Oh good, some general discussion
I'll work through the replies then dump yesterday on you...……..
Danny, I didn't know you had built that rod, nice. You are right on point with the line stripping thing and I'm sure you recognize other benefits also.
Hey Randy, I knew about your line preferences and was just looking to poke some of you guys into a chat about them.
You too Dililon, I was just looking to get you guys engaged and will explain why below.
Tim, I had forgotten about you, it's been a while since you've been talking here...………..
FT09, I knew you were a versatile type but you've been quiet in these threads for a while so I started this just to get you guys online.
The rods I'm using to close out the season are; Sage One 13'6" - X 14' and a 13' Hardy Marksman 2T. They all work with the same 540 and 600 grain lines and I'm liking the 45 foot Scandi's I get from S. Godshall down south.
So what prompted this thread? Yesterday at about noon I headed to the river with a pretty simple plan, figure on walk and wade but take the boat since I can. You all know that there are days that we just weren't meant to go fishing right? So I get about 5 or 6 miles from home and realize that my Plano Soft Sider bag that holds all those plastic boxes filled with flies wasn't in the back of the truck. Call it a premonition of sorts because the thought came from nowhere, poof! You don't have flies!
So I turn around, not easy with the trailer and boat but I find a place and spin the rig and head for home. Into the drive and out to the end where I've built a big key hole type turn around area and next thing you know I'm back at the front door and pointed back toward the road...……….. Grab the flies and all is well, back on the way to the river. I check the dash clock; 12:24 PM, not too much time lost.
Next thing I know there is a dog, a big tall, tan hound dog type who simply walks out onto the road and stops! This is a 55 MPH road and I'm doing about 50, It's been a while since I've had to make an emergency stop while pulling a trailer but here comes one. I did the get on the brakes while hoping he would keep walking but no, he stopped so I end up locked up. I stop, he walks on. I'm flashing my lights at an oncoming pickup so they will notice old Eeyore the dog ambles across the road then stops and looks at me sitting there, I like to think he was saying thanks buddy...…….. A ways up the road I pull over to check things like the gas tank in the boat which thankfully is strapped down very well and all is well. My gear only had slid halfway up the truck bed so I was happy I wouldn't have to crawl into the bed just to get my stuff.
Onward to the river. Once I had parked I went on with the plan. Leave the boat trailered - rig a rod and walk up river with Boss. This was to be a good thing, I'd get to fish and Boss would get his walk all at the same time. There were a couple catches though. First was I assembled my rod and when I reached into the tackle bag for that snazzy new Sage Spectrum Max whit the 540 Super Scandi on it...….. It wasn't there! Alright, there's a Hardy Uniqua large arbor so all is not lost but the Hardy has a new Rio Skagit Max 550 on it with 11 feet of Z-9, not what I had planned on at all but hey, it's a reel. Next catch is with all the rain the shoreline is water and the sand and silt is like glue and the glue is about 4" deep. Now that sounds like fun doesn't it? Walking about half a mile or so through 4" thick muck covered by another 4" of water? Oh yeah this is getting good now...…..
Boss is almost 14 and he's having some trouble wading the muck so we hit the land. There is a half assed trail that moose made and foot fishermen follow along this river and it ain't pretty. Strewn with downed alder trees and brush I can honestly say that walking there sucks as bad as trying to muck your way upstream. When I finally got half way to where I really wanted to be I said to Boss, "This is why we use a boat Bud". Now came trying to fish.
I was out of my element with the short head and long sinktip. I can definitely see how it will work on really swift water for down stream casts but this water moves about 3.5 to 4.5 MPH in the average flow and I had a hard time. I spent the time practicing how to get good cast turn overs with it. It will fly across the river and pull a load of running line behind it but once it landed I was like a fish outta water myself. So I turned the casts to sharply quartered down and across then just did the cross channel thing. By the time we worked down to the launch area I hadn't had a touch.
If I'd had other line choices I may have put the boat in and headed up river to places where I always seem to get a few fish but after all the omens I'd had cast before me that day I decided to go sit on the tailgate and enjoy the mild (54*) weather of the late afternoon. First thing I did yesterday evening when I got settled at home was to put 2 reels in my bag, one with a 45 S. Scandi and a 55 mid belly.
You guys who like your longer lines know exactly how I felt out there I hope. I'm a tinkerer, I like my goofy leader system with the mini heads. I like the mending, the strategizing as I make my way along and down a section of water and somehow I always seem to catch something even though I'm doing things differently. When I think back; forgotten flies - the hound - the reel - the muck and difficult path...….. I probably will turn around after the second omen next time
Today I'm going to clean the shop up and tomorrow I believe I'll head to Talkeetna and see how the water is up that way.
