[Doubletap]

With the beginning of our Chironomid fishing season, I've been thinking about up-gunning my Chironomid stick.

I am generally fishing 15'-25' leaders, with anywhere from 6' to all 25' under an indicator. I find I miss some hits, especially with 25' between the Chironnie and indicator with my 9' 4w and figure I could only up my odds with an extra foot of rod. A bigger lever, and all that.

I have done a little looking around, but the only ones I have found have been blanks (a Dan Craft FT and a CTS). However, with the icing off of our local still waters, I figure to be doing more fishing than rod building in the near future!

Anybody have any suggestions? I'm not looking for a top of the line stick, but would like it to be medium fast / fast preferably.

TIA!

[fyshstykr]

Hello D.T.
I was in the local shop today and flipped the new Orvis 'ZG Helios' 9' 4wt, WOW what a stick!! I'm sure it comes in a 10'.
I've really not been that impressed with Orvis rods in years past, but that is a really nice rod, and yes it does come with a healthy price tag over 7 bills.

I was especially impressed with the weight difference between a comparable Sage, the Helios felt like a feather with plenty of backbone.

[Doubletap]

Yeah, I've heard pretty good things about the Helios in terms of featherweight lightness. Unfortunately, it's price tag puts it quite a ways out of my league - ha ha!

I was kinda thinking along the lines of an Echo or TFO - this will be a fairly specialized stick in regard to how it is fished (pretty much stillwater, long leader, indicator fishing only) so I don't want to allocate a great amount of funds to it.

Thanks for the heads up, though fyshstykr. I picked up a Gatti 904-3 G4 blank to build on, recently. Man - that is one light blank - I haven't compared the numbers but I'd bet it would give the Helios a run for it's $$ in that department - and for less than Can$150 unbuilt. I'm still putting together it's parts list, but will report back once its assembled and I've had it out and swinging.

[Frank Whiton]

Hi Doubletap,

Can you tell me how your are fishing where you are needing a 25' leader? I am assuming you are lake fishing, is that true?

Frank

[Doubletap]

I apologise for being obscure - its such a standard form of fishing here in BC, I guess I assumed it was done elsewhere, as well.

You hit it with lake fishing. We get some pretty unbelievable Chironomid (you might call them Midges?) hatches just after ice off, here in BC. The hatches continue through the ice free season (end of March - late December, here on Vancouver Island), but the trout target the hatching Chironies almost to the exclusion of all else in the springtime.

Heres a pretty good look at them
Chironies

Size 16 - 08 chironimid on a long leader (depending on depth of water and the depth fish are intercepting the rising pupae), under an indicator - its bobber fishing, but it can be absolutely deadly, if you haven't tried it. I look forward to it every spring - I love the anticipation of waiting for the indicator to submerge.

Anyway - I thought a slightly longer, slightly faster rod than I am using now might help me out with some of those tricky long-leader hook ups.

[Frank Whiton]

Hi Doubletap,

I think you are going the wrong way. A 10' 4wt will have a soft tip and I think that is going to compound your problem. You need a stiffer rod to over come the stretch in the line and leader. If I was fishing this way I would be using an 8' 8wt with a very fast action. Well, maybe not an 8wt but something a lot stiffer than a 4wt. You are not mending line and the long rod is not needed. If you want to stay with a 4wt then get as fast an action as you can find but I would not go to 10'.

Joni does a lot of this type of fishing and maybe she will fill us in on what works for her.

Frank

[Doubletap]

Thanks for that, Frank.

I concur - That all makes absolute sense. I like fishing a 4w and will probably stick with one. I hear those Dan Craft FTs are pretty fast, perhaps I should just build one up as they manufacture a 10' 4w.

Any idea who else makes a 10' 4w, perhaps as a production rod?

[Frank Whiton]

Hi Doubletap,

Sage has the Z-Axis in a 10' 4wt. Gatti has there FR-3PA in a 10' 4wt. Both of these blanks are available from Mudhole.

Frank