Trust and Fish Legal (boy those guys do great work fighting for our rivers, lakes and sea fishing).
the fishing started with a bang on friday noon when I stepped into the water on the Meadow Bridge beat on the Usk... caddis (I think they were Welshman's Button) were present in huge clouds of what looked like egg laying females, not sure. Also, yellow mayfly, mayfly (E. Danica) and small black gnats were all hatching.
The fish were tough but I got a few through the afternoon. I took a little power nap on the bank in the late afternoon, about the time I woke up Mark came down to the river with a couple've pints of Rhymney Export, just the thing to get me setup for an evening's dry fly action...
saturday was a bit of a wash out although we did get the occasional riser along the bank-side bush.
Sunday morning I fished the Grywne Fawr, a tributary of the Usk, for a few hours by myself with my little 5 foot 2 weight Hardy Glass ALN: I love this rod. I've owned it for about 6 weeks and refer to it now as the "feather duster" because it is so light and agile. It took a while to fine tune the leader construction for such a short, soft rod and I've paired it with a Cortland 444 Sylk WF2F which is absolutely miraculous.
after a few hours on the Grywne Fawr I had a chilled out 3 hours drive back to Kent, brain-dumping new fly pattern ideas onto the dictaphone on my mobile.
ahhh.... what a brilliant weekend.
the fishing started with a bang on friday noon when I stepped into the water on the Meadow Bridge beat on the Usk... caddis (I think they were Welshman's Button) were present in huge clouds of what looked like egg laying females, not sure. Also, yellow mayfly, mayfly (E. Danica) and small black gnats were all hatching.
The fish were tough but I got a few through the afternoon. I took a little power nap on the bank in the late afternoon, about the time I woke up Mark came down to the river with a couple've pints of Rhymney Export, just the thing to get me setup for an evening's dry fly action...
saturday was a bit of a wash out although we did get the occasional riser along the bank-side bush.
Sunday morning I fished the Grywne Fawr, a tributary of the Usk, for a few hours by myself with my little 5 foot 2 weight Hardy Glass ALN: I love this rod. I've owned it for about 6 weeks and refer to it now as the "feather duster" because it is so light and agile. It took a while to fine tune the leader construction for such a short, soft rod and I've paired it with a Cortland 444 Sylk WF2F which is absolutely miraculous.
after a few hours on the Grywne Fawr I had a chilled out 3 hours drive back to Kent, brain-dumping new fly pattern ideas onto the dictaphone on my mobile.
ahhh.... what a brilliant weekend.
30 January 2010
are you going to the spring show?
I'll be demonstrating some of my fly patterns at the Spring Show in Lincoln in early March... are you going? I really enjoy this show: catching up with friends, learning new tying techniques and maybe buying a bit of tackle, some feathers or a book or 2!
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