n4rod
New member
After 2 weeks of rain, and a 24/7 water release schedule from the TVA's Blue Ridge dam, the water levels got low enough the TVA didn't release water this morning from 1 AM to 11 AM. I was able to wade fish for the first time in a long while. Got in the water around 9 AM. Not much of a hatch going on. I guess most of the insects were washed downstream by the continuous rapid water flow, day and night. When a small hatch started, the trout started taking them on the surface. I was using a new fly rod that just came in the mail yesterday. It's a Moonshine Rod Company Drifter model, 8 feet 6 inch, 4-piece, 4-weight fiberglass fly rod. I haven't used anything over 8 feet in 10 years, so it's a little longer than what I'm used to. I normally use a 7 foot 11 inch rod with a short, 7.5 foot tapered 6X leader. But all I had to put on was a 9.5 ft 5X tapered leader, and I added a couple feet of 6X tippet material. I missed several takes because I wasn't managing the leader/tippet well enough and had a lot of slack. I did get 5, 10 inch stocker trout to the net during 1.5 hours of fishing. I can cast this thing a country mile. Guess that's where the extra rod length comes in handy. And the rod did a really nice job during the fights, loading up and flexing a considerable amount. I was using a size 18 PMD and the trout really liked it. That's what was hatching. Looks like I have a very nice new rod that will work well where I live and fish. Only time will tell about it's longevity. They use anodized brass on all metal parts instead of nickel silver like on higher end rods. All though I release all the trout I catch, I think I have a keeper rod.
Rod
Rod
