News.

Well, I think I have finally found out how to embed something here if you like to "follow" my news it is HERE

Alternatively it should also be visible below, this seems to work alot better for me and is usually updated with something every week or so.

12/1/2014

Happy New Year.
The recent storms have now put and end to my fishing for the winter, so it is a good time to be in the workshop.
I did manage a final trip up to Wales before the first gales rolled in off the Atlantic, it was hard going but we had a few nice fish and even
saw fish rising to Pale Waterys.
As far as actual news there are a few things.
Firstly I am very happy to say that I have passed my AAPGAI Single handed (trout, provisional) and am now qualified and probably more importantly
insured to guide/instruct.
What that actually means is that I will be able to offer days fishing specifically tailored towards cane rods.
I do not plan to "Guide" Per se; rod building is still very much what I do, however I feel it would be an excellent way for people to be introduced to cane.
I will finalize a format through the rest of the closed season, how ever if you are interested please do get in touch.

I have also recently taken delivery of some very beautiful burr Walnut, the plan is to use this rare and expensive wood for exhibition grade rods.
The thinking is to offer one or two rods quite exceptional rods.
I have at long last found an engraver who is willing to engrave reel seats and so I will be able to put together a quite extraordinary rod and
display case. More of this as it develops.

The rather over due price increase is now going on and price will change on the shop website over the next few days

Show Dates.
Over the coming months I will be at teh following shows.
8-9th Feb The BFFI more information at www.bffi.co.uk/

1st March Roadford Lake Fly fishing Show, a great one day show down in teh Westcountry

22/24th May The Devon County Show Exeter

5-7th June The Royal Cornwall Show Wadebridge.
Hope to see you there
LB

 

 

22/9/2013

Apologies for the lack of news, until recently there had been little to report other than busy in the workshop.
However getting things done allowed enough space in the diary to get away up to Wales for a few days, there was plenty of rain
and a few fish, as well as some new waters fished so all in all a good trip.
There will be a video of the trip up in a week or so.

As far as actually news goes, I have recently found a very nice English taper that I think with a little tweaking will make a lovely 8ft 6in 5wt
once I have made one up I will have a better idea whether to add it to the catalogue.

Also I have taken delivery of a few Carbon and Glass fibre blanks. There is no doubt that for small stream and river fishing Cane is THE material
however it would be a very difficult to justify it in every fishing situation eg a long rod for fishing spiders on a larger river or fishing dries on a high
lake for wild browns a 10ft 5wt would be lovely for that and I doubt there are many who would say they have found an ideal 10ft 5wt cane rod.
So I have been looking for the right banks and I think I might have found them, I will update things as they develop.
Cane is still what I do.

On less welcome news the planned price increase will come in to effect from the end of October the cost of rods will rise by about £100 for a 2 piece,
If you are emailing me with regards to a rod the current price will hold as it will until the end of Oct.
If you have any questions please do get in touch.
Regards
LB

9/7/2013

Now back from a very successful British Fly Fair, it was a great show with lots of interesting people and well worth a visit next year.

We managed to stop off in Wales to get a few days fishing in and whilst it was not easy fishing we had some cracking fish and a it was fascinating
trying to work out what the fish were feeding on, very small emergers seemed to do the trick and I have spent the last few days tying
a suitable pattern for my next visit, when no doubt the fish will have moved on to something else.

I will be at the CLA Game Fair at Ragley Hall in Warwickshire on the19-20-21 of this month (July)
If you are interested in a chat please do come along and say Hello.
I have had a very postive response to the idea of a"Cane Day" and will keep you up to date on it's progress

There is also a new video up on the VIDEOS PAGE, it was taken on the Torridge
which is a lovely small stream with a good head of wild browns

19/06/2013

Just a quick up date.
I will be at the British Fly Fair International this weekend 22nd 23rd June, for more information on on this excellent show take a look
at www.bffi.co.uk the event is held just outside Stafford and will be well worth a visit.
I will have a few rods with me for casting.
Rod Dibble has been kind enough to offer to come a long and help with the Furled Leaders.


The online shop has been proving successfully, unfortunately is is not cheap to run, and along with the continues increases in costs
my prices will have to be going up. They will not go up for a month or two and the increase will be approx 10%.
And If you have already contacted me, or contact me before the price increase, with regards a rod the current price will remain in place.

A far as fishing goes things are slowly starting to move, most people seem to agree that the season is about 2 or 3 week behind.
The trout are active but they seems fickle so be prepared to work for them, small dries or heavy nymphs have been working for me.
There will be another video up soon.

