Shows

Industry Trade Shows

Consumer Shows/ Exhibitions

Fishing Events

Come and talk to us at the following events where Snowbee will be giving support. At the shows, an extensive range of products will be available to view and test and a team of representatives will be on hand to answer any questions or enquiries.

 Event Reports.

As it transpired, thanks to Bristol Water and the weather conditions, the fears proved to be groundless.

The competition started in bright sunshine and a fairly brisk chilly wind. Local boat anglers had been catching at anchor in ‘Home Bay’ and ‘Butcombe Bay’ but these fish were hard on the bottom feeding on buzzers, this is not easy to achieve from a fast drifting boat as the fish required the presentation to be static.

Thankfully the wind dropped and the fish started to feed normally. The majority of the anglers headed to Home Bay, with the odd boat going to Butcombe. The boats in Home Bay saw immediate results with Simon Kidd catching 5 on the first drift. Simon went on to complete a limit but with relatively small fish.

The eventual winner, Dave Grove, who was Butcombe Bay managed to find some larger fish.

Loch Style Eliminator.

Blagdon Lake Somerset.

The competition has held in what had been a difficult period of fishing at Blagdon.

The catch rate was not one to recommend a visit to the lake and practice sessions by the competitors had proved to be challenging. With this in mind the organizers were apprehensive about the chance of gaining a full result.

The quality of the fish is something special at fisheries run by Bristol Water; the rod average for the day was 4.5 fish per rod. Of these there were 4 fish over 3lbs, 4 fish over 4lbs and 3 fish over 5lbs,

The best being 5lb 14ozs caught by Cornish angler Tony Chipman.

The top three were;

1st Dave Grove 8 fish for 21lbs 15ozs. (Newton Abbott)

2nd Peter Kempton 8 fish for 21lbs 101/2ozs. (Exeter)

3rd Dave Johns 8 fish for 19lbs 7ozs. (St. Austell)

AZORES - Snowbee Marlin Challenge 2004

South West Fly Fisher Richard MacLucas, travels the world in search of the ultimate quest…Blue Marlin on Fly! Teamed up, with one of the world's top Marlin Charter boats, the Xacara in the Azores, in 2003 Richard hooked and landed a Blue, estimated at 350 lbs! He broke the rod as the wire-man tried to get to grips with the fish and the 40lb tippet meant they could not claim a new world IGFA Fly caught record. But…they proved it could be done! Fired up by this, in September 2004 they went back and tried again….this time geared up with Snowbee tackle. The Deep Blue #12 Wt rods proved more than capable and Richard used our new XS 1112 Large Arbor Reels. The huge capacity of these new reels allowed over 1,000m of 15Kg (33lb) Power-Pro‚ to be loaded on the spools. Just as well, as the first run of one White Marlin they hooked, was estimated at 450yds! As is often the way in fishing, the fish hadn't read the script and this time, it wasn't to be…no sign of the Blue Marlin they were seeking, so they had to make do with the smaller White Marlin. None the less, fish of up to 90lbs were hooked, measured and released and they proved it could be done. In 2005, Richard will return for a further attempt on the World Fly Record and you can be sure he will be taking Snowbee Tackle with him. It won't let you down when it really matters.

Snowbee Xacara Marlin Challenge 2005

For 2005, Snowbee has teamed up with Xacara Big Game Fishing in the Azores, to go all out for the vacant IGFA 6Kg, 8Kg & 10Kg Class World Records for Fly caught White Marlin. Having proved that Snowbee gear was up to the challenge in 2004, we have equipped the Xacara with Snowbee #12 Wt. Deep Blue Fly Rods, and XS 1112 Large Arbor Reels loaded with Power-Pro Super Braid & Snowbee Fast Sink Shooting Heads.

The White Marlin arrive in the Azores in July, so watch this space for regular up-dates on the Challenge progress!

