[Mike Barrio]

Hi folks

It's turning in to a long winter, hard times for somebody running a wee trout fishery, the daily run over to the loch to see if the ice is clearing only to find that it is a tad thicker, or now covered in snow, can be quite hard on your soul

So what do you do? Get your teeth in to a new project must surely be the answer and have some fun, "new toys" are always fun

My distance casting is not that great, improving yes, but far from great

Which is of course all down to my tackle, if I had the right gear my casting would improve dramatically right?

No, I don't believe that either, I need to practice more! - but hey, I have a great fly line, so a new fly rod might just help    

To be continued .................................

Best wishes
Mike

[Mike Barrio]

Hmmm ...... and what is this fly rod going to be like, what do I want it to do?

Barrio fly rods have always been designed to be easy to cast, the rod should do the work for you and obviously produce lovely presentation at "normal" fishing ranges ..... but what about the big trout, you know the ones, they always hide under the far bank on the River Don

Yes, I'd like to be able to put a fly down accurately and in control at greater distance and I'd like to look as if I know what I'm doing when we get together on the grass for one of our casting club gatherings ....... and that elusive 100 ft cast, yes, I'd like one of those please

Hmmm ..... I'm not asking much, where's Sandy my rod builder when I need him

To be continued ........................

Best wishes
Mike

[Mike Barrio]

So ..... Sandy is now living in Brunei, fat lot of use that is But I can do this, I know my stuff, there are some awesome blanks available from the States, or perhaps one of those great CTS blanks from New Zealand, I am a Kiwi after all, yes so many cool "toys" to choose from

And once I've chosen a blank, I can have fun finding the right reel seat for the job, a nice bit of cork and all the bonnie rings and things to go with it ....... as the meerkats would say ...... "simples"!

This is fun, all I need now is to find a local rod builder to put it all together

But hang on a minute, I haven't done anything, I'm just shopping for bits, it's not a "Barrio"

When I design a fly line I get a real buzz ....... but with this, it's just not happening

To be continued .................................

Best wishes
Mike

[Mike Barrio]

So ...... the project kind of ran out of steam and was put to the side for a while

Then, a few months ago, I had one of those conversations, you know the ones, a really good blether with David Norwich about rods and blanks and why this worked and why that didn't. We discussed what I was trying to do at length, and to cut a long story short, David agreed to make me some blanks. I sent him an Outcast fly line to play with and not long after that I had some totally new raw blanks in my hand, fitted with some taped up components ( gotta love sticky tape ) to go out and give them a cast ...... COOL

As usually happens, some ideas turn out to be better than others, some things work and some things don't, the blanks were all very nice, but one of them, for me, was exactly what I had been looking for!

By this time the weather was starting to go pear shaped and the Methlick gathering certainly wasn't the right conditions to get the rods out and put them through their paces, so not many of you got the chance to try the blanks I'm afraid. But since then, one or two of you have had the chance to play with the raw blanks and it was obvious to me that you would choose the same one that I did

Things were now really starting to fall in to place ...... and I was getting the buzz

To be continued .......................

Best wishes
Mike

[Mike Barrio]

My eldest son Shaun is studying in Edinburgh and I don't get to see him as often as I would like ( the joys of running a fishery ) so with the loch iced over and closed, I decided to jump in the car recently and pay him a surprise visit ...... as often happens the surprise backfired and he was out, so it looked like I had a couple of hours to kill

Now Edinburgh is a great place and can be fun to explore, as cities go I quite like it, but I must confess that I'm not a big fan of cities. Just by chance, OK, it was a plan    I happened to have the rods in the boot, so I decided to head for the green rolling hills and drop in to see David ...... he was bound to have coffee

David's workshop is awesome, talk about big boys toys ..... I want one!

Mandrills, rolling machines, cloth ready to cut, rods on the walls, all very cool ..... Did I mention that I want one!

The "couple of hours" was great fun! "I would like this please" - "but the trend is for that" - "yes I know, but I like this" - "OK, but you should really use these" - "yes, I like those, but will they last?" - "Yes, best on the market ..... more coffee?" - "Coffee is good, now what about doing it this way?" - "Hmmm, I usually do it that way, but we could try this way if you like" - "and what about the handle" ....................... "Excellent, this is going to be an awesome rod" - "I really must get going back to Edinburgh David ........ Did you say there was more coffee?"

I know what you're all thinking, yes I did go back to Edinburgh and I had a cracking evening with Shaun

To be continued .....................

Best wishes
Mike

[Mike Barrio]

So our new rod is almost there and the custom blanks are now ready to be built on ..... Thanks David!

I am just waiting for one small component to arrive from the States and I know that the parcel is winging it's way over the Atlantic as I write. Once it has arrived it won't take David long to finish the rods ..... and we'll be able to play

This project feels a bit like when Sandy and I developed the Barrio Lightweight #3, which we built for ourselves for spider and dry fly fishing at Haddo and of course on the River Don. Once we had our rods, other folk tried them and before we knew where we were, we were building them to order ................. 

