Jack Cummings
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Can’t say anything about the rod but we went to his shop in VA this fall.
It’s a pharmacy and a fly shop.
We dubbed it ‘Harrys Bugs ‘n Drugs’!
Cool little shop!This is going to sound kinda self-righteous I know, but what ruined fishing the spawn for me was the feeling like I was hunting in a closed pen.
It does get to me though when my buds post pictures of some of the hawgs they yank out during that the spawn. I know for a fact I could likely get the fish of the year during the spawn but it just doesn’t feel right anymore.
Gettin’ old sucks!Spawning area’s is some places are quite easy to see. The fish will usually fan an area with its tail to clean the gravel for the eggs to nest in. Those redds appear as bright spots on the river (or lake) bottom. These are easily seen in the shallows of lakes and ponds in the spring when ‘gills are mating. In the rivers they can be spotted too. When I lived in Michigan during the salmon run you could see the redd and fish behind it for the steelhead and browns who were waiting for dinner to be served.
The problem with wading is, even though you might avoid tromping on the redd itself, a large quantity of those eggs roll downstream and are easily crushed by the wading angler.
Personally, I would like to see sections of prime spawning area’s closed during the spawn. Many fight this idea because this is their best chance to catch a hawg but it makes for better fishing in the long run IMHO.dmk37363, in and of itself, I don’t think a little wrist flex is neccesarily a bad thing sometimes. Several excellent casters seem to ‘punch’ the line with a little wrist flick at the end of each stroke.
Simply being conscious of what your wrist is doing during the stroke should help. Correct yourself right away if you find yourself straying from a firm wrist. To minimize using the wrist during the main part of the stroke some people buy into those contraptions that strap to their wrist to lock it or even put the rod butt into their shirt sleeve. If all else fails, give that a try though I think of those gizmo’s as crutches that do not teach you the muscle memory needed to correct the problem.
I rather like Lefty’s idea of lining up the tip of your rod, or visualizing, a straight line (power line, building roof) where the rod tip path will be and following that line the best you can. If you use any wrist during the main part of the cast it will usually show as a convex arc in your rod tip path.
One thing I am a strong believer in is visualing and mimicking a good cast even when no rod is in your hand. I think Jason Borger turned me on to that technique for casting but it also worked for me with good success when I used to golf.
Hope this helps! 😉TCR (of course) and Loomis GLX Max Linespeed are two that come to mind. I would throw in a St. Croix Legend Elite and Winston BIIx but no one would believe me!
… I think if you put something like a Rio Grand line on the BIIx… you would have a really versatile light line setup.
That’s something to consider but I found the BIIx’s I own didn’t much care for the Rio Grand. It seemed to overload it way too much. I have to say, when I weighed that particular Grand on a line scale that 6 weight line weighed well over one full line weight heavy. I hope that was an anomoly with Rio because the other lines I have of theirs are as near perfect as I’ve found!
Line choice can get as personal as rod selection. Too bad there doesn’t seem to be a good way to test various lines without robbing a bank!
Th Selective Trout from Rio seems a match made in Heaven for a couple of my BIIx’s.By the way, I just put a Wulff Bass Taper on my 7 weight S3… that combo SINGS!
Zach, it seems to me darn near everyone owned an XP 2-3 years ago! In high-end rods I would expect that to be the #1 seller of all time. Good point you made about those other rods though. It very well could be the best seller is a Clearwater or the like.
ARflyangler, I agree on the Scott ‘G’ cosmetics! Understated yet perfect! My 3 weight stays here!
I won an 8′, 4 wt. ‘G’ and already had a Winston TMF of the same configuration. I looked both over, inch by inch, with a jewelers loup to look for flaws (long Michigan winters can have that effect!) Both were near perfect and both cast too much alike for me to keep both. The only reason I kept the TMF is because of the memories it held and the fact I could swap the new ‘G’ out for an S3 that I really needed.Not being a caniac, the ‘boo decision at RLW doesn’t make a lot of difference to me. What mattered most was that period a couple of years ago when the higher-ups at Winston seemed to be on a cost-cutting spree so huge it had a lot of us wondering about the future of Winston.
Truth-be-told… it still does. The decision to go offshore for some of their rods bugged a lot of people, especially those of us who like tradition and like to buy American made goods when it makes sense.
The recent lack of standard reel seat choices and standard wood spacer choices still leaves me wondering how much money did they really save by scrimping and ‘compromising’ like that.
Don’t even get me going on their new ‘low-bidder’ rod tube caps! Whoever makes those needs a course in thread design!
All that said, those dang BIIx’s, despite what people want to believe, took the industry by storm and seem to have quite few few manufacturers playing catch-up to make a rod as light and flexible in range!We may be living in the golden times of graphite. Â My comment about the industry contracting is just that, fly fishing is losing it’s base at the very time that rods, reels, etc. are reaching new heights. Â With rods and tackle so good, maybe our focus should be how many new friends have we introduced to fly fishing?
