Paolo Bernabei
1. Choice of equipment Rods, reels, fly lines, fly floatants, clothes, glasses, and other useful items.
My name is Paolo Bernabei, I’m an Italian rod builder. I live in Viterbo, a beautiful medieval city in the middle Italy.
I have a great passion for fly fishing, for building rods and building components.
I love all materials used to make blanks, from bamboo to graphite, the magnificent fiberglass (maybe my favourite one), up to the most modern graphene.
For me all materials are on the same level, each one with its own peculiarities “one is not better than the other one”.
I draw, take care and execute personally all the realization of the single components that I use for my rods.
This allows me to express all my creativity and pushes me to a costant research and experimentation of new materials, with the aim of making my rods unique and innovative, always keeping a classic style.
I have many rods, more or less blazoned, and I use them according to my mood and to the type of day that I want to live on the river.
The rods I use for the river that I frequent the most go to 6’6’’ up to 9’0’’, both in glass and graphite.
There are many glass blanks that I like: made by Mr. Kazumoto Ijuin, Thomas & Thomas, Mc Farland, Steffen Brothers, Sage, Epic, Cts, etc.
What I love about glass is its great sensitivity, the long times in casting phase, the possibility to use very thin tips and the vibrations that I feel while recovering a fish.
Recently I used MHX graphite blanks about 9’0’’ 3/4w, they have fast action but not exasperated, are very sensitive on top, great for soft presentation.
I like “italian” cast, thus I often use even shorter rods whit fast action, like 7’6’’ 3wt or Motion Snipe III Fast , always 7’6’’ 4/5wt.
CTS Quartz 7'6'' #4 3pc.
MHX 9'0'' #3 4pc.
Ijuin Hard Para 7'02'' #3-4 3pc.
Motion Snipe III Fast - 7'6''4-5wt 3pc.
MHX 9'0'' #2 2pc.
I like very much vintage reels, strictly with recovery on the right side.
As well as being technically simple, they have a timeless charm. I like to combine them with the almost always classic loocking rods that I build.
I often use Hardy’s reels like Maquis and Featherwheight, that as well being very light, they sounds amazing.
I consider very charming the swedes Loop Traditional, silent in this case, whit their particular hardware desined by Danielsson, but maybe my favourite one is 1985 (Etna Era) Ross RR2, that I jealousy keep like a heirloom. However I have a careful eye on what market offers. Keeping up to date is essential !
My favourite lines for italian cast are unfortunately out of production, I’m talking about ULTRA 4 DT from Scientific Anglers and Cortland 333 Classic DT.
When I decide to go barbel hunting using the batting technique, I use even WF 3 line for longer rods and I find myself equally well.
The glasses I’ve been using in this last time are Oakely : Clifden with polarized lenses and side shields in Unobtainium to block the glare of the sun and protect the face.
2. Leader material, build-up, length and knots.
I build my own leaders, which I use for different situations.
I join the segments of different diameters with the Blood Knot, and in the last segment (the tip), I create a loop with the perfection loop, so I can change the tip very easily.
Over the years I have used many brands of nylon monofilament, the one I prefer and that I have been using for many years is Maxima Chameleon, which is very soft and has very little memory and above all has excellent grip on knots.
When fishing for chub or barbel with 7'6'' / 8'0'' 3/4 wt. rods, I use a very short and powerful leader, which allows me to bring the fly (beetle imitations / terrestrial) very violently into the water to stimulate the aggressiveness of these beautiful fish.
I add the measures:
Total length : cm. 270
Ø 50 - cm. 130
Ø 40 - cm. 40
Ø 30 - cm. 15
Ø 20 - cm. 15
Tip : Ø 14 - cm. 70
When fishing for trouts in fast waters, I use a much longer leader to try to reduce as much as possible the drag on the line which would make every cast ineffective.
I will add the measurements :
Total length : cm. 500
Ø 50 - cm. 180
Ø 40 - cm. 95
Ø 30 - cm. 65
Ø 20 - cm. 40
Tip : Ø 12 - cm. 120
3. Approach and stealth.
The approach is crucial for the success of the fishing action.
