Tag: Fly rod

Alan Bulmer, Dr.Mike Ladle, Fly Fishing, Lure Fishing, Saltwater Fishing, Spin Fishing, Tackle, Uncategorized

TROPICAL FISHING TACKLE

Text: Mike Ladle Featured image: GT with Lure (Al McGlashan – http://www.sportsfishingmag.com) Mike Ladle has visited the tropics many times on fishing holidays and written at length about his tropical fishing adventures on his Operation Sea Angler blog. By comparison, I’ve only been fortunate enough to visit Fiji a handful of times and written a solitary article on the experience.  https://activeanglingnz.com/2014/05/25/fishing-in-fiji/ Fishing in the Tropics is undoubtedly different to fishing in … Continue reading TROPICAL FISHING TACKLE

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Alan Bulmer, Blogs, Fly Fishing, Fresh Water Fishing, Product Reviews, Saltwater Fishing, Tackle

ROD REVIEW – EPIC FASTGLASS 888 FLY ROD

Recently I was given the opportunity to test an Epic Fastglass 888 fly rod made by the Swift Fly Fishing Company. Swift is based in Wanaka New Zealand and sells premium quality fibreglass and carbon fibre rod making kits and studio built fly rods. The studio built rods are handcrafted and made-to-order. Like many anglers I learned to fly fish with fibreglass rods and while … Continue reading ROD REVIEW – EPIC FASTGLASS 888 FLY ROD

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Alan Bulmer, Fly Fishing, Fresh Water Fishing, Saltwater Fishing, Techniques

HOW TO BECOME A BETTER FLY FISHER

Text: Alan Bulmer               Images: Frank Richard & Paul Smith Not every fishing is session is full on action, especially when fly fishing. Despite what the angling magazines would have us believe, it is not uncommon for anglers to have blank sessions or sessions where very few fish are hooked. Even professional guides have tough days where the fish do not seem to want to cooperate. On … Continue reading HOW TO BECOME A BETTER FLY FISHER

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Alan Bulmer, Fly Fishing, Fresh Water Fishing, Tackle

MATCHING FLY LINES TO RODS

Recently I happened upon two pieces of information, an article and a catalogue, which got me thinking about how difficult it can now be to choose a weight forward fly line to match a particular fly rod, especially the newer fast action models. The article was “Line ’em up” and it was written by the late Hugh McDowell for Fish & Game NZ back in 2002. It is … Continue reading MATCHING FLY LINES TO RODS

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Alan Bulmer, Fly Fishing, Tackle

HOW TO FLY CAST BY FEEL

Fly casting techniques have changed markedly over the past hundred years and this in many ways has been influenced by rod manufacturing developments. In the early part of the 20th century when fly rods were predominantly made of cane the fly casting mantra was to use the wrist more than the arm, straight up and down, 10 to 12 on the casting clock with the … Continue reading HOW TO FLY CAST BY FEEL

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Alan Bulmer, Fly Fishing, Lure Fishing, Spin Fishing, Tackle

WHY LONGER RODS ARE BETTER

Over the past few years I have become steadily more convinced that longer spinning and fly rods are ideal for use on wide estuarine flats, especially spinning rods 9’ (2.74 metres) or longer and fly rods of around 9’6” (2.89 metres). There are many reasons for this change in thinking but simple physics and improved rod manufacturing technology are the primary drivers. SPINNING RODS Let’s … Continue reading WHY LONGER RODS ARE BETTER

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Alan Bulmer, Fly Fishing, Tackle

FAST ACTION FLY RODS – ARE THEY REALLY BETTER?

Article by: Alan Bulmer   Photos: Paul Smith, Mark Hoffman, Alan Bulmer While researching for an upcoming article for Active Angling NZ I stumbled upon a website called “Rod Building Forum” and a fascinating interview with Tom Morgan on fly rod design. It is well worth reading:- http://www.rodbuildingforum.com/sources/special/morgan.php Tom Morgan is best known as the owner and principal rod designer for R.L. Winston from 1973 to … Continue reading FAST ACTION FLY RODS – ARE THEY REALLY BETTER?

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Alan Bulmer, Fly Fishing, Tackle

WHY THE SHAPE OF FLY ROD HANDLES IS IMPORTANT

Several months ago I wrote a rod review on the innovative Kilwell Xantu 9’6” #8 weight fly rod. Check it out:- https://activeanglingnz.com/2015/03/27/kilwell-xantu-96-8-weight-rod-review/ One of the things that I noticed as soon as I held the rod was that the diameter of the cork handle was slightly larger than any of the other fly rods in my arsenal. In real terms it was around 2.5 millimetres wider which … Continue reading WHY THE SHAPE OF FLY ROD HANDLES IS IMPORTANT

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Alan Bulmer, Fish Species, Fly Fishing

HARBOUR TREVALLY

Text: Alan Bulmer   Featured image: Wettie Several months ago I published an article called “Targeting Trevally” which looked at how to improve your success rate when chasing trevally. If you want to view this article then click on the following link:- https://activeanglingnz.com/2015/08/08/outsmarting-trevally-with-flies-and-lures/ Late autumn and early winter are prime times to target trevally. There are some things that you need to consider when fishing during the … Continue reading HARBOUR TREVALLY

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Alan Bulmer, Fly Fishing, Trip Report

FLATS KINGFISH

As you probably know I recently reviewed a Kilwell Xantu 9’6” #8 fly rod kindly loaned to me by Kilwell Sports. If you want to read the review then click on: – https://activeanglingnz.com/…/kilwell-xantu-96-8-weight-rod…/ Jeremy Wells was only too keen to see other anglers try the rod so I leant it to my fishing pal, Mark Hoffman. Mark had a few days off early this week … Continue reading FLATS KINGFISH

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