As a final note, I am looking at having some sort of open day/cane day at the workshop, at the moment it is just an idea but the thinking
is to have an informal gathering probably at a weekend with a more detailed demonstration of rod making, and then
there would be a "casting" session where people could experience the different actions and type of cane rod.
The idea is in its early stages and if you might be interested in coming along please let me know so that I can get an idea of numbers

27/5/2013

Rather a busy few months, but things are getting under control, and even managing to get some fishing in.
There is a new video up on the Videos page Here .
The Show season has now started the next one is The Royal Cornwall on the 6th 7th 8th June.
I am currently restocking fly lines, tech should be here in about a week, also I have recently taken over Rod Dibbles production of
Furled Leaders, Rods leaders have quite a following and I am very pleased to be asked to continue there production under the "LB" banner.
Rod was kind enough to pass on his furling boards and leader profiles so there will be continuity there.
I hope to have them up in the shop soon.
And Happily the fishing wagon is behaving its self and id starting to take shape.

 

25/2/2013

Well it has been a rather long and wet winter so there has been little fishing to take me out of the workshop.
This of course means that work has progressed and hopefully I have cut enough slack into the system to get out for some early season fishing.
Sadly one victim of the wet winter was my trusty ( and rusty) Transit van. It had the good grace to catastrophically fail rather than slowly
and expensively pack up. So if we are meeting up at some point expect a slightly less rusty vehicle to be waiting at the waters edge.
The Amboyna reel insert are coming along nicely.

6/12/2012

Well, a very wet winter has arrived on the back of a very wet summer.
This has left the rivers up and colored most of the time and rising at the slightest rain.
If there is any chance of getting out after Grayling I'd suggest you take it, who knows when the rivers will be fishable.

The up side is that rod building has gone on without interruption.
So there will be couple of "stock" cane rods available shortly.
I have a 6'10" 4-5wt Leonard just about ready to go
and a 7ft 4wt Superfast ready in a couple of weeks.
If you are interested in either rod for before Christmas please get in touch.
I also have a Glass fibre rod. It is built on a Steffen Brothers blanks ( http://www.steffenbrothersflyrods.com/)
These blanks are rated as the best glass blanks out there, and after cast it I would agree.
The action is best described as through and reasonably quick, not carbon quick but that is not
necessary for the fishing this rod is designed for. The action is closer to a fast traditional cane taper rather than a Superfast cane.
It is a nice rod it has been cast but not fished. it will go up on the webshop for £350 and sold as ex display.
As a News page reader I'll do it for £325.
It is likely that I will start offer a few glass rods from early next year.
Price is going to be approx £575
Please to get in touch if you are interested.
Also starting anotther batch of Amboyna reel seat inserts, this is has a lovely figure in the grain and should make for some stunning reel
seats. More pictures over the coming weeks

And finally a new video is up on the videos page, it was for a great day out with a friend and new owner of a
Leonard 6ft 10in 4-5wt he's a great fisherman and can certainly make a rod sing, take a look.

6/11/2012

Youtube chanel is back online, not entirley sure what happened.
New video is also up on the videos page-here. There will be more videos over the coming months.
Hopefully I will get a Grayling trip in up to Wales before the weather finally falls apart.

3/11/2012

Just a quick note, if you are looking for my Youtube videos and channel the account has been deleted not entirely sure how
but I might have done it while doing some admin...the videos will be re uploaded and reconnected in the
www.bannisterrods.co.uk site.
New Video up on Vimeo. https://vimeo.com/52741935

16/10/2012

Well the trout season has now finished, the weather has turned/stayed very wet,
so for the time being it's a good time to be in the workshop.
I did managed to get a trip up to Wales and fish the season out, I will get a few videos up over the coming months.
The latest video of my last trip to the Tamar is on the video page HERE.

My online shop is now up and running at www.bannisterrods.co.uk
I will be finishing a Leonard 6'10" 4-5wt over the next few weeks and a Superfast 7ft 4wt.
These will be available as stock rods, so if you like to have a look at one or a cast please get in touch.

A busy few weeks.
Honiton show was good, it's not nice start to be dragged on to the show ground by a tractor.
Thankfully the weather stayed dry and it was an interesting show.
Roadford Lake has been fishing well, a recent trip produced a few good fish, we had a brief period where the lake showed its potential.
The surf on the North Coast has been good for a few days now and the Bass fishing has also been good, Autumn has always been the time that the big
fish show. so now's a good time, there are also plenty of school bass about, soft baits and fly are working well, please remember to crush the barbs
on your bass hooks and show them the same care that you would trout.
With luck I will get out with the camera over the next few weeks and some videos up it has been a little while.

