Bending the Bamboo 2nd Time.

Lukey...

Lukes exciting find...

A fine day...

Opened the door this morning... just had to get on the river!

Decided this morning to get the Bamboo out again. I love the gentle presentation I'm getting. Pushing the rod quite hard too and getting a good long line. It comes to life with a fish on and I can still put heaps of pressure on when landing. I just need to get the leader length and weight right.

Extra Grip without the Glove.

Here's a funny gadget I came across to give you that extra grip when conditions get tough. Just push it on, align it and press in the spike, then enter the next dimension.

Shimazaki Wing.

I added a little foam float and dubbed a loop of hare fur around the wings, Shimazaki wing does the rest. I'm keen to try this pattern again this season. Last season I used CDC instead of hare for the hackle, but I prefer the random effect you get from dubbing on a dry.

Hook: TMC #16 5212

Tail: Cock de leon fibres

Body: Stripped peacock (Use a piece of flat rubber and an eraser, trap the quill between the two, will strip quill in seconds.)

Dub: Chocolate hare fur

Wingcase: Chocolate brown razor foam

Wings: Shimazaki

A postcard from the past.

Hand painted postcard. Lake of Yumato of Nikko. Looks like an 8 weight rod!

Essentially Green.

Essentially Green..

Beached.

Green Dragon.

Kea - Mountain parrot.

Trying out a landing..

Tommy aged 11 years caught his first fish on the fly. Earlier that morning I let him land one of mine to get the feeling of how it all feels. Then after lunch he disappeared out of sight around into a beautiful bay with a gorgeous drop off. With every cast a little more line went out, laying it on the water each time with a splash. A technique I've seen employed by old timers night fishing, but in this case, a beginners attempt to get a little more distance.

Then he appeared fish in hand and a grin across his face that said it all. A great day for a young boy an old fibreglass rod and a trout.

Simply Magic! After the excitment died down he was off back to the same spot to try his luck again!

He's been hounding me ever since for the fly which he gave me to look after and an old vise, so he can start to tie some more bullies.

May contain traces of nuts.

Once in a blue moon one goes in the pot. Jack and I enjoyed a meal of trout. Cream, white wine, red pepper and mushrooms just to name a few of the ingredients. Washed down with a good wine.

The 50 Metre River Sprint.

training complete.

released...

landed and unhooked...

across and down...

across the river...

out the other side...

through the tree...

under the tree...

still going...

further down...

down-stream...

Hook-up...

Today I did some training for the up and coming, down-stream Olympic river sprint.