New Fishing Tackle Day

[HHP]

Originally Posted by innocent75

I have an order in with badger for a classic rod. Should be here in April. This thread pushed me to place the order.

If you think I have an issue with gathering guitars, it has nothing on me and fishing gear. I have 10 Plano trays full and still get my mystery tackle box every month. I think the badger Tenkara will make 17 rods

When I looked at the Tenkara rods, they appeared to have no reel seat and come with a short line you hand wind. Is that the way they all are? I could screw up a one car Shriner's parade trying to play a fish by hand.

Biggest brown trout I ever hooked was in Wyoming and I lost him because I stepped on some slack flyline. That sucker was the "Red October" of trout, still think about that.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by HHP

When I looked at the Tenkara rods, they appeared to have no reel seat and come with a short line you hand wind. Is that the way they all are? I could screw up a one car Shriner's parade trying to play a fish by hand.

Biggest brown trout I ever hooked was in Wyoming and I lost him because I stepped on some slack flyline. That sucker was the "Red October" of trout, still think about that.

Yes the Tenkara thingy looks to be a whole different game.

Shusssh don't tell people about Wyoming but trust me your story is fairly prototypical

Here is a typical 20 inch-ish 3- 4 lb in Brown from fishing last year and summer caught on a a 22 midge pattern

[HHP]

Originally Posted by KevWind

Yes the Tenkara thingy looks to be a whole different game.

Shusssh don't tell people about Wyoming but trust me your story is fairly prototypical

Here is a typical 20 inch-ish 3- 4 lb in Brown from fishing last year and summer caught on a a 22 midge pattern

I was staying on a ranch about 100 miles south of Jackson Hole.The owner called his friends to get me permission to fish. Gave me the keys to the ranch Suburban, in which not a single gauge worked. The stream was a spring creek I could have jumped across with a running start.

The trout just seemed to materialize right under my fly. Even given optimistic memory and light refraction in water, he was WAAAY over 20".

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by HHP

I was staying on a ranch about 100 miles south of Jackson Hole.The owner called his friends to get me permission to fish. Gave me the keys to the ranch Suburban, in which not a single gauge worked. The stream was a spring creek I could have jumped across with a running start.

The trout just seemed to materialize right under my fly. Even given optimistic memory and light refraction in water, he was WAAAY over 20".

Oh indeed private property can sometimes yield salmon size trout 25-30 "
When I first move to Wyoming in 1980 public water usually produced a few trout in the 24 to 27" range every year
But with the proliferation of guided and tourist fishing numbers that has become more rare.

Private water fishing is always a different situation and often yields large fish
The trout in my photo is however on public water and is prototypical and it is still relatively common to catch 16-24" trout in many public access areas

[Swamp Yankee]

I love ultralight fishing. I do a lot of it from my wooden rowing skiff here in eastern CT. Even smaller bass and perch put up quite a fight on small rigs so it's a HOOT.

My favorite rig is a one piece IMX Loomis rod paired with a tiny Shimano Sahara reel. Not quite a travel rod, being 5' and one piece, but it's great for panfish yet has enough backbone to pull in the occasional larger smallmouth or largemouth bass that takes the lure. It was designed for throwing soft plastics at river smallmouth and it does a great job of it.

I can stand up in my wooden rowing skiff so I also do a lot of light tackle fly rodding for bass and panfish. And every once in a while, I hook into a big old carp and the fight is on ...towing me all around

[KevWind]

Yes light tackle can be pretty fun

Here are some sots of some private water fish these were running 20 to 24 in. 4 - 6 ib and were being caught on 18 and 20 size flies
I am In fct leaving right now to go fishing so I'll check back later .....

[innocent75]

Originally Posted by HHP

When I looked at the Tenkara rods, they appeared to have no reel seat and come with a short line you hand wind. Is that the way they all are? I could screw up a one car Shriner's parade trying to play a fish by hand

Tenkara is a lot like old cane pole fishing. There are some differences as opposed to “western reel” fly fishing. It’s a fixed line no reel, no backing line... you fish with the tip up and only the leader and/or tippet in the water. When you get a hit you set the hook and work the rod back to 10 o clock or so and grab the line and bring them in by hand over hand. The line is usually only 15-20 ft long but some people go longer. The rods are 8-13 feet long so that helps keeping the tip up and still having enough range of motion to set the hook.

The spool you see with them is only to store your line when not casting. I have fished Tenkara with a few friends on backpacking trips. The rods collapse down to 20” or so and weigh ounces.

