reevesr1

Spent the last couple of days fishing the Guideline ACT 4 piece 6 wt. This is the newest rod (I think) in their line, so I couldn't find any description on-line, but I should have something in a couple of days, and I'll post pics later. Here is what I thought after a dozen fish or so.... This rod is a definite step up from the explorer. It certainly seems a bit faster. I was fishing some seams a bit further out than I usually do and was having no trouble hitting them with this rod. My trouble with it seemed to be underestimating how far the cast would go and getting a big bounce back at the end of the cast because I hadn't stripped enough line! Also, when nymphing I had to slow my casting a bit because the loops were too tight and I was crashing on the line. But after I opened the loops up a bit, everything was great. I did get a chance to toss dries with it as well and really liked the action, but both times the wind was blowing pretty hard in my face. I wish I had brought another rod to compare it with as the wind was making testing the rod difficult. As to fish fighting, like the Explorer the rod has plenty of backbone so turning fish is no problem. I also like the deep bend when fighting fish! I'll post price information as I get it. Next up-ACT 4wt and cutties!

Does it matter? If it is fun (and all fishing is fun), give it a whirl.

Better a drill in the bush....... better stop now.

I thought maybe you were trying to take the water temperature rectally........

19-20? Was the water flowing?? We've only had a few days over 25 here, so it is very surprising to hear of that high a water temp.

I actually haven't bought used fly rods, but it sounds just like the used golf club industry. Lots of people buy stuff, try it out and either don't like them or, more commonly, buy the latest greatest version when it comes out in their unending quest of the technology that will solve their perceived problem. Which is perfect for those of us who are cheap, and don't mind something that someone else has rarely used. Hooray for ebay!

Dustin, I believe you fished with Troutlover (jared) once-at BH? He said you were an excellent fisherman. Unfortunately, you do not look as good in waders. Sorry. Oh, what the hell, I'll vote for you too I guess.

Awesome Chris! Might have to make a trip together up there in August when I get back from Pano and Texas!

4 pc. Can't find a wt. Feels pretty light though. Judging by there other rods, I'd say just over 100 gm. The reel is 164 gm.

I'm sure many of you have noticed the Guideline banner on the website lately. I had the pleasure of fishing with their Explorer package this morning which consists of their EXP3 rod and Reelmaster reel, which is their "entry" level equipment. I was fishing with the 6 wt. Fortunately for me, I found some fish that wanted to play, so I got to give the rod and reel a pretty good workout. First off it is a very nice looking rod, as you can see in the pictures below with a very nice looking reel seat and smooth finish on the cork. I was fishing with a pretty heavy nymph rig this morning and the rod handled the weight no problem. The longest cast I made today was around 50 ft, but I cannot imagine it would have any trouble really stepping out (not that I think that is a big deal on the bow!) I'm probably not the best judge of castability, cuz I fairly well suck. But it performed as well as any rod I've used to date. Most importantly to me, it handled fish very, very well. I caught 5 fish between 17 and 20", with lost of feistiness, and I had no trouble turning their heads when I needed to. The rod has nice power! The reel is made of aluminum and has a nice easy drag control. I purposely adjusted the drag many times during the fights and the drag responded very nicely, with a satisfying scream to boot. I'm not sure of what the retail will be individually, but I think the package will sell for around $250. Hanson's will be getting some of these, and you can contact them for price. I wish these had been around when I was just starting out. It will be an absolutely outstanding bang for the buck. Next up will be one of their more advanced rods. Goody, goody!! By the way, I have no vested interest in these rods. I'm just an unpaid, but happy, tester!

I saw kungfool catch his first cuttie in years last week. I wouldn't have been proper bait for the rainbow he's holding!!

One more vote. My wife is a nurse at Rocky View, in the cardiac unit. And I lost my teacher as well pretty recently. If I hadn't voted for you, I fear I may have been smited from above. Plus I'm a sucker for a girl holding a fish!

Well, that 370 was just a bit wind aided! Maybe they'll make me hit off the big boy tees next year, instead of off the whites with the rest of the old guys. How was the fishing?

Can't help wit the boat, but I have a portable depth finder if you need it.

I played in a charity scramble today in the bloody hurricane. I used my new Cleveland HiBore XLS Pro (which means a 3 degree open face, 9.5 degree loft, stiff shaft, lower ball flight). I can describe my first impression in one word: Boom. Has that ugly big driver sound and look, but my lord does it hit the ball long and straight. I found that with the open face I could really attack the ball, ripping my hands through the hitting zone with little fear of the big hook. I might have missed 2 or 3 fairways in all that wind, and 2 of those just barely. My brother in law has one, picked it up at Golf Town for $200 (which is stupid cheap). I got mine on eBay for the same price. This is the driver Vijay uses. Highly, highly recommended. Big shot of the day? 550 yd par 5, down wind. Drove it in the water at 180 yds (that's 370 yds if you're counting).

Steve, Are you gay? I guess we can still fish together, but keep your damn distance. Snake, There are fish in the Elbow? I'll be there tomorrow!! Nice pictures boys.

