Calviello Rods: 2008

Sebastián my big son fly the day before yesterday to his first trip to Patagonia. He sent me this picture... his first fish on his first day of the trip.

Place: Malleo River, at the public waters zone.
Fly: Sauce worm # 14
Rod: Calviello CF704SSS 7´ #4 2/2 Swelled Sealed Series.
Reel: Hardy Sirrus

More pictures

Malleo rainbow

Chimehuin brown with the CB765 7' 6" 2/2 #5 that I made for my son about 10 years ago.

CF704SSS in action

The result, 28" brown at the Malleo River

Another Malleo rainbow

Everytime I start a new bunch of rods many things flows arround my mind. In the first part of this work, I select each cane trying to listen what each piece of cane is trying to say. This part of the work, when you split the cane and them work over the nodes is very special because if you pay attention you can find a special taper for each pole.

Them the dreaming start, who will be the owner of this new rod?, where it will go? what rivers, streams will be waiting for it?... no better I will keep this one for my personal use, no again... I own many rods and I must sell these ones I can keep every new rod I made. Any rod is a particular dream and really a little part of these dreams goes with each cane that leave the shop. I know that someday I'll receive a story about the rod, fishing in some water around the world and it will refresh my memories returning my mind into his making process.

At this time five new rods are waiting for the second stage of the making, and I can assure you that I perfectly know what I can spect from each one. Each have it's personality and each his power, my work is try to show all it's potential and bring it alive. When they got finished they will be ready to make their work, fishing of course, any rod that leave the shop was made looking and thinking in this purpose.

I was working hard for the last month finishing three new rods and making some new rodmaking work into the shop. This are 3 very different rods a 7', a 7' 6" and an 8'

CF704 Classic Browntone 7' #4 2/2
This is a very special little monster. I used my Gurú taper to make it and is fully flamed

CFH805+JF 8' #5+ 2/2 Hollow Build Jaguar Flamed Series
With a lot of backbone this rod can cast the line like a cannon.

CB764 7' 6" #4 2/2 Traditional Blondes Series
This is a very delicate rod, it cast like a lady but with full authority.

Just to share with all of you my last work.

As I told you many times I'm always looking for an opportunity to get my rods tested by fly fishermans and bamboo lovers. Living so far here in Argentina don't make it easy for me.
Always I found a friend that helps me in this venture. Again this year with the invalorable help of Peter (Pvanch) from The Classic Fly Rod Forum, my dear friend Banjo and David Margolis, 2 of my rods got the privilege of being in hands of many friends casting some line out.

This is Pete's report:

"I met up with David Margolis; he picked the rods up from Sante and brought them to CRG. Saturday it poured so they stayed in the tubes, no one was out casting rods much anyway.
Sunday morning brought sunshine and rods to the rack to be cast, I strung up the "Forum Rod" with a Cortland 444 peach WF5 that is on my old Pflueger 1494 reel and it balanced out nicely and cast beautifully. Many cast the rod and enjoyed seeing one in person.

The Classic Fly Rod Forum Rod

I strung up the Guru rod with an older Cortland 333 DT4 line that seemed to be the best match I had for it. The reel was a Scientific Angler System 1 456, pretty good balance. This rods was well received and casting a pleasure as it was fairly windy.

The Gurú Rod (owned by Banjo)

I only wish I had a decent camera, because of the language between me not knowing Japanese and Yukihiro not knowing much English, the smile on his face told the story of how he liked the rod (ear to ear grin). Yukihiro builds rods in Japan using Madake Bamboo so he was fascinated seeing another rod not made from Tonkin Bamboo.

Finally having a chance to play with the rods a bit more, today I’m meeting up with Jeff (catch22) to fish as neither of have been out lately. He will get the opportunity to cast both rods. He may have at Super Boo last year, but is anxious to cast them again. I line the “Guru Rod” with my Thebault silk DT 4 line and man was that a perfect combination, straight line casts both long and short; I’ll let Jeff try that combination today.
The Forum rod, like Sante said will cast just about any line you put on it, I have a stiff old unknown line that came a used reel I purchased, the spool has DT5 written on it so I’m assuming that’s what it is, and it casts that line very nicely as well. I have a few more people interested in casting and checking out the rods before I bring them back to Sante.

