Fly Fishing BS thread

I'm back to rocking a click pawl on the 4wt for next summer

 

Hit up the local creek. Skunked all day. As we were getting ready to pack up some others on the creek gave me a size 14 red zebra midge. Two casts later I finally netted a rainbow. Felt damn good.

 

I think you were the newer guy coming in to start fishing and tying but I fish midges and in particular zebra midges all the time local to me. Certainly it’s one of the best options through winter here but even all year long I’m fishing these. It’s boring but produces fish for sure. Even tied off as a dropper! I’m always amazed at the smallest midges these big fish will take

 

Got the material to make these little buggers and must say, they are quite fun to tie.

 

Upgraded my rod and reel from my $100 Redington Crosswater 9' 5wt starter combo to an Orvis Clearwater 905-4 outfit.

Pretty excited about this.

 

Nice, spring can’t get here soon enough I bet.

 

Got my big boy rod today.

 

Put together a new outfit over the holidays for chuckin' meat...aka big streamers. This will be primarily for wading/on foot fishing. Have another similar 9' 6WT rod/reel setup (St Croix Babk Robber with older version of Ross Animas 5/6 with 250g 25' Sink Tip) that's great for boats/canoes, but a bit unruly for wading/on foot. Shorter head should be perfect. I have the older TFO Mangrove in 9' 4WT with a sink tip line for smaller streamers and I love it.

TFO Mangrove Coast 9' 6WT
Ross Animas 5/6
Rio Premier Streamer Tip WF6/S6 - 10' Tip

 

Nice American made package right there. I've got a buddy who is sponsored by TFO. Since I do more mini jig fishing in the Alpine than I do fly rod fishing now have been in contact with them about making a 11 ft 4 piece mini jig rod. You can find packable fly rods all day long. Packable mini jig rods not so much.

 

Like a Euro Nymph Rod!

 

Length wise, yes. Very similar to a salmon/noodle rod. The jig head is only 1/32 oz so you need a longer rod to get distance even with 2 lb test. It also needs to be a moderate action so that little bit of weight can load the rod. I've got a few 2 piece rods that are my go to for car fishing but they suck to have to pack into the backcountry. It's usually what I end up doing because no one is making the specific 4 piece I want. Hence, seeing if I can have one made. lol

 

So...

Spey casting isn't very common here in Maine. We don't have a lot of rivers that are large/wide enough. Not saying it's not done, I just rarely see it.

I've witnessed it on some Alaskan river's and have been fascinated/intrigued by it for many years. It's effective and a thing of beauty.

I now primarily fish ponds and use my Scott Drifter 14' canoe a majority of the time. Flat bottom, triple keel and 42" wide....it tracks great and I can do cartwheels in it and it won't flip. I stand 99% of the time.

Been thinking over the winter and on a whim (I'm generally not very spontaneous), I decided to pick up a Switch outfit to try on flat water. It's not common at all. I avoided the internet rabbit holes (I have watched a few of the Rio casting videos) and called a few fly shops for some great info. Those folks are so knowledgeable. They all thought it was cool I was trying this on ponds. The Spey world is quite confusing to the uninformed.

Wanted an affordable/quality outfit to start. After digesting the information, I ended up picking up the following:

TFO Pro III 11' 4WT Trout Spey
Lamson Remix HD (full cage) 7 Reel
Rio Trout Spey 300g Scandi Integrated line

Going to use Rio 12' Tapered Leaders...5X, 4X and 3X, depending on what I'm throwing. I can cast the setup single handed too.

I went with Scandi line as I'll be primarily fishing dries, muddlers and smaller streamers.

It seems it's easier to learn on Skagit setups, but I definitely plan on taking a lesson or two.

Updates to follow on this adventure.

 

I started dabbling in trout spey a few years ago on some of out larger rivers out here.
It's fun not sure how effective it will be in a still water scenario as I have seen guys try to use it for pike fishing up here with very poor results.
I have a rio slick shooter that I will jump between a Skagit and scandi heads. I personally found the scandi easier to learn with as the leaders are longer and a bit more forgiving compared to how easy it is to blow an anchor with my Skagit set up being generally shorter.
You'll find the short comings quickly trying to move any kind of streamer on a scandi head. But man do they move dries and soft hackles really well and still present relatively well given the line weight.
If your used to single hand only suggestion I have is start super slow that longer softer rod loads up really easy. I find my casting stroke is barely 1/2 the speed compared to a single hand.

 

Rabbit holes...

Just seeing that there's this Scandi method of casting versus Spey. The limited motion with the Scandi seems appealing.

 

Just wait till you find out you can cast bolth line styles the same. Spey, double spey, roll, snake roll, snap c. Oh so satisfying once you hit them right
Bring a fresh pair of shorts for when you blow your fish anchor and that sucker snaps right by your head.

 

I really like this carrier. I need to do something like this for my truck.

 

I haven’t thrown mine since we went to Cabella’s. I know, I’m a bad boy..

 

when you do decide to try skagit, get a 15’ commando head by OPST. It rocks on my 11’3” 3wt.

 

Old school VHS I just found in a box from my childhood. Circa ~1989.