The Xplorer UHTFC Festival 2017
Having hosted a very successful (inaugural) fly fishing festival in 2016, we (the UHTFC committee) decided to build on the event by hosting our second festival in 2017. We updated the format, extending the festival by a day to 2 days, and then threw in a formal dinner and braai. Although Neill and I were fishing in the festival, we were also partially responsible for putting the event together, and therefore had to do our due diligence. As such we drove up early on Friday morning and spent the day checking the condition of the festival waters, unlocking the various gates and boat houses, packing goodie bags, and setting up the evening venue. One of the waters was slightly off-colour, and we therefore removed it from the festival, otherwise all was looking good. With…
The Boston Fly Fishing Festival 2017
Arrival and Registration The 7th annual Boston Fly Fishing Festival was once again held on the weekend of the 16th June. And for the 5th year in a row this meant missing my wedding anniversary in favour of the event. Thankfully I have a forgiving wife, and had booked a week-long family holiday at Castleburn, and was therefore given the much needed pink slip. Baha Fly Fishing entered the same 2 teams of four as the previous year. The South coast team was once again made up of Dave, Dan, Andrew and Richard, while the Durban team consisted of Neill, Bruce, Keegan and myself. Now while I named the team's Baha North and Baha South, the South Coast boys had other plans. They arrived at the festival early and used…
A Low Inanda Dam In My Xplorer Journey Deluxe
For many years my wife's watched my vibrant blue Fishcat Deluxe fade into something she deemed unworthy of floating on a dam. To right this wrong she gifted me with a brand new Xplorer Journey Deluxe for my birthday and Christmas presents. At first I was torn, not wanting to discard my still buoyant Fishcat, however curiosity soon got the better of me and I decided to give it a try at my local bass dam, Inanda. After convincing my wife that Emma would love a morning of sun, water and open spaces we climbed into the car and headed for the dam. So far all was on track. There was a short queue at the gate but it didn't take long and soon I'd setup a small picnic spot for…
The Xplorer T-50 (9wt 4 Piece Saltwater Fly Rod)
So after collecting my new rod from Xplorer I was keen to get it on the water to test out the much talked about T-50. My first impression was WOW! A beautiful carbon rod tube coated in a neoprene sock was handed to me by Xplorer, inside was a 4 piece, 9wt wrapped in a rod cloth. [caption id="attachment_1111" align="alignleft" width="200"] The T-50 in it's rod tube[/caption] Xplorer have really outdone themselves with the T-50. It's built on premium Japanese, high modulus carbon blanks which have ultra-fast tip actions and the grip is crafted from premium grade cork. The saltwater models have Alps Triangle anodized aluminium reel seats while the freshwater models have CNC machined, up-locking fittings with natural burl inserts. The eyes on the rod are REC recoil stripper guides…
The Xplorer XPS-S Large Arbor Fly Fishing Reel
[caption id="attachment_1027" align="alignleft" width="300"] The Xplorer XPS-S with a decent wave garrick[/caption] The Xplorer XPS-S Large Arbor Fly Reel is Xplorer's premium range of salt water reels. They're designed to have BIG FISH stopping power and having fished with the reel I would certainly stand by that statement. Upon picking up this reel I was immediately impressed by the build quality. It is a fantastic looking reel which is CNC machined from bar stock aluminium. It has a black, hard anodized finish which means it appears as a slick black on your fly rod. I assume this comes from the good old days of fly fishing when reels were finished in black to make them less reflective and therefore prevent the reel from glinting which can easily spook fish. This may…
The Xplorer Guide II (5wt 9ft 4 Piece Freshwater Fly Rod)
[caption id="attachment_745" align="alignright" width="300"] The Xplorer Guide II[/caption] On first viewing this rod I was taken aback by the sheer beauty of the construction of the rod tube. It is made out of carbon fibre and has machined and polished end caps giving you a feeling of class. Unscrew the top cap and you pull out your four rod sections wrapped in a cloth sleeve. The rod is constructed using Xplorer's XP7 modulus graphite blanks, pac bay eyes and a lightweight aluminium up-locking reel seat with a high quality cork handle. I paired the rod with the Rio Mainstream intermediate, weight forward line and the Xplorer Eclipse 4-6wt reel. This combo I feel gives the rod a good balance. The rod action is medium to fast and can effortlessly cast…