Mr Mike Brookes has earned a reputation for producing the finest silk lines in the world in the name of Phoenix Classics. Mr Brookes is based in Parcay Les Pins,France.

Phoenix Line Contact address:

Phoenix Classics
Les Mortiers
49390 Parcay Les Pins
France

Telephone: +33 (0) 2 41 82 60 34
Fax: +33 (0) 2 41 82 61 59
Email: info@phoenixclassics.com

This interview was carried out in August 2008

Hello Mr Brookes and its' a pleasure to be speaking with you. May I ask you a few questions about yourself?
Yes, I would be delighted.

Where were you born, Mr Brookes and where do you live, today?
I was born in Sheffield in the north of England and now live near Saumur in the Loire Valley of France.

What is your background, were you trained in a special field or are you a self-starter?
The vast majority of my working life was spent in engineering.

Let's talk about the Phoenix silk lines. I know that you bought the equipment on the brink of Mr Noel Buxton's retirement who himself rediscovered the lost procedure of making silk lines by P.D. Malloch (1908, Leicester, U.K.) in the seventies. Which year and whereabout did Mr Buxton started making the Phoenix silk lines and when did you take over, exactly?
Noel Buxton started the research to reproduce the silk lines after Kingfisher went out of busines in the mid 1970s and began production in the early 1980s. We took over in late 1998.

What made you decide to enter the silk lines business?
I was in Saudi Arabia on a 2 year contract when I received a letter from Noel Buxton asking if I would be interested in making silk lines when my contract finished, Noel at that stage was quite ill and it sound became evident that he was in some difficulty healthwise. We then negotiated to buy the business. When the contract was complete, he then told me that I was the only person he would have considered allowing to use the name of Phoenix Lines.

Mr Brookes, You have a long business experience. In your opinion, what changed during the years in the tackle business and in the fishing line business in particular?
There has been a explosion of different types of fishing lines, different profiles, colours, sink rates and so on. It seems to me that these are deisgned to catch anglers and not fish! One has to ask the question - are they all necessary? After all, the flyline is just a glorified piece of string connecting the rod to the fly. I may be over simplifying but one has to bear in mind that for over 100 years fish have been caught very successfully with silk lines.

The Phoenix lines products includes fly lines in all sizes, with DT-, WF- taper and parallel lines, braided leaders. Which are your best-selling products?
Without doubt, the double taper lines in sizes 3 to 6 AFTM.

Who are you customers?
Fisherman the world over with traditional values. The majority are those who fish with bamboo rods, but increasingly more people who fish with modern rods are turning to silk lines.

All people using silk lines and whom I spoke to say they will not go back to normal syntethic lines. Are silk lines really superior and why do you think so?
I don't think it can be said that silk lines are superior, but the definitely have certain advantages. They are non-stretch, thinner size for size than modern plastic lines thereby casting into the wind better and they create disturbance lifting off and casting on to water. If used correctly, they are longer lasting than modern lines.

Are they not difficult to mantain? After all, when Ray Smith produced the first synthetic line (the 333 Cortland) in 1953, he did so to allegedely improve easyness of use...
No - this is a fallacy. They require wiping down after fishing and greasing just before starting to fish. Other than that, they are same as a modern line.

The making of silk line seems to be a long process: braiding worm silk threads, dressing, dying, enameling with oil under pressure, coating, varnishing, polishing.... How long does it take to make a 30m long DT silk line? And which one is the most delicate moment?
From start to finish, including all drying times, a minimum of 5 weeks to complete. I would think the most delicate moment is lovingly putting the finished line in the box and sending it off to a customer.

I learned that the measurement for silk threads used in the textile field is the denier (1 denier = 1 gram per 9 000 meters = 0.05 grams per 450 meters. So if 450 meters weigh 5 grams, the thread is called a 100 denier thread. A 15 denier yarn is twice as fine as 30 denier yarn.)
Is this curious unit of measure still widely used? And how many deniers silk thread do you use for your lines?
Yes - we still buy our silk using the denier scale. Just to clarify, it takes the threads from 6 or 7 silk worms reeled together to make 20/22 denier silk. This means that 9,000 metres would weigh 22 grams. The smallest thread we use has 6 sets of 22 denier silk, ie 42 threads of silk worm silk and the largest thread has 39 sets of 22 denier.

Is this silk also suitable or similar to the silk thread used for wrapping guides on a fishing rod?
Not really. The silk we use tends not to be twisted as much and is in one continuous filament, whereas the silk for wrapping guides may well be spun silk.

Mr Brookes, there are other silk lines producers as you know ( Cortland, J.P. Thebault, Terenzio Silk lines, Royal Wulff, Rio Fly Lines). What differentiate your lines from the competition in your opinion?
The only three producers of silk lines of any consequence are J. P. Thebault, Terenzio and ourselves. All we can say is that we try to make the best silk lines possible. You can find a variety of preferences and opinions posted on the Internet and it is a matter of personal choice.

Do you experience any problem in finding quality, natural silk, today?
No.

Let's talk about your bamboo fly rods. It was a surprise yet, not so much at a second thought, to discover that you also build bamboo fly fishing rods and that you also gives classes in France. What a perfect combination: silk lines and bamboo fly rods! How do you manage with time requirements? Which activity takes the most?
Undoubtedly the silk lines as that is the core business.

When did you make your fisrt rod? Was it before you entered the silk lines business?
The first rod I made was in the early 1980s, well before I entered the silk line business. However, I always used silk lines with my bamboo rods.

Where did you learn making them?
Like most people of my generation, the 'bible' at that time was the Garrison and Carmichael book, from which I learned how to make them. I also had some help from the only two rod makers in England at that time, Marcus Warwick and Tom Moran.

In the bamboo rod making sequence,which is the moment that you prefer?
Easing a well sharpened plane through bamboo at the finished planing stage has got to be my preferred moment.

And the moment that you like the least?
Straightening and pressing nodes is my 'bete noir'

Do you make your own taper or do you use classic taper designs?
I have a series of my own tapers, but I also really like the Garrison tapers.

Do you have preferred rod building hardware manufacturer for your reel seats, guides, etc... ? Or do you make some of them yourself?
I tend to use Bellinger reel seats, Snake Brand guides and ferrules from either Bellinger or Classic Sporting Enterprises. I long since stopped making my own hardware as specialists do it better. The interest for me lies in the working of the bamboo.

When did you start giving Rod building courses and who are your rod building pupils? French or foreigners?
I started in 2004 and since then we have had pupils from England and the United States.

Where do you like to fish? Any suggestion for fly fishing in France?
Since moving to France there has not been time to go fishing. The local area where we live is very poor for trout fishing anyway. We have spent the last 10 years working on the business and reputation of Phoenix Lines, and renovating my workshop and three holiday cottages at the old farm which we bought to live in. Before I had decades of fishing, mainly in the limestone streams of Derbyshire, England, and so I do not have the burning desire to fish. We are in a position now where the renovation work is almost complete and look forward to time when we can explore some of the excellent fishing available in France.

Lastly, I incidentally learned that you are getting married soon. This is a wonderful opportunity to wish you all the best and I hope to see you both maybe in the next bamboo rodmaking gathering which will be held in Sarnen, Switzerland, next year...Is there anything that you would like to add for our readers?
Thank you for your good wishes. Over the years, bamboo and silk has allowed us both to meet some of the nicest people imaginable. It is almost inconceivable to think that anyone who fishes with a bamboo rod and a silk line is anything other than a gentle person. Let us hope that this tradition continues as we feel we have an obligation to pass on these skills and pleasure to the younger generation.

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