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RE-THINKING THE ULTIMATE SMALL STREAM FLY ROD FROM CARBON FIBRE TO B A M B O O A N D G L A S S , U LT R A LIGHTWEIGHT BLANKS TO THOSE W I T H A L I T T L E M O R E H E F T, R O D S D E S I G N E D F O R T R AV E L A N D O N E P I E C E R O D S T H AT A LW AY S S TAY RIGGED, ED HERBST HAS SPENT YEARS WORKING ON THE IDEA OF T H E U LT I M AT E S M A L L S T R E A M F LY R O D . I N A O N E - P I E C E C T S G L A S S R O D B U I LT B Y D E R E K S M I T H , H E M AY J U S T H AV E H A D H I S E U R E K A M O M E N T.
The south-easterly wind was called the ‘Cape Doctor’ in colonial times because the residents in South Africa’s founding city believed that it swept away the ubiquitous refuse and the maladies associated with this malodorous situation. Fly anglers find Cape Town’s summer gales far from benign, particularly when they blow downstream and, when I moved to the city and joined the Cape Piscatorial Society 40 years ago, I really struggled. In my beginner’s ignorance I assumed that line weight rather than line speed was the answer and I acquired a nine foot six weight carbon fibre Orvis rod. At the time I had started fishing with Tony Biggs, originator of that legendary dry fly, the RAB. Tony fished a six and a half foot, split cane Lee Wulff Midge made by Farlowes, who rated it a five weight. Tony underlined it with a four weight line to speed it up.
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