I try to walk slowly, quietly, in a lowered position near the water and above all I avoid walking as little as possible inside water, because, as we know, sound propagates much faster in liquid ambient.
If we don't observe these simple rules, we will hardly get good fishing results.
4. Reading the water.
In my opinion, the ability to read water is mainly dictated by instinct, combined with a scrupulous and careful observation of all the signals that nature gives us.
External temperature, light intensity, surface and underwater currents, the shape of the stones and the depth of the water are some of the elements to be assessed.
One must immerse oneself completely in the workings of nature to establish contact with the creatures that inhabit the river. Only in this way can the movements of nature become almost a map that helps us to identify our wonderful fish.
5. Casting ability which casts are essential.
Of course casting is one of the most important factors in achieving success during a fishing trip.
In fact, the presentation of the fly is crucial.
I think that the casting does not necessarily have to be beautiful to look at, but it must certainly be as effective as possible.
The type of cast we use will be closely conditioned by the situation we have in front of us in a given river space,
It is therefore important to learn at least the basics of casting in order to be able to position our fly in the best possible way.
It is always advisable to make the right number of casts: "no more, no less".
6. Entomology, what should we know.
Entomology is an extremely vast and interesting world, but I don't think it is essential to be an expert in it in order to achieve good fishing results.
I think it may be sufficient to have a basic knowledge of the different species of flies such as ephemera, midge, caddis, stonefly and terrestrials. Instead, it is very important to observe when and which insects hatch, their colour and size.
These are important elements that we have to take into account when we stand in front of our fly vise ready to build our flies.
7. Rise forms Can they tell us something ?
Certainly the movement of water or the sound a fish makes as it rises to the surface can help us understand what it is feeding on.
However, this is not an exact science, and I have noticed over the years that small fish often come to the surface much more aggressively than larger fish regardless of what they are eating.
8. Fly selection, Size, shape, materials, which flies are essential.
I love flies constructed using a small quantity of material, I think they are very effective and catching compared to more beautiful and elaborate flies.
I believe that the structure of the insects is closer to a poorer and more essential style. I really like using CDC because of its lightness and naturalness in the water. I also often use deer hair, which is very floatable, to construct my caddis, which are very effective in fast water. I also love experimenting with new materials and mixing them with the more classic and traditional ones to obtain attractive mixes.
My favourite flies are :
- Ephemerals with a very slender body, med brown, olive, grey or pale brown colour and CDC wings, made on 14/16 hooks.
- Klinkammer medium brown end olive on hooks 14 /16
- Sedge in deer hair dark brown on hooks 10 / 12
- Coloured beetles in foam colour orange or red on hooks 14 / 16 (for fishing for chub and barbel with the batting technique)
- I also very much believe in the effectiveness of the classic Peute with a light olive body.
Finally, I can say that for me the rule always applies:
"Match The Hatch”
Catching a fish by imitating the insect it is feeding on at that moment...
9. Presentation and drifts.
Presentation is crucial.
It is closely linked to the execution of a good cast which, as well as shooting the fly where we want it, must help us to avoid dragging, which would cancel out the effectiveness of all the actions.
In fact, even the most beautiful flies in the world presented with trails on the water or unnatural movements will be useless.
10. Upstream or downstream ?
I usually prefer to fish upstream, I try to be as far as possible from the field of vision of the fish I want to catch, in addition, if I fish in the water, moving the stones of the bottom I could dirty the water and scare the fish below me.
However, you must always be careful to cast diagonally to the position of the fish so that it does not see our line.
11. Fighting fish
It is not only the most beautiful moment we have experienced in our dreams that suddenly becomes reality, it is also the most delicate situation of our entire fishing action.
You need to stay concentrated because it is easy to make a mistake and lose the fish or, worse still, compromise its very life by over-stressing it with exhausting fights, as causing a massive production of lactic acid could lead to the death of our prey. Fighting with a finfish should be energetic but at the same time gentle, without tugging or giving too much line.
Use your wet hands as little as possible to touch the fish for a few moments and let it go gently.
It is very important to share the philosophy of "CATCH AND RELEASE"
"Please listen to my advice".