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1,780 Posts
I like fishing short rods....
I like fishing long rods...
I spend 9 days on the CW with my 15' powerlite and nextcast 70' fall fav. and thought "why would you want to fish anything else?" On the drive home my buddy asked me, "i bet your not looking as forward to that 12'4 coming as you were before?" I had to admit he was right...I had been really excited about the 12'4 but the 15' is such an amazing tool that if at the time Gene would have let me I probably would have traded it for a longer one...
I got home and the 12'4 arrived...I had only had a one day window to try the rod before and had found a line that worked quite well...The 45' 8/9 nextcast....so that's what i put on her for her maiden trip out...My first time out with the test rod I hooked a S river summer run steelhead..first time i'd even seen one of those...was an amazing fish..good mojo and super fun rod...
This time-
To be honest I wasn't as excited as I have been before...it was pissing rain out and there was lighting and thunder so i had to stop and run for the truck.. the 12'4 was a rod that I thought would be a good winter "bush" rod for the dirty stuff and a good summer rod on smaller tribs with big fish...
The S river I was on was starting to blow....was up quite a bit and the bar at the top was starting to vanish...That was OK i just wanted to cast it a bit and make sure I had some lines to use...
That stupid rod!!! It thinks it's a 15'r....it casts better then most of my 13-13'6 rods...very light in hand...very powerful...I put on a type 8 tip and the largest fly i had on me...a 3" tube..and it was bombing it no problem...I stopped stripping line and seeing how far i could cast, (50' or running line out no problem) and swung the fly down into where i knew a bucket was, hoping a big bull might be down there. My fly just got crushed...great fight and in comes a nice northern coho...WOW...sure wasn't expecting that!!!
Got home, scratched my head and told Gene..."This rod IS what i thought the first time i tried it...the best short rod I have owned or cast"...
Since I've been home the summer of low water, no rain and warm clear rivers has been replaced with a constant deluge of heavy rain....the bar i went to that first day is gone and won't be back till next summer...the rivers are mud for the most part and damn near impossible to fish....but it was my day off Sat.and i wanted to mess with the 12'4 again..
I drove into a couple spots on the lower river and it was out...drove way up river and it was clear but the water was in the bushes and moving fast....damnit!!! I drove back down just jonesing to get out and cast and went to one of my practice more then anything spots...was slow water with a foot and half of vis. but i could at least mess with some lines.and reels as i haven't decided which one I want to put on this rod..
I tried one of the nextcast 15' type 4 tips and a big huge (for me) fly...I was thinking about worse case scenario weather or water wise and trying tips and flies more for cold and/or winter fish....a few casts in my fly just got crushed....I thought maybe i had hit the jack pot and found an extremely early winter steel? Amazing fight and in comes another northern coho....
I never hook these guys, let alone on the swing, let alone on big nasty flies and not stripping...hell let alone, let alone!!!
Besides the nextcast I am debating on (god forbid) a skagit type line for the real heavy work...I tried lawn casting a 570gr. chucker line on there with T10 and the heaviest fly i had....it was pretty ridiculous, damn rod likes to bomb whatever line i put on there..Might be a good choice for the nasty stuff?
Everyone has their favorite company, buddy, their this their that...but if you get the chance or are in the market for a serious rod...check these out!! You can find all the info on their U.S. Bruce and walker website and Gene is a great guy to deal with!!!
I like fishing long rods...
I spend 9 days on the CW with my 15' powerlite and nextcast 70' fall fav. and thought "why would you want to fish anything else?" On the drive home my buddy asked me, "i bet your not looking as forward to that 12'4 coming as you were before?" I had to admit he was right...I had been really excited about the 12'4 but the 15' is such an amazing tool that if at the time Gene would have let me I probably would have traded it for a longer one...
I got home and the 12'4 arrived...I had only had a one day window to try the rod before and had found a line that worked quite well...The 45' 8/9 nextcast....so that's what i put on her for her maiden trip out...My first time out with the test rod I hooked a S river summer run steelhead..first time i'd even seen one of those...was an amazing fish..good mojo and super fun rod...
This time-
To be honest I wasn't as excited as I have been before...it was pissing rain out and there was lighting and thunder so i had to stop and run for the truck.. the 12'4 was a rod that I thought would be a good winter "bush" rod for the dirty stuff and a good summer rod on smaller tribs with big fish...
The S river I was on was starting to blow....was up quite a bit and the bar at the top was starting to vanish...That was OK i just wanted to cast it a bit and make sure I had some lines to use...
That stupid rod!!! It thinks it's a 15'r....it casts better then most of my 13-13'6 rods...very light in hand...very powerful...I put on a type 8 tip and the largest fly i had on me...a 3" tube..and it was bombing it no problem...I stopped stripping line and seeing how far i could cast, (50' or running line out no problem) and swung the fly down into where i knew a bucket was, hoping a big bull might be down there. My fly just got crushed...great fight and in comes a nice northern coho...WOW...sure wasn't expecting that!!!
Got home, scratched my head and told Gene..."This rod IS what i thought the first time i tried it...the best short rod I have owned or cast"...
Since I've been home the summer of low water, no rain and warm clear rivers has been replaced with a constant deluge of heavy rain....the bar i went to that first day is gone and won't be back till next summer...the rivers are mud for the most part and damn near impossible to fish....but it was my day off Sat.and i wanted to mess with the 12'4 again..
I drove into a couple spots on the lower river and it was out...drove way up river and it was clear but the water was in the bushes and moving fast....damnit!!! I drove back down just jonesing to get out and cast and went to one of my practice more then anything spots...was slow water with a foot and half of vis. but i could at least mess with some lines.and reels as i haven't decided which one I want to put on this rod..
I tried one of the nextcast 15' type 4 tips and a big huge (for me) fly...I was thinking about worse case scenario weather or water wise and trying tips and flies more for cold and/or winter fish....a few casts in my fly just got crushed....I thought maybe i had hit the jack pot and found an extremely early winter steel? Amazing fight and in comes another northern coho....
I never hook these guys, let alone on the swing, let alone on big nasty flies and not stripping...hell let alone, let alone!!!
Besides the nextcast I am debating on (god forbid) a skagit type line for the real heavy work...I tried lawn casting a 570gr. chucker line on there with T10 and the heaviest fly i had....it was pretty ridiculous, damn rod likes to bomb whatever line i put on there..Might be a good choice for the nasty stuff?
Everyone has their favorite company, buddy, their this their that...but if you get the chance or are in the market for a serious rod...check these out!! You can find all the info on their U.S. Bruce and walker website and Gene is a great guy to deal with!!!
