FEED-BACK: HCE Spec Affinity X 6wt, 4pc 10'er...

Some feedback from Adam L on the HCE Spec Affinity X 6wt 10'er...


"Had an extended play with TJ's 6 weight 10 foot Affinity X yesterday. Was very impresed.
When HCE builds a rod you know it's going to be a quality build and of course I wasn't dissapointed. Fantastic colour on the blank.
When I first started to cast it I took some time to get used to the jump up to the 10 foot length but once I did I could comfortably cast the full GPX. 
Man I was having fun with it...giggling like a child. And when I finally hooked a fish I could feel the fish through the rod. 
The best thing was that where I was fishing I sometimes have backcast issues on my longer casts with catching tall grass behind me (which is entirely my casting technique problem!), but not yesterday. Even when I was getting tired at 10pm when I find the most problems occur, not once did I catch the grass...
Really enjoyed it!! If you get a chance, have a cast of this beast. It is certainly more powerful than my TCR but still responsive.

- Adam L. - Melbourne Vic. (Magpie)


Thanks Adam! Great feedback and very much appreciated! Glad you enjoyed fishing with the rod so much mate!  (Tony & TJ)
TJ's personal favourite lake rod! - You'll have to mug him for a cast now! 

Sage One build progression...

 The subject of this project: A Sage One 10wt 4pc that is destined to be working the flats of tropical north Queensland, Australia.

Specie such as Golden Trevally are the intended target.



Butt section here has had the gloss lightly sanded from the blank to help glue adhesion

 Our secret special industrial strength epoxy glue floods the cavity - It's made right here in Australia and is the strongest on the planet!











Whilst the reel seat is setting, the tip is section is spined & prepped for gluing too

High tech looking winding check for a high tech flats weapon!











Getting it top dead centre for the guides...

 Tuned and ready to bind...

Alignment dots in place

Ready...

Looks messy....

But the 'One' looks good... Will look even better under epoxy!

 Ready for the trims on the ferrule

Detail of trimming work... Will look great under epoxy!

Nice, level and lustrous epoxy on the butt. Told you those trims would look grouse under the epoxy!

Looking ordinary after two thin coats, the next should see it looking very sexy! A great finish is built up with layers...

 Stripper guide & Alignment dot detail;

 Details...

Ready to fish!

Thanks Bill for giving us the opportunity to build you your new Sage One. It was a tremendous project that we enjoyed immensely! Now all that is left is for you to take her out and put a decent bend in her!

Best Regards,

Tony & Peter.

Native Spec - Big cod = Big test!

I don't think that we at HCE could have imagined a better result from field testing the Native Spec, Virty. 


Congratulations mate! Well done and thanks for sharing an amazing catch!


The fly used was one of Ross's own new suface poppers. 
And how did the rod go? The proof is in the picture! 

HCE Spec 10' 6wt Affinity X 4pc

Whilst we still have a few new designs in various stages of development, we recently completed testing, tuning & building our 10' 6wt model, the HCE Spec - CTS Affinity X 6100 4pc. 
The CTS Affinity X blank is fast actioned with a fast taper, great for longer casts through the tip when waist deep and really is very good for line control when used Loch Style.
We're pretty chuffed with the casting trials and nearly fought over turns to cast it. Picking up 60' off the water is pretty easy and then sending the line away another 40' with a single back cast is a breeze. There was no need to cycle the cast quickly, a relaxed rythym is all we needed.
This is a "100' all day long" rod (if thats your thing) as we've designed it to be light in hand with the HCE Spec build. 60 to 80' is ridiculously easy. Seriously.
Line wise, we trialled both a Teeny LaFontaine Pro and an SA Textured GPX. Both are great - this rod will like most WF lines and the longer the head, the better this rod likes it. Tony tried a SA MED 7wt line and was roll casting 70'. We gave it the distance blast and were reaching 115-120', using the substantial low down butt power.


We see this rod as a big water option, where deep wading and long casts help reach productive areas such as weed beds and drop offs. 


In a boat, drifting teams of flies, Loch Style.


Or lobbing a couple of heavy nymphs across fast water, Tongarirro style.



