Neal Osborn
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Just so I’m not labelled a geek on a fly fishing blog let me explain . . . I take the computer on dive boats when diving.
Carter, good point, Pelicans are nice, just a bit to Niche for me (play on words, Ha). BTW, I didn’t want to imply that I take my laptop on a boat often, just sometimes (but I do take it to the can with me :-[).
BTW, wow, Fishpond emailed me back in like 5 minutes. They said they don’t make a 17″ inch case but their research showed a significant market for the laptop cases in general.
Damn, that is an awesome case. I have been looking for one for my 17″ MBP Mac. My old neoprene case is shot. If this case came in a 17″ I would buy it in a second. That is not apocalyptic, just modern. I carry my laptop with me wherever I go; including on boats. I have a smart phone but truthfully I just carry my laptop nowadays. However, I understand the argument that one should leave their home gear at home and that fishpond should focus on fishing equipment. I’m not making a strong argument but Fishpond had me in mind when they made this product (actually, I am going to email them today and request a 17″ case, aahh capitalism/market force in action).
Nu2Trout, welcome to fly fishing :o. This is what we do with most any question, the more you scratch the deeper the itch. And you thought your question could be easily answered.
Zach, great comments and the last explanation really helps.
Spencer, you are now the third person I’ve heard mention the Cabela’s 3wt as a good rod (for small streams). I am going to have to investigate this ::)
sorry, link for the review where I got these graphics (certainly not my own work) http://www.itinerantangler.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?action=dereferer;url=http://yellowstoneangler.com/FlyRodComparisonon8weightrodsAlbrightG.LoomisG-loomisOrvisScottTempleforkTFOThomasandThomasSt.CroixOrivsZeroGravityOrvisT3RedingtonCPSAlbrightXXSageXi2SageZaxisLoomiscrosscurrentLoomisNativeRun.asp
Nu2Trout,
The science behind rod design and flex/bend is important to understand but I recommend keeping it simple at first. Think about a lazy day with no wind and casting a small parachute adams in a calm pool, hey you might want a simple slow stroke and lazy presentation (slow-medium action rod). Then think about bonefishing in the ocean flats with a brisk breeze and a heavier fly, you want to rip it out there quickly/accurately (fast action rod). These are just visual descriptions and don’t actually describe flex per se. I actually use a 4wt Z-axis fast action rod for my dry fly fishing because my casting style is better suited with fast action rods. Thus you get all kinds of opinions from others but they are really just talking about their own casting style matched with a rod action. Remember, cast all rods before you buy, especially as a beginner, get to know what you want and why you like it. Faster does not necessarily mean better ($3,000 bamboo rods are usually medium action rods).
Here are a few graphics to help understand how “geeky” some people get about rod action. This is actually a good visual on what tip flex is all about and how it is measured. These are all fast action rods in this study but you can see how tip flex can vary dramatically within a certain class.
Joel, great report and awesome pics. Hey, you don’t look anything like your dog on your avatar! Just out of curiosity, what leader/tippet were you using to land that big boy?
Aaggh, the pressure :-X! How can any self respecting fly fisher live with only a handful of flies (and yet we all know this is precisely what we do when choosing our go-to patterns). Here are my top nymph/streamer flies for trout. I am about 75% subsurface as go-to in general since my home-waters don’t have a huge number of hatches per se. Notice these are all really really easy and cheap to tie except for the copper John, thus great for go-to status).
Top row, FBFT, Rook’s berry nymph, copper John, lightning bug, trout crack/little red midge. Bottom row, rainbow wooly bugger (probably my all time favorite), mini-bugger (I tie then on a sz 8 scud hook, killer, and some brown/uggly streamer with legs, various colors but usually just really ugly.
Sage owns Redington. That in itself does not mean Redington is all good, but from all accounts, they are solid rods.
Mark, have you used the Clouser Crayfish? I am curious about that particular pattern. However, I do appreciate all the good advice in general.
After a year in Georgia I have finally located some carp water and will have the opportunity to fish some spots this spring. I have been reading about this topic and also following the threads on carp flies. I appreciate all the good information.
I have been practicing the Clouser Crayfish pattern basically because it is fun to tie and involves a few interesting skills I wanted to master. My question is this – does this fly work for carp fishing and how do strip/retrieve if it does.
I have logged over 25 hours of on-water time with the Rio Gold line on my 6-wt Z-axis this past fall. My previous line was a GPX. I have also used this setup during some casting lessons recently. It is a very nice line on the fast action rods and IMO is a superb line for shooting streamers at longer distances. I find myself using it often when I’m throwing bigger stuff but it does very well in closer distances with dry flies. I have noticed that the tip tends to sink a bit but then again most fly lines do when dry fly fishing. I don’t know if it is the line itself or just the fact that I’m pretty conscious of any change in my line tip when dry fly fishing because I’m so focused on getting a drag-free-drift. I would say that I unequivocally prefer the Gold to the GPX for setup I mentioned.
I would rate the line very highly for a 5- or 6-wt fast action rod. However, I am curious how the line will perform on my 4-wt Zed but I haven’t tried it yet. Does anyone have experience using the Gold on 4- or 3-wt rods?
Grand Cayman does have a nice population of bonefish! I was there in May 2007 but was only able to fish for one day and it was raining. However, in the back flats we saw lots of mudding bones but they were deep. There are basically two guides on the island with fly fishing experience and I would recommend Captain Ronald Ebanks, Cayman’s most experienced fly fishing guide and he has a really nice skiff boat. http://www.flyfishgrandcayman.com, email is flyfish@candw.ky. Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions.
