toolman

I caught him with my bare hands...Just like the Turtleman does it...

The thing I never mentioned before, is my secret landing/photographing technique for handling big fish. If you look closely, below the trout's tail, you will see a set of hemostats between my fingers... That's my secret weapon...You see, this big Broonie was actin' up while I was trying to pose with him, so I clamped my hemo's down hard on his balls and he settled right down for the pic...

How bout' this one...both the trout and I, are ON the rocks...

It's too bad that the leader of the Bloc, Gilles Duceppe, is not a federalist, as he is definetly the best of the lot of them... Then I'd vote for him in the next Federal Erection, which will be soon...The Bloc is sitting in the "House of Morons", laughing their asses off, watching the Conservatives, NDP and Liberals, rip each other too shreds...Smart guy that Duceppe... I like him...

You can still shoot line with traditional lines, but the idea is too match the length of the head to the fishing distances required and avoid/minimize line stripping. As Headscan mentioned, I too find the most use for my Scandi lines, for fishing Lakes, rivers and streams. For the Bow, my Skagit heads get used on very windy days at times and in high water run off in the spring, when using large, heavy flies/sink tips. I like to use mid belly lines for swinging small flies and drys, in the low, clear water conditions of summer/fall fishing and just for the pleasure of casting long lines. The majority of the time, I use my Scandi Heads which easily adapt too the majority of fishing conditions.

Hey Gordon, To be more specific, I will assume that these lines are to be matched too your TFO Pro 6126 Rod. I can tell you what I like, as I also own this same Spey rod... My recommendations for Traditional mid belly lines, (48'-51' head lengths), would be Rio Windcutter, Airflo 6/7 Delta Spey or CND Gps 5/6. For Scandi heads (32'-33'), with 10' Polyleaders/tips, I would suggest the Vison Ace 6/7. Skagit lines for this rod, I would use 400grains - 420 grains, 23'-25' head length, such as the Airflo Skagit Compact, SA Single Hand Skagit, Rio Skagit etc... All of these lines will perform well on your Spey rod and it is just a matter of personal preference.

Carefull boys, he's from the rock...it may be a trap...LOL...or maybe he's just another Cod Jiggin' fish whacker...who knows? errr...Welcome to the site! LOL...

LOL...Sage advice Gill...but hopefully he does not attempt any two hand overhead casts too start with. Al, you might want to pay close attention to your anchor positions and stick to Double Speys with Perry Pokes to line things up nice and straight too the target and keep it on the safe side...at least untill you get warmed up and get a handle on the way your rig casts with big weight... Watch out for low flying hardware on the Circle cast...It's been known to shear off a few rod tips. Have fun and duck if you have too!

When switching out the heads, leave the running line threaded through the guides so that you don't have to re-thread the new head. Then throw the new line downstream in some current on the dangle, to take the twists out of the line. Also, wrapping the heads back on too spools will help keep them from twisting up. Your running line should have a large loop at the end to pass the coiled up heads/spool through it, which makes it easy to change the heads.

You can nymph with a Skagit line or a Mid belly line, but I prefer to use Scandi lines as they are ideal in head length for the working distances and have finer tapers. I sometimes use an Airflo NW Skagit head, which is a little longer and has a finer front taper than a regular Skagit head, if the wind starts to blow. A regular Skagit head or Compact can work with a 10'/15' floating tip. Lines that are most suitable for nymphing, are very much like the lines used for dead drifting dry fly's... Finer tapers, high floatation, allowing for clean mends, presentations etc...

You will also need a Scandinavian Shooting head if you plan on nymphing with your new Spey rod. A Vision Ace 6/7 Scandi head, with a 10' floating polyleader, really rocks on the Multi 7120.

That may be why casters are really graining it up with the Skagits heads, too get down too the power in the rods lower sections...I have a similar situation with my 7116 which is a bit soft in the tip. When lined very lightly, it throws real nice loops with Scandi heads, but it needed a lot more grains to Skagit cast well, to get the rod loading from the butt. With your current line set up at 480grains, the soft tip may not be giving you the sensitivity to time your casts, place your anchors and load your rod consistently. Loading the rod deeper may help with that.

It seems those rods (7136), like to be loaded deep for Skagit casting, then they really let loose... It might take 550 grains or even more, to get it blasting out there with longer T-14 tips.

I catch Broonies on the Bow, bigger n' that...I'm just too modest to be postin' em' on the net like you guys... Wait till Hawg and I come up there to fish with you next year...We'll be schoolin' you in the fine art of "beachin"...

Which rods and compact heads are you using, Al?

HAWGWASH...

Mykiss, it's a deal... fishin' for Steel next fall... ps. I'm not angry at all, in fact I had a big grin on my face as I typed every word...

You guys are preachin' to the choir boys...I know how Brian handles and lands fish as I have fished with him many, many times. To suggest that he is unskilled, unethical and is doing it all wrong, is HAWGWASH... Some guys just don't seem to like anglers posting pics of their beloved Steelhead on fishing sites such as this one... If you are looking to lecture, just head over to that other BC Spey site and check out the pics posted...Lots of fish on the dry rocks over there...Should keep you fella's busy for the winter... Now lets watch the video one more time...I see the angler pull the fish into the shallows, where it is quickly tailed.... I don't see any injuries or head slammin going on, as they have the fish completely under control... A quick video still is taken...Fish quickly swims away when released...Looks like a perfect landing/release to me...

As DutchDryfly described...a perfect landing... When the fish is brought into the shallow water, it loses its tail power, quickly becomes disorientated and surrenders. I land all of my fish using this method. I can land them faster than waiting untill they flip on their side in exhaustion and then tailing/netting them in deeper water. The species is irrelevant...This is the method I learned 20 years ago when learning to flyfish for Atlantic Salmon/Sea Trout...Atlantics can run up to 50+lbs. on the Restigouche river, where I grew up and this is the standard method used to land these giant fish as quickly as possible, so it should be no problem to use this method for these little Steelies... In this video, the guide attempts to tail the fish, but spooks it and the water is deep enough for the fish to use it's tail to escape. Then the angler quickly pulls the fish into shallow water and it's over immediately...a perfect landing. In the end, it's all Catch and Release, so it's all good whether you use a net, tail them in a foot of water or bring them into shallow water to tail them...Fisherman should use the method that they are most confident and comfortable with. The fish will be fine...

Awesome report Brian...Of course the phone calls from the shoreline were equally thrilling and thanks for sharing those with me...Pretty exciting stuff when you are dancing with these beauties...

I'll bet that by the end of the first meeting, I will have everyone convinced that they need to bring several Spey rods with them when they go fishing...and at least a dozen lines, too...

I think you may be right, Jeffro...I'm just really surprised how big those marmots are...

Nice vid Jay...and you just had a close encounter with the devil...that was indeed a young wolverine.

Rick, you know you wanna....Besides, you can get started for about $500 bucks, even less if you buy experienced gear... Then, later on you will spend 10'$ of thousand$ when you really get into it...I can't see the problem...