BrowningFisherman

I was there yesterday and it is high and rolling like chocolate milk, as far as visibility if you stand in 2-3 feet of water you can kinda see the rocks at your feet but that is it. When I left whistle bridge was still closed and the wood bridge is most certainly still closed. Before the water got up my buddy was tearing it up on cracklebacks on sinking line. Rule of the water whether cracklebacks or spinning rod is bright colors, after the water got up bright colors or dark woolies stripped on sinking line and along the bottom were virtually the only things working. I personally dusted off the old glo ball box and used the brightest colors I could find and then added the biggest splitshot I could find. I actually had to go buy bigger indicators in order to float all the weight. But the moral of the story was I was able to at least catch a few just dealing with the sore shoulder from throwing 5 pounds of lead across the stream all day with a 5 wt.

Yesterday was perhaps my best day of fishing ever, I've had some days where I lost count and back when I used to fish with my spinning rod I used to have some crazy days but yesterday I hit 60 fish and missed probably another 100 more. Better than just the numbers was the quality, we caught a lot but we caught/hooked and lost a number of fish that were in the 2-3 pound range. The water is up a few inches, maybe as many as 5 or 6 and it is a little murky visibility is probably around 3-3.5 ft. In my opinion this made the fish that much less leery of my flies and all the more apt to bite. I started with a prince nymph like I normally do but after 6 or so casts without a fish I decided to try out all the new midges (mostly colors changes #16) I had tied this winter. There were a few that worked really well but in general if it was bright it caught fish although I can say that most of the ones that I caught fish on were tied with brighter wire (copper & gold). While I'd like to say that it was some great creation really when you changed colors and fished deep down to them you would light them up. I will say that all my midges are tied with tungsten heads to help them get down and I think that was a factor. Deeper holes like the honey hole were full of fish like normal but because it is deep and you couldn't see the bottom I feel like a lot of people looked over those holes and man o man did they miss out. My buddy kept his #14 prince on almost all day and continued to remind be from the water Id just fished that I had moved on too soon and left several fish behind. The prince started slow but definitely picked up steam as the day went on and we got further down river. At about 4:00 I moved all the way down to above the darn and started skipping cracklebacks, again I whacked them. I did have to change colors every few fish but I will say that it didn't matter hackle or body color they got hammered.

Do you know where the event will come out of? I am actually going to be down there fishing for that whole weekend and I would like to potentially go see a weigh in.

Sold

I have a spool of very lightly used (maybe 5 times) Sharkskin weight forward 5 wt floating line (color: green). It is the trout specific taper meant for smaller flies and more delicate presentations. The line has ridges to help it ride higher and load the rod better and therefore help you cast further. I don't really have a rod that I like to use it on and would prefer to sell it rather than have it collect dust. The line retails for $100 but I would be willing to sell it for $50 plus shipping or I would be able to meet you anywhere close to Columbia or in the not so distant future on a trout stream.

Cabin fever is really a tough thing, I handled it for nearly 3 months before I had to get out. I knew it was cabin fever because I caught myself checking the forecast and the USGS Water data about every hour. The water was up a little and swift but not at all muddy I would say off-color if anything but nothing that would make me change my plans. We fished from Tan Vat up a couple hundred yards from about 10am til lunch and then we worked our way down stream about a mile after lunch. I started with a sculpin pattern, as it had been my best fly on my last trip last fall. I quickly rolled 2 fish and then nothing; so I made the switch to my old stand by midge/prince combo. The entire time we were noticing numerous fish rising, to the point that I wondered if there were even fish down where my nymphs were. I knew it was emergers because of how hard they were breaking the surface but I couldn't see what they were at all. I tried cracklebacks, soft hackles, elk hair caddis (in multiple sizes and colors), but all to no avail. The prince is my fail safe/slump buster, and it did catch me my first fish but when we stopped for lunch that was all I had. After lunch started to show promise but it wasn't easy fish were still rising in every hole and it seemed like the nymphs were only working in the faster deep runs but still it would only be 1 fish every 50 yards or so. I can honestly say that I was worried that my timing would be off but it wasn't for the most part the fish that were biting were biting hard and I didn't miss but a handful. The last fish I caught under the water was at about 4, I let my drift go a little further and hooked a beautiful 15" brown on the swing. We continued downstream only to determine that we should start to head back we stopped at the same hole where I had landed the brown earlier because the number of fish was too high to ignore. Finally I opened the dry side of my box and pulled out the smallest thing I could find a #22 Lt. Cahill, and it was like night and day to the earlier fishing. The cahill wasn't perfect but it did the trick we caught most of our fish for the entire day in the last hour including a 16" brown out of the very same hole. We walked back up to the big hole by the parking lot and finished it out until dark catching a couple more on top and a couple more on the sculpin. For those of you wondering what the hatch really was, it was a Blue Wing Olive and my poor selection of drys didn't go near small enough, from what I could see on the surface they did increase in size as the day went on but Tan Vat was literally dry fly or bust from 10am to 6pm.

