I Am A Convert

[Jayhad]

So I have been fighting the urge to use my Spey rod on the Bow. I have a 9wt 13'2" and I always thought it was to big, plus I hated teh scandi line i have on it as I bought it to huck streamers. 420flyfisherman has teh same rod as me and hes has been doing well chucking nymph rigs. After fishing with Bhurt, my eyes were opened and I decided to start using my spey again. Well today I took it out and had a great time. I missed several fish as I found with such long casts I had a good amount of slack in my line, but I am working on that. I did happen to score a nice 20" brown to hand though, so all in all a great day to cast bombs.

Thanks Spey community

 

Jay

[Mikey]

Yeah thanks for letting me cast your guys now I gotta get one. Anyone got a good deal?

[jayjjones11]

doesn't the 9 weight spey make stupidly quick work of a 20" brown?

 

Just wondering, as a 9 weight spey will beat a 30+" steelhead extremely quickly..

[toolman]

doesn't the 9 weight spey make stupidly quick work of a 20" brown?

 

Just wondering, as a 9 weight spey will beat a 30+" steelhead extremely quickly..

 

Sure, a 9wt. two hander will handle a 20" brown with ease, but it will still put a good bend in your rod. But, it's not all about the fight and for myself, it's mostly about enjoying the Spey fishing/casting experience. I need to be able to cast too where the fish are holding and control the fly presentation as well...I know of many fishing situations/opportunities on the Bow where long casts are needed to reach prime lies that hold large trout...It's tough to reach those lies and control a drift properly without the use of a longer, more powerfull rod.

Not all of the trout in the Bow will be holding along the edges of the shorelines, as is commonly believed, but in fact on many days, the majority of the fish in the river will be holding along the edges of the main Thalwag...waaaayyyy out there...

Personally, I love fishing these mid river lies, from the shoreline, just for the challenge.

 

Here's a pic of a nice Broon that I caught in January 08', the first time that I used my new

Loop 14' 9wt...I had caught a glimpse of him rising out in the chop... It took a 100'+ cast to reach this fish...

A few swing presentations later....Wham...what a great fish, a great memory and a sweet rod too.

 

[jayjjones11]

You're telling me: that a fish of that size was rising in january, aka to midges, in choppy water (midges, mid-river and choppy water...odd) and yet making noticeable enough of a rise to be spotted at 100+ feet, as we all know, a big fish will make the smallest of rises....impressive eyes..

 

 

I get your opinion though, and i value your input.

 

Guess i'm just one for feeling the fish fight, could be the time i've spent in Florida for tarpon, which i've caught on 9 weights, which is why i was a little taken aback from the line size previously mentioned

 

BTW, pretty fish. 23"?

 

[toolman]

Yes, rising too winter midges in the mid river chop...I only saw a small black speck rise in the trough and knew it was a large trout as well. Amazing what we can see, when we look. This broon taped a little over 26".

[jayjjones11]

and a hundred plus foot cast huh

[toolman]

Yep...My Loop 9140 Blueline will easily throw 100'ers till the cows go home.

[jayjjones11]

That would be a good idea Hydropsyche. It took a 90' cast with a 14' sink tip, using my 14' 9wt. two hander, to reach that Brown. He briefly came up to the surface, way out in the riffles and I just saw a fin slice the water, but it looked like a big trout. And it was....

 

 

So, was it a 90 foot, or 100+... (note date of the quote above)

 

I had caught a glimpse of him rising out in the chop... It took a 100'+ cast to reach this fish...

 

 

I only saw a small black speck rise in the trough

was it a tiny speck rise, or a fin slicing the water? A difference one would think..

 

 

 

Sorry to stir the *hit, just bringing some further context to your post..

 

i think i need to fish more (and missing florida with the incoming weather report)

 

Maybe i'll ask for a spey casting lesson once it warms up, if you'll still accept me

 

 

Jason

 

 

ps. My 9 foot 9 weight T&T can cast 90-100 feet all day long too...

