Breaking in my 1 wt!

[FlyRichardFly]

It rained off and on all day today.
I received my Superfine 1wt today. The beautiful brown truck arrived at 9:45AM.
I'm so happy with the tiny rod. It will cast 60' easily!! I tested it out, but I only cast 10 to 20 feet anyway. It loads great, and makes a perfect presentation every time.
The Gen 3 line is a perfect compliment for the rod. It floats high like my Sharkskin, and doesn't hurt my fingers when I strip the line. I put some backing on the BBS reel and spooled the line to where I wanted it.
The rod has a full action and is a pleasure to cast. It's just like a bamboo rod but weights much less. Beautiful olive finish with gold guides and beautiful cork.
I finally purchased a net. Even with my 3 and 5wts, when I use a 16 or smaller, most trout throw the tiny hook.
I fished from 2pm until dark at 8:15. The rod only weighs 1.5oz, so fishing was a pleasure today.
I caught 9 browns and 2 bows. All were around 8", while the 3 biggest were about 11"
I have never fished with a 1wt before. It was simply a wonderful time. Maybe the most fun I ever had fly fishing.
A couple pix from today. Check out the huge snapping turtle...... I almost stepped on him walking back to my car!
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1...6/IMGP4167.jpg
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1...6/IMGP4170.jpg
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1...6/IMGP4180.jpg
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1...6/IMGP4182.jpg
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1...6/IMGP4197.jpg
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1...6/IMGP4199.jpg

[mcnerney]

Looks like you had a fantastic time with the new 1wt, congrats! The photos were great, especially the turtle. I've never fished with a rod that small, but it sure sounds like fun.

Larry

[FlyRichardFly]

Larry,
I never have used anything under a 3wt!
But....... the water here keeps getting shallower every year.
I release everything I catch anyway, so I want the most fun I can have fishing.
Today I also caught about 20 chubs..... usually only 4" long. But even the tiny chubs put a bend in a light rod.
And to put a tiny dry exactly where you want it is a beautiful thing.
I was just going to get a upgrade 3wt, like a Helios, but I thought "What the Heck"

[pszy22]

I've been fishing an Orvis 1 wt for about 95% of my trout fishing for the past 11 years. I find it to be a great fishing tool. It will cast alot farther than you'll actually want to be fishing, where is really excels is after the cast. It allows for delicate fly manipulation, you'll never break off a fish on a hook set, and it's surprisingly effective at quickly bringing fish to hand.

With a good leader set up, you can fish some fairly decent sized flies. Although I'm a dedicated dry fisher, I do on occasionally fish a #8 2xl bead head nymph without any problems.

There are a couple of times a year when the wind is so bad it can cause a problem, however I fish a pretty big river and I can usually find a spot to be able to fish. The rod can actually cast the line into the wind ok, trouble is the wind grabs the line when it looses momentum and tries to settle down onto the surface.

Have fun,

[arfishinbear]

Looks like a great trip and a fine rod man. A 3wt is as small as I have ever fished, I have been thinking about picking up a 1 or even 0 wt this summer. The only draw back is if you hook into a real big fish you have to play him so long you can play him to death, but if it came to that I guess I could just make the choice to break him off. Anyway great job
Bear

[HuronRiverDan]

Looks like you had a good day...Nice pics...The small rods are a joy to fish...

Dan

[pszy22]

Originally Posted by arfishinbear

The only draw back is if you hook into a real big fish you have to play him so long you can play him to death, but if it came to that I guess I could just make the choice to break him off.

I personally think this is a well intentioned urban legend. I see more people who use heavier equipment play a fish to exhaustion, they are afraid to aggressively try to land the fish for fear of "breaking him off". If you use an appropriate leader, the ultralight provides a more than enough backbone to land good sized fish while providing an extra bit of shock absorption to prevent the dreaded "break off".

[arfishinbear]

You do have a point, I have also seen guys play a fish(even small ones) way to long on a 6wt rod with 6lb tippet.
Bear

[Tommy1wt]

Hey Richard, I am glad that you enjoy your Superfine. We both fish with the same set-up. I have a Superfine 1wt with a BBS I and two spools, one with 1wt Superfine Gen 3 WF line and one with 2 wt SA GPX DT line.

Aesthetically I love the Superfine rod, but I just need something different for the types of places that I fish for brookies. I also hate the reel seat. I always felt that the seat wasn't as stable as with an uplock backed by rings.

So now I fish with my Temple Fork LK Finesse 1wt. And thus I'm probably the only man alive fishing with a $175 rod and using a Superfine as his back-up. But I fish extremely tight spots, 12"-18" deep pools on boulders as big as houses with rhododendrons and hemlocks crowding the stream edge. And the TFO rod is 6' 9" compared to the 7' 6" Superfine. That makes a huge difference.

When I get on to more open waters with the Superfine, I also feel that it loads and casts 2wt line better than 1wt line. My TFO feels roughly the same with either weight.

If you have any 2wt line you should definitely try it out. In fact I don't even bring along my 1wt spool when I fish with the Superfine, to me it is a much more capable rod fishing 2wt DT line.

Peace!

[FlyRichardFly]

Originally Posted by Tommy1wt

I always felt that the seat wasn't as stable as with an uplock backed by rings.

If you have any 2wt line you should definitely try it out.
Peace!

Tommy,
The ring reel seat works just fine. Actually, the Helios has now become the Ion which has a ring seat. I think that soon all fly rods will use rings. Lighter, and a better feel to the rod. If I ever make a rod myself, it will be with rings on some top grade cork.
But...... Frank has got me excited about a bamboo rod. A Boo just might be my next purchase!!
I'll have to try some 2wt on my Superfine rod..... maybe DT?
Thanks for the tip.