trout fanatic

I just bought a new rod (Redington RS4 10 foot 8 weight). The rod will serve two purposes. 1. Surf fishing the florida beaches and 2. swinging big streamers for lake erie steelhead. Some friends in florida swear by intermediate line saying that it sinks just under the waves and is much easier to fish and retrieve than a floating line that "rides the waves." That makes a lot of sense to me but I wonder about its effectiveness on swinging streamers in Ohio. The water I fish there is generally 3 feet or so deep and pretty swift. I have always used a floating line with lots of lead to get the flies down to the bottom. Would the intermediate line work. I've thought about the multi-tip lines and like the idea. Have any of you tried them. How happy have you been with them. Sorry for the multitude of questions but I have never fished a sinking line before. Rocket science has always confused me.

For me, the secret is to not target them. About 3 years ago I was fishing poppers for bluegills at a local lake. For some strange reason I decided to tie on a wooly bugger and promply tied into a 8 pound channel cat. I did successfully land the beast but had to check my fly rod for "bruises" when I was done. Never have targeted them, but maybe I should. I'll bet along with buggers, clousers would work as well (this could spawn a whole new fly industry-hot dog flies, rotten shad gut nymphs-man I gotta hit the vise).

I don't really have anything to add about numbers of fish stocked but I do prefer to fish zone 2. It has more of a "river feel" to me and the water is easier to read. I usually won't spend anymore than 30 minutes or so in zone 1 before I pack it up and head to zone #2. I really couldn't say with any degree of certainty if more fish are kept in zone 2 than zone 1 but it makes some sense. I know I am getting very tired of catching fish that have their lips ripped off from treble hooks. I really do wish there was better enforcement but that's an entirely different matter. Most days I catch enough fish to keep me happy-with the water levels approaching normalcy and the river clearing, the fish will be lookin up even more. Time to go fishin!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the tip sc-but I got so angry at myself for not being able to get my four thumbs out of the way I went to every site I could think of. Finally went to faol and figured it out on the non-animated version. Can't believe somethin that easy could be so hard

After looking at the size of that thing I could care less if it would taste good or not. Man that would be funnnnnn!!! Having said that, I wouldn't want to go to Bagdad to catch it and I wish all or our troops a safe trip home (the trout await bro)

I have tried off and on to tie this knot for years with absolutely zero success. Finally, this video comes along and I still can't tie the friggin thing! Good thing I tie a mean surgeons knot

Well finally got down to Bennett Springs today for the first time this year. There was really a lot of people there for a Wednesday! Water was up about 6 inches over normal and still pretty murky. Flow was good. I was confident. Then I started fishing and let me tell you it was work. I tried just about every pattern I had and picked off one here and one off there but no consistancy at all. Did manage to whack a nice 15 inch fish on trout crack pattern and lost a really nice rainbow on a clown egg. Wound up with 7 to hand lost 4 and for the second trip in a row, caught another sucker on a fly. I think maybe I will start targeting suckers (might be the way to get the trout to hit). Seen lots of kids including a couple of 8 to 10 year olds that were pretty impressive with a fly rod-kudos to their mentors. Till next time Dale

I own 2 TFO pros. A 9 ft 5wt and a 10 ft 7 wt. The 7 wt is my wintertime steelhead rod and I cannot imagine fishing in tougher conditions than fishing in a lake erie trib in a December snow storm (unless of course if its fishing in Alaska in a september snowstorm). That being said, I am pretty happy with both rods, they do what I ask of em and if they break I get new ones. Good deal to me!

Andy: Right now it doesn't have a reel dedicated to it. I paired it with my pfluger Trion for this test. I've got a SA concept 2 that I am thinking of loading with a 6wt dt and see how it likes it. But I am just gonna fiddle around for a little bit before making a decision

Last week I won a Wright Mcgill 8 ft 7 wt sweetheart on e-bay. The seller described the rod as barely used but with badly soiled grips. Saturday evening I came home from work to find my package waiting for me. Like a kid at christmas I opened it up and was delighted that the rod was just as the seller advised. Nice tight wraps very clean reel seat but with soiled cork. I filled a bowl with dish soap and warm water and sat down with a soft bristled tooth brush and soon had the cork looking like brand new. As I am off today, I had the intention of taking it for its inaugural spin but woke up to thunder and lightning (and more rain). As soon as the rain let up I hit the road. I opted for knob noster state park due to it being only 10 miles away. Water was very discolored and fish were sporadically hitting. Found the sweetheart really liked my 7 wt DT and casted it with ease (I was initially concerned that it would not cast it because the guides on the rod are so small-but my first few casts put my concerns to rest). Caught 1 really nice crappie and 5 bluegills (2 bruisers and 3 runts) all were caught on a yellow and green popper and all put a pleasant bend in the rod. All in all I couldn't be happier with the rod

The only trip set in stone for me this year is my annual winter steelhead trip to the lake erie tribs in December. Everything else has been cut back.

