butch ammons
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For freshwater I use a Cabela’s 3 Forks 7.6″ 3wt with an old Martin 63 “tuna can” reel. Light and easy.
For saltwater I load my pontoon or yak up with several rods for quick change of different flies.
Orvis Clearwater 8wt with an Okuma 7/8 with 9wt line.
Shakespeare 8′ fiberglass with a ’60s Pfluegar 1495 1/2 with 8wt sink tip.
J.C. Higgins 8’6″ fiberglass with another Pfluegar 1495 1/2 with 7wt floating line.
Rainshadow RX7 6wt that I got from Carter Simcoe with yet another Pfluegar 1495 1/2.The fiberglass rigs cost a total of $20-$30 each including the reels. I have 5 of the Pluegars and a dozen or so spools for them that I got off ebay for a total of about $100. I have a bunch of the Martins set up with different lines. I spend more on line than I do reels and rods..
I start with a new tapered leader, then when it gets shorter from tying on flies, I tie a no slip mono loop at about 6.5′ and then add tippet just using a clinch knot. I will usually add several tippets before the leader gets replaced. I keep an eye on the bargain sections of Orvis, SierraTradingPost, and Cabela’s websites. I recently bought 30 Orvis tapered leaders for .29 each, and several dozen 7.5′ bonefish leaders for .75 each. I’m set for several years..
I just picked up a Cabela’s Three Forks 7’6″ 3wt for $29 on sale. Great rod at many times that price. It’s all I used this past weekend on the Little Mo.
A friend of mine has had good results using a weighted olive woolie bugger with a little flash in it. What he learned is that by letting it sink to the bottom, then making short strips about one minute apart works. It’s excruciatingly slow, but it catches carp.
This one was big on a 4 wt. He went back to the same gravel pit with an 8wt and caught a 27 incher:
I too have been bitten by the old fly gear collecting bug. Probably just because I am cheap. I have a bunch of old Pfluegars which I got off ebay. I use 1495’s for my 6-8wts and have several extra spools loaded with different lines. For my 3 wt, I use a Martin “tuna can” clicker, which weighs about 3 ozs. Models 60-63 are all similar, the 60 being the smallest. I picked up several of them for less than $10 each shipped on ebay.
Be careful, you are going down a slippery slope. I’ll see you at the bottom.