I have will be opening a small on-line shop soon, the shop will allow me to take secure credit card payments for things like deposits on rods
as well as giving me an outlet for some of the other items that I sell at the shows.
The shop will be at www.bannisterrods.co.uk (the address currently points to splitcane.co.uk)

Regards.
LB

27/07/2012

Well it finally looks like the weather is starting to settle.
The rivers are starting to fine down and over the next few weeks all of the rivers should be fishing well.
Because there has been plenty of rain the water temp is still pretty cool so the fish should be active all day, rather than just the
evening sport normally associated with this time of year.
The lakes have been fishing well and should continue to do so.

The Bass are now very much in, fishing around the estuaries has been good, do please remember that most estuaries are protected nursery areas
and are no kill zones.
Sadly the Honiton show has been postponed until 30th of August. The Countryman's fair is still on,and should be a good day.

Work on orders have been progressing well and I have started on what will be a "stock" rod this is a Leonard 6ft 10in 4-5wt.
It is a flamed finish and should be ready in about 8 weeks, if you are interested in it please get in touch.

3/7/2012

Well there has been no improvement in the weather but the tributaries can still provide some good fishing.
Starting to get ready for the next batch of shows.
The first one is the Honiton Show on the 2nd of August.
The next is The Countryman's Fair at Launceston on Sunday the 5th.
Both are nice shows, if you fancy a day out.
The Countryman's Fair will have a casting lake so this will be an ideal opportunity to cast cane if you would like to try it.

Did manage to get away to Mid Wales last week, again there was alot of rain but had a pleasant day on the Usk as well as a couple of days
on some of the tributaries of the Wye, where I had time to try out a taper called a Black Mountain Midge.
It is quite an old traditional taper that I first saw a few years ago, as a 6ft 6in 5-6wt it is quite unusual but it has got something.

There is a short video of the trip on the videos page.

5/6/2012.
A rather busy few weeks. The Devon county show was a great success as always it is good to catch up with friends and talk fishing.
The weather here has been pretty mixed, varying for gorgeous to awful, it has been a case of make the most of it while you can.
Off to the Royal Cornwall Show this week for 3 days, I will have a few rods with me if anyone wants to cast one, I'll also have some glass fibre
to try.
After that things settle down again so I can get back in the workshop.
I did manage to get some fishing in last week. the rivers in Wales are in fine form at the moment particularly the tributaries of the Wye
are well worth a look if you're in that area. Take a look at www.wyeuskfoundation.org/ for more information
There is a short video of the trip up on the videos page

11/5/2012

It looks like the weather is finally going to settle, so the next few weeks will offer some very good fishing,
needless to say I'll be away from the river.
My first show of the year is The Devon County Show.
I did managed to get out on the river early this week and despite some indifferent weather the fishing was quite good
and much to my surprise most of the fish came to the dry fly A black Rackelhanen seems to make a very good representation of A Hawthorne fly.
A short video of the day is on the Video page.

A Garrison 201 is going out this week. The Garrison tapers are very nice dry fly and unwieghted nymph rod.
The feel of these classic tapers is something that should be experienced and the roll casting abilities of them is some thing to behold

29/4/2012

Well this weather will have given all the rivers a much needed wash through and will set up a good May.
Now finished the Black Mountain midge. It is an unusual rod; 6'6" and 5-6wt.
It's one of the favorite rods of a friend who has fished a lovely Welsh stream for over 70 years, the other was a greenheart rod,
but I'm not going that far.
The rod has a very small handle that pretty well disapears into the palm of my hand, the action is definitely traditional but there is enough back
bone to give it some life.
Its will be good to get it on the river to try.
Off up to Wales in a few weeks so will give it a try.

Saw the first Hawthorne fly of the year the other day, this weather might have held things back so when it settles and warms
they could be out in numbers, the higher lake will be well worth a look.

24/4/2012

The first of the glass fibre rods is now fishable and so I hope to get the 7ft 3-4wt out on the water soon.
If you're down this way and would like a look/cast get in touch and I'm sure something can be sorted out.
I will be at the Devon County show in May.
I have had a cast with it and it feels like a nice rod, I really want to get it on the water to get a proper idea of what it's like.
The 8ft'er is coming along.
Also recently finished a rather unusual 6ft 6inch 5-6wt, which is a nicer rod that it sounds, more on that soon.

Still a little early for bass off the rocks although that hasn't stopped us trying.

19/4/2012.
Well this rain will have done some sort of good, although it may take a couple of days for the rivers to settle.
Work on the glass rod has continued, see pic's. The handle is now glued up and the reel fittings blued. It will be castable for Devon County show which is my first show of the year, so if you interested come alone.

Work has also continued on an unusual rod, a 6'6" 5-6wt. It looks an interesting rod and has a good history.