As usual the rods are beautiful pieces of work and working tools for catching fish."

Peter

Again Peter, my friend I don't have the words to thank you.

Marcelo

I always read that the world record of Brook Trout will be fished at Labrador or at some place in Argentina... Now I don't have any doubt about it. Today I received an email from my friend Blake Prescott with a great review of his last trip to Labrador for Brook fishing. The best for me is that he was using one of my CFH806BP 8' #6 Hollow Build BiPower Series

And this is what he have to say:

"Dear Marcelo,
With apologies for the poor photography, I'm sending you evidence of your rod's performance. We just returned from Labrador which sits to the east of Quebec in Canada, and, while part of Newfoundland, reaches to the far north above that island. It is sparsely populated. Our Inuit (sort of an Eskimo) guide came from a town of only 50 where the only mode of travel was by outboard motor boat.
The fishing was for brook trout. The attraction of this particular area (the Minipi Lake system) is that the trout feed almost exclusively on insects but they have such an abundance of these insects that the trout grow to exceptionally large size. They are not easy. We went 2 and 1/2 days without a rise, and when you do get a rise, it may be your only chance so you have to be ready with a rod which has a tip that won't yank the fly from the fish while still responding precisely in setting the hook. One experienced fisherman caught only one fish in a week.

To further complicate matters, the winds are notoriously strong. Indeed, at the camps on the larger lake, it is not unusual for fishermen who have only one week of fishing to give up a couple of those days due to the wind being too strong for the boats to go out. Obviously, the casting can be extremely difficult under these circumstances. We were at Little Minipi which is not so little. It has miles and miles of convoluted shoreline, and it has a river that, even though small (about two casts wide in most places), has very large trout. There was a difficult 1/2 hour ride through white caps to get to the area where your rod got its special testing. Winds were blowing upstream, blasting us in the face and causing us to lean into them just to keep our balance. We were using dry flies almost exclusively, and I had an 18 foot leader on; so the rod had to have tapers and power to hold a fly in the wind and set in down without a bunch of curls. Your rod did just that. I used a 6 wt floating line, a Wulff Triangle Taper; this is similar to a double taper and gives a delicate presentation but needs a rod to combine precision and power to punch it out any distance. Your bi-power rod did the trick. Now most folks were using 7, 8, and 9 weight rods to fight these winds, and - to play the large, very hard fighting fish for a short time in order to get them back into the water as soon as possible. They are very serious about conserving this wonderful stock of large brook trout; so when one is landed, it is quickly weighed, revived, and released. This is my excuse for the photos. There was little time, and my ability to get shots that did justice to the fish and rod was limited. Fortunately, I had a waterproof casing for my camera which allowed me to even take it out under those conditions.
As you know, brook trout are in a different family than brown trout, rainbow trout, and salmon. I don't know how well acquainted the people in Argentina are with this kind of trout; and even those brook trout that they are familiar with may be quite different than those in Labrador. Indeed, the brook trout in different parts of Labrador have their own special characteristicsl. Those that we caught on this trip were not only larger than our past Labrador trip for brook trout, but they fought much harder. Some would run into the backing, and they all showed tremendous strength, snapping leaders and even breaking stout hooks. While these char with tiny scales and beautiful colors usually don't develop their startling reds and blues until the fall (at our spawning time), these in the Minipi system are different in that they get their colors early, and develop a big hump just before the dorsal fin at spawning time. The record brook trout did come from eastern Canada many years ago, but, now, bragging rights can go with any brook trout over two pounds. A brook trout over ten pounds is practically unheard of, and any exceeding 5 pounds are few and far between. Well, they keep a log at Little Minipi, where they limit the entries to those over three pounds. There were only 4 pages to the log for last year. Many experienced fishermen feel fortunate if they get into the log; and those with more than three or four fish are infrequent. Trust me, there were very few trout logged in over 5 pounds last year, and only a handful of those over 7 pounds.
OK. That's the background that you can pass on to others. Now for the action.
I'll confine the story to one catch.

