Published Apr 28. 2011 - 12 years ago
Updated or edited Nov 7. 2016

Tom Biesot

Angler and reel maker.

Tom's articles

I was born

in The Hague (Holland) in 1953.
Grew up with a twin brother, sister and a fishing father. At the age of 6, I was already fishing with my father for Bream and Carp in the Dutch waterways (Polders). I started fly fishing about 33 years ago and was hooked for live.

When I was young

, I always dreamed about fishing in far foreign countries. In 1978 at the age of 25 I had saved the money to travel to Florida and did some serious fishing with a spinning rod.
I caught an abundance of fish in those early days like, Ladyfish, Black drum, Speckled sea trout and red fish. I did it all over in 1979, is was a great adventure.

In 1980 I met

my current wife (Fousjia), she was originally from South America (Surinam) and she also liked to fish.
In 1981 we made our first trip to Surinam, the fishing over there is really great.
She became my best fishing mate. She also is a respected fly fisher.
Together we made some 15 trips to Surinam for the last 30 years, not only for the fishing, but also for the overwhelming beauty of the Surinam nature. Most of the fishing in Surinam is done by boat on jungle rivers. Until now we caught about 40 different species of fish in Surinam, like Peacock bass, Drum, Snook and Tarpon. Also a lot of catfish species.

Anjoumara from Suriname
Peacock bass from Surinam -
Anjoumara and peacock bass from Suriname
Tom Biesot

We also fished

together in a lot of other exotic places, like Panama in 1982 and 1983, Costa Rica in 1986, Belize in 2001, Cuba in 2006 and Tobago in 2008. We love fishing in the Caribbean for Bonefish, Snook and Tarpon, to name a few.

Mutton snapper from Cuba -
Tarpon from Tobago -
Snapper and tarpon
Tom Biesot

We also enjoy

the fly fishing in our home country, especially for Rudd, Roach and Bream. The Dutch waterways (Polder) are still great for fly fishing with dry flies and nymph. In the fall and winter time we hunt for Perch and Pike with streamers.
We also have a very nice big trout lake called Oostvoorne Lake.

Fousjia with a little Rudd -
Rainbow trout from Holland	 -
Fousjia with a little Rudd and Tom with a rainbow
Tom Biesot

Other hobbies are

making my own fishing equipment, like Reels, Rods and fly tying tools and keeping Koi Carps in our back garden.

Koi Carp pool -
Koi carp pool
Tom Biesot
Sections: 

Comments

Tom Biesot's picture

Hello Paul, Sorry...

Hello Paul,

Sorry for the waiting, I was reading your question today! I don't have blue prints from my reels , only drawings without measurements and they are already in the article. It is nice to hear that you and your students like the designs.
You can use the article drawings to make reels for your own use, but I hope that you will not sell them to make profit.

Best regards,

Tom Biesot.

Tom Biesot

Tom I teach Machin...

Tom
I teach Machining at a College and my students are looking at building fly reels. I would like to ask is there a place where we could find blueprints on the reels? We really like your design

I've one of tom's re...

I've one of tom's reels for sale it's one of the first series Tom made
by interest drop me a mail

Tom Biesot's picture

Hello Rick, Have ...

Hello Rick,

Have you received my e-mail or read my comment on your request?
Please contact me for the hopper pattern.

Kind regards ,

Tom.

Tom Biesot

Tom Biesot's picture

Hello Rick, Thank...

Hello Rick,

Thank you for the nice words about my hopper pattern.
I am very interested in your new book, you can use the pattern for your book, I will give you my full permission.
If you need further information or photo's you can reach me by e-mail . biesot@octrooibureau.nl

Best regards ,

Tom Biesot.

Tom Biesot

Tom, I am writing...

Tom,

I am writing a new book on terrestrial fly patterns from around the world, if interested please email me for information. Your pattern is outstanding!

Thanks,
Rick

Nice so you have som...

Nice so you have some of thoose reels for sale?

Looking to cnc my own reel...

Wondering if you would send me an E-mail so I could pick your brain about making my own reel. I work at a machine shop and really want to make my first fly real

.

Log in or register to pre-fill name on comments, add videos, user pictures and more.
Read more about why you should register.

Tom Biesot authored or co-authored this

Article
Feb 19. 2024
Article
Mar 2. 2022
Article
Mar 1. 2018
Article
Oct 16. 2017
Article
Nov 18. 2015
Article
Mar 17. 2013
Article
Mar 10. 2012
Article
Apr 28. 2011
Article
Apr 27. 2011
All stuff from Tom Biesot
 

Since you got this far …


The GFF money box

… I have a small favor to ask.

Long story short

Support the Global FlyFisher through several different channels, including PayPal.

Long story longer

The Global FlyFisher has been online since the mid-90's and has been free to access for everybody since day one – and will stay free for as long as I run it.
But that doesn't mean that it's free to run.
It costs money to drive a large site like this.

See more details about what you can do to help in this blog post.