BiPower Brooks monsters

I always read that the world record of Brook Trout will be fished at Labrador or at some place in Argentina... Now I don't have any doubt about it. Today I received an email from my friend Blake Prescott with a great review of his last trip to Labrador for Brook fishing. The best for me is that he was using one of my CFH806BP 8' #6 Hollow Build BiPower Series



And this is what he have to say:

"Dear Marcelo,
With apologies for the poor photography, I'm sending you evidence of your rod's performance. We just returned from Labrador which sits to the east of Quebec in Canada, and, while part of Newfoundland, reaches to the far north above that island. It is sparsely populated. Our Inuit (sort of an Eskimo) guide came from a town of only 50 where the only mode of travel was by outboard motor boat.
The fishing was for brook trout. The attraction of this particular area (the Minipi Lake system) is that the trout feed almost exclusively on insects but they have such an abundance of these insects that the trout grow to exceptionally large size. They are not easy. We went 2 and 1/2 days without a rise, and when you do get a rise, it may be your only chance so you have to be ready with a rod which has a tip that won't yank the fly from the fish while still responding precisely in setting the hook. One experienced fisherman caught only one fish in a week.



To further complicate matters, the winds are notoriously strong. Indeed, at the camps on the larger lake, it is not unusual for fishermen who have only one week of fishing to give up a couple of those days due to the wind being too strong for the boats to go out. Obviously, the casting can be extremely difficult under these circumstances. We were at Little Minipi which is not so little. It has miles and miles of convoluted shoreline, and it has a river that, even though small (about two casts wide in most places), has very large trout. There was a difficult 1/2 hour ride through white caps to get to the area where your rod got its special testing. Winds were blowing upstream, blasting us in the face and causing us to lean into them just to keep our balance. We were using dry flies almost exclusively, and I had an 18 foot leader on; so the rod had to have tapers and power to hold a fly in the wind and set in down without a bunch of curls. Your rod did just that. I used a 6 wt floating line, a Wulff Triangle Taper; this is similar to a double taper and gives a delicate presentation but needs a rod to combine precision and power to punch it out any distance. Your bi-power rod did the trick. Now most folks were using 7, 8, and 9 weight rods to fight these winds, and - to play the large, very hard fighting fish for a short time in order to get them back into the water as soon as possible. They are very serious about conserving this wonderful stock of large brook trout; so when one is landed, it is quickly weighed, revived, and released. This is my excuse for the photos. There was little time, and my ability to get shots that did justice to the fish and rod was limited. Fortunately, I had a waterproof casing for my camera which allowed me to even take it out under those conditions.
As you know, brook trout are in a different family than brown trout, rainbow trout, and salmon. I don't know how well acquainted the people in Argentina are with this kind of trout; and even those brook trout that they are familiar with may be quite different than those in Labrador. Indeed, the brook trout in different parts of Labrador have their own special characteristicsl. Those that we caught on this trip were not only larger than our past Labrador trip for brook trout, but they fought much harder. Some would run into the backing, and they all showed tremendous strength, snapping leaders and even breaking stout hooks. While these char with tiny scales and beautiful colors usually don't develop their startling reds and blues until the fall (at our spawning time), these in the Minipi system are different in that they get their colors early, and develop a big hump just before the dorsal fin at spawning time. The record brook trout did come from eastern Canada many years ago, but, now, bragging rights can go with any brook trout over two pounds. A brook trout over ten pounds is practically unheard of, and any exceeding 5 pounds are few and far between. Well, they keep a log at Little Minipi, where they limit the entries to those over three pounds. There were only 4 pages to the log for last year. Many experienced fishermen feel fortunate if they get into the log; and those with more than three or four fish are infrequent. Trust me, there were very few trout logged in over 5 pounds last year, and only a handful of those over 7 pounds.
OK. That's the background that you can pass on to others. Now for the action.
I'll confine the story to one catch.



The trout pictured with your rod weighed 7 and 1/4 pounds. He rose just once, in heavy winds, and he took a dry fly (a "Goddard Caddis" that you may see). Rapid setting of the hook was necessary, and there were about 70 ft of line (and leader) out. Not only did your rod perform the casting necessities well in these windy, adverse conditions, but responded ideally to the hook setting. We brought him up to us a couple of times before he sent the reel screaming again and put the bipower in "U" formation, going well into backing. Steering him with the rod was also a pleasure, The bamboo ferrule gave precise control from butt to tip, and we were able to keep him away from a series of hazards before he went into his dogged fight where he showed off his strength. Had we tried to bring him in more quickly, we surely would have lost him. Finally, he yielded enough to be netted, but the fight had been long enough where we wanted to revive and release him as soon as possible. Thus the excuse for the poor photos. I caught 8 fish over 3 pounds during the week (including four between 6 and 8 pounds) and this one fought the best. The guides not only admired the fine craftmanship and artwork in your rod, but also, and especially, the way it performed."

Thank you, Marcello.

Best regards from Vermont, USA, your friend and admirer,
Blake



Thank you very much Blake, reviews like this one always draw a big smile into my face.

