Chrome Fever!!!

[cam]

Unsure how to delete thread see" Steelhead..." post. so here's a pic instead

[SilverDoctor]

Unsure how to delete thread see" Steelhead..." post. so here's a pic instead

Sigh....

[monger]

Is it possible to catch these elusive fish by wading with a length challenged 9 foot single handed rod, or is there not enough places to cast with one hand? I think I might be patient enough now to go and cast all day for a few bites.

[Guest Jeremie]

theres definitly room for a one hander i fish steelhead quite a bit every year and use a g loomis 6 wt for em and havn't had one problem just swing some spey flies or egg patterns in the current seam and you should get some hits!

[Mykiss]

Monger,

 

For sure you can catch these "elusive" fish with a 9ft single hander....I have caught many fish within 20 ft from the bank....Even with no back cast room one can manage to roll out a roll cast of 20 ft ish.... That being said the water you can cover with the big stick is unparalled as you cover such a big grid...with very little effort, and no false cast's which=more time your flies in the water=more fish=Good times.. Like the picture also Cam gets me that much more excited for the Valley.

[cam]

Monger,

" That being said the water you can cover with the big stick is unparalled as you cover such a big grid...with very little effort, and no false cast's which=more time your flies in the water=more fish=Good times."

 

Couldn't have said it better, last season I took a die hard single hander with me with previous steelhead experience, He had a grudge against the double hander and refused to pick mine up the entire season while I was swingin for bulls on our home water. By the 3-4th day he was showing a change in attitude and for good reason. Too give you an idea of the difference; My two partners with single hand rods swung their flies through runs first and I would play clean up hitter, we were swinging identical patterns or very similar the majority of the time by the 4th day they were swinging the exact pattern I was using not that it made a difference . The only difference was in presenting the fly to the fish. The single handers were trying to cover water 40 feet out which had them casting near 90 degrees to the flow and mending like it was a mending contest:eek:. This was happening because they were try to cover more water or similar water that I was covering. With the two hander you can quarter down or more and still cover 40+ feet of water with ease and with a perfect slow swing. The guys pitching perpedicular to the river have their flies coming into shore like a freight train . Like Mykiss mentioned while I'm swingin they are false casting=no fish being caught for them. The next major advantage is the ease of pulling 15ft. tips all day long with a two hander. No word of a lie by the 8th day on the water not only did my partner have a new attitude but he had a wreck shoulder as well and spent the entire final day taking pictures except on the final run. Long story short in 8 days my two paretners were the only single handers we seen on the water(I would mention this often ). We were all comparable fisherman with comparable flies and knowlege but the long rod hooked literally 4 times as many fish, I was averaging 4 hook-ups/day and the singles were averaging 1-2 not to mention I was fishing behind both of them 95% of the time. as you can imagine after witnessing the real advantages of a doublehander in it's element these two guys are now very proud owners of a double hander! As Mykiss said you will catch plenty of fish with your single hander providing you are presenting the fly in appropriate manner and not trying to cover water out of your reach. Quarter down and try too acheive the slowest most powerful/intrusive swing you can they will not resist it!!!! focus your casts 20feet out and at least 40 feet down stream then let them rock. One mend When the fly hits only if needed and then don't move your flyline again just follow the fly with your rod tip into shore. You'll soon discover over 50% of your hits will be within 10-15 feet from shore because of this you may need to lighten up your tip abit if you are continually snagging bottom and the best peice of advice I can give is read A Passion for Steelhead by Dec Hogan it is geared towards spey casting too chromers but the knowledge he brings accross in this book is invauable for all steelheaders single or double handed. Dec will shorten the learning curve tremendously for you, and for the veteran he'll present some new ideas. Now it's time to tie up some intruders.....

[Hawgstoppah]

what a great post cam..... I'd often wondered the same thing. I can cast (with double hual) about 60-70ft with my 10ft 6wt bow river rod, but when I was out there I found the water covered was so, soooooooo, much better with a two hander

[monger]

Thanks for the great reply Cam. I'm curious why the spey rod allows for a slower swing? Is it because you can hold the belly of the line out of the water and just fish the sink-tip? That way there is not so much drag on the line ripping the fly around the arc?

What would you recommend for a rod and what type of lines does one need?

 

Now you got me thinking about a trip next year!

 

This year I am stuck with a trip to Langara to fish for Chinooks and Coho. Five more days...

Hopefully SundanceFisher will want to stop trolling long enough to cast some flies to some Coho.

 

Cheers, Rob

[toolman]

Rob,

Try and drop by the next Spey gathering and cast a bunch of rods/line systems, as there is usually a good mix of mid priced too the best of the best rods available, in all actions, for you to try.

[monger]

Thanks Greg, I will have to come and learn some more about this great addiction we call fishing.