For details of some of the best Big Game Fishing in the world, contact Ian Carter at Xacara Big Game Fishing: e-mail: ipcarter@mail.telepac.pt or visit their website at www.azoresmarlin.com

 Snowbee News

The Snowbee National English Rivers Final 2007 took place on the East & West Dart on Monday 23rd July. The build-up to this prestigious event saw many of the top river anglers in the country travelling down to Dartmoor to practice on the Duchy water and develop tactics to tempt the native, wild brown trout. With almost constant rain in the area for some time, the river was high and coloured.

The vast majority of the qualifiers were present for the Official Practice Day on the Friday to refine their tactics and try to identify likely fish holding areas. In the evening, the Public Draw for Beats took place in the Badger’s Holt, Dartmeet. Officials from the Confederation of English Fly Fishers (CEFF), the event organisers, supervised the draw, which was witnessed by many local anglers who had volunteered to act as controllers for the competition.

Saturday was a Rest Day for the river but the anglers could ‘walk’ their Beats and locate the nearest parking areas. Meanwhile, a number of the controllers gathered at Fingle Bridge on the nearby River Teign to compete in their own competition. Although most were newcomers to competition fishing they had a most enjoyable day. Graham Lumsdon from County Antrim won the morning session with David Long from Totnes taking the honours in the afternoon.

Sunday was also a Rest Day for the river but Mount House School; Tavistock was the scene of a Fly Fishing Open Day, aimed at those new to the sport as well as the more experienced angler. Snowbee (UK) Ltd, the sponsors of the National Final, hosted a Fly-Casting clinic with an opportunity to ‘have a go’. Also present were Yelverton artist Robin Armstrong with a selection of his pictures; Keith & Sandra Armishaw of River Reads, Torrington with a vast array of rare fishing books and antique tackle; Peter & Gillian Wildash of Mayo Flycraft, Dorset who demonstrated fly-tying and had flies for sale. There was also a second-hand tackle stand and spirit raffles.

The beauty of Dartmoor, the warm welcome of the locals and the challenges of fishing the Dart will ensure that many of the anglers, including those that struggled on competition day, will return during the coming months and years to continue their pursuit of the wonderful wild brown trout that it holds. However, if they fish a Final on the Dart in future years they might have to compete with a few more local anglers who, after controlling, have expressed an interest in joining the local Federation and entering the Qualifying Heats.

England has an enviable record in competitive fly-fishing. Four Team and five Individual Gold medals in the World Championships is a tally that many other sports can only dream of. In recent years, however, success in International Competitions has been made far more difficult due to a lack of proper funding. Team members have to contribute most of the costs involved and as a consequence, practice at the competition venues has had to be reduced to the bare minimum. If the (wholly volunteer and unpaid CEFF) is to give its teams the chance of competing on equal terms, substantial cash sponsorship needs to be obtained. If anyone reading this can assist in any way they are asked to contact the CEFF Treasurer, John Ball on 01202 482441.        

John Tyzack, a fly fishing guide from Stockport became National Rivers Champion for the second year running. This was the fifth time that John has lifted this trophy and confirms him as one of the best river anglers on the competition circuit.

Local angler, Alex Bobba from Uffculme will gain his first England Cap after finishing Runner Up.

Perikles Karageorgopoulos, a former England Rivers Team member from Kent was third. Mike Tinnion from Keswick in Cumbria, a regular World Team member was fourth. Local angler Andrew Gooding from Newton Abbot, who also qualified last year, came fifth. Successful methods included a combination of dry fly & small copper or gold-headed nymphs with a catch ratio of about 50/50, although John reports that for him, it changed to 85/15 in the afternoon. Richard Cobbledick from Launceston, a former Loch-Style International came close in sixth position and will travel with Snowbee Team England as Reserve, when they compete in Scotland in 2008. A total of 351 fish were caught, the best being 30.6cm by Tony Fox from London.  CEFF trophies presented by Baz and a range of Snowbee tackle & clothing presented by Russell, were awarded to all the above.

