Stroft vs Rio

[GGY]

Hi Gary,

Do you have the tippet dispensers ? Cost ?

Shaun,

I only brought in 20 - they are a basic dispenser, designed to hold up to 5 spools of 25m Stroft. You still need to attach to your vest etc - SEE PIC

The Flyshop & FF Unlimited in JHB have some. I only have a half-dozen left.

Retail price - unsure?

[Korrie]

It is very interesting to note MC's comment on Stroft being to soft for Czech nymphing and that it tangles.
This could be because the in South Africa we have our own variations on Czech Nymphing.
The Czechs uses Stroft because it is so soft. They are of the opinion that the Fluorocarbons are way to hard. Their opinion is, the harder the material the easier it can get nicks, which leads to a weakend material. I would imagine this would be even more applicalbe with a lot of the Vaal fly fishers that fishes very heavy control flies. You will be more prone to nicks in the leader if it is a very hard leader material. Further more, the softer the leader the more natural your flies will swim. The thinner the diameter of your leader the lighter your control fly can be. So a combination of thinner diameter leader, softer leader, lighter control fly, will enable you to pick up far more gentler takes, which leads to more fish.

[GGY]

It is very interesting to note MC's comment on Stroft being to soft for Czech nymphing and that it tangles.
Further more, the softer the leader the more natural your flies will swim. The thinner the diameter of your leader the lighter your control fly can be. So a combination of thinner diameter leader, softer leader, lighter control fly, will enable you to pick up far more gentler takes, which leads to more fish.

I will agree that the Stroft is substantially softer than the Fluorocarbon (Airflo G3) I have been using. This did take a little getting used to...

I experimented with 0.20mm Stroft (~3X) mainline & 0.18mm (~4X) droppers for SM. I had no problems at all. In fact, I and another well-known angler passed comment to each other that with the 0.20mm Stroft mainline, we now have to pay attention to no opening up the smaller hooks again.

I now fish 0.18mm Stroft (~4X) mainline & 0.16mm (4.7X) droppers, except is VERY heavy structure for SM. This new setup does allow better fly movement & drift, and since it is no weaker than my previous 3X/4X fluorocarbon setup, I am not at a disadvantage. The thinner line does improve "feel", and since I have moved to smaller (but denser) flies, the two work well in conjunction to get me to the bottom quickly.

Just my 0.02 - YMMV

[Gerrit Viljoen]

Gerrit, hoe was Bilito? (hope thats spelt right - hope I'm talking to the right Gerrit)

I bouhgt some Stroft just to test it. Will try it this weekend and report back on it.

Ja swarie,dis ekke,oh ma dis lekker by die see.Awsome weather today here in Ballito.Using my sisters (3g laptop) to keep taps on what's happening.


Thanks for the comments Mc,Gary.

Later

G

[C J]

Sorry GGY, but I dont agree on your Customs duty rates. Yes, when you bring the product into SA as hand luggage you could end up paying a 20% flat rate if you exeeded your R3500 allowance. You only pay 20% on the amount you spend above your allowance. This means you could bring in R3500 worth of Stroft as hand luggage and pay F-all........but, Customs can deem the goods commercial and ask you to produce formal clearance (SAD 500 DP document) which means you have to pay duties (if aplicable) and VAT in order to get release of you goods (this is the same procedure if you import it as freight). Now, the commodity code for "line" is 9507.90.00/4 and it carries no duties, yes.........it's free!!! You only pay 14% VAT. Alsways remember that if you work with import VAT you must add a 10% mark up. So lets say you purchase value is R50 your VAT would be R50 + 10% * 14% = R7.70 VAT. Please note that this only relates to Customs, shipping and freight cost will depend on which import agent you use.

And yes, I am a Customs Consultant and will gladly assist where I can.

[GGY]

Sorry GGY, but I dont agree on your Customs duty rates. Now, the commodity code for "line" is 9507.90.00/4 and it carries no duties, yes.........it's free!!! You only pay 14% VAT. And yes, I am a Customs Consultant and will gladly assist where I can.

CJ

My supplier failed to specify a CTC - and I got hit with a flat rate of 20% (I think it was 20%) - still need to sort out the VOC for that...

My searching shows that 9507.90.00/4 is "other fishing tackle" - line is not specified here. My interpretation puts nylon under 54.0410 (Duty Free from the EU), but I could be wrong...????

[Michael]

I use a tariff code: "fishing line-other" for fly lines, and it's duty free. On monofilament and nylon (customs can get anal) you may end up paying duty.

In my opinion R45 is very fair for Stroft. You import a 100m spool at 5GBP....
That's at a rate of 14.29 (current Bank selling rate...do not use the spot rate), which means it's R 71.45. Then add postage which at the cheapest rate is around let's say R 20? (That's conservative!) So it's R 91.45.
Plus 14% VAT at the post office...another R 10.00...So it's total: R 101.45.
There's clearance fee's on any shipment or parcel you receive via the post office...another R 12.00 plus minus.
Grand total: R 111.45 for a 100m. (R 27.86 per 25 meters, but no dispenser like the 25m spools have.) Oh...don't forget the Credit card charge they slap on you for the transaction...That alone could be way over R10.00.
This is all assuming that the post office does not LOSE your package...R111.45 per spool down the drain (yes it happens, all the time).
So to take all the hassle out of your purchase, the online shopping, the wait from overseas, the worry if it's actually gonna get here....
Just mosey over to your local fly shop and pay R40 odd for 25 metres of tippet, that comes in a small spool with a dispenser, no hassle.

