vanven

I actually found an Eagle CLaw Featherlight at an area sporting good dealer today. I picked it up for $14.99 just for fun. I threw on my Battenkill with Rio Gold 5wt line on it. I had to put the rod away after about 5 minutes of futility. It was windy and i have a feeling that the line was way too light for this rod. I am used to a very fast 9 foot graphite rod. At 6'6" it felt like I was trying to throw fly line with an ultralight spinning rod. Anyone in the market for a fiberglass rod? only fished once! -Jerod

I specifically blame Dano for this..... After a bit of discussion in another thread and the realization that although my cast may get better over time, some of the flaws are always going to be there and influence my preference in rods. I want to try a slower rod. I am starting to get very interested in some of the fiberglass rods. The classic colors and timeless design of some of the glass rods really peaks my interest. This leads me to a couple of questions. Classic eagle claw yellow and an old medalist reel = hawt. The Eagle Claw feather light rods are interesting for a "throw away" starter experiment in glass. I cant seem to find any stores in my area that carry them, but at ~$25 shipped I have a hard time believe I am really going to lose much if I dont like it. Are these rods representative of the older glass feel or cheap junk? I am looking for suggestions for a cheap starter rod that might give me an example of what it is like to fish a classic rod. Should I be scouring ebay, garage sales, and craigslist for that rare gem or something else? -jerod

Busier at work today..... I am fishing Rio Gold right now on my 5wt. It is a huge upgrade with the free Orvis line that came with my reel. I cant imagine going away from Rio anytime soon. -Jerod

Nice to see you are getting your hands dirty and getting some quality help in picking out a rod. It makes a lot of difference. -Jerod

I would reccomend Jeremy Hunt to anyone that would listen. Check out his site at www.taneycomotrout.com . His phone number and email address are a the bottom of the front page. He is an excited and motivate teacher. I have stayed at Big Cedar a couple of times and have no complaints. I do have a feeling a class through Dogwood Canyon/Big Cedar is going to be very commercial and not going to be very personal. Fishing at places like Dogwood might be fun occasionally, you are going to catch trout. They make it really hard not to. But....You will have a very hard time carrying much from that place and using them successfully on other trout water. Catching tame trout in an artificial aquarium setting is easy -Jerod

If you are going to start a list of rods to try in the sub $200 price range, here are a few that I have heard positives about: Sage Launch (~$198) Most of their high quality rods are considered the best available. Med-Fast action. TFO Professional Series (~$150) Great warranties. Fast action. TFO Finesse Series (~$180) Great warranties. Fast action. TFO Signature Series (~$100) Great warranties. Fast action. TFO TICR Series (~$199) Probably the fastest out of the TFOs listed here. TFO Series 1 (~$100) Great warranties. Med-Fast action. This is a new line of rods by TFO. I know G Loomis, Redington, and a bunch of other companies sell quality equipment in the same price range but i just dont see a lot of information out there about them. I am not a TFO fanboy, but the do make some quality stuff. Your first rod may be a stepping stone for a couple years, but it will likely be your backup rod for many more. Dropping $100 on a throw away big store combo isnt something i would advise doing. -Jerod

Just to add a bit about W&J. I own a Fusion vest and love it. With a search you can find the glowing review I wrote in this forum a couple years ago. Last fishing trip I broke one of the built in zingers. I called their customer service number last week and to my amazement a live person answered the phone. She was extremely helpful and offered everything from fixing the vest for me to just sending out new zingers. I elected to have them send me new zingers. They arent exactly easy to install so she reassured me that I could call back when I got them and they would walk me through the process. I got the zingers in 2 days. I know their equipment ships with a warranty card that says something about supporting the item for the lenght of YOUR life, not the item. I never imagined that I would have to put it to use. I was truely amazed with the quality of service I recieved and will continue to look for their products first when I need a new toy. -Jerod

Zack Matthews has a great site with some of his published articles available under the Articles section here: http://www.itinerantangler.com/podcasts/articles/ They also have a great forum with a lot of good information. A few of the articles discuss the creative and testing processes for new rods as well as the new hybrid spey rods. The new hybrid rods may be one of the next leaps in technology and one of the fastest growing sections of the fly fishing industry. That is IF it really takes off. I think the general consensus is that the fly fishing market is a tough place to make a buck. There is a lot of competition for a limited market. Quality products do tend to rise to the top quickly though. -Jerod

