under the label of AV Young.

I've taken a few years off from making rods in any number due to educational commitments however I will be swinging into rodmaking again in the early part of 2011 as well as being able to again offer ferrules and reel seats as well as a selection of Tasmanian hardwood reel seat blanks but more on that as these things come on line.

In the mean time I have a small but useful selection of classic expertly tied in Kenya fly patterns so please check back often or contact me now directly for details.

This site will evolve and details will be added as they become pertinent and these will include how I can assist you with any needs you may have for trout guiding in the Nelson Lakes region of New Zealand and the fishing lodge oriented bed and breakfast I have designed as a part of my new home and workshop in New Zealand on the banks of the Buller River.

If you are making a fishing trip to the Nelson Lakes region and need the assistance of a trout guide I suggest contacting John King Fishing Adventures for a great time on the rivers. John's been guiding in the region for 15 years and can take you to where human footprints are the exception and good fish are the rule.

I spend my time living equally in the small and historical town of Campbell Town in Tasmania Australia not far from where the very first trout and salmon to make it to the Southern Hemisphere were brought out from England as eggs on lovingly tended trays of moss in the 1830s and thence to the rest of Australia and after they became successfully established later to New Zealand in 1878.

The rest of my time is spent in the even smaller rural town and brown trout hot spot of Murchison nestled in the misty mountains of the South Island of New Zealand a stone's throw from where much of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy of films were made.

The town of Murchison has five major trout rivers within 35mins drive of it's centre four of them within 10 minutes, two of them actually bound the town itself.

When you consider the tributaries and lakes Rotoiti and Rotoroa that are within an hrs drive and almost all of it is publicly accessable you can imagine the possibilities. The trout are all wild fish, no stocking at all is done in this region. There's no need.

It's a place where while fish are comonly taken with a dry the usual thing is to sight fish and target them with a deeply fished upstream nymph which is an exciting way to fish.

Both NZ and Tasmania are pretty inspiring places to live if you're a split bamboo rod maker and as an extra bonus you get to do an awful lot of field work on what does and doesn't make for a good rod for specific uses. An extremely important point when it comes to helping you in choosing the correct rod for your situation because believe me, rods ain't rods when it comes down to selecting the one for you and where you fish and what you want to get out of it.

For example looking at the pictures to the left it's plain that the stream fishing in the Elizabeth River is of a completely different nature to that of the Buller River. The approach of delicate mayfly fishing in Tasmania is different to that of the predominately heavy water nymph fishing of the big fast New Zealand rivers which are different again to conditions of the hex hatch on the Manistee River in Michigan for instance.
I make the rods to handle these situations and can advise from real experience.

The rods I make are mainly Dickerson and PH Young taper rods. All are of American origin. Why these designs?

I invite you to return to this site often and see how it's progressed and hopefully I can interest you what what I have to offer.

This site uses for secure payments.

Click here to see a detailed image of this bridge