It’s been a bit chaotic recently but life is a bit more normal again and there are fish to be caught as well! Today I’ve uploaded a video on shots, a bit about Snakehead and some thoughts on the HT8/Tornado 8.

This was the second rod we completed and it has certainly served me well. All my biggest Snakehead, ie over 6KG, my largest brown trout… from Russia at 11.5lbs and some nice bonefish in the Maldives too! For me it’s really my goto shot-taking rod for 1-1/0 sized flies.

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No trip report again this week. Work is still eating the calendar, and the limestone maps are still sitting half-tested on my phone. But I have been doing some accounting. Not the business kind. I wear a sports watch, and sitting at the desk I pulled my activity data to see what it thinks I do with my life.

Fly casting practice is not on the list. Not under any name. The hours in the park with the HT 6, 7 and 8wt and the orange fluff, the hoops, the 123.4 feet. Invisible. If I want a park session recorded I have to file it under "Other", which is where the watch puts activities it doesn't believe in.

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Tracy and I are keeping a keen eye on the results coming from the World Fly casting championships in Italy this week. We would have loved to be there in person, however the decision to extend the programme to over a week makes things impossible for us as we use most of our leave on an extended fishing trip in the spring. From what we've seen online, Vinadio looks like a stunning venue and we hope all the casters present, from whichever country, have a great time competing there. Maybe Tracy and I will be back when we retire – or maybe there will be an alternative competition that goes back to a long weekend format that we can travel to compete in.

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I’m a bit behind schedule this week with the jetlag from returning to Japan. But fear not, a fly of the week you shall have! A modern classic this week; the Serendipity.

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Sunday we had picnic day with Satu. Short afternoon out, we had masseur on Saturday, so just little hanging and some time together. Water levels were high everywhere after rain whole week. So Satu decided to concentrate for mushroom picking and I fished.

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The alarm goes off at 3:45 Sunday morning, 4:15 I jump in the cab that will take me to the airport. 04:45 I enter the airport the line to KLM doesn’t look like the service line I had last week when I flew to the Swedish nationals. It’s long. So I try the self service kiosk. It doesn’t work. Cannot find my booking. I go to the line and I’m not sure I will get to the front before bag drop closes. So I try the kiosk again. I get my baggage tags and drops the bag off and goes to the special luggage handling for the rod tube. There they won’t accept it. I need to get it stamped somewhere. And now I start to feel a bit stressed. 

I go to the side of the line and asks if I can get the stamp needed. I get pointed elsewhere and get the needed approval. Dropping of the rod tube in good time. 

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