PART 1: PRACTISE......

I'm off to Gabon with the S2H131213 on sunday but have been practicing for
the last fortnight and thought you may like a quick report on line systems
etc. First off, you'll be pleased to hear that my new Meiser mistress has
completely destroyed what was a very happy marriage to my single-handers!
This afternoon I was casting the double-hander next to my favourite single
handers (Sage RPLXi 1290 and Xi2 1090) with a variety of shooting heads.
Needless to say I put the single-handers back on the ground very quickly!
I still felt fresh after 2 solid hours casting the double-hander, which
certainly can't be said after prolonged periods of double-hauling heavy
single-handers.

So on to line systems.....
I decided to go down the shooting head route, largely because I wanted a
variety of line densities and couldn't quite bring myself to fork out for
an interchangeable tip Windcutter (which I could remove tip 2 from). The
heads I've ended up with are:
1) Rio Scandinavian 11/12 floater
2) Guideline Powertaper S1/S2 11/12
3) Guideline Powertaper S4/S5 11/12
4) Guideline Powertaper intermediate (translucent sky blue with a white
45lb braided core) 11/12

I haven't cut any of these heads as the rod seems to devour all the grains I
can throw at it. My practice casting has been with a 6/0 epoxy-headed sea
habit (with the bend removed with bolt cutters) and all the heads will
happily turn this fly over. If I have problems turning over very large
poppers and the like I may remove a few feet from the tip end of the
Powertapers (but nothing from the Rio head as it has a much steeper front
taper).
Running lines have been 50lb Rio Slickshooter and a custom line of 50lb
Bionic Braid stuffed up 35lb Gudebrod Butt Leader.
For true hero casts nothing beats the Powertaper S4/S5 with the
Slickshooter. With relative ease this set-up will shoot the entire spool
of Slickshooter (115 feet) and then smack against the reel! The S1/S2
isn't too far behind this and is a beautiful line that switch casts
superbly and turns over perfectly at all distances. I can't quite get the
Rio SSH to perform for me, but am certain that this is a case of
user-error and simply reflects my lack of experience with these line
systems. With the Guideline heads you sometimes forget that ~850 grains
are landing on the water, but you certainly know it when the Rio touches
down. That said, with more practice I may work out how to get this head to
perform as I would like it.

We've had very strong winds and driving rain for the last week so heading
over to the local reservoir has given me some great practice. Although the
slickshooter wins on the distance front there are 3 distinct drawbacks:
1) The line is so slick that it sometimes slips from my fingers during the
stroke (even when holding the running line with both hands).
2) There is a lot of stretch.....not great for setting big hooks at 100+
feet.
3) When it tangles it really tangles!
As such, I've been using the stuffed line and am very pleased with it. It
took close to 15 hours to stuff it but I'm glad I did. (Note: I have since
discovered that Airflo NS miracle braid is essentially a stuffed line).

I would like to try various full lines on this rod. Top of the wishlist
are the Airflo Delta taper and the heaviest Windcutter. Snowbee make some
nice short head (1-D) spey lines that are very modestly priced but sadly
they only seem to make a 56 gram model in the long-belly (3-D) format.

For a bit of a play I also put a few RioMax 500 grain heads on the rod to
see what would happen. As expected, they are way way too light (and too
short) but they can be sent to the horizon with amazing line speed - it's
almost like using a plugging rod!

So overall I am in love with this rod! The spooky thing is that only the
tip section really seems to flex (hopefully a big cubera will oblige me by
flexing the rest next week!) but it generates wicked line speeds. By
really snapping the lower hand I can get the most incredibly pointed and
tight loops......I've got a great big grin plastered across my face for
most of the time while I'm casting!

