A couple of days ago I finished building my new rod. 6' 6" split cane for a 4wt. I test cast it in the garden for the first time this afternoon and it is fantastic
I have to give it a proper trial this evening and somehow it has to be for wild brownies, ideally on the dry fly, so I am off to fish a little loch in the hills that I have heard about but never fished.
Not expecting anything very big, but a half pounder on this little "magic wand" will bring a smile to my face I'm sure.
I'm off as soon as my wife gets home and I can't wait. It's been a while since I felt this level of anticipation before going fishing. I hope the reality lives up to the expectation.

Well, not quite what I anticipated.
Had to leave a bit later than I wanted so the venue was not possible. Went to a very lightly fished "low key" commercial that contains Rainbows, Browns and Brook trout.
When I got there it was very bright and windy, with no fish showing on the top. Too much for the new rod so I fished with a 5wt carbon rod and an intermediate and was soon catching decent rainbows. Good fun but not what I had come for.
It was cold, even for Scotland (when I got back to the car the thermometer was reading 2 degrees ! ) and I was close to packing up but around 9PM the wind dropped and a few fish started showing, just out of casting range.
Set up the bamboo with a 3wt Triangle Taper line and a ginked up Shipmans buzzer.
Within a few cast the rod was christened with a 12oz Brook trout off the top. followed by 6 more in the next hour, all brookies.
Does the rod work? Oh yes, it was fantastic. A 1lb brookie had it bent to the but
Did I enjoy it - what do you think
Am I going again tonight

Sportsman
Not bad for a garden cane then?

Tony

Yeah, the trick is knowing which bit of string and which bent pin to use