85 attended the dinner at the Two Bridges, which was presided over by Baz Reece, CEFF Chairman (and competitor). Baz thanked the Duchy Deputy Land Steward, Chris Gregory for allowing the competition to be held on Duchy waters and Brian Easterbrook for his services as Head Controller.

Stuart Wardle (England Rivers Team Manager) then thanked Russell Weston, MD Snowbee (UK) Ltd for his generous sponsorship of the event and his continuing support of the Rivers Team. Russell, in his reply, was delighted that the Final had returned to the South West and that Snowbee had played such a major role. The controllers were thanked for their superb contribution, as were all those who had helped make the whole event such a success.

A wet Monday morning saw the competitors arrive at the HQ, The Fountain Room, Two Bridges Hotel, to ‘sign-in’, receive their scorecards and get paired off with the 32 mostly local anglers who were acting as their controllers for the day. Each controller stays with his angler throughout the day to ensure they conform to the CEFF Rules, accurately measure and record their catch and witness the careful release of the trout back into the river. Head Controller, Brian Easterbrook, a Dartmoor fishing guide oversaw the briefings and dealt with last minute queries.

The rain and overcast conditions made it difficult for the Beat Stewards to find the controllers after each of the four sessions to collect the scorecards. Nevertheless, just under half had been returned to HQ by 2pm and the early front-runners could be identified. Soon after 5pm, exhausted and bedraggled, the anglers and controllers started to arrive back with various tales of success & failure. The results could now be calculated and wet clothing replaced by dry in readiness for the Final Dinner.

Winner of the Snowbee / BRFFA boat section 2007 competition,

Andy Cottam.

Winner of the Snowbee / BRFFA bank section 2007 competition,

Tony Baldwin.

Russell Weston, Snowbee’s Managing Director, bends into a nice early season fish at the BRFFA open day on Chew – 29th April 2007

Snowbee Uk have sponsored the Brffa event at Chew Valley lake for the past 5 years, this years boat event was won by Team Snowbee captain  and England International Andy Cottam.

The bank section was won by John Bowen. The happy winners are being presented with their prizes by Snowbee UK Managing Director Russell Weston and new Marketing Manager Simon Kidd, himself an England International.

Snowbee Sponsored Brffa event.

 Magazine Reviews

Trout and Salmon November 2005 - Latest bonefish lines

Today’s Flyfisher - Rod Review

Today’s Flyfisher - Line Review

Trout Fisherman

Todays Fly Fisher - Tackle Review

Trout and Salmon November 2005 - Latest bonefish lines

"As more anglers take to saltwater fishing, an understanding of tropical saltwater lines becomes more important, especially as much of the British tackle trade is not familiar with their performance. This test is based on floating bonefish lines designated WF8, which is the most commonly used line in the Bahamas, Mexico and throughout the Caribbean. All the test lines, though selected for bonefishing, are also suitable for baby tarpon, permit, barracuda, jacks, snook or redfish, and also bass or pollack in Britain, depending on the ambient temperature. Though numerous lines are available for saltwater use, I have tested only those lines nominated by the manufacturers as their main bonefish floating line. Each line’s performance will be the same for its different weights – WF9 also being a popular choice among bonefishers. Although I describe the lines’ profiles I make no comment on their composition or why manufacturers make their lines in a specific way. What I am concerned with is how they performed under fishing conditions and, specifically, how they performed when wading and in the wind. The wind is the enemy on the flats and calm days are rare. For parity, all lines were fished on the same fast-action AFTM 8 bonefish rod. The lines were cast in all directions to assess performance and were fished for a whole day each. I was particularly keen to know how they performed when casting into the wind and how easily they helped to generate distance. Since the lines were to be used for wading rather than fishing from a boat, I wanted to see how well they lifted off the water and whether they tangled when “walked”. For those of you contemplating a bonefishing trip, normal practice is to strip the line from the reel and, keeping the fly in your hand, walk with the line in a loop behind you. This creates ready tension between water and line, enabling you to cast faster when you find fish, and is better than stripping line from the reel. No time was available to assess the lines’ shelf-lives, although from personal experience the average angler fishing one week a year will probably get five years’ shelf-life if his line is cleaned and stored properly. The average temperature during the test was 65-75 deg F."

