lethfisher

I just took out the line and stretched it out a bit and it seems fine inside so I am thinking it doesn't do so well in the cold. If this stupid weather would finally cooperate I could test that theory lol Also for anyone that has the green shooting head 40+, do your fingers turn all green after fiddling with it?? I am sure it will go away the more I use it but its kinda funny for now. Check out my gloves after fishing today and stripping in the line a bunch lol

I'll second that about the coiling... Went out today with brand new 40+ extreme distance and holy crap does the shooting head coil. The running line was great but man when I was fishing in close I was having troubles shooting any line because the coils would hang up somewhere in the guides. I will say thought that it was cold out and there was a bit of ice on the guides so that might have hindered it a bit but still... Once the whole head was outside the guides it seemed fine and the water seemed to straighten it out which I liked. Does new line have like a "break in period" before it becomes straighter?? I am using this line after using sharkskin on a 5wt which has like zero memory as well and if it does coil you can just stretch it in your hands and it will go straight again. I was trying that with this line and it helped a bit but not really...

Bear course today!! 7-8:30 at Mec I'll be there, young guy with a black hat on...

When you are swinging flies do you mend the line at all? Should your line be above the fly in the current or when you swing it do you make like a backwards 'J' and when the line straightens out the fly swings through quickly at the end??

Ya I really like how well it works and how easy it is to do. My 5wt was pretty fun for the smaller stuff so my switch will probably work a lot better. I was always starting far out then slowly working in close but after watching a couple videos it looks like I should be doing exact opposite. Start close and work outwards from the bank until you can't cast any further then walk a bit lol

Ya I have that and I used a sharpie to make it a bit longer so I can see it better. After casting for a day or two with it I should have an idea of the head length and shouldn't have to rely on just the marker as much. Hopefully... lol

I was watching a Henrik Mortensen DVD where he was fishing salmon with his double hander with dry flies skating them along the surface. He kept talking about a "hitch fly" It looks a lot like a tube fly and I researched it a bit to find it's just a knot you can put on behind the eye of the hook to promote the fly lifting and skating along the surface. Has anyone used this at all?? He says in the movie it would be effective for trout as well. I am guessing skating caddis along the surface maybe? Here is a link to page talking about it a bit more http://www.faqs.org/fly-fishing/Pe-Si/Riff...Waking-Fly.html And here is a page that sells the actual flies http://www.rifflehitch.com/default.asp?pag...n&valfl=167

Unless you're colour blind like me!!! I went and picked up the Airflo 40+ extreme distance line and of course the only colour they have is green head and yellow running line which pretty much look the same to me!! I had to sharpie a bigger black part where the shooting head switches to running line to see the change better. I liked how the opti stream went from yellow to white, much better The guys in fish tales said there is someone that works there that has the exact same problem lol

I got a new WIN card online because I lost mine in the move to Calgary apparently... I printed off the receipt with all the info on it and they said an actual card is coming in 4 weeks so right around new season starting. I am going to try to buy my license in the store though. Question about the WIN cards, do you need to carry this with you on the river?? I have only been taking my actual license for awhile now? When the conservation dudes ask for your license do they need to see the WIN as well? Thanks!

After fishing the Bow with my 8 wt (with a fighting butt) and hooking into a decent brown I can now see why a fighting butt is a good idea!!! My bow rod definitely needs a fighting butt. Also I was doing some sweet switch casts with it which was pretty fun.

What do you guys think of fighting butts on single handed trout rods?? Whatever weight of rod, do you have a preference and would you buy or not buy a rod based on the fighting butt? Do they add unnecessary weight to the rod? Use them for some switch casting? Do they actually help you land a fish faster? Thanks guys!!

That equinox pack looks like a neat idea... It's kinda like chest pack but not really at the same time. Are you able to wear it with a coat on for winter fishing?? Would you wear it over or under your coat then? I have something similar that I originally bought for a daypack in Europe but it is looking like it could be a pretty slick little fly pack now. It's a MEC pod pack (mines all black) and I think i'll take it out next weekend with me, see how it does.

Hold on, you can double haul a single hand spey cast!!! Awesome haha I am going to learn this next time out. Does this only work for a single spey cast, so are you saying that you haul it in to get the fly to you and set your anchor and then haul it again on the way out!! lol But how does your hauling hand easily travel back up to the rod grip for the second haul without getting a bunch of slack?? There's nothing really to pull the line back out... unless the D-loop is pulling it out... maybe? I ask because just to be clear I know when I do overhead double hauls after you haul it forward the line will naturally pull your hand back up if the backcast is fairly decent allowing you to easily haul the second time around on the forward stroke. Also I may exagerating a bit on 50' I;m not really sure how far that really is lol My apartment is 30' long and I know I can cast it further than that so maybe i'll say between 40 and 50

That was my first day on the Bow and my first time single hand spey casting with my 5wt and it's a 8'6". I can(or used to lol) cast that rod around 70-80 with regular overhead casting and I know how to double haul but you can't double haul a spey cast. I was single hauling it but am not quite sure my timing was right and I need a ton more practice with it anyway. By reach I am meaning a bit more casting distance as well as a bit more mending control after the line. I agree that most fish are caught in close anyways. I have honestly never thrown a 70+ foot cast with the intention of catching anything, I just like chucking it out there. I'm pretty sure it would be impossible to see a small indicator budge when it is that far away anyways.