Congratulations and best of luck to ya. There is a caveat tho. Fish DO NOT bite in the middle of the week. Especially at Bennett Springs and especially in zone 2 so you might as well get a part time job to supplement your income. LOL

Amen, brother. Big shout out to all the young folks protecting our freedoms. This post made me wonder though. How many of us are vets? I'll bet there are lots. I'm retired Air Force (law enforcement the first 17 and combat arms the last three. How about the rest of you (or is that y'all)?

Terry and I must have been typing at the same time. Can't argue with his advice either. Jeez what's this world coming to. Can't even get in a good argument anymore (bet that don't last long LOL)

HFD's advice is right on IMO. Cabelas/Bass pro and TFO all make fine rods (I own 2 TFO pros and love them). A decent disc drag reel for your applications can be easily had for $50 or less. Spend the rest on a rod and line. I would look at a 5 or 6 wt for versatility and being able to fish for different species ander a variety of conditions and flies thrown. I love a fine reel but fact is, you won't need one for the type of fishing you are buying it for. Let us know what you go with

You are so right Dano-but I already have smaller medalists. I have something different in mind. Maybe something along the lines of a young, pridex-condex etc. Just have to decide which one (which is part of the fun).

Earlier this year I bought a Fenwick 837 fiberglass rod and due mostly to weather conditions, I haven't used it other than to lawn cast it ( I call it yawn cast it). With local rivers still being a tad high, I decided to go to a local city lake today to give it a test run. The rod loads easily with a WF floating 7 weight (so easily I suspect a DT 6 will also load it nicely). The fishies have developed a case of lockjaw (I suspect the storms we had the previous evening probably had a lot to do with it) but I was able to nab 4 small bluegill. I was disappointed but still pleased with the performance of the rod. Just before I had decided to leave, a 12 inch largemouth inhaled a crystal schminnow pattern (bead chain eyes, estatz or cactus chenille body and a marabou tail). A pleasing (giggling inducing) bend in the rod ensued and I left the lake a happy man. Now I need a nice vintage reel to mount on said rod so I can comfortably fish amongs my graphite rod breaking friends. Nice day indeed!

Got mine a week ago. Haven't spent it yet but it will be gone shortly. New grandbaby to be born next month so wife is going to visit (ie instill how to raise said child) her in Florida. No new fly rods this year-but next year I'll be lookin for a new 9 weight to take to Florida with me.

I recently purchased a kayak for the simple reason that I have never had one and wanted one. Period. It never entered my mind that it was better suited than a canoe or did anything better. It has its limitations like anything else and I am very happy with my purchase. It sure takes up a lot less room in the garage than my old bass boat did. Come to think of it, I'll bet there is room for a canoe alongside her.

Patfish: Nope, can't say as I have tried it with funyums BUT seeing as how you put that bee in my bonnet, I will let you know next week how I think they taste. lol

Greg. I have a sit-on-top kayak and love it. I fish from it (even fly fish) with no problems. I have only had it for a little over a week though so I can't speak from experience. There are others on here with much more experience so I will bow to their expertise. No motor/oil/gas or air. Great way to go. Dale

Everybody knows that you can't screw up fried crappie. Even a bad recipe tastes pretty darn good. That said, I found a recipe on another site that I tried today and thought I would share. Place about a half of a box of "cheese nips" in a sealable baggie and close. Crush with a rolling pin (crush them to smithareens till they are a powder). I simply soaked the fillets in a egg/milk bath and dredged in the cheese nips and fried until golden brown. Quite tasty and a nice change of pace from corn meal.

drath. I tie something very similar to the jd. I use a size 14 long shank nymph hook. I start with a bead chain eye that I have pre-dipped in whatever ugly dollar general fingernail polish i can find (I use green a lot). After tying it on, I simply tie on a short sparse marabou tail (with or without flash) and a short chenille body and I'm done. Works well on a variety of fish. PS: I have "invented" a ton of flies over the years only to find out later that someone beat me to it by a hundred years or so, but i don't let that stop me. Invent away!

Congrats. Nice feesh

JDM. I bought the OK Drifter. It should suit my purposes around here (small lakes) nicely and If I can convince the wife that we need to drive to Florida instead of fly, it will see some duty in the flats. Lookin forward to it.