[cam]

Thanks for the great reply Cam. I'm curious why the spey rod allows for a slower swing? Is it because you can hold the belly of the line out of the water and just fish the sink-tip? That way there is not so much drag on the line ripping the fly around the arc?

What would you recommend for a rod and what type of lines does one need?

 

Now you got me thinking about a trip next year!

 

This year I am stuck with a trip to Langara to fish for Chinooks and Coho. Five more days...

Hopefully SundanceFisher will want to stop trolling long enough to cast some flies to some Coho.

 

Cheers, Rob

 

 

I'm not a physicist but I'll do my best to explain....

 

When you cast your line perpendicular to the current it pulls the belly of the line further downstream than the fly itself and in essence the fly is racing to catch up too the bellied line for the remainder of the swing until it reaches the natural position of equlibrium at the bottom of the pedulum directly down stream from the rod tip. This is why we mend our fly lines in order to prevent unatural movement of the fly (flies swimming down stream faster than the current). In essence the less fly line you have exposed purpendicularly to the current the slower the line will swing through the pendulum arc. Thus casting 60ft of line accross the river at 90 degrees exposes the entire 60ft perpendicular to the current and thus the swing is fastwer than if you covered the same peice of water at a steeper down stream angle. If you follow the line through the pendulum swing the closer the line comes to it's natural position of equalibrium directly downstream of the rod tip the slower it swings until it finds itself motion less at the dangle. for this simple reason if you are presenting your flyline at such an angle that the flyline is 45 degrees down stream not only are you exposing less line perpendicular to the current but your also utililizing the slowest portion of the pedulum arc. By fishing a much longer line and targeting the same water you will cast at a much steep angle down stream still cover the the water needed. just lay out 10 feet of line in the river and observe the different speed that you fly line swings at when you change your angle of presentation to the current. I'm not sure if you have ever rowed a drift boat but we use the same concept to move our boat accross the current, with a drift boat you point the transom towards your targeted destination and give the oars a pull, without further input from the oars you can speed your arrival time at your destination simply by changing the position(angle) of the boat in relation to the current (exposing more or less of the boat purpendicular to the current. I'm not sure how else to explain this concept with out confusing yourself and myself at the same time as the diclaimer reads above I'm not a physicist.... the best way to wrap your head around this concept is to hit the river pick a target in the river or specific distance (not to far) from shore with even current and start casting and swinging your fly line directly perpendicular from shore each time you start a new swing move up stream 5 ft. and lengthen out your line as needed to target the exact peice of of water you just swung through and repeat this until you are no longer are able to cast enough line to target the same piece of water. During this process you will observe that The swing becomes inceasingly slower the more line you have out and the more line you have out the steeper the angle down stream you will be casting in order to target the same peice of water. I hope this helps and I'm sure we have a phyisicist amongst us that can staighten us all out on the physics behind the swing...

[monger]

Thanks Cam. Your explaination just fleshed out the idea I had put forward about the belly pulling the fly too fast.

I have been rowing my buddy's huge Lavro for 20 years. I understand how the current effects drift boats ( and in this boat's case---the wind!).

Good luck on your quest for more Chrome. I will have to give it a try soon.

[cam]

Thanks Cam. Your explaination just fleshed out the idea I had put forward about the belly pulling the fly too fast.

I have been rowing my buddy's huge Lavro for 20 years. I understand how the current effects drift boats ( and in this boat's case---the wind!).

Good luck on your quest for more Chrome. I will have to give it a try soon.

 

I knew my explaination wasn't that great.... You are correct in the fact that if you alow you line to belly the fly will be chasing it until you hit the dangle. However if you present your fly properly(effectively) there should not be a belly regardless what length of rod and line. It's more about the angle of presentation and the radius of the swing, the fly chasing the belly should be a none issue at all times no matter how long your rod is or how much line you have out. Hold a piece of plywood perpendicular to the current and then begin changing the angle of the board until it is inline with the current(at the dangle) you will soon get a feel for how the force of the currrent changes withthe presentation of the board (flyline). In the following diagram I'll attach I've sketched quickly the difference of presentation it seems subtle but it makes a world of difference. The other major problem with a racing fly is it totaly changes the appearance(presentation) of the fly in the water(slicked back bullet), nothing life like about that. You want the fly's materials undulating, pulseing and looking alive and intrusive in the chromers domain this will trigger a strike. If you row a drift boat you realize that by changing the angle of the boat too the current it changes the rate at which you travel accross the current, after all the boat doesn't change shape(like a bellied fly line) I believe this concept hold true for a a swinging flyline without a belly. So in conclusion I have attached a diagram and you will see the angle change with different lengths of line. I'll quite rambling and you try it out for yourself and you will feel the difference.