Mario Wojnicki

The past 20 years or so reading, casting and discussing about bamboo fly rods I have become a fan of Mario Wojnicki. Mario makes bamboo as well as fiberglass fly rods and he is by many considered, together with Per Brandin, as the most highly regarded rod maker.

Mario started with restoring bamboo rods in his San Fransisco tackle shop during the late 1980's. Early 1990 he started making his own bamboo and fiberglass fly rods where he shared a workshop space together with Per Brandin. Mario's collaboration with Scott in the early 1990's resulted in a range of highly sought after bamboo rods under the Scott brand. Ever since this successful collaboration with a bamboo maker Scott has continued working together with other bamboo rod makers selling bamboo rods under the Scott label.

After living and working in California for several decades, a few years ago Mario moved to France. This made calling Mario a lot easier. We have had several interesting discussions on the phone. I hope to travel to France in the future and meet Mario one day soon.

Wojnicki rods have a very distinctive look that I like very much. The most recognisable part is his signature grip commonly called the 'peckerhead grip' together with the wooden reel seat with reel rings and a small extension butt. His signature cigar grip is a thing of beauty too. Other details that Wojnicki rods stand out are the medium to dark flaming, glass-like varnish and the clean (almost minimalistic) finish. His bamboo rods are built in the traditional hex (six strips) as well as penta (five strips) configuration. The so called 'semi-parabolic' action that Mario designs for both his fiberglass and bamboo rods are highly regarded by many. Not surprisingly Mario quickly gained a very loyal following especially in Japan but certainly also in the USA and continue to do so.

Trying out different high quality fiberglass and bamboo rods is not an easy task out here in Europe. There aren't many people in my proximity owning a collection of high quality rods. The past couple of years I had the honour rods sent in for me to try from amazing rod builders like Cris Carpenter, Bjarne Fries and Chris Barclay. The opportunity to try out several rods from Mario Wojnicki rods is certainly one of the highlights.

Mario sent me two rods to review. The first rod is a five piece 7.5ft 3 weight fiberglass rod. Being a five piece rod, makes it a great rod for packing and hiking to high Alpine streams and lakes. The rod has the famous peckerhead grip (still wrapped in paper). The finish is exquisite as to be expected from Mario.

Although the rod is rated as a 3 weight, it felt a bit light to me with a 3 weight line (Sage Quiet Taper II DT3). The rod came alive after about 25-30 ft of line. I swapped the reel with a 4 weight line and the rod loaded significantly easier on shorter distances. With the 4 weight line I could cast nice tight loops and the rod surprised me with some serious back bone able to cast 60 ft without problems.

The second rod is a bamboo 8ft three piece for a 5 weight. The bamboo rod (his personal rod) Mario sent me is his 245 GF model (GF stands for 'glass ferrule'). This hex rod has a lighter straw coloured finish rather than the more typical dark chocolate brown flamed finish that's common to Mario's bamboo rods. The grip also has the peckerhead grip finished with the typical wooden spacer, two reel rings and a mini fighting butt. This rod also has Mario's proprietary glass ferrules.

This rod is quite unique as it has two different mid sections and three different tips that are interchangeable allowing the rod to have different personalities. Fine tip and mid section for fine tippets and small flies or a stronger and faster action for bigger flies, longer range and windy conditions.

This bamboo rod is like having several different rods in one. The different mid and tip sections took some time to figure out which configuration I liked best. My initial preference was the faster mid section giving the rod a more progressive action. The three tips are rated from 'soft' to 'strong'. If I had to pick one out, it would be the lightest (with the ‘L’ code on the numbering) tip. With this tip I could cast (Orvis Hydros WF5) short lines (like 10-15 ft of line) just off the tip up to 60+ feet using the power of the stronger mid and butt section. The ability to change the rod's character is certainly a unique asset of this rod.

