greg mitchell
Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
I don’t believe Zach stated that brown trout are native to North America. He stated “we don’t have native browns here” (meaning North America).
Greg
Mike the Simms guide waders are too pricey for me too but I still bought a pair of Simms.
I went with the lightweights and they have lasted me 3 + years (so far) with no problems. This was after going through a pair of less expensive ($100) waders every year for 3 years. My wife has a pair of the Simms Freestones which are not gore tex but have worked very well for her also.
I’m a firm believer in the quality of simms products. I have their guide vest, rivertek boots, etc. None of these items have ever let me down.
Greg
I’m far from an expert but I have been fly fishing for many years and I also own a lot of reels ;D so I’m going to throw in my .02
You can certainly get by with a cheaper reel. Many work very well. But when you step up in price you generally get better fit and finish, durability, and a better drag. At least up to a certain point.
I think most would agree the best reels are machined aluminum. The good ones ($100 and up) are darned near bulletproof. I’ve got a teton tioga that I’ve dropped multiple times onto rocks and concrete and all it does is scratch it a bit. Try that with most cast reels or polycarbonate reels and they tend to break or bend (I’ve done it).
Drag: Zach wrote a very nice article on fly reel drag systems. I fish mainly for trout but even for trout on my local tailwater a good drag has enabled me to land fish I don’t think would be possible with a lesser drag. Whenever I hook a bigger fish on 7X or even a decent fish when the river is up and flowing hard – a smooth, adjustable, and reasonably powerful drag is worth it’s weight in gold.
Just my opinion but quality reels start at about $100 and go up from there. There are several in the 100 to $200 range that should last a lifetime and perform as well as the most expensive reels out there.
Greg
I subscribe to American Angler and Fly rod and reel. I like them both but like american angler the best. I also pick up a copy of the freebie Fly Fish America every month at my local fly shop. I have to say I like it almost as well as American Angler. For a “free” magazine (and I’m sure a limited budget) they do a good job. Even their gear reviews are done well in my opinion.
Greg
I use indicators a lot when I nymph on my local tailwaters. For years I used those lightning strike football indicators with the gasket in the middle. They work really well. But they are a bit on the expensive side – about a buck each. And they do tend to slip after a few hours and the gasket gives out.
But this last year I’ve been using “bait rig floats” from netcraft. I use the smallest size. They have a hole in the middle and to secure them I use a standard toothpick cut down in size and coated with clear nail polish so it doesn’t swell and absorb water. Seems like a lot of trouble but they are cheap (about ten cents each) light, cast well, durable, and easily repositioned. They are small and light enough they don’t seem to scare the fish either.
I can’t take credit for them though. There was an article in a fly fishing magazine by Art Scheck about using these floats as indicators. Here’s the Netcraft link to the floats:
http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/baitrigflt/315200.aspx
Greg
This is an interesting discussion. I’ve enjoyed everyone’s replies. I voted “gear freak” because I am. I fish mainly for trout and I’ve always maintained that you do need some type of adjustable and fairly smooth drag if you fish for trout and large (20″ and above) trout are a good possibility. Just a click drag or a coarse uneven drag – and you are just asking for trouble in my opinion.
But I’ve caught trout over 20″ on a pflueger medalist. But for a cheap reel (even the ones made overseas) – the medalist is fairly smooth and adjustable.
But I just like the look of a finely machined reel with a super smooth drag. I have a copper colored Ross Rhythm that I’m really partial to currently. It’s beautiful but also extremely functional. I don’t know if at $220 it qualifies as a high end reel or not. It is the most expensive reel I currently own.
Just my .02
Greg
I own a # of rods – mostly trout rods. My 2 current favorites:
5 wt Sage SLT (8.5 ft) with a Ross Rhythm (copper anodized) reel
5 wt St. Croix Avid (custom built)with a Teton Tioga reelI have to disagree with the negative comments about custom rods. I like them. It just depends on what you want. And my St. Croix Avid was bought from an auction off of ebay. The workmanship on it is superior to any factory built rod I have seen. And all 3 of the custom rods I have are very well done and none of them were done by a famous or well-known builder.
