Chris Clemes Fly Rods

Split cane rod making is on the Heritage Crafts Red List of endangered crafts, and the workshop is proud to be among the makers keeping it alive. Many of its rods are given as gifts, for a retirement, a milestone birthday or anniversary, or as a corporate thank you, often as part of the Gentleman’s Fly Fishing Kit. The website has a page on corporate and special occasion gifts. A selection of rods is in stock at Farlows in London, for anyone who would like to see one in the hand.

Chris grew up in Cape Town fishing the streams of the Western Cape, and in England he fishes the Avon, the Kennet and the Lambourn. In ‘A day on the Avon’, a short film made with Chalkstream Fly, he fishes a 7 foot 3 weight cane rod through a morning of mayfly on the Hampshire Avon. You can watch it on YouTube, or the original on the Chalkstream Fly channel.