Post by Chee Yung on Sept 14, 2006 16:59:26 GMT 8
Rod Story #6: Bjarne Fries’ ‘Thor’s Hammer’
Dear BOBs,
It has been busy times for me to the extent that my dreams of chasing fish with bamboo were forgotten in the haze of work. An email end June from Danish rodmaker Bjarne Fries informing me that my rod ( due autumn 06) was ready shook me awake… Wow! A rodmaker actually makes the rod faster than promised.. just fantastic!
My first contact with Bjarne was right after I received the bamboo ferruled Jaguar Rod from Marcello that proved to be a dream to cast. I had eyed his website ( interestingly it had pictures by Singapore angler Shawn Ma) for a long time but the Euro rate was too scary… but as they say, once you have tasted the fruit, there’s no turning back.
Bjarne replied almost immediately and recommended his new model the ‘Thor’s Hammer’ 8ft 5wt progressive semi parabolic (PSP) fast action rod which he designed for and had used in NZ South Island to beat the winds. I thought the name was catchy and reminded me of my favourite fish species ‘Tors’ ( malaysian mahseer /kelah and tengas) and the rod did have the ability to beat windy days at the coast and so ordered one…
Back to the surprise email… I was exceedingly happy but my fishing funds were all time low since I had to help a friend financially. So I told Bjarne that I was broke for a few months and whether he could wait. Bjarne the gentleman, not only said yes, he respected my priorities, but he also offered to send me his Flexi-stripper for free if I need it. Wow again!
I was so floored by the act of generosity that I had to find out more about him and viola! There is ample proof of good friends of Bjarne worldwide who not only respected him, but considered his work spiritually uplifting. One fine example is Takashi of Japan who dedicated his Fries rod to his son who unfortunately passed away very young.
So now, I have a Fries rod… It came in a solid alum tube with heavy brass cap and his signature ‘window to the rod’s soul’ hex section taken from my rod blank. Drawing out the grey canvas bag I could see the butt of the sculptured full-high grade- cork handle with another view of the hex section framed with brass. Right above the grip was a Garrison style transition from cork to straight blonde cane, nice tight wraps, fine writing and the gold stripping guide wrapped in silk made totally transparent by the varnish. The male portion of the Fries Integrated Bamboo Hexaferrule (FIBH) is a simple cut-off tip of the rod butt section. The female ferrule is much like Marcello’s detail except that the cane-work is more compact, no metal cap was used, and wraps are in gold silk made transparent. This language of gold continues arrow straight all the way to the gilded tip.
Imagine hand-straightening the cane without clamping the way Bjarne does it. Simplicity, handcrafting and elegance at its best. One cannot help but notice that each triangular section is perfectly straight and glue joints ( probably of Resorcinol: purportedly the strongest wood glue available but is dark in colour causing a purple-brown stain) were perfect and with almost no stain despite Resorcinol glued rods being almost impossible to be well made in blonde. Amazing!!
At home, joined up tight at the bamboo ferrule, paired with my Bradley with WF 5wt SA Mastery line, and the Flexi-strip around my waist, I tentatively made a few false casts to load the rod and noted that it loads further and further down the rod without loosing control as I aerialised more line. I finally released the line at 50ft and out shot another 30ft… hmm, really powerful yet relaxing to cast. Roll casting on grass is not fun but the line obeyed every twitch and whiplash movement.. nice. I’m reminded of Ashley’s MacDowell Garrison taper as I kept casting my ‘Tors’ except that the tips are as delicate as Marcello’s Jaguar. No wonder Bjarne honours Garrison above other makers and Marcello was inspired by Bjarne’s FIBH work to invent his own. Superlative rod that will join uncle and BT at NZ soon!
Until the catch report… stay tuned!
Cheers
CY
Dear BOBs,
It has been busy times for me to the extent that my dreams of chasing fish with bamboo were forgotten in the haze of work. An email end June from Danish rodmaker Bjarne Fries informing me that my rod ( due autumn 06) was ready shook me awake… Wow! A rodmaker actually makes the rod faster than promised.. just fantastic!
My first contact with Bjarne was right after I received the bamboo ferruled Jaguar Rod from Marcello that proved to be a dream to cast. I had eyed his website ( interestingly it had pictures by Singapore angler Shawn Ma) for a long time but the Euro rate was too scary… but as they say, once you have tasted the fruit, there’s no turning back.
Bjarne replied almost immediately and recommended his new model the ‘Thor’s Hammer’ 8ft 5wt progressive semi parabolic (PSP) fast action rod which he designed for and had used in NZ South Island to beat the winds. I thought the name was catchy and reminded me of my favourite fish species ‘Tors’ ( malaysian mahseer /kelah and tengas) and the rod did have the ability to beat windy days at the coast and so ordered one…
Back to the surprise email… I was exceedingly happy but my fishing funds were all time low since I had to help a friend financially. So I told Bjarne that I was broke for a few months and whether he could wait. Bjarne the gentleman, not only said yes, he respected my priorities, but he also offered to send me his Flexi-stripper for free if I need it. Wow again!
I was so floored by the act of generosity that I had to find out more about him and viola! There is ample proof of good friends of Bjarne worldwide who not only respected him, but considered his work spiritually uplifting. One fine example is Takashi of Japan who dedicated his Fries rod to his son who unfortunately passed away very young.
So now, I have a Fries rod… It came in a solid alum tube with heavy brass cap and his signature ‘window to the rod’s soul’ hex section taken from my rod blank. Drawing out the grey canvas bag I could see the butt of the sculptured full-high grade- cork handle with another view of the hex section framed with brass. Right above the grip was a Garrison style transition from cork to straight blonde cane, nice tight wraps, fine writing and the gold stripping guide wrapped in silk made totally transparent by the varnish. The male portion of the Fries Integrated Bamboo Hexaferrule (FIBH) is a simple cut-off tip of the rod butt section. The female ferrule is much like Marcello’s detail except that the cane-work is more compact, no metal cap was used, and wraps are in gold silk made transparent. This language of gold continues arrow straight all the way to the gilded tip.
Imagine hand-straightening the cane without clamping the way Bjarne does it. Simplicity, handcrafting and elegance at its best. One cannot help but notice that each triangular section is perfectly straight and glue joints ( probably of Resorcinol: purportedly the strongest wood glue available but is dark in colour causing a purple-brown stain) were perfect and with almost no stain despite Resorcinol glued rods being almost impossible to be well made in blonde. Amazing!!
At home, joined up tight at the bamboo ferrule, paired with my Bradley with WF 5wt SA Mastery line, and the Flexi-strip around my waist, I tentatively made a few false casts to load the rod and noted that it loads further and further down the rod without loosing control as I aerialised more line. I finally released the line at 50ft and out shot another 30ft… hmm, really powerful yet relaxing to cast. Roll casting on grass is not fun but the line obeyed every twitch and whiplash movement.. nice. I’m reminded of Ashley’s MacDowell Garrison taper as I kept casting my ‘Tors’ except that the tips are as delicate as Marcello’s Jaguar. No wonder Bjarne honours Garrison above other makers and Marcello was inspired by Bjarne’s FIBH work to invent his own. Superlative rod that will join uncle and BT at NZ soon!
Until the catch report… stay tuned!
Cheers
CY
,
. We have good friends like Gnome and Kathy Jensen posting once a while 
