Eden Cane twisted bamboo

Bernard Ramanauskas is somewhat of a mysterious bamboo maker. He made bamboo rods for Scott in the mid 2000's, after Mario Wojnicki started the tradition. He has been on and off the workbench the past 10-15 years and now he is back on making bamboo rods under his brand Eden Cane.

His Eden Cane rods were only available through a limited number of dealers, like the now gone Len Codella, and Bear's Den. Recently Bernard has picked up a new challenge wit his twisted bamboo series, exclusively available at Bear's Den.

Nordic Fly Fair 2026

Always great to be at my favorite fly fishing show (previous shows in 2018, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025), the Nordic Fly Fair in Elverum, Norway.

Tied as many Catskill flies and Humpies as I could (gave them all away to visitors, especially young kids) as well as giving a workshop on tying Catskill dries. Love the family friendly setting.

 

 

Kamchatka - the last frontier 2

I've posted about Kamchatka before (here and here), and this one again shows what a special place it is on our planet. Probably as remote and pristine as a place can be.

It's a great to see that it is protected and taken care of for many generations to come and hopefully for ever.

Use the English subtitles and view this in the highest video quality your screen can handle.

In 4K it's nothing less than spectacular.

Vertical casting stroke aka Foundation cast

To be honest I have been reluctant to make 'another casting instruction' video. There are so many 'instruction videos' on the internet already (and more coming every week) with questionable quality.

It was a very nice and calm evening and just before I left with my fly rod, I grabbed the portable tripod. The videos below weren't shot with instruction in mind, but as showing Gordon van der Spuy (he is working on a new book) how I view casting that is easy to learn, the vertical casting stroke aka the Foundation cast.

In the videos below you see me starting with a very short (3-4 meters / 10-13 ft) cast and gradually increase the distance.

As the distance increases you will see two things happening:

1) The trajectory going from angled downwards (➘) to a more horizontal (➙) direction.

 

2) The angle (⩗) between the forward and back cast increasing.

Also the length of the casting movement / stroke is getting longer. 

This increasing of the angle is needed for adding more line speed, without hauling, in a controlled manner.

 

More about both subjects is here.

Until the distance gets so long that I need to add the double haul to keep casting stroke less forced.

With the double haul, the needed increase in line speed allows me to narrow the angle, between the forward and back cast, a bit again for better loop control.

Set in the settings button (next to the volume button) the video quality to at least 1080 or higher and play back speed to 75% or 50% for the best view of the casting movements.

 

John Juracek's casting tips

Update: April 20, 2026:

The owner of the instruction videos, School of Trout (SOT), has disabled the videos to be watched publically.

"The videos are only supposed to be available to SOT students and not supposed to be publicly visible."

I find this very disappointing and sad that knowledge and information on fly casting has become a private thing.

********

John Juracek's casting instructions are one of the best you can watch.

These videos with various acting tips are made by School of Trout where John is the head casting instructor.

He advocates the vertical casting stroke (aka San Fransisco Golden Gate casting club style).

That's casting style where the casting movement derives from moving the shoulder joint, similar to the 'running movement'. 

 

 

AI art

AI is everywhere!

This a the 'painting' version of the Joan Wulff Special.

 

 

 

DAAFT birthday

Our 'once-or-twice-a-year' DAAFT meeting coincided with my birthday this weekend.

Good company, good conversations and birthday cake.

Ted a few flies as well, a Green Bomber and a Grey Fox.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Campbell's Fancy

Campbell's Fancy, as mentined in Reuben Cross's book.

Unfortunately there's nothing much known about the history of this fly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grayling Society tying day

An enjoyable day of tying, although I didn't bring my tying stuff, with the members of the Dutch department of the Grayling Society.

This time the Hawthorn flies, aka Bibio Marci, were abundantly flying around while we tried to keep our sanity.