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I know that there has been some thoughts about doublehanded rods for trout. In a lot of stream situations I can see the logic, but it never occurred to me that they could in any way be applicable to lake fishing - let alone chironomid fishing. Well, I was wrong.
Let me preface this with some background. I am going into the Dean in early August (definitely priority one in my little world right now :smokin: ). I slipped in the boat in mid-June and strained my rotator cuff - not a good thing. I have been getting physio and looking after it, so I'm fine for the Dean.
Well, early July has for the past 30 odd years meant a trip into the same Cariboo Lake and superb chironomid fishing. We were still heading up, but I was concerned with the effect of 10 days of overhead casting on the rotator. Then it struck me - I have a couple of CND Expert 6/7's ... Using 2 hands would be easy on my shoulder and the 6/7's are very soft rods - it might work.
Well, to shorten the story - I may never use my single handers for chironomids at Sheridan again! I was concerned about how smaller fish would feel on the rods, it wasn't an issue - even 14 and 16" trout bent the rods down into the cork - and the 3-4lb'ers were awesome - I think the 13' rods create as much leverage for the fish as they do for the fisherman!
My other big concern was which line to use - as I have no 6wt spey lines. However, as I wasn't intending to speycast, I would overhead so I figured I'd try my regular 6 wt single hand wt forward lines. They worked great, even with 28' leaders I was casting 70-80' with ease. I was in fact, casting way further than necessary in some serious winds - while sitting down! My Sheridan Lake chronies, who were laughing when I walked down to the boat with the rods, were were shaking their heads in disbelief :smokin: while I was casting.
While I don't imagine that a new double handed craze on BC lakes will result from my escapades, it did open my eyes to the possibilities for light double-handers and trout fishing. In my case it was an injury that precipitated using the rods, the possibilities are great for people who might need or want the capabilities of double handers for trout
Let me preface this with some background. I am going into the Dean in early August (definitely priority one in my little world right now :smokin: ). I slipped in the boat in mid-June and strained my rotator cuff - not a good thing. I have been getting physio and looking after it, so I'm fine for the Dean.
Well, early July has for the past 30 odd years meant a trip into the same Cariboo Lake and superb chironomid fishing. We were still heading up, but I was concerned with the effect of 10 days of overhead casting on the rotator. Then it struck me - I have a couple of CND Expert 6/7's ... Using 2 hands would be easy on my shoulder and the 6/7's are very soft rods - it might work.
Well, to shorten the story - I may never use my single handers for chironomids at Sheridan again! I was concerned about how smaller fish would feel on the rods, it wasn't an issue - even 14 and 16" trout bent the rods down into the cork - and the 3-4lb'ers were awesome - I think the 13' rods create as much leverage for the fish as they do for the fisherman!
My other big concern was which line to use - as I have no 6wt spey lines. However, as I wasn't intending to speycast, I would overhead so I figured I'd try my regular 6 wt single hand wt forward lines. They worked great, even with 28' leaders I was casting 70-80' with ease. I was in fact, casting way further than necessary in some serious winds - while sitting down! My Sheridan Lake chronies, who were laughing when I walked down to the boat with the rods, were were shaking their heads in disbelief :smokin: while I was casting.
While I don't imagine that a new double handed craze on BC lakes will result from my escapades, it did open my eyes to the possibilities for light double-handers and trout fishing. In my case it was an injury that precipitated using the rods, the possibilities are great for people who might need or want the capabilities of double handers for trout