 

[toolman]

Hey, it may have been 90', but memory says 100'+ and who really cares...the point is, sometimes a larger rod is needed to reach where the fish are holding and I enjoy trying to catch them when they hold in difficult spots. Spey lessons, sure.

[Guest 420FLYFISHIN]

yes a 9ft 9 wt will chuck a hundred ft but what about when your up against a 7 or 8 ft river bank with a big birch tree behind you? This is where the spey comes into play. It enables you to reach things where you cant get a conventional back cast in.

 

This is what prompted Jay to bring his out.

 

I undersand what your saying about not feeling much of a fight through the BIG stick but we all have to make sacrifices. When i want the fight i bring out my 2 wt and hit small streams, you his a 16inch bow on that and you gots your self a fight.

 

Mr. Jones if you want to come and give the stick a try Jay and I are heading out on Saterday. There is allways room for 1 more on this big river.

[headscan]

yes a 9ft 9 wt will chuck a hundred ft but what about when your up against a 7 or 8 ft river bank with a big birch tree behind you? This is where the spey comes into play. It enables you to reach things where you cant get a conventional back cast in.

 

This is what prompted Jay to bring his out.

 

I undersand what your saying about not feeling much of a fight through the BIG stick but we all have to make sacrifices. When i want the fight i bring out my 2 wt and hit small streams, you his a 16inch bow on that and you gots your self a fight.

 

Mr. Jones if you want to come and give the stick a try Jay and I are heading out on Saterday. There is allways room for 1 more on this big river.

Yeah, but I think his point was that a 9 wt two hander is overkill for trout on the Bow - most guys use them for king salmon. You can get lighter two-handed rods all the way down to a 4 wt, which are a lot more fun for trout. Also, you can always spey cast a single-handed rod in a situation like you describe. Anyway, fish how you like.

[JMasson]

I don't feel the need to use a two hander, in Alberta, that is heavier than a #6. You don't need to cast 15' of T14 and a 100+' cast is definitely not the norm for any trout fishing situation...I don't care how big the river is. If you're using a 14' tip, on the Bow, then you're definitely over-doing it. I'd say 6-8' of T14 would get you to the bottom pretty much anywhere on the Bow....with the possible exception of spring run-off. You also don't need a double hand rod to perform a spey cast. I spey cast with my single hand rods, in fact, all of my single hand rods are set up with custom heads so I can either overhead or spey cast with any of them.

[birchy]

yes a 9ft 9 wt will chuck a hundred ft but what about when your up against a 7 or 8 ft river bank with a big birch tree behind you? This is where the spey comes into play. It enables you to reach things where you cant get a conventional back cast in.

 

This is what prompted Jay to bring his out.

 

I undersand what your saying about not feeling much of a fight through the BIG stick but we all have to make sacrifices. When i want the fight i bring out my 2 wt and hit small streams, you his a 16inch bow on that and you gots your self a fight.

 

Mr. Jones if you want to come and give the stick a try Jay and I are heading out on Saterday. There is allways room for 1 more on this big river.

 

Right. Because I'll whip your @ss if you stick me with a hook!

[bhurt]

I don't think there is much loss in the fight personally while using a 9wt, but each to his own.

 

I had a very nice size brown (I don't talk sizes cause there is always someone out there that says diffrently) that initally took off to the center of the river and some very fast moving water, and with the bag in the line from the current in the water it diffently gave me a good fight.

 

Jayjones, just curious but why all the questions when it looks like to me that you already know the answers to your questions?

 

In closing what I tell everyone is try a bunch of diffrent sticks out, in diffrent sizes and diffrent weights to find the one that suits YOU the best.

 

Personally I like a good fight but I much rather get the fish in to shore as quickly as possible so I can release the fish as quick as possible that way someone else some other time can have the chance of getting that fish also. Big long fights tend to kill fish, even though they may release great but they can go somewhere hide behind a rock and not feed for a long time, thus allowing them to die.

 

But like I said before, each to his own.