Snowbee Bonefish - "When this line arrived I was so concerned about its suppleness, being unlike any tropical saltwater line I had handled, that I called Snowbee to ask them if the line was okay. I was assured it was fine and would not become too soft to fish in the tropics."

"They were absolutely right. It floats well, does not tangle when waded, peels off the water well when casting and throws nice tight loops into the wind."

Colour: Ivory

Length: 90 ft

Head Length: 42.5 ft

Range: WF7 & WF8

Price: £37

Performance: 9

Value for money: 9

Overall: 9

Conclusion: Good bonefish line. Supple enough to use in cool weather in the UK.

"No line stands head and shoulders above its peers. Each has its attributes. For example, you may prefer a line that loads your rod more quickly than another line. This highlights the need for your supplier to know what he is doing and to match the line to the rod. Unfortunately, and here’s the rub, no shop owner will want to load three or four £60 fly-lines on to a reel to let you cast and balance your outfit properly. So, for the best advice, you will need to ring around to find someone who has cast the lines and has experience of bonefishing. Be aware that some lines are bulkier than others and you may need to remove backing from the reel. Don’t be frightened to shorten the butt end of the line if you want to keep the backing full (taking off four yards of line and replacing it with 20 yards of backing is not going to worry the average caster by the time he has three yards of tippet), or load your reel with gel spun, which will increase the capacity by around 50 per cent. You will need to find out whether you can whip tippets or backing to the line because they may strip the coating, and you may need to use an Albright knot or loop to prevent this. I don’t like loops on the end of lines as they tend to be splashy. If you have problems turning over a line, don’t be frightened to shorten the tip, but do it in small amounts and test it or tie your own leaders and experiment until you get the right performance. Pushed to choose a winner, if price is not a consideration I would say the Mastery Bonefish is the outstanding line. If price is a factor, then I will go for the Snowbee Bonefish, which pushes the Mastery a very close second on performance and wins on value for money."

To download this article in PDF format, click on the link below:

Trout and Salmon November 2005 - Latest bonefish lines (5.8Mb)

Today’s Flyfisher - Rod Review

"Covering rising fish with precisionand delicacy is of utmostimportance. On stillwaters, the 9ft 5-wt is the tool for the job. Editor Andy Petherick and editorial assistant Tim Smith put 13 of the latest models through their paces.The 9ft 5-wt has always been a much underrated tool. In our view, this is the rod for the evening rise on stillwaters.Whether fishing from a boat or from the bank, the 5-wt allows superb delicacy with the backbone essential to tame large trout.Many anglers may doubt the potential distance achievable with a 5-wt. This is a myth. A well-timed casting action combined with a faster-actioned model will allow precise, long casts into the teeth of a gale.While perhaps not so suitable forcasting heavier nymphs and lures, the 5-wt is, in our view, the ultimate stillwater dry fly rod. Equally at home on medium to large rivers, the 9ft 5-wt permits the use of a wide variety of nymphs, bugs and dries with the ability to bully that grumpy 3lb grayling.We chose rods in the £150 to £300 range, to reflect the mid-price market.This was (hopefully) to show that there really are some classy models out there that don't have to break the bank."