I would like to conclude my impression of the rod with the glass ferrules on this bamboo rod. The ease of putting the sections together and the seemingly continuation of the action is impressive. If I would order a new bamboo rod from Mario it would be with glass ferrules.

Thank you Mario for your generosity and friendship!

Review: Barclay's Jackpot

Along the years Chris Barclay has become a good friend because of our love for fiberglass rods. Besides owning several of his rods we also like to discuss about little details on rod building (grips are my favourite!), type of action and fishing with very light fiberglass rods.

Recently Chris sent me one of his heavier line weight rod from his Synthesis rod series he calls the 'Jackpot' for me to review. On his website he says what he had in mind when he designed this rod :
"A 7’7” 7wt 3 piece rod I call the Jackpot. A bass rod I designed to pull big fish out of heavy cover. Suitable for fishing mangroves, salt ready"

At 7.7ft length the rod is quite a bit shorter than most heavier line weight rods resulting in a very light rod. When casting it exerts very low swing weight compared to 9 ft rods. I don't have a 7 weight line on hand so I tried the rod using a 6 weight and 8 weight line. Fiberglass rods generally have a wide 'line weight range' and when casting both lines the rod felt very natural like it was made for it. Obviously with the 6 weight line the rod felt a bit faster than with the 8 weight line. It's remarkable how delicate the rod delivers the line when slowing down the casting stroke.

This rod has some serious, yet smooth, power without feeling stiff. I wanted to see how it would handle a wind resistant fly so I tied on a 3 inch deer hair fur strip muddler on the 8 weight line. In spite of the shorter length of the rod I had no problem keeping the line high when false casting by generating ample line speed. With just a few back casts the rod delivers 80+ feet with ease. The rod still had reserve left but that's not what this rod is meant for. As Chris describes it's for casting under branches for a big bad large mouth bass or a snook in the mangroves. Being so light yet powerful I bet it's a ton of fun. I don't see such a trip in the foreseeable future for me yet but I know which rod I'll be bringing along.

The slightly sanded blank has this classic amber color and butt-over-tip style ferrules. The rod can be custom ordered with any type of grip shape (even with an Eva grip!), reel seat and configuration of guide wrap color or type of guides. The rod comes with an aluminum tube with a nice brass cap. All the blanks of the Synthesis rod series are designed by Chris and made by Mike McFarland.

Thanks Chris for the opportunity to try this rod.

Here's a video on tying an easy leader for fishing deer hair bugs:

Marvellous Tuscany

Tuscany is a popular destination for its marvellous architecture, art, historic cities and glowing hills. We spent a week in Lucca. On family vacations I usually don’t bring my fishing gear but this vacation I was allowed. For this trip the rod of choice was the 70p, the fiberglass rod Chris Barclay built for me recently. The rod being ultra portable came in handy when flying with minimal fishing gear.

Before the trip I got in touch with the Italian bamboo maker Moreno Borriero and we agreed on a morning fishing together. It seems the area has had a lot of rain the previous months. The raining stopped about a week before we arrived allowing the amount of water getting back to fishable conditions. Earlier in the week we had a drink together and Moreno advised me to fish later in the week. Unfortunately Moreno had a fishing trip planned to England. However his friend Tiziano was happy to help.

Weather was gorgeous, scenery amazing, wild browns and stream that mesmerises. Due to the heat, we fished until around 1 PM. By the way, the algae on the rocks are damn slippery! I brought my rubber soled wading boots with studs and it barely held the grip. Felt soles are so much better gripping. I'll bring those next time.

We enjoyed our stay in Tuscany a lot. We'll be back soon.

A short clip shot by Tiziano on the Lima:




Drone footage I shot of the amazing medieval 'devil's bridge' called the Ponte della Maddalena near the town of Bagni di Lucca:

Finnish Fly Fair 2019

This weekend was my first visit to Finland. I was invited to tie at the Finnish Fly Fair in Tampere. The show was held for the 33rd time. The show used to be quite populair in the 1990's when it was visited by tiers like Charles Jardine, Chris Helm and Oliver Edwards.