Feel wise, it is not a broom stick. The tip section is firm yet sensitive. You can feel the butt wanting to come into play when you begin to really push, yet in close, it is very well behaved.


We like it. A lot. (TJ - I think this became my all time favorite 6wt by about the 3rd cast!)


On the 2nd of August, we took our range of rods to the Northern Suburbs Fly Fishing Club. This rod proved to be very popular - Everyone who had a cast loved the rod! A few of the clubs gunn casters where reaching distances of up to 145'... not that you'd ever cast that far on the water but simply highlights the sensation performance of this rig. The line used on the day was an ordinary SA GPX taper. We even took an order for a 9' version in a 6pc for a serious New Zealand back country pack rod!


If anyone in the local Melbourne area would like a cast of any of our rods, get in touch with us through our website or the Fly Life forum and we can organise some time on a local lake or park somewhere - And you get to speak with the rod makers themselves in person. Not bad eh! 

Coming soon...

Hyper - Over and Above... Available early 2012 

HCE Native Spec - Our newest home grown offering...

Some time ago, we noticed that fly fishing for our Australian natives was starting to generate some interest and had developed a following. Once we started to have fish for them ourselves we came to understand the attraction. Freshwater fish like Murray Cod have a predatory attitude and when hooked, are explosive and dogged fighters, beautiful fish who like to live in challenging water. All the right attributes to be a worthy, yet challenging, fly rod species.
From questions raised regarding fly rods on various forums, we could see that the run of the mill fly rods were not doing the job. Bass fly rods from the US seemed to be okay - but not perfect.
We decided to chat to some native fly guys and get a better insight into what would make for the perfect purpose designed and locally built fly rod that could be used for these mighty Murray cod & Golden Perch in the fresh. We saw that the rod could also be used on species like Barramundi, Threadfin salmon, Trevally, Mangrove Jacks etc up North in tidal mangrove rivers & estuaries.

We used what we learnt from these guys over time, and coupled with our own experiences fly fishing in northern tidal rivers, designed the fly rod duo we have named ‘Native Spec’. Australia’s first purpose designed fly rod, created specifically for the needs of fly fishing for our fish!
The blanks we designed are being made for us by CTS in New Zealand, and then individually tuned using our own process, using REC and Fuji components and then hand built by us in house, right here in Melbourne. This way, we have 100% control of the workmanship and quality.
The Native Spec features a fast taper, with a moderately fast action. This translates into smooth power transition through the tip to effectively sling shot big flies up to 6/0 into tight snaggy spots with pin point accuracy which has been proven during both test casting on the casting pool and use on the water during actual fishing. It also gives the rod big reserve power down low in the butt to help stop those huge powerful fish from burying themselves into leader destructing snags. It does handle big fish with ease.
Best of all, it feels so light in hand. The unique action and build means that you won’t have to heave every cast. These rods are an all day casting rod – the rod will do the work for you, especially important considering the huge flies and repetitive casts involved with this style of fishing: Close in, short and accurate with the ability to handle explosive takes and keep your fish out of the danger zones. In fact, feedback from our test guys tells us that even after up to 5 hours of continuous casting, there was no casting arm ‘fatigue’ as previously experienced using the traditional fast & stiff saltwater 10 weights.
Before we released the Native Spec, there were two final tests it had to pass: Firstly, we let a bunch of guy’s water cast it. They loved it. We got tremendous feedback that was very much appreciated and reassuring. Finally, in the ultimate test, we lent our first rod to native fish enthusiast, Ross Virt of Kaos Cod Flies fame. Once the season opened, he opened his account on the first evening with a surface caught cod of 67cm. In his words: “The rod works a treat. Change nothing!” All boxes ticked!

The base fresh and saltwater models: 8 & 10wt. 8'6" 4pc. As we are a full custom fly rod shop, for a small cost, you are able to have 3” length variations of the production models built. For example, if you wanted a dedicated kayak 10wt Native Spec in 8’ 3” or even 7’ 9”, we can get a blank made just for you.
(The salt water version has a heavy duty REC reel seat and the freshwater version the same, but with a green dyed black ash burl insert).

Visit us at our website to see more of our range of great fly rods and check out & 'like' our Facebook page

UPDATE!
Another of Virty's Native Spec catches, a huge 88cm cod!