PART 2: THE SURF

Dear Bob,
we've just got back from the most incredible week of fishing imaginable.
We were fishing with Ed Truter, of Operation Loango, in the lagoon mouth
and surrounding surf of Gabon's Iguela lagoon. As a result of a small
population size, oil-derived wealth, and a forward-thinking President who
has realised the benefits of ecotourism and conservation, Gabon's
landscapes and coastline are thankfully as close to pristine as is
possible. The great news for anglers is that the fish are plentiful and
large.......even better news for naturalists is that you can share the
beach with forest elephant and forest buffalo, and have good chances of
seeing hippos and crocodiles in the lagoon.
On to the fishing........

Iguela was my first experience of a surf beach, and this could be
described as anything but a gentle introduction to fly-fishing in the
surf! The idea was to wade out along sandbars as far as possible and then
fish into the gulleys that run parallel to, or along, the beach. Most
waves would break around chest height, but enough were also breaking at
head height to keep things interesting. Combine this with a strong current
that does its best to sweep you off the sandbar and you have relatively
difficult conditions for standing, let alone casting! I had taken a solid
stripping basket with me but did not take it into the surf as the lack of
any drainage holes would have posed a serious danger amidst the breaking
waves. A shopping basket was substituted for the hi-tec model and proved
invaluable. However, the bottom of the basket was almost constantly
submerged and my stuffed braided running line swirled over itself as if in
a washing machine. Tangles were ever-present and I was forced to try other
running line options. The best was the SA Mastery saltwater floating
running line in 0.042" diameter. There were a number of advantages to this
line:
1) The line would float to the top of of stripping basket and hence resist
the tangling effects of the turbulent waves.
2) Line could easily be mended over the top of waves (helped by having a
13' rod).
3) The greater diameter (relative to Slickshooter and braids) made it much
easier to grip the running line and control the shoot. Distance was, of
course, reduced relative to the finer diameter running lines, but useful
fishing time was greatly increased.

On the very first evening the surf was alive! I didn't know whether to
cast of just to stand and watch, mouth agape, as predator upon predator
came crashing through the waves. First the schools of jacks (Caranx hippos
and Caranx senegallus) harried the baitfish, then the tarpon arrived, and
then the bull sharks, Giant African threadfin (Polydactylus quadrifilis)
and African cubera snapper (Lutjanus agennes) joined the party. I was
fishless at the end of the evening (I blame first night nerves!!) but Ed
had landed cubera, threadfin and tarpon to ~40lb, and jumped a tarpon of
~150-160lb on spoons/plugs. I had seen enough fish to fuel weeks of
standing in the surf and waiting for that pull of the flyline. On the
second evening my luck was in. The threadfin took a 4/0 chartreuse/white
deceiver on the S1/S2 powertaper. I would love to be able to tell you that
I really put the S2H131213 through its paces during the battle, but as it
was my first fish I hope you'll forgive me for being a little cautious
while playing the fish. Little did I know that it would be my only fish
from the surf! Plenty of others came to the single-handed rods fished in
the mangroves, lagoon and river mouth. I do, however, firmly believe that
someone (hopefully me on a future trip!) will hook and land a very large
fish on fly from the Iguela surf. Perseverence, luck, and a double-handed
rod are all that are required! In the week before our trip Ed had landed 3
threadfin of between 50 and 70lb from the same surf gulley that we were
fishing. Very large jacks venture into the surf, as do monstrous cubera
and tarpon. The fly has just got be to in the right place at the right
time.

Having fished the turning tide on 3 evenings makes me a very definite
beginner at this game, but gives me enough experience to firmly recommend
the double-handed rod. For comparative purposes I tried using a 9'
single-hander with shooting heads for 30 minutes in the surf. I lost my
temper after half a dozen casts. Hauling was next to impossible with water
around my armpits. Whereas 60-80' casts were manageable with the
single-hander (albeit with great effort), the double-hander enabled the
fly to be delivered 100-120'. The extra length also facilitated keeping
the backcast high above the waves that were breaking closer to the beach.
All told, I'm sold on the concept of double-handers in the surf. With a
little luck my rod will be going on a grand tour of the African coastline
before too long.
Thanks very much for a fantastic tool.
Tight lines
James