The trout pictured with your rod weighed 7 and 1/4 pounds. He rose just once, in heavy winds, and he took a dry fly (a "Goddard Caddis" that you may see). Rapid setting of the hook was necessary, and there were about 70 ft of line (and leader) out. Not only did your rod perform the casting necessities well in these windy, adverse conditions, but responded ideally to the hook setting. We brought him up to us a couple of times before he sent the reel screaming again and put the bipower in "U" formation, going well into backing. Steering him with the rod was also a pleasure, The bamboo ferrule gave precise control from butt to tip, and we were able to keep him away from a series of hazards before he went into his dogged fight where he showed off his strength. Had we tried to bring him in more quickly, we surely would have lost him. Finally, he yielded enough to be netted, but the fight had been long enough where we wanted to revive and release him as soon as possible. Thus the excuse for the poor photos. I caught 8 fish over 3 pounds during the week (including four between 6 and 8 pounds) and this one fought the best. The guides not only admired the fine craftmanship and artwork in your rod, but also, and especially, the way it performed."

Thank you, Marcello.

Best regards from Vermont, USA, your friend and admirer,
Blake

Thank you very much Blake, reviews like this one always draw a big smile into my face.

When I looked down at the shattered rod in my hands my heart sank...I had just destroyed such a thing of beauty. It took me several days after I got home to get up the courage to email and tell Marcelo the tale.... The Golden Salmon was like no other cane rod I had ever had in my hands. It cast like no other. A good fishing friend who lawn cast it just a few weeks before was amazed by the way it cast and plans to contact Marcelo for a rod built with the same taper...This same friend has only used Young para's for salmon for years..I watched him break one just as mine did a few inches above the cork and just at the end of a long battle down threw 1/2 mile of rapids with a 36 pound bright salmon on the Cascepedia 10 years ago...I remember how his emotions were mixed...elation for his biggest fish he ever had on,, mixed with terrible saddness over the what happened to the rod....But he said then,,and still feels the same,,,that the makers of these wonderful masterpieces created them to use...not sit in a display rack.....I know I have always felt the same about my reels...they deserve to be used..That's why I made them......the dings and dents can always be be fixed or rebuilt...I have been blessed to catch many large salmon in my fishing life....The Golden Salmon withstood a lot of pressure ....as anyone on this board who has caught a few bright salmon over 25 pounds in a big high water spring river will surely know....Why the rod chose to break at the end I don't know...perhaps just a bit too much pressure,,.... there comes a time in a fight with this size fish that it needs to be landed or lost ....My hope is that Marcelo will forgive what I did to his masteriece and rebuild this wonderful rod for me.........rm

Again, thank you very much my friend.

This story really shock's me... with a mix of proudness and deception.
Some months ago my dear friend Paul Hermann, maker of one of the best and beautiful reels in the world, ask me to make a special rod for Atlantic Salmon fishing.
This was a real challenge because this was my first rod with so special purpose... fight with the king of the rivers!. The Atlantic Salmon. I designed a special taper using some of my experience I got, fighting and fishing another king of the rivers... our "Fresh water Dorado".
Because of that and trying to honor this spectacular fish I called it, the Golden Salmon.
It is a 8' 6" hollow build rod for a #7 line. A light Salmon rod, that cast wonderful, I love it and also Paul love it so I feel very happy with the new taper and the new rod..
A week ago my dear friend send me an email with a mixing of good news and bad news and you will understand why...

The following are some pictures that Paul send me and part of the story on his own words.

