Redington Form – Fly Fishing Game and Practice Rod

There are practice rods and there are indoor rods. They are both meant for fly fishers to practice their casting when they have nothing better to do. No kidding.

Redington upped the stakes and called theirs the “Flyfishing Game and Practice Rod”. Interesting, as you can now play games while you are at it.

I got hold of a set and what makes this immediately different from the ones I have seen before is that it uses actual fly lines as opposed to the typical yarn/rope type.

Toy or Fishing Rod?

Why on earth would you want to spend money on something that looks like a toy and won’t catch fish you ask? Fly casting is a bitch. Lay-off it for some time and you are screwed.

What that means is you need to keep fishing or the next time you go on that long planned and expensive trip, you will discover you can’t put the fly where you want to and where the fish are. The harder you try – the more screwed you are. So, those of us who can’t afford to be fishing all the time will find having a practice rod useful to keep those SLPs, tracking, accelerate to a stop and other mumbo jumbo in check. And hopefully catch a fish or two when we finally get to get out to do some real fishing.

Duck!

When my wife sees me whipping this rod inside the house she will be making some smart remarks. But hey, we have to stay focussed on that next big trip.

Check out this video, while I go have some fun with mine.

Update: After using the Redington practice rod for a bit, I found that it is not suitable for indoor use (unless you have a big-ass house) as compared to the yarn type. Perhaps that is why it was never called an indoor rod to start with. One plus point for the Redington practice rod over the yarn type is you can haul with it. Cool.

Redington’s Form Game Rod for Practicing Fly Casting from Sol Duc Buck on Vimeo.

Post Event Report – The International Fly Fishing Festival 2012.

Held on 16-17 September 2012 in Malaysia, this I think, is the first of such event organised in Asia. Definitely the first in the region. And what a success it was.

The team at the United Fly Anglers Organisation Malaysia (UFO) have really outdone themselves on this one. Newly qualified FFF CCI Dron Lee, and first FFF MCI in the country CK Ling worked tirelessly to put everything together. Their dedication to the Organisation and sport is truly admirable.

Hans Van Klinken presented a special memento to Dron Lee during the opening

Men at Work. (FFF MCI) CK Ling, (CCI) Ben Foo and (THCI) Bintoro

Incredible Support

Prior to the event, workshops were conducted by Federation of Fly Fishers (FFF) Master Casting Instructors (MCI) to prepare candidates for their tests. Among some of the testers are Paul Arden, Peter Hayes, Simon Zerifah and Bill Higashi who is also a FFF Board Of Governance (BOG) member. Another FFF BOG who travelled all the way from America to lend support to this event is Mr Soon Lee.

Except for some initial hick-ups, the event is generally a huge success. [Read more...]

Video of Kampung Budaya, Taman Botani Negara – Venue of the International Fly Fishing Festival

You seen some photos of the venue, now talk a video tour of the venue.

Oh ya, watch the video in enlarged HD if you want to see Mr Sek’s sek-xy loops in the beginning of the video!

Kampung Budaya, Taman Botani Negara – Venue of the International Fly Fishing Festival 2012 in Malaysia

Above photo is the main building and venue of the Malaysia International Fly-Fishing Festival 2012 (IFFF). It is all in a very traditional Malaysian setting with wood crafted buildings in the midst of a rainforest jungle.

For more photos, please click here.

With just days to go for the IFFF the participants, visitors, guests and organisers are all pumped-up!

The days preceding the event will also see many candidates going for their Certified Casting Instructor (CCI), Master Casting Instructor (MCI) and other tests. We wish them best of luck.

Below are some updates and attractions during the IFFF;

Some of the very rare flies by Hans Van Klinken

Famous Flies on Auction

There will be many incredibly nice and some very rare flies that will be auctioned off. They are all tied by the who’s who of the fly tying world. The collections will come nicely framed so all you have to do put them on display.

Some of the Fly-casting Demos and Workshops

  • Light weight Switch rod (3 and 4wt) casting by Bintoro
  • Single handed distance casting, not just for show! by Paul Arden
  • Specialty casting, Mulson, steeple, snap lift switch casting
  • History of FFF especially in Australia by Matt Howell
  • Taming the winds, casting in Adverse winds
  • Teaching the double hauls
  • Fly fishing in New Zealand
  • How to be accurate in your casting
  • How and why of slack line presentation casting
  • Yusaku MCI Japan will show tying saltwater flies indoor

Exhibitors and New Products

Exhibitor and sponsor, the Avalon Cuban Fishing Center and its owner, Mr Filippo will be giving a presentation and slide show on Fly fishing for the Grand Slam – Permit, Bonefish and Tarpon in Cuba.

YAMAGA blanks will show almost its entire range of products in this exhibition and also some special products from Japan.. Livre handle, Gancraft new rod, Craftbait stick bait.

Paul Arden, FFF MCI and the big man behind Sexyloops, launching his Sexyloops fly rods in the show. Paul is also sponsoring a wt6 sexyloops rod (the 1st in the world) to the winner of the Accuracy casting competition!

KLFS (KL fly shop) is also setting up a booth in the show… come see all the awesome gears and rods by KLFS… bring cash!

Tacklebox Adventures, collaboration partner and sponsor is setting up a booth in the show. Bring more cash! There might even be some surprises. Tacklebox Adventures is also sponsoring all the fly tying materials during the show.

Pure Fishing Malaysia is also joining us in the show, they will be setting up a booth and displaying some of their latest fishing gears. You know the drill, bring cash!

TMC Vise worth more than US$700 sponsored by Psage Merdana

Fly tying Competition

A fly tying competition will be held during the event… everyone is invited. Each participant is allowed to participate 5 times, entry fee is only RM2 per attempt.

Each time you are given 5 minutes to tie a fly in a ‘semi private’ room, with the selected fly tying materials sponsored by Tacklebox Adventures and Daiichi fly hooks sponsored by Angler Sport Group. Each participant will be given a (one) free Daiichi samples hook package (worth more than RM10).

Hans Van Klinken and Marc Petitjean will be the judges who decide which fly is the champion. The 1st prize is a TMC Vise sponsored by Psage Merdana worth RM2,260.00

And a whole lot more!

Those who would like to just drop-in unannounced may also do so. Just make your way to Taman Botani Negara’s ticketing counter and look for a IFFF official. Get your ticket and you will be shown how to get to the event venue.

 

Paul Arden Fly-Casting Workshop in Malaysia

Youngest CCI at 11, Lachie Hayes demonstrates fly-casting in this short clip shot during Paul Arden’s fly-casting workshop here in 2011. Lachie is the son of fly-casting guru and MCI, Peter Hayes.

Both Paul Arden and Peter Hayes are among the visiting guests here next week for some fishing and the Malaysian International Fly Fishing Festival.

Check out Paul Arden and Peter Hayes in their respective websites Sexyloops and Peter Hayes Fly Fishing.