The most fun part of the night was when we rigged up the new 13 foot 460 grain NRX Spey rod.
Tight lines...
Tim
On Tuesday this week our G Loomis rep, Dick Kondak, stopped by the shop to show us all of the new Loomis gear. Now, anyone who has met Dick knows you will be laughing from the time he gets there until the time he leaves. He is a class act, the kind of person we need more of in this industry. In between jokes, stories, and laughs we actually got some work done. The first thing he showed us was the fantastic line of clothes the crew at Loomis has put together this year. Everything from tropical shirts, soft shell jackets, light rain gear, foul weather gear, hats and bags are first rate. I personally really liked the the lined and un-lined hoodie and the Soft Shell jacket. Terry seemed to like the deep, roomy pockets in the Soft Shell, Native Run and the Max 3 jacket. The Bonded Fleece jacket was a favorite of both of ours. All quality stuff and all with the un-mistakable G Loomis logo throughout. I believe Loomis will do well with the new clothing line. The highlight of any of these meetings is always when the new rods come out and Tuesday was no exception. We got to see all of the new Loomis rods and all I can say is DAMN! We spent most of the time with the new LP series of NRX rods. The LP Stands for Light Presentation. These rods are extremely slim, especially at the tip, and feather light. They load with a deep bend, but have plenty of reserve power. Loomis has done a exceptional job of creating a series of rods that are deep loading, but don't feel "whippy". We cast the 9' 3 weight, the 9' 4 weight and the 7 and a half foot 3 weight. All were cast with S/A GPX lines and these lines preformed well. If I am to own one of these in the future I would like to try one of the longer "trout" taper lines such as the RIO Trout LT. I must say my favorite was the 7.5 foot 3 weight, I have the perfect spot for that rod in my arsenal...it is always fun to dream! Definitely not the first choice for throwing an indicator nymph rig, but that is not what the series are designed for. If you are a native brookie "guy" or a guy that loves the subtle sip of a Midge and the dimple in the water that follows these rods should should get serious consideration if you are in the market for something new. The most fun part of the night was when we rigged up the new 13 foot 460 grain NRX Spey rod. This is a true big boy spey rod with a price to match. The first thing I noticed was how light in the hand the rod felt even though it was 13 feet long. We were throwing the Air Flo Scandi compact head and a .032 running line. Because we were in the grass and not on the water we were limited as to what we could do with the traditional underhanded casting. We did throw a couple of C spey and Perry Poke casts. The rod felt great and we REALLY want to get it on the water to see what it can do with a proper load on the rod! Now for the really cool part. As we use our 2 handers on the beach more and more the 2 handed overhand cast becomes a very important tool. Typically we would go with a integrated shooting head like the RIO outbound for this type of casting, but the night was getting long and we decided to give it a go with the Scandi compact set up. I can say it was a pleasure to see the line launch off of the rod and travel through the air. We were booming 100 foot plus casts with very little effort. I am confident Terry went WELL over 100 feet with a few of his casts. It is truly a pleasure to watch a technically sound caster do his thing. We would like to thank Dick for coming out and letting us see all the new stuff. Please feel free to stop in or give a call if you have any questions.
Tight lines... Tim Well, it is with a heavy heart and a big sigh that I packed all of my wet wading gear away for the year. I am not saying that the Smallmouth game is done, in fact this could be one of the best times of the year to land a big ole' bronze back as they try to pack on the pounds for winter. What happens is as I see all the beautiful pictures that get mailed and text to me it doesn't take much for the Trout bug to bite me and then it is game on... All of our southeastern PA rivers have received a heavy dose of fish in the last 2 weeks. With the WCFF stocking and the state stocking all of the branches of the White Clay are chock full of fish. There is a mixture of fresh stockies, stocked fish that have been in there for a few weeks, and a few hold overs for sure. Buggers, Weenies, and worms will always bring fish to hand. My guess would be that some of the fish that have been in there for a while have switched to more natural food sources, and the deadly tandem of a Copper John and a Zebra midge should produce well. if you prefer to fish on top Midge patterns such as Griffiths Gnat would be in the game, and I am sure some of the fish would would be willing to eat a well placed attractor dry such as the Thunder Dome, Purple Para Wolf, Stimulator, and Royal Wolf. We still haven't had a frost yet, at least not at my house, so Hoppers and Crickets should still be in the game. Rat Squad member One Boot Ed sent me this fine picture of a good brown he stuck on the middle branch last week. Dr Jim Reamer was up on the West Branch of the Octoraro the other day. The good news was there are "many many" fish in the river. The problem is they had a bad case of lock jaw the day he was up. Jim reported all of the fish seemed to be huddled together at the bottom of the deepest holes. Jim was fishing on top all day and found the fish UN-willing to take his hoppers or caddis imitations. His good friend and angling partner had a better time nymphing up a few fish. I am sure as the fish get acclimated to their new surroundings they will be more willing to and and this means we could have good fishing on the west branch for quite some time. I received some great pics from Rat Squad member Rick Bender this week. Rick is as much an artist with the camera as he is with a fly rod. Great pics. Rick. Thank you for sharing. The reports from the Salmon River we have received other the last week are that the Salmon bite had eased off. There are a lot of Salmon on the beds and the Steelhead are behind the salmon waiting for eggs.