[HHP]

Originally Posted by innocent75

Tenkara is a lot like old cane pole fishing. There are some differences as opposed to “western reel” fly fishing. It’s a fixed line no reel, no backing line... you fish with the tip up and only the leader and/or tippet in the water. When you get a hit you set the hook and work the rod back to 10 o clock or so and grab the line and bring them in by hand over hand. The line is usually only 15-20 ft long but some people go longer. The rods are 8-13 feet long so that helps keeping the tip up and still having enough range of motion to set the hook.

The spool you see with them is only to store your line when not casting. I have fished Tenkara with a few friends on backpacking trips. The rods collapse down to 20” or so and weigh ounces.

In contrast, I was shopping at Cabelas today and found myself in the Muskie lure section. Some of these lures were over a foot/foot and a half long. No idea what they must have weighed or how you cast something the size of a full grown cat.

[innocent75]

I have two Muskie lures that are 16oz plastics. Some of what I throw pre-spawn are 12-14” long topwaters. It’s is tough to toss those all day without have a sore upper body for a few days after. With the price of them, you quite literally cry when you lose them.

[innocent75]

I didn’t wish to hijack your other thread, I picked this up today.

https://www.cabelas.com/product/fish...4.uts?slotId=5

Never really did much fly fishing. Turns out a novice casting into a stiff wind makes for some comical casts. I did manage a few 25-30 ft casts but couldn’t even fool some bluegills into biting today.

I temporarily canceled my Tenkara order but will still certainly pick one up this summer. It will be another rod in the arsenal.

[HHP]

Originally Posted by innocent75

I didn’t wish to hijack your other thread, I picked this up today.

https://www.cabelas.com/product/fish...4.uts?slotId=5

Never really did much fly fishing. Turns out a novice casting into a stiff wind makes for some comical casts. I did manage a few 25-30 ft casts but couldn’t even fool some bluegills into biting today.

I temporarily canceled my Tenkara order but will still certainly pick one up this summer. It will be another rod in the arsenal.

Times change. I remember when any outfit labeled as "start fly fishing" was certified junk guaranteed to put a halt to any notion of fly fishing. The Cabela's outfit looks really good.

I was just in the local Cabela's yesterday. Needed a new tackle bag as my old hip pack kept pulling my drawers down on my initial trip this year. I have apparently lost either my hips or my fanny over the years. Found a nice one with a shoulder strap for $29.99 so I bought it and a couple of new spinners. Went to check-out and the guy says "that will be $19.95". Got the pack for $14.99 on an unmarked sale. Love visiting that store, they have everything from a 10 cent swivel to a $40,000 bass boat.

[innocent75]

I compared the Cabela’s to a Redington topo rod and reel(approx$200). I slightly preferred the Cabela’s rod and slightly preferred the Redington reel. The salesperson in their fly shop said Cabela’s brand rods are almost all rebranded by other manufacturers a lot of TFO blanks.

Now comparing it to a $500 Sage, I can see a huge difference. Had my brother give his opinion on it, now his primary rod is an Orvis Helios 2, he said the quality is very nice for a combo at that price. That he wishes he had started with a combo like that for he first setup.

80degrees yesterday. Thought I’d get up this morning and go out 40 degrees and misty rain. Looks like I’ll be waiting.

[HHP]

Another box arrived today from Johnson, the people who invented the Beetle Spin. These are more "21st" century lures. They are called Min-O-Spin and are inline spinners but they have laser-holo detailed finishes. Got a selection in 1/24oz and 1/16thoz. They make them up to 1/4oz.

Here's the Rainbow Trout in 1/24oz compared to a dime.



Flow is still too high in the nearest tailwater but the DNR stocked the lake at a nearby state park with Rainbows so I may swing up there this week and try them out. Supposed to be mid-60's by Wednesday.

[innocent75]

Looks like it will catch fish. I get mystery tackle box every month and got their trout box. I actually forgot I had it they sent me a 1/16 oz crankbait I have to find and try out. Thanks for reminding me.

[JLed79]

Nice stuff! For me, fishing rods are like Guitars. One for every job, but not too many. I’m not dedicated to any specific species to need technique specific rods, but I do have a range of sizes. I’ll look into the Diawa setup for one of my boys, but I built a new UL trout rig last fall and have loved it the couple times I’ve used it this year.
5,4” St Croix Trout series rod mated with a Shimano Stradic 1000 series reel. For all my other rigs I run braid to a fluoro leader, but for trout I still stick with mono. Cajun Red 4lb and Panther Martin spinners. Absolute dream to fish with!