Marcelo...I am feeling very very bad...I broke the Golden salmon at the very end of a long battle with an almost 30 pound bright ,fresh from the ocean, very, very strong salmon. "Opening morning I drew a very good pool and on our fifth boat drop threw the pool I hooked this monster...The Golden salmon was casting perfectly...I love how it casts...fits my style to a tee.....I had a light tippet on so I knew I would have to play any fish carefully....the fish came to the fly and didn't take...left just a huge swirl...I rested it a minute and cast again...huge hit and pull...played the fish for about 45 minutes..it made 5 long runs well into the backing...one of which had us taking the canoe down threw a set of rapids to follow the fish......my guide Kevin moved the 26 foot Gaspe canoe to shore twice to play the fish from more slack water...The Matapedia is a big river with heavy water with the spring runoff early in
June....Kevin had the net ready as I turned the head of this strong fish into the net...I heard a cracking sound and looked down to see the the rod literally explode just above the cork handle and inbetween the intermediate wraps...it looked as if the strips all came apart at once...I grabbed the upper section of rod and tried to play the fish ..but it must have been weakened by the fight as well....in desperation I grabbed the line and turned the head of the fish into the net...if the rod had broken even 5 minutes earlier in the fight it would have been lost....

"I usually don't kill salmon anymore...I did plenty of that in my younger days,,,but this was a special fish....my first salmon on the Golden salmon and the first salmon of the year at Cold Springs Camp....a feast was prepared the next noon of fresh fiddleheads and salmon for the whole staff and all the fishermen....the story of this fish was told and will be remembered for years to come....my only hope is that you will be able to rebuild this wonderful rod for me....of all the fish I have ever caught,,I will remember this one forever..."

Thank you Paul... thank you for this great story. That was an incredible fish and an incredible battle, I will also remember it forever!!! We will make it next time, I will work for that...

This is a new one... A CF764 7´6" #4 Traditional Flamed Series 2/2 configuration.

Looking at the last Lang's Catalog I found one of my rods into it, a very special rod... Very special because is the one that I made for Mr. Ernest Schwiebert, a CF704 7' #4 2/2
This rod, was made from the same piece of culm that I use to made Mr. Martin J. Keane rod and they are twins in every aspect. The CF704 is a very versatile rod and one of my "best seller" tapers, so if you want to pick a rod with a "little history" into it, here you can get the chance. Here is the praise into Lang's Catalog and a picture that I kept.

163 7' Calviello & Trucco Light Trout Rod. Made for Ernie Schwiebert in 2005, this 2/2 rod appears in new condition. One unique feature is the absence of metal ferrules. Instead, the base of the tips are swelled and hollowed out [like a female ferrule] to accept the butt section. The cane is nicely flamed, the wraps are cinnamon with black tipping, and all sections are full and straight. It has a screw up-locking reel seat with dark wood spacer. This beautiful rod has an agate stripper and is marked: "Specially made for Mr. Ernest Schwiebert".With the bag and labeled tube. ($900-$1,000)

I really love to see any of my rods being fished!!!

Rod, tube and bag ready to go

Some details

and... a little video with some casting atributes.

I like to share my last rod. This one is an 8' #6 3/2 Hollow Build BiPower Jaguar Special Edition Series.

As I said many times I feel that bamboo rods have life inside. That life is what gives to them its special feeling and keep us taking care of them as very valued properties. What make that feeling so special?... For me the making process is an important issue where we can help to maintain the spirit of material alive. There are three steps that are fundamental for this

1) Selection of cane and taper.
2) Nodes work.
3) Planing

1) Selection of cane and taper
I made my rods one at a time and as you know I'm a "onemanshop" maker, so my production is not more than 40 rods a year. This, allows me to make some own decisions about selection. I look to my poles on stock first and select them looking for the best ones for suitability to special types of taper. This means that if I decide that a pole will be great for a 7' #4 this is what I will do with that pole and nothing else. Spacing nodes, density of powerfibers, color, marks, straight all are the conditions that push me to one side or another on that decision.
I keep my poles marked with a paper sticker with my taper selection for each pole.

2) Nodes work
As I told many times all my making process is done by hand. The nodes work is my preferred step into the making process. I do it one at a time with two different kind of files. Begun the work with the pit protuberance that is cut with the help of a plane and finish with a meticulous work into the nodes. Them the nodes press and alignment process comes.
I work into this with a heat gun and a special vise the Record 51.

3) Planing
I designed a special machine that allows me to make easily the first triangulation by hand without using any mechanical machine. I own a rough machine, but really I hate to see all that pieces of cane flying in the air and also hate the sound of that machine hurting the cane.
I made all this process by hand, this allows me to know about each strip particularities.
I'm not trying to say that this is the best way to do it I 'm only trying to share my experience and my thoughts about how I feel confidence to make it.