I tied a few knots with my friends Miroslaw Senderski and Stefan Larsson which was very enjoyable, both on and off the show. Stefan was also at last year's Nordic Fly Fair.

Many thanks to the organisation of Perhomessut, for organising the show and taking care of us.

Ryan Keane's Humpy painting

Here is a work in progress by the very talented American artist called Ryan Keane who made a painting of one of my Humpy. I think Ryan's artwork has a nice mix of impressionistic and realistic look. Quite unique. Ryan sent me some pictures of the progress of the painting. The painting is 9 x 12 inches.

Ryan is very easy to work with and his pace of work is really impressive. Fully recommended! 

Thanks Ryan!

My other Humpy paintings by:

Gavin Erwin

Cindy Day

Marcel Terblanche

Darwin Atkin

The Dutch Fly Fairs during the late 1980's and early 1990's were important events for a young fly fisherman like me. It was my first opportunity to meet, watch and learn from famous deer hair fly tiers like Dave Whitlock, Chris Helm and Al Beatty. Early 1990's I also got in touch with Joe Messinger Jr and a few years ago I got reconnected with Bud Heintz after losing contact for more than 25 years.

One tier I met during those Fly Fairs and oddly didn't keep in touch was Darwin Atkin. Not a lot is written about his fly tying. Darwin Atkin was way ahead of his time with his cricket made of foam and deer hair. He passed away as recent as 2014.

A few weeks ago I acquired a unique piece of fly tying memorabilia. Darwin Atkin's most appraised flies marvellously framed (by himself). His crickets and matuka sculpins are absolutely fabulous.

'The Art of the Trout fly' has been one of the most influential books for me as a fly tier. This book triggered my fly tying as no other book has done. Rather than just slashing feathers and fur on a hook, the insights of carefully and meticulously tying a fly with the right proportions and finish.

Page 108 is devoted to Darwin Atkin and his Black & Tan Field Cricket

Tying for a new generation

Gave a tying demo at the tackle shop Traditional Hengelsport Utrecht today.
Tied some Catskill dries, Humpies and a deer hair mouse. It was over in a blink of an eye.

Almost at the end of the day there was this little guy with his dad. Tied an Alien Bug (hopper pattern) for him and he stood there for an hour afterwards. Maybe we got a new fly fishing friend here?

Diving frog step-by-step

I've been inspired by Larry Dahlberg and Dave Whitlock since the early 1990's.
Look here to read about my search for the origins of the Dahlberg diver.

Belly hair, deer strips in several colors. To get a nice natural mottling effect use colors that doesn't contrast too much

Set up a clean foundation of thread. I still use Danville Flymaster Plus.
You can get them anywhere, strong, very affordable & available in many colors

Use stiff, wide and webby hackles for the tail (legs). Often called 'bass hackle'

Add some rubber legs for some movement and joy 😀

Stack white belly hair

Foundation for the collar

Second stack for the collar

Third stack

Pull gently yet deliberately

Secure (whip finish or half hitch, a drop of super glue helps to make your stacks stronger) the steps after every
completed stack to make sure your fly doesn't explode if an accident (thread breakage) happens 😀
Make sure the upper and lower stacks are cleanly separated.

Another first of the upper stack

One of the last stacks of deer hair

All stacking deer hair done!

Don't crowd the eye!
Make sure you have enough room behind the eye to tie off

Yup, belly side looks okay 😀

First cut for the belly. Don't cut it right away to the hook shank.
Use the first cuts to check the balance of the sack being even on top.
Make sure you cut the belly to have enough hooking gap

Head of the diver. Again cut in stages for more control

I need a bath! Where's the tub? 😀

 

Add some rubber legs on the head for some tantalising action 😀

Big mess

Scissors given to me by my late friend Chris Helm