Paul Hermann's post at The Classic Fly Rod Forum

When I looked down at the shattered rod in my hands my heart sank...I had just destroyed such a thing of beauty. It took me several days after I got home to get up the courage to email and tell Marcelo the tale.... The Golden Salmon was like no other cane rod I had ever had in my hands. It cast like no other. A good fishing friend who lawn cast it just a few weeks before was amazed by the way it cast and plans to contact Marcelo for a rod built with the same taper...This same friend has only used Young para's for salmon for years..I watched him break one just as mine did a few inches above the cork and just at the end of a long battle down threw 1/2 mile of rapids with a 36 pound bright salmon on the Cascepedia 10 years ago...I remember how his emotions were mixed...elation for his biggest fish he ever had on,, mixed with terrible saddness over the what happened to the rod....But he said then,,and still feels the same,,,that the makers of these wonderful masterpieces created them to use...not sit in a display rack.....I know I have always felt the same about my reels...they deserve to be used..That's why I made them......the dings and dents can always be be fixed or rebuilt...I have been blessed to catch many large salmon in my fishing life....The Golden Salmon withstood a lot of pressure ....as anyone on this board who has caught a few bright salmon over 25 pounds in a big high water spring river will surely know....Why the rod chose to break at the end I don't know...perhaps just a bit too much pressure,,.... there comes a time in a fight with this size fish that it needs to be landed or lost ....My hope is that Marcelo will forgive what I did to his masteriece and rebuild this wonderful rod for me.........rm

Again, thank you very much my friend.

Sometimes something must be sacrificed to win a battle

This story really shock's me... with a mix of proudness and deception.
Some months ago my dear friend Paul Hermann, maker of one of the best and beautiful reels in the world, ask me to make a special rod for Atlantic Salmon fishing.
This was a real challenge because this was my first rod with so special purpose... fight with the king of the rivers!. The Atlantic Salmon. I designed a special taper using some of my experience I got, fighting and fishing another king of the rivers... our "Fresh water Dorado".
Because of that and trying to honor this spectacular fish I called it, the Golden Salmon.
It is a 8' 6" hollow build rod for a #7 line. A light Salmon rod, that cast wonderful, I love it and also Paul love it so I feel very happy with the new taper and the new rod..
A week ago my dear friend send me an email with a mixing of good news and bad news and you will understand why...

The following are some pictures that Paul send me and part of the story on his own words.



Marcelo...I am feeling very very bad...I broke the Golden salmon at the very end of a long battle with an almost 30 pound bright ,fresh from the ocean, very, very strong salmon. "Opening morning I drew a very good pool and on our fifth boat drop threw the pool I hooked this monster...The Golden salmon was casting perfectly...I love how it casts...fits my style to a tee.....I had a light tippet on so I knew I would have to play any fish carefully....the fish came to the fly and didn't take...left just a huge swirl...I rested it a minute and cast again...huge hit and pull...played the fish for about 45 minutes..it made 5 long runs well into the backing...one of which had us taking the canoe down threw a set of rapids to follow the fish......my guide Kevin moved the 26 foot Gaspe canoe to shore twice to play the fish from more slack water...The Matapedia is a big river with heavy water with the spring runoff early in
June....Kevin had the net ready as I turned the head of this strong fish into the net...I heard a cracking sound and looked down to see the the rod literally explode just above the cork handle and inbetween the intermediate wraps...it looked as if the strips all came apart at once...I grabbed the upper section of rod and tried to play the fish ..but it must have been weakened by the fight as well....in desperation I grabbed the line and turned the head of the fish into the net...if the rod had broken even 5 minutes earlier in the fight it would have been lost....



"I usually don't kill salmon anymore...I did plenty of that in my younger days,,,but this was a special fish....my first salmon on the Golden salmon and the first salmon of the year at Cold Springs Camp....a feast was prepared the next noon of fresh fiddleheads and salmon for the whole staff and all the fishermen....the story of this fish was told and will be remembered for years to come....my only hope is that you will be able to rebuild this wonderful rod for me....of all the fish I have ever caught,,I will remember this one forever..."



Thank you Paul... thank you for this great story. That was an incredible fish and an incredible battle, I will also remember it forever!!! We will make it next time, I will work for that...

Flying to Japan

This is a new one... A CF764 7´6" #4 Traditional Flamed Series 2/2 configuration.

Surprise at the last Lang's Catalog

Looking at the last Lang's Catalog I found one of my rods into it, a very special rod... Very special because is the one that I made for Mr. Ernest Schwiebert, a CF704 7' #4 2/2
This rod, was made from the same piece of culm that I use to made Mr. Martin J. Keane rod and they are twins in every aspect. The CF704 is a very versatile rod and one of my "best seller" tapers, so if you want to pick a rod with a "little history" into it, here you can get the chance. Here is the praise into Lang's Catalog and a picture that I kept.

163 7' Calviello & Trucco Light Trout Rod. Made for Ernie Schwiebert in 2005, this 2/2 rod appears in new condition. One unique feature is the absence of metal ferrules. Instead, the base of the tips are swelled and hollowed out [like a female ferrule] to accept the butt section. The cane is nicely flamed, the wraps are cinnamon with black tipping, and all sections are full and straight. It has a screw up-locking reel seat with dark wood spacer. This beautiful rod has an agate stripper and is marked: "Specially made for Mr. Ernest Schwiebert".With the bag and labeled tube. ($900-$1,000)