Snowbee XS-P

RRP: £220.00

Warranty: Lifetime guarantee

Blank: Multi-modulus graphite

Weight: 97g - Joint 9th out of 13

Number of sections: 4

Joints: Push-over

Case: Hard tube, Cordura-covered

Blank colour: Graphite

Whipping colour: Green

Rings: Snakes, one lined stripping

guide

Keeper ring: Yes

Reel seat: Green anodised aluminium

Handle shape: Half-Wells

Cork quality: 3/5

"The XS-P is a crisp, fast-actioned rod. With just enough cushion in the tip to forgive a mistimed cast, the Snowbee is capable of perfect loop control at all distances. This rod offers real value for money and excels in all casting disciplines. I really liked the funky look of the reel seat. However, the model we had on test had a tendency to jam."

Overall: 9/10

Value for money: 9/10

Contact: Snowbee (UK) Ltd

Tel: 01752 334933

Web: www.snowbee.co.uk

E-mail: flyfish@snowbee.co.uk

Conclusion - "and the winners are..."

"You need to choose a rod that suits you. I can write how much I like a model, but we all have different casting strokes and therefore my favourites may not be yours! Secondly, there was a lot of variation in the rods, and while two may both perform well they may perform as chalk and cheese. Take the Greys Platinum X and the Biocraft rods for example. The Greys is a sweet little rod - as light as a feather and perfect for delicate close-range fishing. The Biocraft is a super-fast, steely beast that will fire a fly as if from a rifle, but only at longer ranges. It's horses for courses! I can whittle the best down to three. I enjoyed using the Loomis rod. The progressive action suited my style of casting and enabled me to perform my favourite roll casts with ease. I was disappointed with the finish, though. The two other models that stood out were the Snowbee and the Hardy. The Hardy was more forgiving in the tip, had a thinner blank and a higher-quality finish. Although a little heavier, Snowbee is on to a winner with the XS-P". Tim Smith

Today’s Flyfisher - Line Review

There's not a lot of fly fishing applications where a weight forward 6- wt can't be used. The line used for the majority of our fishing, the 6-wt, is at home fishing lighter fly patterns on small stillwaters just as well as it is on reservoirs. It is also suited to larger patterns on the chalkstreams, low-water sea trouting and even light saltwater work. Unconvinced by traditional fly line tests, we put our thinking caps on to come up with a new breed of review. We believed that by tackling factors such as slickness, buoyancy and weight scientifically, a true evaluation of the lines could be reached. We also added the exact dimensions of the lines' tapers in feet and inches. We did not simply settle on describing them as long or short. We think that you, the reader, deserve more from a review. Other considerations were the lines' coatings and cores, to try and establish a correlation between the 'ingredients' and their resulting properties. Memory was a trickier feature to assess, therefore we decided to leave the lines on the spools of the reels overnight. We then carried out a general assessment of the memory before and after casting. We looked at the line both straight off the reel and with the line lying on the water's surface. In the casting assessment, we spooled the lines onto BFR Lamina 75 spools and also numbered each one from 1 to 16. By doing this, we had no clue as to which lines were from which manufacturer. We kept the list under lock and key until we came to marking the line's overall performance. In the casting tests, we used one rod only - a Hardy Swift 9ft 6-wt. We chose this rod because its progressive action allowed us to easily execute the range of casts used. A 9ft tapered leader was attached to the end of each fly line. All of the lines were cast using a weighted lure, a buzzer, a large nymph and large and small dry flies. While casting, we took into account each line's handling properties at all ranges. We looked at the speed at which they loaded the rod, the turnover and, as a result, the presentation. All of the lines were cast in overhead, double-haul, roll, jump-roll and snake-roll styles. This gave a clear indication of the line's properties and ideal use. All of the above was taken into consideration when forming our final conclusion. This was used alongside the price of the lines and any extras that were included.

