Post by Nick Pionessa on Jan 9, 2011 8:24:28 GMT -5
with the small window of opportunity offered by a warm up and subsequent blowout we decided to hit a medium sized LE trib. with the weather dropping back down below freezing it won't last and there was already slushy shelf ice in the slow spots. it snowed consistantly the whole time and really wasn't too bad at about 29 or so with mostly light winds. the water was good or maybe just a touch cloudier than i would have preferred and likely 32 1/2 deg.
i used the T&T 1107 with the 420 gr compact scandi with a super fast poly and weighted tubes and continued to refine a technique that has me doing pretty well in cold water while sticking to the swing.
to make the presentation make a slightly downstream cast and mend all but about a foot of the floating part of the line upstream, parallel with the current making an "L" with the long part parallel to the current. follow the line downstream with the rod tip to get it sunk good and when the line tightens keep it as straight as possible, hanging the line straight down with a slight angle back to the angler, moving the rod to the downstream as you go. this will allow the fly to move very slow across the stream. it's already sunk and the thin tip and weighted fly will hold it there.
the light and thin diameter tip of the floating line is easily pulled under by the poly leader and slows the swing. that combined with a slim, fast sinking poly and a hydrodynamic fly and you don't need much weight to get down just proper technique. this also allows me to fish a very light and comfortable setup and still get down and have success in cold, off color water.
at least i didn't have to drive
down the trail again
yeah it's winter
as i said water was a touch off but not bad, did i mention the cold?
i had a tug and then another small bump and then holy cat's it's a fish. a brown one but a fish all the same. bloodied him up a bit but i think he was fine since the hook was in his jaw. egg sucking coon dog.
we fished through again with no takes so went to try another and yeah it snowed pretty good
fished down through the fast water and off one ledge and then on the second ledge blamo, a great hard take. this fish was faster and more spirited even for cold water and made a nice long run too. black over chart CH coon dog.
after that we went back down through the original pool with one small tug and no further action so we headed down to hit the last pool. just love the winter scenery.
hit the pool and low and be holed i got another solid take and a nice half bright hen. right off the spot i always hook fish in this pool. i don't know why i always fish the whole thing. at this point i'm as amazed as anyone at this better than october, january day.
B&C coon dog again.
i reeled in after that as it was close to dark anyway. all else i could do was screw it up. cold as hell but somehow peaceful and downright fun.
as concerns the technique i mentioned i did a cave drawing to help visualize. everyone gather around and grunt out your questions if any. don't block my torch light.
as you can see the initial cast in blue is made slightly downstream or can be directly across if the water is faster or deeper. the further downstream the less the sink. the mend is shown in red and i must stress the part about leaving a foot of line pointing toward the bank. this is really not about the foot of line but more about making a mend that does not pull the fly away from the bank. the foot of line gives you a reference point to make sure you don't mend too aggressively. if you wait a second after the cast has landed the weighted fly and leader will sink a bit and anchor. once that "L" is formed keep the rod upstream of the line and pointed toward the far bank. follow the drift down till the line begins to tighten, typically when the rod is just downstream of the anglers center. from this point the straighter the line is the slower it will move and the deeper it will stay. this is shown by the green lines. notice the swing is moving most of the line toward your bank. the fly should remain facing upstream or maybe slightly angled toward the angler. you should also keep the rod following the line until the rod is finally pointing directly downstream.
i used the T&T 1107 with the 420 gr compact scandi with a super fast poly and weighted tubes and continued to refine a technique that has me doing pretty well in cold water while sticking to the swing.
to make the presentation make a slightly downstream cast and mend all but about a foot of the floating part of the line upstream, parallel with the current making an "L" with the long part parallel to the current. follow the line downstream with the rod tip to get it sunk good and when the line tightens keep it as straight as possible, hanging the line straight down with a slight angle back to the angler, moving the rod to the downstream as you go. this will allow the fly to move very slow across the stream. it's already sunk and the thin tip and weighted fly will hold it there.
the light and thin diameter tip of the floating line is easily pulled under by the poly leader and slows the swing. that combined with a slim, fast sinking poly and a hydrodynamic fly and you don't need much weight to get down just proper technique. this also allows me to fish a very light and comfortable setup and still get down and have success in cold, off color water.
at least i didn't have to drive
down the trail again
yeah it's winter
as i said water was a touch off but not bad, did i mention the cold?
i had a tug and then another small bump and then holy cat's it's a fish. a brown one but a fish all the same. bloodied him up a bit but i think he was fine since the hook was in his jaw. egg sucking coon dog.
we fished through again with no takes so went to try another and yeah it snowed pretty good
fished down through the fast water and off one ledge and then on the second ledge blamo, a great hard take. this fish was faster and more spirited even for cold water and made a nice long run too. black over chart CH coon dog.
after that we went back down through the original pool with one small tug and no further action so we headed down to hit the last pool. just love the winter scenery.
hit the pool and low and be holed i got another solid take and a nice half bright hen. right off the spot i always hook fish in this pool. i don't know why i always fish the whole thing. at this point i'm as amazed as anyone at this better than october, january day.
B&C coon dog again.
i reeled in after that as it was close to dark anyway. all else i could do was screw it up. cold as hell but somehow peaceful and downright fun.
as concerns the technique i mentioned i did a cave drawing to help visualize. everyone gather around and grunt out your questions if any. don't block my torch light.
as you can see the initial cast in blue is made slightly downstream or can be directly across if the water is faster or deeper. the further downstream the less the sink. the mend is shown in red and i must stress the part about leaving a foot of line pointing toward the bank. this is really not about the foot of line but more about making a mend that does not pull the fly away from the bank. the foot of line gives you a reference point to make sure you don't mend too aggressively. if you wait a second after the cast has landed the weighted fly and leader will sink a bit and anchor. once that "L" is formed keep the rod upstream of the line and pointed toward the far bank. follow the drift down till the line begins to tighten, typically when the rod is just downstream of the anglers center. from this point the straighter the line is the slower it will move and the deeper it will stay. this is shown by the green lines. notice the swing is moving most of the line toward your bank. the fly should remain facing upstream or maybe slightly angled toward the angler. you should also keep the rod following the line until the rod is finally pointing directly downstream.