I have no plans for building the new rod in large quantities, but I suspect that the same might happen with our new Barrio LC905, so we are building two at the moment, one for me and one which will be available as serial number 001 for anybody that would like one ....... I know Sandy will want one when he comes over on holiday this year

The Barrio LC905 is built on our new 9 ft, 3 piece, turquoise blue blank, with the components pretty much following the design that we used on the Lightweight, including our nickel silver type reel seat with the nice stabilized box elder burl wooden insert. A high quality fly rod that we have designed ...... and rolled in Scotland

The Barrio LC905 will retail at £375 and if anybody would like to reserve serial number 001 ....... they can do so with a deposit of £200

Best wishes
Mike

[Mike Barrio]

Hi folks

Serial number 001 is sold and going to a good home ............. Thanks Kenny!

Best wishes
Mike

[kenny]

Hi All
cheers mike, i am a happy bunny. cant wait till i get my hands on it to try it with my new Barrio GT140 line.  
cheers kenny

[Ben Dixon]

I have had a good play with the prototype blank for this rod and have to say, I was very impressed.  Soft tip that allowed good loop control at close range and plenty of power in the butt that allowed me to open up and lean on the rod for distance.  The rod was comfortable at all ranges and gave very good feedback the rod is fast in action and powerful but has feeling.  Threw a whole competition 120' #5 SA expert distance line without too much hassle and also handled a #6 line fine, a useful attribute when wanting to throw larger flies.  Short range stuff was impressive, the soft tip allowed precise accurate casts and made presentation casts easy with a short line but it is not so soft compared to the rest of the blank that it was wobbly if that makes any sense

The proto I tried was an unground blank and did not have the best of rings fitted, usual craick for test rods when a blank for "a rod" is being selected.  I have not cast a final sample but grinding of the blank and smaller guides will only make a sharp rod sharper. Will hold its own at the price point IMO.



Cheers

Ben

[Mike Barrio]

Hi Ben
Thanks for adding your comments on the fly rod

I will try to keep a Barrio LC905 fly rod in stock, just like we did with the Lightweights, so I'll ask David to build serial number 002

Best wishes
Mike

[Matt Henderson]

Will there be a kit version in time? Can you tell I'm getting the bug?

[Mike Barrio]

Will there be a kit version in time? Can you tell I'm getting the bug?

Hi Matt

Yes, I would certainly like to make the blank available and possibly a self build kit too

Best wishes
Mike

[Bronzebommer]

Mike
Do you have any idea how much you would be asking for a blank?

Matt

[Mike Barrio]

Hi Matt

Sorry for the delay with a reply ...... Yes, I can offer our exclusive LC905 blank for £199

Best wishes
Mike

[Matt Henderson]

Mike,

when do we get to see pictures of this beauty?

Cheers

Matt

[Mike Barrio]

Hi Matt

The rods are being built now and depending on David's workload, shouldn't take too long to finish. I'll post photos as soon as possible after I pick them up.

Serial number 002 is also being built at the moment, if anybody would like to reserve it

Best wishes
Mike

[Mike Barrio]

Hi folks
We now have a demo Barrio LC905 fly rod that you can try before you buy at the fishery

Serial number 001 is sold to Kenny and I have SN002 in stock and for sale

There is more stock coming soon, rods SN003 and SN004 have been ordered and are for sale and I have two blanks being built as well ( these 2 blanks are sold ) but I can order more blanks if anybody else would like one.

Mike Barrio and David Norwich working on the design of the new Barrio LC905







Best wishes
Mike

[kenny]

Hi Mike

The rod looks brill, can't wait to get me hands on 001 the morn.

[kenny]

Hi All
Picked up the 001 today and let me tell you all ( wot a rod ) I christened the rod today on a lovely 8lb Haddo Rainbow  .  Used it with Mike's Barrio GT140 fly line and it certainly increased my distance, also tried it with the mallard and also noticed i got more distance with this line.

just to finish off i would like to thank mike and dave for coming up with another great Barrio rod.

cheers kenny.

[Mike Barrio]

Hi Kenny

It was great to see you enjoying your new rod today ....... I'm pleased that you like it

Here are a couple of photos from today

Best wishes
Mike

[David Norwich]

Hi Mike,

I'm glad the LC905 has been well received and christened so quickly by Kenny!

It was a pleasure to work on the project and with you Mike. I hope our next little rod project is as successful.......

Watch this space.........!


Regards,

David.

[Mike Barrio]

Hi David
Welcome to the forum

Best wishes
Mike

[Mike Heritage]

Bring one next weekend Mike, I feel a good thrashing coming on.

  Mike

[Mike Barrio]

Bring one next weekend Mike, I feel a good thrashing coming on.

  Mike

Hi Mike

Yes, you'll get a play at the weekend

Cheers
Mike

[Mike Barrio]

Paul Arden trying out the Barrio LC905 fly rod .....