Custom Smallstream Japanese Curved Net

Every year my wife asks me what I would like for my birthday, and I never know what to tell her. Obviously anything fly fishing related makes me happy but I must say, this year she has truly outdone herself!

She ordered me a custom smallstream Japanese curved net by Mario Geldenhuys from www.customflyrods.co.za who is based in Aliwal Noord in the Northern Cape of South Africa.

Mario is quite the artist and he makes fine custom fly rods, handmade nets, J-Vice bases amongst other things. My net was made with bamboo and Guavira, which is a South American hardwood. It is a very time consuming and labour intensive process to make a net from scratch, and one which Mario is very good at.

Every net is numbered, has the owner’s name on and also has it’s own unique logo which relates to the owner in some way. 

Mine was net #88 and it had a hand drawn picture on it of a very special Trout that I caught a while ago. Mario took note of that and incorporated that into the design. He is meticulous in the details of his work and it shows in the final product.

Every now and then he sent me a photo of how far the net was throughout the process. This was something I’m sure not many folk would do, and something a truly appreciated of him.

Soon after receiving the net I christened it with it’s first fish! And what a remarkable fish it was! A 26 inch wild river Brown!

If you want a custom built fly rod or handmade net, do not hesitate to contact Mario at mario@customflyrods.co.za

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