In the Salt the Beaches are still full of 2 to 3 pound Bluefish. Small Stripers are still in, and Roosevelt inlet may get the nod. Rat Squad member Bill O'Connor believes he hooked a Spec at the inlet last week. The hook pulled before he landed it, but he he was confident it was a Spec. Fall is the a great time of year to get out and fish. We hope to see all of you out on the river. Tight lines, Tim Rain brings with cooler air temps and cooler water temps. Most of the southeastern PA trout streams got a healthy dose of fish this week. Many anglers have been having good days on the middle branch of the White Clay. Shop friend and good customer Jessie Reyes, lives in Florida and is an accomplished salt water fisherman. Jessie is up here for work and has been spending some time on the Trout rivers in our area. He sent a few pictures across the wire, one of which i believe was the first Trout he has ever landed. The second pic was a solid fish that looked to be in the 16" to 17" class. Great job dude! keep stopping in and we will make an eastern fly fisher out of you yet! Jessie also shot a video of himself landing a fish with the Go Pro cam you see on his chest. I am trying to get the link to the video so I can put it up on the blog. It is way cool!!!!
It will take a while for the fish to acclimate themselves to their newly acquired residence and for the "wild" instincts of the Trout to kick in. Until then attractors like the Green Weenie, the San Juan worm in red, pink, chartreuse, and purple, and buggers of all colors should get the job done. If you prefer to fish on top any version of the Elk Hair Caddis with a tan body would be a good choice, as well as Stimulaters, Thunder dome's, and any big bushy attractor dry should bring fish up. It is definitely getting cooler, but we have not had a frost yet. Plenty of Crickets and Hoppers are still around as well as ants, so don't forget your terrestrial box for the next week or two. The shop is fully stocked on all of these patterns, stop in and we can set you up. Another friend of the shop Bob Flanagan was in yesterday with a report from Pulaski. Bob, along with may others, has been spending a fair amount of time up north chasing salmon. The reports are the run is still on strong and Bob said he landed about 40 salmon a day over the course of a 3 and a half day trip with about half a dozen fish over 30# and three over 40#. With the amount of egg yarn, and Estaz going out the door I would say egg patterns are the ticket. As soon as I get a few pictures from Bob I will get them up here, they are too good not to share. The Delaware and Jersey beaches are still giving up a fair numbers of Bluefish in the 2 to 4 pound range with a few Stripers mixed in. Joe Gallagher said he had good Bluefish last Sunday at IBSP with a 2 pounder being the norm. The "man in the striped pajamas" should be following close behind the Blues...stay tuned. It is a great time of year to be out, there is a nip in the air, The leaves are changing, and the fish are willing. Fall is my favorite time of the year. Get out and fish! Tight lines, Tim The new Sage Circa rods were delivered to the shop on Thursday. As soon as I saw the deep yellow rod tube I could tell it was something different. When I assembled the rod for the first time I knew it was something different. The first thing I noticed was the low profile ferrules. According to Sage the advancement of the Konnetic technology has allowed them to lighten the ferrules buy 70% without a loss of strength. this also allows for an overall lighter rod and much better aerodynamics while moving through the casting stroke. These rods are so incredibly slim and light weight...the 8' 9" 4 weight only weighs 2 3/8 ounces! The blank is a deep green color and the thread wraps are olive with grey accents. The rod has a half wells cork handle, Vera wood reel seat, Fuji stripper guides, and hard chrome snakes and tip top. The overall appearance of the rod can be summed up with only one phrase, "work of art". Enough of that stuff, let’s get to the meat and potatoes, how does it preform? Well, I took the 8' 9" 4 weight out and gave it a go. The load point of this rod is deep in the butt section. I used 2 different lines and feel a longer taper like the Trout LT to be a good choice, I didn't have one to try, but I actually want to try the old double taper on this rod. I think that will perform equally well. As mentioned the load point is deep, but the rod is not what I would consider "soft" it actually is quite crisp and VERY accurate. I had no trouble hitting targets from as close as 15 feet to an estimated 40 or so feet. Ultra-light in the hand and silky smooth you could cast this rod all day and never get tired. A wide loop is a byproduct of the slower action and I did notice wind to be an issue on a few casts. Probably not the best choice if you are throwing a tandem nymph rig with an indicator and shot, but if small flies and delicate presentations are your game put this one on your list of "must try" rods. Available in 2 thru 5 weights and lengths of 7' 9" or 8' 9" there is a weight and a length to suit the needs of most anglers. Please feel free to stop in and give one of these rods a try, You will be glad you did. Tim I had a great morning on the Brandywine this morning. Hit the river at around 6:45 and fished till around 10:45. the water temps are holding well even with the lack of rain, 76 yesterday morning and 79 today. Water levels are getting a little low, We need some rain BADLY! Fished streamers all morning with several decent fish landed. Saw some Caddis, Tricos and some White flies coming off and did see some rising fish, Panfish I suppose. I never understood why so many people put their gear away when the Trout fishing is done. This is one of the best times to be out on the river. Don't put a fly in this branch (I Did) Last year the end of that log was underwater...Come on Rain!!!!! These are without a doubt the coolest looking fish. Tight Lines
Tim |
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