Greg
I have a Sage SLT which is my current favorite rod and I have wondered the same thing about the newer rods with the glass “scrim” replaced with graphite – if it effects the durability.
I’ve never heard that about Sage rods not being durable? I’ve got a friend that owns a fly shop and he has told me just the opposite. When I was thinking about buying an SLT – he in fact told me that he’s never had a customer break one of those except by accident (car door, etc).
Greg
My current version of the perfect all around go to trout rod is a 5 wt Sage SLT. I’ve only had it a few months but I really like it. It suits my casting style perfectly. I find a really fast action rod (XP, Zaxis) tiring to use and just not that pleasant. To me the SLT has that perfect balanced action. It’ll cast tiny dries and weighted streamers equally well.
Construction and hardware is first class. They did recently stop making it but you can still find them out there. I’ve not cast the replacement for it – the ZXL? But I have looked at them. I think they are very similar to the SLT.
Greg
I’ve been to the Norfork a couple of times this year including just a few weeks ago. Both times we went we intended to fish the White as well – but heavy generation kept us on the Norfork. We did pretty well at the Norfork our last trip out (Oct 7). Nothing huge but good numbers of some decent fish (rainbows and browns). Small beadhead nymphs worked well for us.
The previous day we helped with the annual youth conclave on dry run creek. What a blast that was!!
Greg
You are welcome. But I was actually glad to find the pattern. I plan to tie a few up myself. It looks like a pattern that would work well on my local tailwaters.
Greg
I found it. Here is the link. Looks like a good pattern.
http://www.flyfishpa.net/2003_Reports/Reports_Aug03.htm
Greg
Over the years I’ve had in my possession or tried vises from Thompson, Griffin, Renzetti, and HMH. Until recently I thought I had found my last vise in the HMH spartan. It’s a very good vise.
But then a couple of years ago a friend of mine that owns our local fly shop let me try a Peak vise. After tying a few flies on it I was sold. I dumped (sold) the HMH and bought one. What do I like about the Peak vise? Pretty much everything – It’s rock solid, very smooth rotary action. and a “positive stop” cam lever. It has different sized jaws available (for extra $$) but I haven’t needed them. I tie #6’s down to #22’s and it holds all of that range rock solid with very little adjustment needed even when going from a #10 to a #20. The only thing I didn’t like about it were some of the plastic/delrin screws. But Peak sells a brass screw upgrade (just a few bucks) so that’s not really and issue.
It’s even relatively inexpensive compared to other similar true rotary vises. I would have paid twice the price though and still considered it a bargain.
Greg
Yes I did know it was their top of the line blank. The much cheaper RX6 was good enough that I wondered how their better blanks cast. Sounds like they cast pretty well.
Greg
Bob – have you cast it yet? I was just wondering how it performs. Beautiful work. I built a Baston RX6 for my son a few years ago. The blank was ridiculously cheap and cast very well.
Greg
Rusty – was it Rio fluoro? I had exactly the same thing happen last year. I was using a spool of 7X Rio fluoro and as I got down towards the end of the spool – it was very brittle and snapped way too easily. It was probably just an anomaly (I think Rio makes very good products) but I did switch to Orvis fluoro (it’s a little cheaper) and I have not had a problem since.
Greg
Bryan
I’ve recently been hit by the glass bug too. A couple of months ago I picked up a fenwick 7.5 6 wt from ebay. I’ve fished it a couple of times and it casts and fishes very well. It’s a keeper. I also recently bid on a 8 ft 6 wt fenwick. I didn’t bid much and didn’t expect to win but I did. It seems like a good rod too and I look forward to fishing it as well.
It’s my opinion that you get the best $$ value from the mid priced models. I went the cheap breathable route for a while. We have a Bass Pro in town and for several years I bought their $90 breathables. I think they are made by Hodgman. They lasted me about a year or roughly 50 fishing days before they would develop multiple leaks. A couple of years ago my wife bought me the mid priced Simms lightweight waders. I think they were a little over $200. So they are going on 2 years old and roughly 100 fishing days. No sign of trouble yet.
I just don’t think Simms products can be beat for quality and longevity. I’ve slowly over the last 5 years switched to Simms waders, boots, and vest. Nothing they make has let me down yet.
Greg