Not picking on you Mike, just using your quote!! My dad was the best fisherman I've ever met. There was a group that literally used to follow him around back in the 60s (back when boats were slow). They were called "Richard's Army". He had to use diversion tactics to fish his favorite places without being followed. (I know many people are saying "whatever" right now. I don't particularly care if you believe me or not!). But as he aged, he learned that it really didn't matter if people knew the good places. He would just figure out more of them, or go back to old ones that had fallen out of favor. Before he died, we went through a bunch of photos together. I found several pictures of him in his 40s to 60s, after my brothers and I had moved away, with people I did not know. There was usually with a kid or two in tow, always with some fish in a cooler. When I asked about it he said "oh, that's just some guys who I met at the ramp who had a hard time catching fish, so I took them out and showed them a couple of spots and how to fish them." So as he aged, he learned that for him it was more important to pass his knowledge on than to try to keep it all for himself. Figured it's the least I could do to try to do the same, though I'm not a fraction of the fisherman he was. My theory is that the fishing gene skips every other generation (my grandpa wasn't all that great either, but my son is pretty stinking good). But I have just as much passion for it as he did and if I can help someone just starting out, I'll do so. I couldn't possibly care less if they are a member of the site, guest, lurker, spin fisherman, whatever. The more people fishing, the better. If that pisses some people off, so be it. I can live with that. Oh, and Taco and FFFairx-I promise I'll never bring anyone to any of your spots if you show them to me. Double pinky swear!!

I still don't get most of the concern here. I fish a not unknown body of water near here. In 3 years of going there, I've had someone parked there exactly once, ran into people twice. I haven't had anyone in my favorite Bow spot, here in the city, in at least 10 trips. I went down south last week, on opening day. I stopped at 4 or 5 different locations. Saw one car, no people. I did have to drive past some random campers though. Anyway, seems like a tempest in a teapot to me.

Picture of the year.

Funny you should mention golf Mike. I played in a tournament last week and my game actually came around. One round in the mid 70s, and actually played better on the scramble day. Might be playing a lot more golf this summer, which will drop the number of fishing reports around here substantially!! (but in my defense I almost never give locations, particularly down south).

Who exactly is the other side? Are we competing with someone I am unaware of?

Tim, I don't think anyone could land you with a 6 wt! That is awesome footage. Gives me ideas for shark fishing........

Korker Guide Wading Boots. Actually, I got them for myself a couple of months ago. When my wife heard what they cost she said "happy fathers day!" I was hoping she had forgotten, but not so much.

I don't think very many people actually say the names of the small water they fish (though there have been some recent discussions). If someone gets some creek background in a shot and you recognize it, you shouldn't assume others do. And if they do recognize it, that only means they've fished that body of water several times in the past and already know it fishes well. You do see people talking about the Oldman, Linvingstone, Crow, Castle system, etc., but those are hardly secrets. And discussion of access? Well I guess I can see where some would have issues, but really all you have to do is pick up Barry Mitchell's book to learn all the access you are likely to ever need, though I imagine he made a lot of locals mad. I for one am very glad he did. To me, I think that it is our duty to share our passion for the sport. Talking about fishing trips, how they went, techniques we used and places we went, spoken of typically in generalities, helps us do that. I certainly recognize that this could mean someone is fishing water I want to fish from time to time. But I think that is a exceedingly small price to pay if our discussion of fishing has inspired others to learn to enjoy the sport. Over the past several years I have used this board and it's members to teach me how to fish this river in particular, and how to fly fish in general. I'm sure I'm not the only one. To not share information I've learned with other members would be wrong. (and guito, I don't know if you directed your post at me, nor am I in any way offended by it!!) All that said, I know of a couple of creeks myself that if I ever saw them written in print anywhere, I would be pretty choked. Guess that makes me a bit of a hypocrite.

As I continue to beat the dead horse....... In my humble opinion, there is a misconception about the line being "straight" from the flies to the indi. Maybe castuserraticus can comment on this, but the vertical currents in the river are NOT uniform, nor is your fly and indicator always in the same current seam. So much like your fly line on top of the river drifting at different speeds and causing slack and drag, so can your leader. In the simplest case, which is slower water on bottom, faster on top, your leader will be in an arc. In my mind, you can think of it as somewhat like a sail. The effect of too much leader is the arc of the sail is greater. When a fish hits, the arc will immediately start to straighten (and the indi will start to slow) and eventually stop. If you have ninja like reflexes, you will notice the slowing immediately and set. If you don't notice the slowing, you may miss the strike entirely. However, if your leader were shorter, you would see the slowing and stopping sooner and have a better chance of catching the fish. I was fishing with a guide down south last year. He told me a story of being out with a friend fishing below a cliff. The guide had climbed the cliff to look at the water upstream. He looked down and could see the fish his buddy was drifting over. He watched several takes (he could see the fish move on the flies) and asked his friend "why aren't you striking?" "Striking at what?" So the guide watched the indi when he saw a take and the indi did not even bobble before the fish spit. The initial fix was to tell his friend when to strike. The real fix? He shortened his leader length to one more appropriate to the depth they were fishing. Problem solved. When I fish with this particular guide on small waters, his indi to top fly is never longer than 3 to 4 ft. Leader length is not the be all end all. It is also not the most important piece of the puzzle. Those would be fishing where fish are likely to be, presentation, drag free drifts, and fly selection among others. If you are in a boat, I agree that it would be counter productive to change leader length based on exactly where your boat is at any one moment. But if you are walking and fishing a run systematically, to say leader length does not matter is just not correct. Can you catch fish with it too long? Of course you can. But you'll catch more if you have it the right length.