The money you save on all the shipments coming in...is quickly forgotten with the ONE parcel the post office loses that's worth a lot...ask me I know.

[Korrie]

The cost of the line is minimal per trip.
If a spool is 25m and cost R45 rand, you very seldom use more than 3 or 4 m per trip. That amounts to between R5 and R8 rand per trip for your leader material.
The question is "Is the softer Stroft that much better?"
The more I think about the softer thinner material, the more it makes sense to me. Or it depends on how you fish.
If you're Czech nymphing entails a long mono directly onto the reel and you feel the takes. The thinner mono will still give you better, more sensitive feel, as the thin line will not be "blunted" by the water.
If you're Czech nymphing is, more in the classic sense, where you use the fly line as the indicator, even the most subtle of takes, will register on the tip of the fly line in the form of some movement in which ever direction.
After a lenthy discussion with Mark Yelland, from the Flyshop, he is sure that there is a lot to be said for Czech nymphing with thinner, softer leader material. Give him a call and pick his brain, it might help you decide for yourself what is best. Fluoro-Thicker, firmer with not such a good knot strenght but less visible, or thinner, softer, fantastic knot strenght, and being thinner also less visible in the water. You decide for yourself.

[Jasper]

I use a tariff code: "fishing line-other" for fly lines, and it's duty free. On monofilament and nylon (customs can get anal) you may end up paying duty.

In my opinion R45 is very fair for Stroft. You import a 100m spool at 5GBP....
That's at a rate of 14.29 (current Bank selling rate...do not use the spot rate), which means it's R 71.45. Then add postage which at the cheapest rate is around let's say R 20? (That's conservative!) So it's R 91.45.
Plus 14% VAT at the post office...another R 10.00...So it's total: R 101.45.
There's clearance fee's on any shipment or parcel you receive via the post office...another R 12.00 plus minus.
Grand total: R 111.45 for a 100m. (R 27.86 per 25 meters, but no dispenser like the 25m spools have.) Oh...don't forget the Credit card charge they slap on you for the transaction...That alone could be way over R10.00.
This is all assuming that the post office does not LOSE your package...R111.45 per spool down the drain (yes it happens, all the time).
So to take all the hassle out of your purchase, the online shopping, the wait from overseas, the worry if it's actually gonna get here....
Just mosey over to your local fly shop and pay R40 odd for 25 metres of tippet, that comes in a small spool with a dispenser, no hassle.

The money you save on all the shipments coming in...is quickly forgotten with the ONE parcel the post office loses that's worth a lot...ask me I know.

postage is GBP1-50 .... and I will probably pay NO duties (I import regularly) ... and NO other costs.

[Michael]

I use a tariff code: "fishing line-other" for fly lines, and it's duty free. On monofilament and nylon (customs can get anal) you may end up paying duty.

In my opinion R45 is very fair for Stroft. You import a 100m spool at 5GBP....
That's at a rate of 14.29 (current Bank selling rate...do not use the spot rate), which means it's R 71.45. Then add postage which at the cheapest rate is around let's say R 20? (That's conservative!) So it's R 91.45.
Plus 14% VAT at the post office...another R 10.00...So it's total: R 101.45.
There's clearance fee's on any shipment or parcel you receive via the post office...another R 12.00 plus minus.
Grand total: R 111.45 for a 100m. (R 27.86 per 25 meters, but no dispenser like the 25m spools have.) Oh...don't forget the Credit card charge they slap on you for the transaction...That alone could be way over R10.00.
This is all assuming that the post office does not LOSE your package...R111.45 per spool down the drain (yes it happens, all the time).
So to take all the hassle out of your purchase, the online shopping, the wait from overseas, the worry if it's actually gonna get here....
Just mosey over to your local fly shop and pay R40 odd for 25 metres of tippet, that comes in a small spool with a dispenser, no hassle.

The money you save on all the shipments coming in...is quickly forgotten with the ONE parcel the post office loses that's worth a lot...ask me I know.

postage is GBP1-50 .... and I will probably pay NO duties (I import regularly) ... and NO other costs.

Exactly...I said postage is around R20....you say GBP1.50...that equals to R 21.44...so I was actually a little bit under.
And I never mentioned any duties payable in my above calculation.

Let the shipment go missing...just ONCE...then it's a different story. I've had shipments (postal packages) go missing...the cost of that alone burns you.

Now I'll import materials, rod building supplies etc from the States, but I have it sent Global Express Mail (with insurance if it's a costly package). This way you get a tracking number to track it locally, and with insurance you can get your money back if the parcel goes missing. (Look for this to increase with Christmas coming up...your packages being opened to see which relative is sending what presents to which other relatives........)
Hardly worth the worry if you only want 2 x spools of 100 Stroft, to save a couple of bucks!

Go get 4 x different tippet spools locally, 25m each, 3X/4X/5X/6X...lot less hassle.