That looks like a pretty sick rod there bhurt! I'll take one!!! I have Sharkskin on my 5 wt right now and it seemed to work okay for the anchoring on a single hander. I actually found it easier if I didn't even anchor the actual line in the water, rather just my nymph rig and split shots. I have a 5 foot poly leader then 4 more feet of 3X tippet, and I was fishing my indicator maybe 2 feet from the top of the leader so 7 feet was hanging below. Maybe this is a casting technique error but whenever I did a double spey and the indicator anchored the cast wouldn't go as well. You know you flop it in front of you then pick it up around and toss it, and if I tossed it quick enough so the indy wouldn't settle back down and just the nymph rig and split shots were the anchor I could cast really well. As soon as the indy settled back down then it would go kaput lol Luukesh had the Opti Stream line he let me try on my 5wt and it was pretty sweet, You could definitely tell the difference in lines and how the opti wanted to really zip out there with a tighter loop than the sharkskin would. I also liked how it changed from orange to white at the end of the shooting head so you know what your doing. He also had the SA Nymph taper to try out which seemed a little slower than the opti stream. It was a thicker line and you had to slow down the cast almost or wait for a second to form a good loop. The head on it is super long so I could pick up more with the double spey without having to strip any in like the opti. But honestly I found I was better off stripping in more and shooting more than just picking up the whole deal and no shooting. Overall I think I liked the Opti line better For my next setup I am thinking of going for a 6 wt with fighting butt and an Opti Stream line on it, should be perfect for the Bow Thanks for all the advice guys, I appreciate the answering of questions without making me feel dumb haha

After going out once with my 5wt I can definitely see where a bigger rod would be the right tool for the job. I could chuck out my rig fairly decently with the 5wt but definitely not much past i'd say 50 feet if that. With those bigger sticks you can cover more area that's for sure. But then again the fish I caught was like 15 off the shore lol Also before the weekend I was kinda against a fighting butt because my 8wt has it and is annoying but I can see how that could also be useful against the larger fish. I wouldn't mind getting a new rod, probably a 6 wt maybe 9 or 9'6" for that extra reach

If you guys have a fighting butt on say a 6 or 7wt rod have you ever used that fighting butt to use as a grip for your other hand?? I know you're probably not supposed to but just curious if anyone ever does that?

Is this the knot you guys are talking about?? http://www.killroys.com/knots/duncan.htm

Well I am pretty impressed with the voting on this poll!! Lots of people which is awesome! Also interesting that there weren't more votes for the spey rods. I don't know why but I was thinking that there was going to be a ton of people with the spey rods. Pretty overwhelming victory in the 5 and 6wt category that's for sure. I thought that 5wt would be the lowest you would want to go and am surprised by the people using 4 wt and less for the dry flies. Thanks for all who voted!

I thought it would be interesting to make a poll to see what kind of rods you guys use on the Bow. I made it multiple selection so you can check off as many as you like. Right now all I have is a 5wt... The results of this poll won't influence my decision on my next rod at all EDIT: Sweet the poll worked!!!

Hi Marc, I am definitely going to try out my 5wt I have right now. Luukesh has a opti stream line #5 coming in the mail next week and he said he would let me give it a try so I am pretty excited about that. Stephen

I found this article on spey in general but I don't know how much it applies to single handed spey casting. "A medium action rod will suite most average casters the best. The caster can still feel the rod load with a medium action, while faster line speeds can be obtained. The Sage Z-Axis series, the Winston BIIx series, and the Burkhiemer Classics are all good examples of medium action Spey rods. Medium action rods will handle a wide range of casting strokes and line types. Fast action rods are for the angler that demands high line speed from their weapon. Good examples of fast action Spey rods would be the Echo2 series and the Sage TCR series. These rods really shine with shooting taper style lines. While most folks will struggle with a fast rod, expert casters can command the water with one. That isn’t to say that all experts use fast rods. More times than not, most advanced casters still lean towards a medium to medium fast sticks." Taken from https://steelheadbum.com/store/pc/viewContent.asp?idpage=5 Seems a medium or fast rods are your best bet according to this... I am sure if you are a good caster you should be able to handle any speed.

I am starting to look more at the 6wt 9' to 9'6" range and line it up with a loop stream line or 40+. When looking at buying single handed rods for mainly spey casting is it better to look for a fast action rod or a slower rod that bends further down more like a two handed spey rod. I have read a couple reviews on 6wts that are pretty stiff with fast action, all these reviews say the rods start to shine around 50+ feet when the rod is actually getting bent a bit. This seems like you wouldn't want this for a spey casting rig... Thanks!

That thing looks like a giant turd right at the end lol

I shoulda jumped on that 6 weight TFO Axoim you had earlier luukesh Well I think I'll give it a whirl with my 5wt next time out to see how that works.