[Jayhad]

maybe the 9 wt is to big for the bow...... i am not going to make that decision as I have met a few guys that use 9wts double handers on the bow

 

I bought the rod for Steelhead, bulls and other larger fish..... but I only BOUGHT 1 spey rod. I originally thought the rod was to big for the bow as well but after meeting a few guys that use the 9wt on the bow I figured I would give it try. Is it wrong.... i don't think so anymore, ideally I would be using a 11'6" 6wt but I don't have one spey rod. the nice thing about the 9 wt is the fish is in, off the hook, and back in the water quickly.

 

JMasson I could show you a few places in Alberta where you NEED 15' of T14 for 30"+ fish, but none I have found are on the Bow.

 

 

[headscan]

From a different thread...

Max, that's awesome. Ive used a 3wt on the Bow for dries for years.. and landed fish just as fast as anyone using heavier sticks, and also breaking FAR fewer off. The old FFA board used to slam me so bad for that. Good to see people are waking up these days

The same holds true with a two-handed rod, unless you guys are saying Brian is full of it. Landing fish faster doesn't seem to be a valid argument here. Like I said, fish how you like, but don't try to make it sound like those of us using lighter tackle are somehow mistreating the fish to justify your use of heavy gear.

[Jayhad]

I never said people were mistreating fish by using lighter tackle, I said it was easier with the 9 wt. My justification for using my 9wt, is because that's what I have.

 

Wow man this thread is just another reason not to post here anymore, everyone has opinion on how others are fishing "wrong."

 

Some of you dudes realy need to get out on the water and away from the computer.

[JMasson]

JMasson I could show you a few places in Alberta where you NEED 15' of T14 for 30"+ fish, but none I have found are on the Bow.

 

 

Ok, you misinterpret. I was talking about the 100' cast, not the weight and length of the tip. Although, the longest tip I have used when fishing for trout is 10' of T14 and I feel pretty confident that I would reach the bottom of 99% of holes in any trout stream with that much weight.

[bhurt]

From a different thread...

 

The same holds true with a two-handed rod, unless you guys are saying Brian is full of it. Landing fish faster doesn't seem to be a valid argument here. Like I said, fish how you like, but don't try to make it sound like those of us using lighter tackle are somehow mistreating the fish to justify your use of heavy gear.

 

First of all Mark I think you need to re-read my post, where did I say using a lighter rod kills the fish I was talking about the length of the fight and not the size of the rod. Like I said I I PERSONALLY LIKE TO LAND THE FISH QUICKLY SO I CAN RELEASE THE FISH QUICKER.

 

Also I said at the very end EACH TO HIS OWN.

 

Edit: Here is what is said in my post: Big long fights tend to kill fish, even though they may release great but they can go somewhere hide behind a rock and not feed for a long time, thus allowing them to die.

 

And btw talking to a biologist I was informed that long hard fight on fish causes them to build up ectroacids (I think that is what he said) which can cause fish to die.

[Guest 420FLYFISHIN]

i mainly like the feel of the casting, it feels like a big ass brod sword. I too only picked up the 9 wt for bc and bulls but its just more fun casting then a single hand fly rod. You keep your flys in the water 3x longer because you dont have to make all the false cast to get in line, its just double spey and your in.

 

youd think you can make it to the bottem but it doesnt allways work like that, there are a few places where even 14 wont make it down with out some extra help.

 

but all in all im starting to go with you Jay, every time something is posted by some one under 1000 post is flamed to death. We called these poeple "chair softers" on the airsoft forum. So now im going to dring up "chair casters" for all those who just pick appart post and dont actually fish.

[toolman]

Ahhh don't sweat it boys...go fish and have fun. I catch more fish in one year than most of these guys will in their lifetimes, so why would I care if they try and tell me I've got it all wrong.

I have a great time on all of my fishing adventures and that's all that is important too me.

[birchy]

My dink is bigger..

[toolman]

You got a 9wt Birchy? ....

[reevesr1]

My dink is bigger..

 

Yeah, but you probably use it wrong.