Chris Clemes Fly Rods

Handmade split cane fly rods, built in England since 2012. Featured in The Times Luxury and the FT. Stocked at Farlows of Pall Mall. Custom Cane from £1,550.

Chris Clemes Fly Rods has been building split cane (bamboo) fly rods in England since 2012. Each rod is hand-planed, hand-wrapped and hand-finished by a small team with more than fifty years of combined rod-building experience between them. Our work has been featured in The Times Luxury (March 2025), the Financial Times' How to Spend It, British Airways First, Mission Fly Mag, Tackle & Gun, Fly Fi

03/05/2026

Featured in The Times Luxury this spring — a profile of the workshop, the rods, and a place alongside Hermès, Hardy and Orvis.

Read the full piece:

The fanciest fishing gear to buy now The best luxury fishing gear to buy now — from expensive rods to high-tech waders, here’s everything you need to invest in before your next fishing trip

18/04/2026

The Jan du Toits: A River You Have to Earn

Some places you plan for. Others you wait for.

The Jan du Toits Kloof — the JDTs, as it is known to those fortunate enough to have fished it — runs deep in the Boland mountains outside Wellington, protected on all sides by Cape Nature and managed by the Cape Piscatorial Society. The CPS holds a special access arrangement with Cape Nature and the Mountain Club of South Africa, but the number of permits issued each season is severely limited, and the only way to obtain one is to win the annual lottery. Members enter a draw held each July or August. There is no other way in. No amount of knowing the right people, phoning the right office, or arriving at the trailhead with good intentions will get you there. You enter, you wait, and if your name comes out of the draw, you go. When my number came up, I understood what it meant.

The Jan du Toits: A River You Have to Earn April. The last weeks of the South African trout season. The fish are in their best condition of the year — deep-bellied, strong, coloured up after months of feeding through summer. The Cape mountains are beginning to turn. There are rivers in the Western Cape you can book on a Tuesday afternoon, ...

04/03/2026

Chilled times at the lake. I haven’t been to Lakenvlei in the Western Cape for over 10 years I believe. It hasn’t changed much at all, brought back memories from school and varsity days spent fishing with friends and family. The water was very warm but we had some success as well@as good wine and some great braais

Photos from Chris Clemes Fly Rods's post

19/01/2026

Spent a lovely day on the Holsoot with Vossie on Saturday. What started off slow turned into a good day with trout rushing from the depths of the heavily tannined waters to snack on emerger patterns.

14/08/2025

Behind the scenes of one of the more iconic photos of Joan Wulff!

Joan Wulff being photographed
Photographer unknown
2008.192.005

20/07/2025

Lovely stay comfy cottages, lovely wines and food. The restaurant just reopened and definitely worth a visit, with Flyfishing close by

19/07/2025

Lovely day out on the Hermanus Flyfishing clubs waters. A good winter venue with healthy hungry fighting fish. Want to stay at the beautiful lodge on the next visit