Paul Arden | Monday, 20 July 2015
I'm now back in the Malaysian Jungle, camping out in the boat with Ash, fishing for Snakehead and everything else I can hook. I'm considering a different business strategy for Sexyloops equipment; I'm getting quite a few requests now from shops to stock the rods. The problem is that I've cleverly managed to produce the most expensive rod on the planet, no expense spared, particularly so since we moved production to England - the build quality is higher and it takes significantly longer to build each rod, because they are now immaculate, but still... And of course I'm working on a shop margin or less as it is, so if I do sell through shops, I can either fit less expensive components (I'm not going to do this!), shift production somewhere else (I'm not going to do this either!) or have a price jump so that I can get paid too (contrary to popular rumour, I'm not related to Elizabeth Arden, don't have Royal Blood and I'm not a bank robber, so if I don't sell rods then I have to either catch fish or go hungry!). But there are significant advantages to retailing through shops, not least because I'm not thrilled with marketing and would rather fish instead). So that's what's now being planned!
In the meantime, you would be well advised to make the most of our current prices! I've just spent the last three months fishing the HT4 weight. The 4-weight I think is right on the design limits for what's possible to retain the HT action. The tip is soft enough to cushion strikes and play fish well - I often fish with .10 tippet in Bosnia and Croatia, so you need a tip that's not going to bust you off. The butt on the other hand is strong, I fish this rod with a DT4 and have no problems aerialising the whole line (if that's your thing, and it's sometimes mine), and while the butt is stiff, it still flexes into the cork (this is really important for feel, I find). The progression is smooth and the tip damps with no bounce - it's on the faster side. If you're looking for a rod that sums up the HT series this is it!!
I've been fishing the 4-weight, both on the UK reservoirs where take detection with a team of buzzers on a 4-wt line is quite remarkable, as well as fishing it all through ex-Yugoslavia and even more recently throwing streamers around for Asp. I'm not trying to stick it to Malaysian Gourami. The rod took over two years to design and eight different prototypes, so it's nice to be fishing with the finished product. I had almost given up at one point too!
So that's was the Business Report, now to the Jungle Report...
The Belum-Temenggor lake level is about 6 metres lower than when I left - thank goodness! I'm typing this from Snakehead Bay (it's not really called Snakehead Bay, that's just the name I've given it). I don't have an electric outboard at the moment, and I really need one as soon as possible! Trying to fish solo without one is going to be very challenging indeed. Too challenging in fact! There are Snakehead surfacing but I haven't picked one up yet - see? The weather is overcast, humid, and we're getting regular thunderstorms. I have a new design for the roof of the boat, so it will be interesting if this one keeps the rain out - I should know this later tonight. In fact according to the weather forecast I should be knowing this now... that means I'd better get ready!
Cheers, Paul
Update: it didn't rain but the early morning dawn start proved the downfall of my first Jungle Perch of this trip... Jungle Perch for lunch!