Not to tear away from the original topic too much, but i am guessing any rod info would be helpful... I like Orvis rods as well. The rod I mentioned above is a 9 foot 5 wt TLS tip flex 9.5. I like to cast the rod and I do like the 9 foot length as well. Casting it has always been an issue for me. It seems very unforgiving. I have been fly fishing for 3 years now. I tend to throw loops that are too tight with the rod and that leads to a lot of wind knots. Part of that is imperfections in my cast, i have no problem admitting that. I just think a slower rod with a little more flex would slow me down and make my life a bit easier. My wifes rod is a TFO Ladies Casting for Recovery rod. I believe it equates to a Professional series rod. If you are looking for a very beginner friendly quality rod, TFO is hard to beat. I dont know anything about G Loomis rods so I cant say much about them. -Jerod

Without repeating much that was stated above, i concur. The most important thing you can do is cast the rob before hand. A lot of us have made that mistake in the past. My first rod was a Cabelas combo that was around $80. It was enough for me to realize how much I loved the sport. After a car door incident at Taney that rod went into the dumpster and I purchased a $300 rod from a fly shop. I didnt cast the rod, I didnt know to. I just took the salesperson's advice that it was the best possible rod for me. Now I am stuck with an Orvis rod I would love to get rid of. The 9 foot length and super fast action just dont mesh well with my casting motion. I would much rather fish the 8'6" TFO rod we bought for my wife. It just fits me so much better. If it didnt have a big pink ribbon on it.... Hopefully I can correct that purchase this summer with a new Z-Axis. I can guarantee my next purchase will much more informed. I equate the process to buying a new set of golf irons. They cost about the same as a fly rod for a quality set. If you had the opportunity to have your swing analyzed and clubs picked out and fitted to your swing by a pro for the same price as ordering them blindly from a web page, you would be crazy to skip that opportunity. It is exactly the same when buying a fly rod. I would definitely lean towards the 5wt over a 4wt. I never expected to see myself fishing at Taney in the middle of the night. Although I dont doubt it is done, but fishing a 4wt at night in the fall would just not work well. My 5wt feels really wimpy when I get into a quality fish. I remember Dwayne telling me once he had his rod yanked out of his hand 3 times in the same night. On those nights you want a little more backbone. -Jerod

Looks like Phil got the lake cam back up and the water is a little closer than usual. Phil, you might have to mark the high water level on the tree there so those of us hundreds of miles away will have a reference point next time we stop by. Looks like someone is actually fishing right there as well. -Jerod

Just thought I would add my 2 cents. We have eaten at the Shorty Smalls a couple of times in Branson. On both occasions the portion size was obnixiously large, the service great, but the food very disappointing. As a BBQ spoiled KC boy, the BBQ was horrible. There are a lot of other little gems in the area when you can get a much nicer meal for $50 for two. -Jerod

If I remember correctly I first noticed the shore washing away last January during a period of very heavy water release. I almost stepped into the hole and I guess it was probably 10 feet deep at the time. It was a sheer drop off just a couple of feet into the water. Since then it has eroded away to a much less severe angle. -Jerod

There was a lot of sarcasm and humor in that statement of mine. I hope it reads that way. -jerod

I like spin fisherman to be honest. I have exchanged a few words with a couple, but that was more of a function of their personality than the equipment they were carrying. On both occasions they were wading and walked in about 15 feet downstream of me and further out into the river, basically standing right in the middle of my drift. Then they acted like i was intruding on them. Taney does a good job of keeping the powerbaiters and fly fisherman seperate, some other locations dont. I do find it very annoying to try and wade an area while some fat kid and his zebco effectively have the river cut in half with their high tension lines. -Jerod

Spin fisherman should... Get your waders on. Head down to the big hole. Wade out until the water is just about to pour over the top of your waders. Cast as far as you can towards the far bank. Take a big step forward. Joking, sort of -Jerod

That describes shuffling pretty spot on. I am not sure I would call it common. On any given day you will likely see someone doing it, but given the number of folks that fish Taney it doesnt account for a large number. Missouri is one of the few states where it is not illegal, although most of us would consider it unethical. As a Kansas State grad, purple is the only logical choice. -jerod

I was sort of beating around the bush I guess. I understand most of the benefits of using red light as explained in this thread, although a couple of them may prove to be old wives tales. The above quote was more to my initial point. I was starting to wonder if there was some benefit I wasn't aware of. Something like: A red light source on a certain midge pattern makes it light up and the fish go nuts. That would seem a little shady to me. I hope everyone understands I was not referring to a certain individual, but over the past 2 years of night fishing I have noticed a proliferation of red lights. 18 months ago I would see a red headlamp and know exactly who that person was because it was unique. After reading this thread I am almost convinced to give red a try though. I wish it was a different color, I hate Nebraska. -Jerod