Snowbee Prestige XS

Tip: None

Front taper: 8ft 6in

Belly: 23ft

Rear taper: 11ft

Running line: 62ft 6in

Total length: 105ft

RRP: £35.00

Included extras: Two braided loops and bottle of line treatment

Braided loops fitted: No

Buoyancy: 15th out of 16 - 11.2 seconds

Core: Braided

Coating: PVC

Slickness/Friction: 5th out of 16 - 6.2 seconds

Memory: 4/5

Weight of first 30ft: 165.2 grains - equivalent to a mid to high 6-wt

Comments:

"One of the sweetest lines on test, the Snowbee shot exceedingly well indeed. Loop control at all distances was precise, with positive turnover allowing the use of a variety of flies. A lovely line for those learning to cast and for the experienced angler alike."

Overall: 8/10

Value for money: 9/10

Contact: Snowbee (UK) Ltd

Tel: 01752 334933

Web: www.snowbee.co.uk

Conclusion

"This in-depth exercise revealed some interesting results. Looking at Richard Worther's detailed explanation of line profiles (pages 24 to 27 of this issue), we can see that there were few surprises in how the lines handled in the air and on the water. As far as slickness goes, lines that scored highly in the Today's Flyfisher slickness/friction test proved equally high scoring in the casting tests. Differences were seen in the performances of the PVC and the polyurethane lines. The three polyurethane lines all felt very slick to touch; the best for shooting line you might assume? In fact they showed only average results in both casting and slickness/friction tests. The polyurethane-coated models however, had an edge over the PVC-coated models in their buoyancy. Memory also seemed to be a weak point of the polyurethane lines. This was seen mainly in the handling of loose line, and not so much on the surface of the water. Another factor towards poor memory performance was seen in the lines' cores. Only one of the lines had a true mono core, however, it did show a tendency to twist. As far as the true weights of the lines went, the results really were an eye opener. Look at the results for the weight test. You can see that the AFTMA ratings of the lines on review varied amazingly between a 4-wt and an 8-wt! Generally, most of the lines were in the high range of the 6-wt scale, allowing fast loading of a 6-wt rod. The Airflo line was the only one on test that was actually rated for two AFTMA numbers, 6/7-wt. This excused them from any discrepancy in weight! The Loop line, with an equivalent AFTMA of an 8-wt was the only line that could be given some slack on this. It is designed for close-quarter underhand and roll casts, where ultra-fast rod loading is critical. These results beg the question that perhaps a reshuffle of the way that lines are rated should be adopted. Maybe they should be rated on their physical weight. Surely this would be better than forcing them into an antiquated banding system that misleads anglers."

The Winner?

"A tricky one this. Several of the lines performed to exemplary standards. For sheer value for money, the Greys Platinum line was, for us, spot on. This and the Snowbee Prestige XS were the two that really stood out. The Loop Opti Stream proved to be a dedicated running water line and excelled in this area. We really cannot stress how much fun we had casting this one."

Trout Fisherman

To download PDF's click on the links below

Fly Line test conclusions - June 04 (5Mb)

Fly Line test conclusions - May 04 (1Mb)

Todays Fly Fisher - Tackle Review

"The 15ft 10-wt has for many years been the 'standard' salmon rod. Most of them can be used for both floating and sinking lines, to cover a wide range of river conditions. I would like to start the review with an honest statement. I am not a super advanced Spey caster in any way. I am not able to cast 50 yards off a platform and I don't have any need to. I understand the merits of competition casting. However, it isn't going to work in a fishing situation when you are chest deep in water! I class myself as an intermediate Spey caster and concentrate on the easiest way to put a fly neatly where I want it - I cast to catch fish! In this rod test, editor Andy Petherick and myself wanted to describe the rod actions visually instead of solely by personal opinion. We hung a 10oz weight off the tip of each rod in turn, which were clamped horizontally. I hoped to make a true comparison of the rods' actions from the shape of the curve that each rod produced under load. I weighed the rods myself using digital scales and marks were given for cork quality and cosmetics. I did not give a price bracket for the rods, as I wanted to concentrate on value for money. Do you get what you pay for? Not necessarily! I loaded a Rio Windcutter 9/10/11 multi-tip line onto a Hardy Angel 11/12 reel for the casting tests. I chose the Windcutter as it is one of the most popular lines for both beginner and advanced casters. The casting test was carried out at Broadlands on the River Test using overhead, roll, single-Spey, double- Spey, snake-roll and snap-T casts with each rod. I made sure that I took a lot of breaks during the day as I probably did more casting than I would in a week's fishing!"

