Inside Story : Really Exciting Times Ahead - By Stevie Munn

Really Exciting Times Ahead

A new dawn beckons on the river Saone

The Covid situation was now less scary and regulations allowed a trip to France and we finally set off. We travelled via the channel tunnel, which was a great experience and a first for me, as in the past,I had only been by air and sea, although I did ride a motorcycle to Paris and Le Mans when I was a lot younger on a couple of occasions with some old friends, which now seems a distant dream anyway. This appeared to be a lot easier, and for my old back now maybe a bit kinder, as you just drive onto the train and park and stay in your vehicle, plus it’s cheaper and better on fuel and probably better for the ozone layer as well. I remember thinking it was indeed a good experience - apart from the toilets which where closed, because of Covid apparently.

After a rest in James’s house, I jumped on a short flight from England home to Belfast and now writing about my first work out on the road in almost two years and it was fantastic to be back with likeminded people again and to eat, drink and talk fishing.

I must say my French is somewhat ‘petit’ and I have decided it would be good if, I tried to at least to learn a bit more. It was not really an option in the old school unfortunately, I think my choice went art and history followed by metal work and then I left to work at sixteen.

Once arrived, we toured to Burgundy in a van to film some coarse fishing, something that I really know little about as I am basically and always have been a trout and salmon angler. Nevertheless, here I was on a wonderful crisp, sunny, cold day, and I just needed to hang out and watch guys, who definitely knew what they were doing, fishing on the massive river Saone, a tributary of the Rhone.

Then, after a few days meeting our team in the flesh and not just on a Zoom meeting, we were to move on to something I am a bit more used to, s flyfishing show. After all, this was the reason I was in France, to do a few demos and give casting lessons for a new company with old and new comrades.

Sometimes in life you do need to pinch yourself and this was one of those times. The show was to be held at a beautiful place called the L’Ephemere De Bourgogne and, interestingly for me, this was the region where the Gaul King, Vercingetorix, the first to unite the Gauls, failed in a revolt against Roman forces during the last phase of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars. Sadly the proud chieftain of the Arverni tribe was executed in Rome back in (46 BC). Amazing. I do love a bit of history!

And now fast forward to my first event. Amid all the Covid restrictions

Stevie Teaching in France. over the last two years our world changed drastically and this time on the journey, I had to jump through a few unfamiliar hoops. However, I was very pleased to do so, as everything that I usually worked at in the last few years had stopped due to Covid, including my income.

Not an easy time for a self confessed ‘trout bum’

I was unable to run The Irish Fly Fair, our guiding trips in Norway with Go Fishing and Espen Andre Eilertson, something which we had done for ten years. Added to which there were no fly fishing events, like The North West angling show as well as teaching - not an easy time for a trout bum…I mean instructor of course. I am not complaining, as these things happen and I know I am a lot more fortunate that many in this crazy world.

I was always been told that if you have full belly and a roof over your head you’re doing ok. Though I will admit it was a very stressful time for many of us self-employed folk. I even had to sell my beloved Harley Davidson to help pay a few bills, but in the grand scheme that was not the worst, even though it hurt and I still pine for a motorcycle. I have always ridden bikes, something which I have no doubt accelerated my arthritis. However, on the bright side, lockdown gave me a lot of time to fish, almost every day and mostly to the river Maine. Mind you I had a good time on Lough Erne and the Six Mile River too. There is no better way to clear the mind than fly fishing and it has always been a way for me to find solitude, a very easy way to isolate one’s self, as wild fishing demands quietness and stealth.

I think it was Alexander Graham Bell who once said when one door closes another opens or something like that, and this is what happened to me when my old friend and colleague, and I know he won’t like me saying so, without doubt one best known guides, Spey casters and rod designers in the world of fishing, Ian Gordon, gave me a call and asked me if

First wild trout of the season from the Six Mile water

I would be interested in joining a new company, but with a lot more input than I’ve have had in the past.

An exciting time for me on board a new company to create a range of fly rods

He had recently left Hardy where he designed their double handed salmon rods to join this project, so it was a big step and at the time. I had been with Scandinavian giants Guideline as a pro team ambassador which was very nice and I liked the kit, but this was something I could not turn down once I heard more about it, so I said yes, as I knew if Ian was involved it would be something pretty amazing and something I could get my teeth into and make a real difference.

He went on to tell me about the company, Cadence, which is a USAbased tackle manufacturer adding that we would be with the European arm of Cadence Fishing and that we would be adding a fly brand.

Cadence is a direct-to-consumer brand, selling products exclusively online via their own website and at consumer shows. Selling direct eliminates a retailer margin which not only allows the consumer to buy very high performance tackle at sensible prices, but also helps Cadence give back to good causes in angling. For example, the ‘Go Fishing Give Back,’ is the company’s campaign to introduce the sport to young anglers and for every £50 (€100) spent with Cadence, they will provide free tackle to a child through one of the many charitable partners the company works with. Already, this has provided much needed equipment to budding young anglers across the UK and Ireland.

Another massive plus for me is that it’s led by well-known UK all-round angler and another good friend James Robbins. Already, Cadence Fishing has developed a strong following in the UK, Ireland, and the rest of Europe for coarse angling products, producing a wide range of rods, reels, poles, whips, luggage and nets for coarse match anglers. The company’s core philosophy is to develop products in conjunction with top anglers, who can add input and help develop each rod to be the very best it can be, at realistic prices. The brand is agile, often bringing products to market that other companies shy away from, giving a diverse range of products to suit all types of angling.

So, over the last two seasons we worked with a lot of our angling friends on the fly brand rods, with me on single hand rods and Ian on double handed rods and we tested and tweaked a lot of rods and lines. We were able to fine tune the actions and use the very best technology and components that are available today . So some extremely exciting times have arrived as the team has a lot of experience, not only in fishing, but also working within the trade.It includes people like Pascal Grillot, a fantastic all-round French angler who has worked at the very top