In Rod We Trust

Date: June 9, 2007
Location: Club
Air temp: high 70s
Water temp: ???
Hatches: not much
Fish landed: 4 (browns)

Present members of the Fly Anglers Guild :|: Upper Midwest Chapter, for this outing were:

Xan


In anticipation of this year's Montana trip, I decided to purchase a decent 5wt. I'm beginning to suspect I'm developing the heroin-like gear addiction that has seized many anglers, as I have no real justification for upgrading rods. In my defense, instead of buying new wading boots when the soles started to detach, I just glued the shit out of my current pair. Not much of a defense, I know.

I got a chance to test out my new Sage SP for the first time this past Saturday on the Curd River. It was a bright, sunny and warm day when I got to the stream. As I was setting up, three fly fishermen were returning to their cars parked in front of me. They confirmed it was going to be a slow day, informing me the stream was clear and low.

Starting pretty far downstream from the bridge, I walked up the river, past long, slow stretches, through the now head high vegetation that lines the banks and populates small stream islands. I came upon a shaded area where a riffle was emptying out and began fishing. The fish were active here, and I started getting strikes immediately. Not long after, I got my first few fish with the new rod, all taken on small nymphs.

The rod seemed to perform well. I was using 4wt line on a small reel. Casting felt better than the time, a couple months ago, when I used this same line and reel with my Cabela's starter 5wt. Is this "better feel" worth the extra $190? Hopefully time will tell (with some Madison hogs* to show for it).

I moved upriver to the great streamer hole to waste time trying to recapture my one moment of glory there. I didn't find that I could cast any further than normal, but experimentations with 5 and 6wt line will be forthcoming. After wasting enough time, I hit the run right above the hole and got one more fish on a nymph. After that, I called it a day.



* "Madison hogs" refers to large trout from the Madison river in Montana, not to large women in Madison, WI. Though I'll take what I can get.