Snowbee XS-P Spey

RRP: £395

Warranty: Original purchaser lifetime

Blank construction: Tri-modulus graphite

Weight: 330g - 10th out of 15

Number of sections: Four

Joints: Push-over

Case: Oxford-cloth covered tube

Blank colour: Dark green

Whipping colour: Green with silver tipping

Rings: Hayfork tip, eight snakes, two lined stripping guides

Keeper ring: Yes

Reel seat: Aluminium titanium, down-locking

Total handle length: 66cm

Handle butt length: 14cm

Cork quality: 3/5

Cosmetics: 7/10

"The XS-P is a lovely fast rod, the timing is pretty critical but I was managing consistently tight loops. It is also very beefy in the butt - spot-on for sinking lines and actually one of the few that has sufficient power to handle them!"

Overall: 9/10

Value for money: 9/10

Contact: Snowbee (UK) Ltd

Tel: 01752 334933

Web: www.snowbee.co.uk

E-mail: flyfish@snowbee.co.uk

Conclusion

I have to say that I have been very impressed with most of the rods on review. In general, the real top-end models were the better performers. However, a couple of the rods around the £350 to £400-mark came very close. To be honest, it all comes down to how much you are willing to spend, which is why I have four winners! In the top-end price bracket, the new Loop Greyline is the star. It's light, super-responsive and ideal for all eventualities. The Loomis GLX almost matched it in performance, but I'm afraid it just doesn't justify the monstrous price tag. In the mid-price range, there were two top performers. For lighter fishing with floating or intermediate lines, the Scott A2 is a gem. If, however, you are after an all-rounder with plenty of power for sinking-line work, look no further than the Snowbee XS-P. Snowbee has been forward thinking in it's Spey rod design, in that it has included an optimum-load rating in grams. Spey lines these days can have up to three AFTMA ratings. By rating both its lines and rods in grams, Snowbee allows you to select the perfect line for your rod - just choose the head length that suits you. For the angler on a budget, I was very impressed with the new Orvis Spey. It has a crisp tip, powerful butt section and looks pretty tidy too. On an interesting note, editorial director Roger Mortimer suggested that the use of a hayfork rather than a heavy, lined tip ring would improve the tip recovery of a rod. Although hayforks may wear quicker, it's an easy job to replace them. We all have different casting styles and therefore the only real way to ensure that you get the rod that suits you is to try before you buy. However, I hope that I have given you a good idea of what's hot and what's not.

Trout Fisherman November 2006 Review of ‘Distance Fly Lines’

1. Review of ; Snowbee, Scierra, Cortland. Pdf. 190kb.

2. Trout Fisherman’s review team. Pdf. 212kb.

3. Review of; Orvis, Greys, Shakespeare. Pdf. 182kb.

4. Review of; Rio, Harris, Airflo. Pdf. 180kb.

5. Review of; Leeda, Wickhams, Hardy. Pdf. 170kb.

6. Review of; Sierra, Guide, Partridge. Pdf. 178kb.

7. Review of; Scientific Anglers, Airflo, Daiwa. Pdf. 176kb.

Snowbee XS Extreme Distance Lines.

Fly lines are frequently reviewed in the national game fishing press and as a premier brand, Snowbee are invariably included in the exercise. It comes as no surprise to us however that yet again the Snowbee line has come out at the top of the tree and the unique construction and design that goes into every new Snowbee line has produced yet another winner, as reviewed here in the November issue of Trout Fisherman.