"I also think of the spring, that season when the earth begins to forgive itself, in the words of Allan Gurganus. It will be here soon." - Monte Burke
Maybe we've gone too far on the lightweight thing, especially in winter. A 10ft 3wt can be a pleasure on a balmy day in May but a pain when ice coats the rod, guides and line. You may want something that is sturdier and with more backbone. Try a heavier rod. You fish a long 3wt? Try moving up to a 5wt or even a 6. Think about it. Most of our fly offerings during the winter tend to be BIGGER and HEAVIER and will be cast much easier with a heavier outfit. And what happens when size 22 winter caddis begin to emerge? Lengthen your leader out to 6x or 7x. I guided a young beginner a few years ago who used a 6wt to deliver a size 30 dry and subdue a good brown. Decades ago a 4wt was considered ultralight and a 6wt was a standard dry fly rod and we still caught fish with tiny flies. And don't think your going to throw your shoulder out with a 6wt!!!
Another thing to consider would be a FIBERGLASS rod of 5 or 6 wt. Fiberglass, being heavier, can take a beating in the winter. In fact, back in the day when fiberglass ruled the market the only rods that broke were because of car doors and trunk hoods. Casting??? I can't think of any.
So....If you love sending your smashed graphite rod back to the factory for repair or replacement then ignore all of the above.
Swift Update Again
The Brookies have finally made their grand appearance and are spread out over any suitable water. Browns are showing up but the rainbows are not there in the numbers that we have been used to seeing. Who cares?? Browns and brookies are fine!
Stay safe this Thanksgiving Holiday and be thankful for what you have!!!
Book Me
Ken
13 comments:
Ken I fished the same LLBean 6 weight for many years and had no trouble with the tiny 32 midges. The important thing is to make sure your leader and tippets have a good taper, meaning, don't go from a 3x to 7x but try 3x to 5x to 7x this will ensure a smooth cast and smooth presentation
Paul Fay,
You nailed it totally. Fishing over trout that are taking tiny flies can be done without resorting to ultra light set ups. It's in the leader and the way it's built and it's presentation to the trout.
Ken
my question is - how the heck are you guys able to tie such small flies on! I have a hard time in normal weather let alone the cold.
I am in the midst of building out a 8'6" 6 weight Epic glass rod. I do have an old Fenwick 8'0" 6 weight that I enjoy but a little extra reach and smidge less noodle might be fun. It was my full time high school and college rod so it fished everything including a long hike into the Lamar to throw at some large cutthroat, landed a laker on the Stillwater (fishing for LL salmon) and numerous high water fish on both the Deerfield and Millers, yeah they take a beating but boy can they bring a fish in like no other rod. I have always used the Triangle taper Wulff line with it and you can comfortably go down to the 20's with a soft presentation if rigged properly...I'd say the only shortcoming is reach hence the thinking behind the 8'6" rod; FYI the kit includes everything literally needed to build out the rod except for a tape measure and everything is super high quality...if you can tie you can probably do one of these quite easily-just take your time on the wraps and especially the coating of the wraps.
BobT,
The Triangle Taper is a great finesse tool. If your fishing is within 30ft nothing beats it. It appears that Epic is setting the pace with their glass rods. The one thing I have a hard time getting my head around is that my good old Fenwick 7ft, 5/6wt cost $30 new with an aluminum tube back in 1972. Look at the prices now!! S Glass and E glass haven't changed that much but the price has.
Ken
My solution to tieing on small flies and adding tippet in cold weather is to learn two knots that you can tie with forceps. You can look on You Tube for videos on tieing an Orvis tippet knot with forceps. For flies a 16/20 knot (Pitzen knot) with forceps (make a loop, 4 times around the standing line and pull the tag thru). I use scissor forceps so I just use one tool to mess with. Both knots are very fast to tie and very strong. I will admit that the 16/20 knot wastes some tippet but I can change flies quickly, even in cold weather.
You are correct...accounting for inflation a $30 rod in 1970 should cost about $210 today apples to apples. The thing that has changed since then is the resin systems I guess -less resin more precisely applied leads to the lighter rods-its definitely lighter and a little stiffer than my Fenwick but still full/progressive flex...the kit with a coupon shipped from NZ was under $350- compared to other peoples hobbies: skiing, golf, travel, woodworking, or good forbid drinking with you buddies...its a total bargain, fly fishing is a bargain for most of us. I can even make a $1000 rod make sense compared to some of those hobbies but I don't need to. As I have said before, many of my rods go back to the 80's - I don't need more but it will break up the cold months a little; I have broken only one carbon rod in freshwater-so I have all of my old carbon, glass and bamboo; In Saltwater I have broken a several, mostly on the side of the boat or an errant clouser hit on the blank. If this glass rod turns out well I may try building an 8 or 9 weight for the salt too.
Happy Thanksgiving to you, Ken. I appreciate what you do here on your site, as do many others. I have learned an awful lot over the years here, and continue to do so thanks to you and folks who post here.
For Andrew above, I like the Davy knot. That knot helps me tie on small flies easily once the tippet is threaded through the hook eye. It doesn't seem like it would hold, but I haven't knowingly had one fail yet.
Best, Sam
Love my fiberglass 5 wt; it's many years old, and is my go to rod for the Millers, Deerfield, the Swift in winter or bank-casting into ponds. It's netted everything from 4-inch brookies to 13-inch Southern bluegills to 2+ pound bass. True confession--it's a $25 Eagle Claw, and it is indestructible. A few years back, I was fishing the Quinnie, and a young guy wearing and carrying a lot of expensive gear, stopped to call out to me--"Sir, is that an Eagle Claw?" The yellow rod is a tell-tale clue. Yes, I said, and he responded--"Wow, man! That is old school." Hahaha...in more ways than one.
Charles
Hi Ken—- I want to wish you and all of your readers a very Happy Thanksgiving! I learned to fly cast with a Cortland 6/7 rod. A total canon of rod, but I had no idea at the time. I learned everything on that rod (nymphing, dry fly, streamers). Today I recommend anyone learning for the first time to use heavy rod. You can focus so much more on fishing without worrying about loading the rod, etc. You then can hone your casting later, but if you start out on 9ft 3wt you are in for some frustrating days. I still bring that canon of a rod out on occasion. Total rod/reel with line package at the old Spag’s was like $49.99. I got a lifetime of fun out of that rod.
Try pre tying some small files onto lengths of tippet with a tippet ring attached to the other end. Hook the flies into a cork and wrap your leader up and stick a pin through your tippet ring to keep it all wrapped up tight you can fit a few rigs onto one cork
Happy Thanksgiving Ken
Falsecast,
Great advice!!
Ken
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