Fly Fishing BS thread

I need to get on the water soon. Been fairly busy getting house stuff done in order to get kitchen passes to go hunting this fall...

 

I'm very familiar!

 

We're pretty fortunate here in Maine to have healthy populations of native/wild brook trout. Second only to northern Quebec and Labrador IMO.

 

Same.

Come on up to Maine for a practice run!

 

Nice fish!

 

They’ve been there a very long time. Hard to call someone who planted a fish in 1910 a criminal! Some plants were by states before they knew better. And many of these locations are not native range in that they would not have any fish if not for human stocking. In my opinion pushing for management of these former fish less waters as ‘native’ is misguided. I’ve been to places that used to have 15” cutts they poisoned out for another subspecies of cutt and now they are all stunted. That is a failure. But preserving natives in native habitat is essential. They’ve tried some Laker plants that have had some success in controlling the Brookies a bit. But they aren’t native and don’t provide much sport in these lakes.

 

I think that is a Brook Trout. Too big for calling that a ‘Brookie’!

 

Love the Ross, but don’t have the need right now.

 

Looks like all 3 reels are sold out anyway??

 

Must have been a good deal on each model or they only had 1 or so of each available.

 

My son landing a nice trout but then getting the rod tip stuck in a overhanging tree branch. We managed to get it unstuck after about an hour of prime hatch time and missed some of the best fishing of the afternoon. A little Bitter Sweet!

 

Does anyone have good recommendations on waders? Being on sale for black friday would be a huge plus

 

I really liked the LLBean Kenebec that i borrowed once. My Orvis are ok. Have held up fine but are a bit snug fit in feet and crotch compared to LLB.

 

You definitely get what you pay for with waders. When looking at the price points for any company, most anglers will be fine with the mid to mid-high price range. The lower priced stuff either isn't made well and leaks more quickly, or they don't regulate temperature. The very high end are totally worth it if you put in tons of days on the water.

My recommendation would be to get waders somewhere where the shop can fit you properly. It'll make all the difference. A buddy of mine bought me some Orvis ultralights in medium/regular. I thought that was the right size because just about everything I buy is a solid medium. I wore them for 7 months...the crotch and multiple other seams failed. I was pretty disappointed b/c Orvis is supposed to be one of the market leaders. I brought them to the shop and explained my frustration, so the sales guy swapped them out for me. During the checkout he asked if I had been fitted. I said no. He got me fitted. It turns out I should have been put in a medium/long. I'm 5'9", 175lbs...never in my life have I bought anything in a long, but, waders are meant to fit differently. I've fished pretty hard in the new waders for about 8 months now. No signs of wear at all.

So...Simms freestones and Orvis ultralights are both great. I've fished in each from way below freezing up into the 90s. My only complaint about the Orvis waders is that there are no hand pockets.

 

Check out Sierra trading post. I got a set of higher end frogger waders for pretty cheap. You might have to check periodically because they don't keep stuff in stock unless there is a surplus of factory seconds.

 

Another vote for LL Bean Kennebec although they fit a little loose. Have had bad luck with Redington waders in the past and would probably avoid them again.