I am going to have to find a purple headlamp just to stick out now. Not sure how easy it will be to tie 5x tippet in a purple hue though. -Jerod

Wait a minute, was that Michael with the shaved head? I was starting to feel guilty for not saying hello. Now I understand why I didnt recognize him. Dave must have been the guy I lit up with my headlamp. Sorry about that. Some folks that were walking out at dusk said they saw and heard black bear. About 11pm I kept hearing something moving rocks on the shoreline and I was almost positive I was alone. I turned my headlamp on its highest beam towards the noise. After 30 seconds I was still thinking that is a really tall heron. Then it shined a light back at me and i realized my mistake. Then I was just embarassed. Michael - I did swing by the shop Monday morning to pick up a few supplies on my way back to KC. I didnt put a lot of forthought into the little side trip clear accross Springfield untl I was sitting outside the shop at 8:17 this morning and realied you werent going to be open for quite a while. Leonard - I didnt hear anything or see anything out of the ordinary. All afternoon I swear I was hearing gunfire or fireworks from around KOA. By evening I had pretty much tuned it out. -jerod

I have several in my streamer box but I have not fished them yet. Next time I may have to get one of them wet. -Jerod

Saturday was a great day of fishing for quantity, not so much for quality. I fished my 10am to 4pm, most of it between outlet 2 and rebar as the rest of the area was rather packed. I caught a bunch of stockers in a rusty orange and black midge, size 20. Most of the fish were caught up against the pavilion shore and not out in the area most of the other fisherman were really covering. Sunday morning I got a bit frustrated with Taney in the morning. It was shufflers haven, but more on that later. So I headed over to Roaring River for most of the day. It was a tough day fishing in the park, I would catch one fishing a fly and nothing else until I swapped again. The only fly that seeemd to be doing well was a size 22 griffin's gnat and of course I didnt have any in my box despite Tim's reccomendation. I was stuck with fly envy. The highlight of the day was spending half an hour chatting with Tim and getting his seal of approval on my fly collection. Tim always has lots of great info and a real excitement to share it, you dont see that in many shops. I also fished sunday night at Taney. I started off by the cable and promptly had my only 2 purple egg sucking leeches ripped right off the end of my tippet. I tried a purple mohair and didnt seem to have anly luck. I caught a couple small stockers on a white wolly before heading back to the pavilion. I had a nice chat with John, who was meeting Leonard, and headed down to fish the flats between outlet 2 and rebar. I had quite a few strikes on a pine squirrel sculpin and netted a nice 18 inch rainbow. Most of the fish would hit hard and after fighting them for 5 seconds, they were gone. Lots of short strikes and not many fish to hand. It still kept it interesting though. Back to the shufflers... I was very happy to see someone shuffle for an hour, then promptly take a head first fall into the frigid water. Karma got even and I was laughing so hard I thought i was going to get myself into trouble. I also watched someone stand in the middle of rebar and fish at his feet with an ice fishing pole while his 2 buddies actively cheered him on. I wish I would have had my camera, as i would be sharing a nice big pic of them doing it. It was really a sad display of ethics and sportsmanship. I left before it came to lobbing rocks at them. Quick question........What is the deal with night fisherman and red headlamps in the outlets? I have been told that the fish are accustomed to seeing standard white lights as a sign of a fisherman. I can understand this. I just seem to be seeing more and more fisherman fishing with red headlamps on instead of off. Simple explanation? -Jerod

I have had the opportunity to thumb through Michael's Mohair box and also had the opportunity to fish one of his Ace of Spades mohairs. That may be the best fly I have ever fished. The box was impressive, I actually had to go buy one the next day. I have only been to the shop once and didnt see the Ace of Spades in stock. I would love to get my hands on a few. -Jerod

I dont tie my own yet and I swore I would never get started, but I am starting to catch myself browsing the tieing forums now. I generally fish the pine unweighted, but i spend most of my time with it between outlet 1 and rebar where the water is shallow anyway. -Jerod

I saw a similiar post on another site I frequent. This site is much more regional so I thought it would make an interesting discussion. You pull into the parking lot and start to get your stuff ready. What is the first fly you tie on typically? And use most frequently? I will start I suppose. First fly I typically fish is a black/silver tungston bead head midge in a size 18 under a small indicator. Favorite fly is a pine squirrel sculpin around a size 12 slow stripped, typically around dusk and definitely at night. -jerod