Brian,
Thanks for the comment, and yes, I have similar experiences with both glass and bamboo rods. They are such a joy to fish and cast with - not to mention catch - and the casting distance is much more dependent on your technique than the nature of the rod.
Martin
Carl,
Thanks for noticing. I try to keep the mumble jumble to a minimum - and also try to keep the tracking to a minimum. Cookies are used as a tool to help users and improve the site, and not to keep track of your shoe size or what side you sleep on at night... ;-)
Martin
Martin, I got to the box about “Of course we use cookies…” on your home page and out of curiosity, clicked on the more info link. I just wanted to thank you for the clarity and brevity of information on what data you collect and how you use it. In opposition to so many things that I have to agree to in order to use many sites, apps and programs, yours actually was written to be understood and add clarity, rather than obfuscate with excessive length and legalese.
I was 8 when my dad handed me a fly rod for the first time! I'm not sure what age I was when he first brought me with him fishing but he used to cast a worm out on a spinning rod and told me to watch for a fish taking it! When one took it he never once took the rod off me to show me how to land it, he just told me what to do and god only knows how many I lost before I caught on! I know now that if I had have actually listened to his instructions and done what I was told I would have learned how to do it a lot more quickly! He has since told me that when he gave me the fly rod he was filled with both dread and delightment! Delightment at the thought of me learning to love what he loves but dread at how hard it was going to be to help me learn! Lol! That was 35 years ago and it was all river fishing back then and I picked up his passion for it!
My favorite rod is the first brand new rod he gave me! It's a fibreglass shakespeare 8'6ft 7#. I have a fair few rods in my armoury now of various lengths and weights and I fish mostly these days on lakes! I have a lovely greys 10'6ft 7/8# that I thought I could cast the most distance with until one day I thought I'd bring out my wee shakey just to see the how far I could cast with it compared to my big rod and was very surprised to find that there is very little difference with regard to how far I can cast with them! About 60 ft with the greys and a bit less with the shakey! After throwing the greys for a while it felt like I was casting in slow motion to keep the line in the air with the shakey lol! Much more relaxing and enjoyable! (I brought the slack after the cast back onto the reel then once I retrieved the fly I walked the line along the bank to measure it) sorry about the long post but hopefully its helpful!
Sounds like exciting fishing waiting for the shoals of fish to come in. Do they fight hard on the fly gear?
Nemo,
Good to hear that the setup works! And yes, the spey casting or underhand casting requires practice like all other fly casts. I find it fairly easy to get into the rhythm and get it to work - and if I can do it, so can you!
On of the keys - as with most casting - is not to force it, but work the rod and let the weight of the line do the work, so to say. On a two hand rod I find that keeping the bottom of the rod fairly still, and simply moving the lower hand (left in my case) while the top hand on the handle is more static, works well. I'm not quite as used to casting this way with a one hand rod, but when using a shooting head, the way the line is lifted off the water is kind of an underhand cast.
Martin
Martin
I've downsized the fly to a size 6 Ahrex NS 122 Light Stinger hook and a transparent plastic head (Fish-Mask), and used composite material for the body; it works like a charm - when I manage to get the cast right ;) - on a 5 foot fluoro leader. No need for the weighted head , the S3 tip brings the fly to the right depth in my neck of the woods.
Now, this single handed speycasting can be quite tricky to perform. Definitely not as easy as it seems in the vids; you really must get every step right and smoothly too. But when you get it right it flies :) I'll need a lot of practice for sure, but it's well worth the effort as I'll be able to fish lots of new stretches of water where an overhead cast would be near to impossible.
Martin,
A lovely post. My favourite rod is a cheap fibreglass 8ft 6/7 weight that I bought as part of a combo for £50 a few years ago when starting out. I’ve tried newer and ‘better’ rods but keep returning to my old favourite. It’s very forgiving; I use a 4 wf on it for trout, a 7 wf for saltwater and an 8 for pike on the local canal and it seems to suit all three lines.
I love it .
Ben
Jim’s Black Nose Dace video is “Not available.” Please restore this excellent video, so it can be viewed. I left a note about it for Jim on his YouTube site in the replies to one of his videos but don’t know if he will see it there or be able to fix it here. -Bob
It's really about the the fish! Anyone fishing partner who couples the "rod balance" with the "fish thrust" (pushing the fish much closer to the camera for size distortion) for the sake of self-enhancement or Instagram gets dunked at my hand :) .
It's simple; if you're not proud of, and appreciate the beauty of, your catch, don't take a picture.
Nemo,
You can experiment with the fly size and weight, but do give the larger and heavier flies a try. It might not be as bad as you think.
Regarding the sea trout flies, I know for sure that a lot of them will work for brown trout. Anywhere where you might consider fishing a Wooly Bugger or a streamer, I'm sure a lot of the Baltic sea trout flies will do fine. I have used quite a few of them in a classic wet fly swing down and across on streams, and have had success. Quite a few of them are actually inspired by classic wet flies, various streamers and Woolly Bugger style flies, originally tied for brown trout.
Martin
Thanks Martin. The rod is a Guideline Elevation 9' 5wt (rated for 11 grams to 13 grams heads, so obviously more a 6wt and some)
I think I'll downsize a little to size 8 to 6 hook with a plastic head and composite material instead of rabbit pelt.
I've found this very interesting video: https://youtu.be/1ovxdURdcP8
It should be both light and big enough. If I need to go deeper I'll switch to another sinking head combination...
The sea trout fly patterns on GlobalFlyFisher are really nice too, but I don't know if they would work for river brown trout...?
Nemo,
It's a heavy fly, but doing an underhand cast with a heavy fly shouldn't be a problem. You can't really do any harm to your equipment, and the only problem can be that it's difficult to lift the fly out of the water and propel it out. Heavy flies on a 5/6 weight can be a challenge. But a lot of people cast very heavy flies on fairly light gear - like those using the Skagit style of lines and casting techniques. It's not necessarily elegant, but it works.
You may find that the fly is too heavy for comfort, and of course a rod in a higher class and a line that follows in weight might then be a solution.
Martin
Hi Pasi:
Great looking pattern. I've seen dozens of these coming off my home waters. Thanks for the article and photos. I'll be tying up some of these for February
Thanks again
Linc Haverstraw NY USA
Great article.., Is it that most fish are caught 50ft and less because most don't cast that far anyway so it's obvious that this happens! If you cast 75ft the you only have 35ft to catch the fish and 50ft left to catch a fish. So the law of averages comes into play. So the statement can be quite misleading. Never the less most of my fish have been caught within 30ft and I believe they have followed the fly in.
Thanks everyone for your really interesting comments.
Regards
Chris
Jim,
You can read a bit about the origin of the pattern here:
https://globalflyfisher.com/streamers365/73-2013-magog-smelt-variant
Martin
Thank you Martin
Thank you Andrea
Well done. Very well done
Thanks again
Linc
I prefer the Old rods. Like a Old Song they have memories of
Great days on the water. With both Old and modern flylines they Can be a lot more enjoyable to fish.
Tight Lines
Niels
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