Michael Exl
Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
I get Fly Fishing in Salt Waters, American Angler, Fish & Fly, and pick up any of the others that has a good steelhead article; as long as it isn’t by Matt Stupidinksi ;D
Dusty,
Not sure if your asking how to tie them or for color combinations. Here is a link that shows a good step by step,
Standing waist deep in water right above freezing, in a snow storm, swinging streamers for steelhead and waiting for that take that may never come.
First off nice fish, love to catch a brown like that male.
The coolest thing that I have seen caught using a tandem fly rig was two 5+ bones in the Seychelles by Larry Dalhberg on Hunt for Big Fish. I know some guys in Ohio that have caught steelies on tandem streamers. They said it was like hooking into freight train.
I’m interested in why he was casting next to an older Sage, the TCR. If you wanted a real comparision since he is talking about the rods becoming lighet the Z-axis or the ZXL would have been the best comparison. Also the TCR is designed for skilled casters, the rod is not that forgiving to sloppy casting.
Glad to hear they are working out for you, I’ve had mine for over a year now and have not had any issues yet.
Easy boys. You’re arguing over common names. They’re all onchornychus mykiss, and that’s why Linnaeus came up with the system in the first place.
Zach
Point well taken Zach, this topic comes up a lot in the Great Lakes region. I know that steelhead are really just rainbows that migrate, but I always like to refer to steelhead as rainbows jacked up on steroids.
Ian, yeah that would make for great way to start a bar fight. ;D My favorite comment that has ever got me going about fly fishing was I had a guy tell me that a bonefish was just a glorified ocean sucker. Now that would start some bar fights.
nice bows
I was worried you might forget to tell him that he wasn’t fishing for actual steelhead. Thanks for reminding us.
How are they not actual steelhead? True they are not anadromous, but are really potamodromous. But look at where they are from, the west coast. Just becuase they took a little train ride over to the Great Lakes doesn’t mean they still are not steelhead. I find it funny that so many guys travel out here to the Great Lakes to fish steelhead when they are from states like Washington. Most of the fish that are over here are from the Klamath River and the McCloud River strains. Not to mention the skamania strain of steelhead we have here. I believe there are a total of 4 strains of steelhead in the Great Lake region. The beauty of it is that almost year round in some states such as Indiana there are steelies in the systems.
Steelies on streamers is freaking awesome. I can’t think of any fish that will crush a streamer as hard as a steelhead. I like to use bunny leeches and any sculpin pattern. I have had hooks bent due to strikes 😮 I prefer to swing streamers rather then stripping them for steelies. For some awesome streamer patterns check out Kevin Feenstra’s website, http://www.feenstraguideservice.com, his fly patterns have produced a ton of fish for me. Just hold on tight to that rod.
The swing is the thing, but the tug is the drug.
Nice to see that someone is getting some chrome. The steelheading is crap at best over here in Indiana right now. Great pics and nice fish.
There is several reasons why I have bought my Tibors, Nautilus, and Billy Pate. To begin with they are built to last, I plan on having these reels for many years and can look at the amount of money paid as an investment. Second, they are top of the line, I don’t expect to have any problems with them, and I know if I do the company will take care of it. Next, for the fishing that I do, steelhead and salt mostly, it is very nice to have a drag that is smooth and has a ton of stopping power. One reason that I bought my Pate was becasue of the anit-reverse, don’t care to have my knuckle busted. Just my 2 cents on the matter.
-Mike
I got to cast the 7wt. line on a Z, and wasn’t too impressed. The shoots nicely, but I didn’t like the feel of the line. Wouldn’t want to fish streamers with it. I too also did not cast it on the water, so don’t know how much this line will float better.
When a 10 wt can’t handle 20-30 pound kings that my 8 wt. does fine on I don’t care how nice the rod casts, if you can’t put up a good fight whats the use of hooking them?
Very interesting considering I’m using a 6wt. Z-axis to land 20+ carp and not to mention the nice 10lb. skamania strain of steelhead. My 8wt. Xi2 beat the snot out of some kings with no problem, not to mention I have landed 30lb jack crevalles on it with ease. In my opinion the jacks and steelie put up a harder fight then any king. I also do not baby the rod. As soon as I set the hook, I put the hurt on them. If you really want to go into what a rod can handle, I landed a nice 15lb carp on my 4wt. VT2. Everything comes down to angles.
Back to the topic at hand. The only rods that I have ever witness break were a couple of Scott, Orvis, and Winston. The only time I have seen a broken Sage was when a Scott rep. stepped on this guys SLT, complete accident though. The Winstons broke straight out of the tube, they were Vapors though. I have seen about 10 Orvis rods break, mostly to angler error. The Scotts that I have seen break have all been manufacturing errors. My brother has had the same spey rod break on two occasions and it was in the butt section. Sent it back to Scott got it fixed, first time out with it broke again in the same spot. I have also seen a Scott S3S broken straight out of the tube. Those damn ugly ferrules it has was broken and slide all the way into the blank itself. Almost everytime a rod breaks its due to angler error.
Have had no problems with my 691 and 8110 Z. I have tortured the 691 rod too. Haven’t had any problem with any of the Sage rods that I have for a matter of fact. I really don’t baby my rods when I’m fighting a fish either, I have some wicked bends in my 691 on some huge carp. Need to get a pic of that almost looks like those Ugly Stik commericals.
Thats not a king, kings have black mouths.. Thats a freaking huge brown
That is a king without any doubt. Just check out this pic, the mouth is black.
My set up is going to be my 8110-4 Z-axis with a 10wt Rio Outbound with a type 6 tip and baitfish patterns, and a stripping basket. I plan on using mushmouths, the chubby gummy minnow, and some EP patterns. Anything to imitate an alewife. I plan on cruising up and down the west side of Michigan this winter, I know if I put my time in I will be able to land some.