I know..., this will take a lot of time, but I'm not a production company and this gave me the time to know about any of my rods. I made 30/40 rods in a year... I also know that I can make 100/120 using machines. I know the difference, I feel the difference, many don't but for me here resides "the spirit of a Bamboo rod".

The last day of our recent trip holds one of the best memory pictures that I own into my collection. It was about 7 PM. Sebastian and I had fishing all morning long up waters from the camp. The fish were taken dries during periods and we got very nice fish on small dries, most of them caddies. At mid day we decide to got some meal and to disarm the camp and get all packed into the truck.
We prepare some "mate" and before decide our last fishing we talk about what would be our last place to fish. After a few minutes, with a great storm waiting we walk downwater to take a look to this part of the river that we don't fish before.

With our rain jackets on we cross the river and start our little "scouting" trip. We found a new kind of river there. The coast was high with deep pools at any curve. Using a carefully approach we saw many fish there and 1 or 2 monsters.

Sebas told me, "Dad it's your time" I will point that fish for you from the coast. I tied my fly and carefully jump into the river...
He point some fish that were taken and at a time he said, "Dad, don't move... the fish of the year is right here under me. What is he doing I said. He is eating? he is alone? he is moving? No Sebas said... he is there like a rock, but please be careful because it's really big about 30" or more.
I was using my CF625SSS 6´2" #5 so I was able to cast a big fly and look if the fish attack trying to protect his territory. I tied one of ours "Gaucho tarántula" and put it ten foots up the fish location...

The cast was great and the fly floated death direct into the monster territory. Sebas shout, he is looking , he is moving, oh... he left it!!!. I thought that if the fish made a move he was interested but my fly floated with the current and was not a threat for him.
I decide to make another approach. I cast my fly again, this time about 20 foots up from the fish. The fly floated with the current and when it was near the fish I became to skate it over the surface... Sebas shouts again, "Dad, he is moving, he is going up..." at the same time that he shout "he take it!!!" the water was broken into million of pieces and my rod and I felt the magic moment of fishing, the take!!!

We both were connected for a moment, perhaps two minutes... but was enough to know each other. What a wonderful fish I thought, we two, the fish and I will have a wonderful story to tell and to keep into our memory. I will became a better fisherman and he a better and more difficult fish. This little story don't have a beautiful "photo" as it deserves, the fish gone... And trust me this is one of my best beautiful pictures to keep, because it will be always there present into my mind, closest to my best fishing memories...
For sure you can imagine Sebas words, "Dad, I have done all the work... I pointed a great fish for you, and you let it go... shit!!! Don't worry my big son, I said... I got him, I got him deep into my memories.

When I returned from my last trip, we had a big "asado" here at home with family and friends.
Many stories about the trip were told and discussed with the group and some of them took outside my real preferences of places to fish. Here in Argentina we can decide to visit any place we like, but always my preferences are directed to public and wild waters.
For me, fishing is like a challenge, so I don´t like that nobody point me the fish, or the fly I must use, or how the approach must be done. I repeat... this are my preferences. I really enjoy to take "new" fish, instead of fishes that are taken week after week.
Argentina, is a big country with a lot of rivers that are public and symbolize a real challenge, that kind of fish are ones that you can be proud of fish. I'm not talking about size, I'm talking about fishing strategies, discovery, approach and all the things that turn this sport in a great one.

Catching or hunting for fish will be the kind of approach that you'll use most of the time. Discovering a "target" by your own will turn that fish more "yours" than ever.

A good take over a discovered fish fishing public waters will "really" make your day and will improve more and more all your knowledge about fishing strategies.

Yes, this is the way I enjoy fishing...

Always... nature, fish, water and a bamboo rod!!!

Yesterday we arrived from Patagonia... I'm missing it right now, and 18 hours ago I was fishing there, imagine...
We arranged a "scouting trip" to fish 2 Northern rivers the Pulmarí and the Malalco. I never saw more trout before this trip. Over 30' fish taking dries... rainbows, browns and even brooks. But as always, I will start from the beginning and invite you to come with us along the hole trip.

