N Wolf

I personally have the TFO pro 4wt and love it. The warranty is awsome. One thing that you may want to do with a TFO is bend the tip top open a little at its base. It V's just perfectlly to pinch the line so that you cant shoot line on the back cast. After I fixed this on mine it became my favorite rod. It's strange how it feels to have a rod you dont have to worry about breaking. As for the finesse, I wont argue against it either. I have a 3wt that I use for trout on small streams and bluegill. Not only is it very precise but a little bluegill can have his way with you on that rod. By the way, dont use that rod at a trout park. You have no stopping power and you will foul every other line in the pool. Aparently people dont think its funny.

Daddy O, a single overhand knot is the weakest knot you can tie. If you get one in your leader you need to un tie it or cut it out. If you get on a fish that stresses your leader at all it will break at that knot. In fact, if you're after big fish like carp that need a fairly small tippet for their size, I promise you that 9 out of 10 times the not will snap on the hook set. If you have worked for hours to get a shot at that fish you can guess the kind of words that will come out of your mouth when this happens.

By the way, thats a pretty fly Steve. Maybe I'll teach you how to catch something with it.

Where are you fishing?

I was just wondering if any one has caught any monsters on the river? Personally, my record is 5 lbs on large mouth, and 4 lbs on smallies. I lived just below the dam at Noel until three years ago and have caught all my big fish down towards cow skin. Kind of strange becouse it seems that above the dam has a bigger average size. Until about five years ago I thought that 5 lbs was about as big as they got down there. That was until I saw one bigger. Under the bridge at Way side behind the up stream center column I saw a large mouth that would top 7! I spent about an hour pitching a jig to him and couldnt make him mad enough to pick it up.

One good thing (or bad depending on how you look at it) about bass, is the fact that any old clicker reel will work. They arent known for long runs. In fact, I found that trying to get them on the reel is more trouble than its worth. They do pull real hard for short spurts and I would recomend a batting glove on your rod hand to prevent line burn. Now I have another question for this general bassin discusion. I have been thinking about making some balsa popper heads instead of the store bought foam ones Ive always used. Has anyone used balsa? How does it compare in casting ability?

As far as the sage rods go, I think you are missing their point. They are not for guys who want to fight the fish. They are made to be tournement legal and are extremely stiff for landing big bass in seconds. The heavy lines are required to load a rod that stiff and to throw giant flys. As far as rods to use for fun, it realy doesnt matter. I use an 8wt becouse I throw big poppers and hair worms that would be imposible for me to cast with a 6wt. And I have found that the fight realy isnt that much less with an 8 than a 6 of the same action. When I go back home to the Elk I use a 9ft 4wt and have tied flies for the rod. Crease flies are very easy to cast and catch smalies like crazy! If you can afford it, buy all sizes of rod. If not, dont worry about it.