– David
Good points and exactly the reasons we started a new FFF sanctioned fly fishing club here in the south.
The main focus is to educate. Through that we hope to bring a new crop of fly fishers into the sport to carry the torch.If I thought it was right I would be singing the praises of those green sticks here. I know that this is Zach’s site and Zach has a thing and a deal going with Scott so in respect to being in his house, I zip my lip.
With the blessings of Zach though, that could easiy change!  😉Perceived value is strictly that, perceived.
You might perceive someone paid too much for a rod, others see it as too little. Neither really matters except the perception of the owner!
When I get a rod that doesn’t deliver the mojo, it’s a goner… no matter what the price. What I know for 100% fact is my perception of the rods I own is that as long as I don’t worry about the price because the rod isn’t performing to my expectations, the price I paid is fair.
The way I measure the advantage of the rods I own is when they seemingly dissapear in use and become an extention of my arm and eye.
Some rods got the mojo, some don’t! I’m glad everyone’s needs are different. If we all liked and needed the same thing shopping around would be extremely boring.Okay Carter. Your telling us you’ve been underwater to observe the color of fly line OUT of the water?
Look, the game of catching or going fishless may not mean any one thing affected your success but it can be a number of things. What you’re essentially saying is clothing color doesn’t matter either. I can prove that wrong and have time and time again. Walk up to my pond with bright clothes on and you can see the fish skurry away. Do the same in muted clothes and you can blend in.
I know down here even a bright watch on your wrist is taboo.
The South Holston, besides being low and slow can be extremely clear at times as can the mountain streams in NC and the spring creeks out west and in Michigan. Most folks I fish with do everything they can to not be seen, including having black felts on their wading boots and wearing camo to fish the SoHo.
It makes no sense to flash a bright line around in some fishing situations. To thinkotherwise might just make or break your fishing success.I’m confused. The list you made includes many new rods including one that was just introduced last year.
Though there certainly are fast new rods, there are still plenty of new rods with the slower, traditional action. In fact, TFO jsut introduced a finesse rod as well as Winston with its BIIt (traditional) action rod.bright yellows and oranges were not acceptable from a locals viewpoint.
When looking up from the water with a blue sunny sky doesn’t all colors look the same: dark?
Jay
With the line laying on the water, I agree, the contrast probably makes it look dark.
It’s when the line is in the air that the bright color probably shows through.I used to use a Leki telescoping hiking staff. I notice that is the brand the Fishpond staff really is.
Two things I didn’t care for was it always took two hands to open and close it and the cam-lock (or whatever the locking mechanism is called) wasn’t all that secure. It did one of three things… stick, work well or collapse when not intended. Hopefully Fishpond reworked it or beefed the Leki up before putting their name on it.
I have used a Folstaff clone for several years now with a problem. This klutz uses the heck out of it too! Should it ever break I’ll take a serious look at a real Folstaff and maybe the Simms. I really like having it at-the-ready with the flick of the hand.For casting alone, whether playing or teaching, I prefer very bright lines because they are far easier to see in most background situations. For the salt I also like lines I can see easily but not as bright as the ‘Optic Orange’ lines I use for casting and teaching. For general fishing the more muted colors seem to work the best for me. I’m not so concerned about line color IN the water, it’s when casting and holding the line above the water that I’m concerned the fish might see it. That’s the same reason I fish in clothers that aren’t too colorful when stalking trout.
The detail I like about the few Young’s I’ve handled is the triangulated handle. The fingertips just naturally fit.
Hey Au Sable –
I agree with everything you said except that the rod is “clearly a copy of the BIIx.” Â All the BIIxes I have cast have lacked backbone after a certain distance, but I didn’t get that sensation with the Z-Axis. Â I think Sage is doing its own thing here.
Zach
Zach… you just know I couldn’t let that comment go by!  🙂
The BIIx indeed seems to lack backbone when reaching out. Key word: seems! If you horse it it just will not cooperate. Smooth the stroke and stop thinking of it as fast and it holds it’s own, for a 5 weight  that is TRULY a 5 weight!
I practice distance casting with both a Loomis 9′, 5 weight GLX Max Linespeed and the same size BIIx quite often. The BIIx holds it’s own in distance casting with the GLX but is a whole different beast. The only time it protests being thrown far is when you expect to do all the work. Winston seems to have figured out what an expensive lever can do when designed correctly and designed for more than just one distance range.Those 150th. cane packages were sold out the week they were introduced!
There may not be enough money for you and I to get a raise but there seems to be no lack of disposable income at some levels, eh?I bought the 9′ 6″, 7 weight S3 just as they came out. I bought it for Michigan steelheading but since I moved it’s still a fine rod for large and smallmouth bassin’. I’m not so sure you will notice the extra 6″… in fact, depending where and how you fish you might find it a blessing for line control.