The Team

Sebastián is my big son, my friend and the best fishing partner I ever had. He fish with me from when he was a very little child and learn a lot over the years, he is a great caster and a hunting fish machine.

The car

This time he convinced me to leave my Land Rover and make the trip with his Volswagen Golf Country. Really I must say that was a great choice. We take 14 hour to leave back more than 1600 km. Very comfortable and with great space to charge fishing and camping stuff.

We arrived to Alumine city at 22 PM, the sun was shinning over the mountains because our summer hour change and this gave us time to complete some food buys and to get a place to sleep.
Next morning we drove about one hour to our first destiny, the Pulmarí river.

After we install our camping stuff we run to fish. We made a little research looking for targets and founded a lot of rising trout so we started fishing immediately.

After a few hours of fishing we meet to do a little talk because we were experimenting the same problem with our fishing. Many fish broke our tippets. Pulmarí river owns very strong rainbows and browns but something strange was happening. After a little discussion we arrived at the conclusion that the tippet material that we bought for this trip was outdated. We were using Frog Hair that is a great tippet material so the "outdated" though came strong fish after fish. We need to get our nylon replaced but this must wait to be done in the way to our next destination.

The camp

Our camp organization is always great and very comfortable, we take an airbed, our owns pillows, a fueled Coleman kitchen and a good assortment of chairs, lamps and camping stuff so we were as comfortable as at home.

Our next destination was the Malalco River. We made a little stop at Alunimé city and got new tippet material, but not Frog Hair because it was not available at the flyshop.
This was my first trip to Malalco and I was anxious..., this river runs into a big "estancia" that is owned by an Indian community. The beauty of this place is indescribable... magical... mystic and mysterious.
Everything happens here at different living time, you can breathe the peace of nature in the air.

Yes... all this is real, landscapes that will live with me forever.

Nature

Our first walks at that marvelous river gave us incredible views of big rainbows and browns aligned at the river waiting for food. I promised me to buy a polarized lens to my camera because you will don't believe me if I tell you the size of the fishes we saw. So I promise that pictures for my next trip.
Somebody told me someday that big fishes grow to that size no for coincidence, they done because of their ability to select food and for intelligence, location at the river and for its strong fight for freedom. These big fish don't take any fly tied to a tippet over 6x or 5x, so imagine... 7' #4 bamboo rods and 6x tippet was our selected equipment, and yes we do it well.
Most of the big ones won the fight but we make the connection and that's right with me, after all I think that fish is not the final step of fishing, many other great feelings are involved into any fishing situation and the fish are another part of a dreamed day at the river.

Fishing pictures

In the third day we decide to make a horseback trip to the upside of the river to a place that the native called "The Dark Lagoon", another "magic" place.

Making the arrangements and the trip.

Ready to go

The trip

The place

The fish

Underwater

Our stuff
We used more of the time along the trip two CF704SSS 7´#4 2/1 Swelled Sealed Series with double tapers floating lines.

I also used a CF765JF 7´6" #5 2/2 Jaguar Flamed Series.

And a CF625 6' 2" #5 2/1 Traditional Flamed Series (The wind fighter)

Another stuff "The Wind" our cloth dry machine.

The future of Malalco River.
Distance and inaccessible of this river help to his future and here also are some testimonials.

A chapter apart...
In our last day we decide to fish down stream from the camp and we found a place that we will never forget for the big fish we saw. Very, very difficult fish. They know many languages and to write also. The weather change in a fast way that day and the temperature goes down many degrees in a few hour, so the fish stop eating, but we made many contacts. I love this kind of fish and perhaps it will be our fishing target for our next trip. Here are some pictures.

NEW!!!
A last comment, if you ever dream with a fishing trip to Argentina perhaps this one is a change that will not want to miss. I decide to make some special "Bamboo Friend Fishing Trips" at very affordable prices, so if you like to get more information about this programs please drop me an email and I will send you all the needed information.
Starting February 2008.