Sorry should have included that, they are black with black iridium lenses (normal rounded), they are not polarized

I have a pair of Oakley Half Jacket sunglasses for sale. They are lightly used but show very little signs of use. I bought them a couple of years ago and have never really got used to the way they feel on my face. I am asking $50 or best offer

Just thought I would let everyone know the line is still for sale at $50

I have decided to lower the price to $50 if anyone is interested let me know

Do you have any more info on the gun?

Floating Weight Forward, its their trout specific taper and its Green, there is also a loop on the front end and back end of the line for easy loop to loop connections

I bought a spool of SA Sharkskin 5wt. this spring just to see how I'd like it on my new rod, its does the job but I have another line that casts the rod better. I have used it about 5 different times and it is still in great condition with nearly no physical signs of use, the line usually retails for $100 but I will sell it for $60. For those of you who haven't heard about sharkskin it is designed with a different texture to help the line ride higher in the water and load the rod faster to help you cast further, great line just not for my purposes.

Did it sell??? Is it still available?

Is it still available?

Echo's are nice rods I had a guy pushing me hard to buy one and it was tought to resist. For the reel I am a new found firm believer in Lamson. Lamson is one of very few reels that is made in america and has a lifetime warranty. Their new reel the Konic has the same drag as their high end reels except its only $120-$140. It weighs like 4.5 oz or something crazy like that, its is basicly scratch resistant and failure resistant. If you want a drag that can hold a 20lb carp this is the one you want.

Fished Montauk today, it was all in all pretty good, I couldn't figure out quite what they were after. I caught them on BH Prince Nymphs and BH Pheasant Tails and BH Grey Scud. Oh yeah and of course the good ole chamois fly. The water is different than it was last year I wasn't finding fish in the same holes that I tore up in last year. I honestly think I would have done even better with a nice pair of polarized glasses

while I agree that the finley river waders are crap I wouldn't say that about all bps waders, If they fail on you every year take them back they have a one year warantee and for an exchange there are basically no questions asked. I had a pair of neoprene red head waders and they lasted 3 years which isn't terrible for only being $80 granted I would go for breathables instead. Simms are nice but darn are they expensive. My recomendation stretch her to 240 and get the tan breathable stockingfoot wader and save the simms for a birthday present in a few years.

I tie something very similar except I don't paint the head I just use tungsten. But the olive tail and spun peacock body are very much the same, I have used it at bennett but it works better at montauk, I actually like to use it as the bottom of a double dropper rig

I fished all day yesterday and this morning it was crowded until about 9 am when I counted 10 fisherman in my line of sight. I tried fishing zone 1 on saturday but it was too crowded and I couldn't figure them out, I moved to zone 2 above whistle bridge and put my glo ball about 6 ft down and started hammering them. I am ready for the water to be normal, I am craving stripping cracklebacks on floating line.

I would go with 5 over the 4 either one is gonna work but it seems to me like a 5 wt is more forgiving, I handle hobbs creek reels almost daily and they are fine, the venture is nice but it is a small arbor vs the large arbor, your call on that one. I would pay twice as much for Scientific Angler over rio, Get GPX it is the most versatile. Then just have fun with it and don't let yourself get discouraged. No matter what your getting a hell of a combo

any suggestions of places to start or types of cover to look for?

I am headed down for a tournament on April 27 and neither me or my fishing partner have ever fished table rock before. so I have a million questions. I read another thread that suggested that the water may not be cleared up yet, but will it be at a normal level? If you have any tips or areas I should key in on they would be much appreciated, lure suggestions are welcomed, I've been told mojo rigs. one more thing if the water is more off color do I still need flurocarbon or will mono do the trick? Thanks

Any day at Bennett is worth it, its not gonna be what you're used to but they will bite, I just got back and I was still able to catch em, just had to go about 5 ft down with a bright tri-color glo-ball

Good advice tony, Mon and Tues it was only about a foot or two high, but its muddy I stumbled around because I couldn't see my feet, they are there fish the eddys and deep, one lure a tri-color glo ball 5 feet under with a giant splitshot especially in zone 1 did the trick. I saw people with sinking line using black woolies or something comparable all the way to the bottom, its showing signs but it'll be a while before its "normal" again. side note there was a black caddis -ish hatch about noon right above the darn, there were enough to annoy me and fly into my eyes, I saw some hit on the surface during the hatch but I doubt it would be productive since the fish are on the bottom and its so murky