Mineral Fork Smallies

[stlfisher]

Fish the mineral fork frequently as Kingston is only about 20 minutes from me.  It get's abused by the locals, but there are nice fish to be had and it is a pretty stretch.

I have had issues at F so it is wise to take a buddy IMO.  Preferably a large one.

[Smallieguy87]

6 minutes ago, stlfisher said:

Fish the mineral fork frequently as Kingston is only about 20 minutes from me.  It get's abused by the locals, but there are nice fish to be had and it is a pretty stretch.

I have had issues at F so it is wise to take a buddy IMO.  Preferably a large one.

I've had a few issues there myself. I'm usually armed. Hope I never would have to use it over something as simple as fishing the wrong area.

[Smallieguy87]

5 hours ago, Flysmallie said:

Several years ago I spent some time looking at a fly rod specifically for bass. It did not have to have "Bass" in it's name or printed on the blank, just something in a 7 to 8 wt that matched my casting style and felt good in my hand. I was able to cast quite a few rods. The Sage Bass rods, some other sage rods, BVK, a Cabela's something or other, few different Orvis rods and a Redington Predator. I got a really sweet deal on the Redington but I can say that even without that deal it still would have been the rod that I chose. It matches my style perfectly. Casts weighted flies with ease. And even without that deal it was the cheapest option.

Don't get too hung up on a name or a brand. Take the time to find something that works for you. Even if you haven't cast a fly rod before you still should cast as many as you can to learn what works best for you. I learned a lot in that time trying different fly rods in different shops. The most important things I learned was about my casting style. You have to find a rod that matches. It doesn't matter if someone else likes it, it will feel differently to you.

I did end up with a Redington. The BVK was a very close second. Very close. The Sage Bass didn't even make the final cut.

Thanks for all the info flysmallie. I'd never heard of readington until just now so I'll be sure to check them out. I figured something 7-8wt would be good but other then that I'm in dark when it comes to fly rods so I'll be doing plenty of research.

[stlfisher]

Yeah, it can get weird.  I surprised a couple good ol boys making some meth stream side right at the access around dusk and it got rather tense.  Thankfully, some other locals showed up around that time and I had the opening I needed to leave.  As I was driving away I saw two police cars racing down F toward the bridge so I am sure they were headed in that direction.

The pregnant gall drinking a Budweiser was a nice touch.

Been back several times after that with a buddy without incident, but there are some weird folks in that area.

[flyguy_stl]

12 hours ago, Flysmallie said:

Several years ago I spent some time looking at a fly rod specifically for bass. It did not have to have "Bass" in it's name or printed on the blank, just something in a 7 to 8 wt that matched my casting style and felt good in my hand. I was able to cast quite a few rods. The Sage Bass rods, some other sage rods, BVK, a Cabela's something or other, few different Orvis rods and a Redington Predator. I got a really sweet deal on the Redington but I can say that even without that deal it still would have been the rod that I chose. It matches my style perfectly. Casts weighted flies with ease. And even without that deal it was the cheapest option.

Don't get too hung up on a name or a brand. Take the time to find something that works for you. Even if you haven't cast a fly rod before you still should cast as many as you can to learn what works best for you. I learned a lot in that time trying different fly rods in different shops. The most important things I learned was about my casting style. You have to find a rod that matches. It doesn't matter if someone else likes it, it will feel differently to you.

I did end up with a Redington. The BVK was a very close second. Very close. The Sage Bass didn't even make the final cut.

Yep. It's very important to know what it is you want from a rod and then take the time to cast them at a shop, preferably with the setup you plan to use. 300gr with a 6" weighted fly will cast much different than a standard double taper floating line with a piece of yarn on some mono. Do you need to make 30' casts or 60'? The best rod is the one that does what you want it to do with your casting style in your budget.

The Sage Bass II does one thing really well, imo. It's a specialty rod which I would not recommend for anything other than topwater. 

[Smallieguy87]

15 hours ago, stlfisher said:

Yeah, it can get weird.  I surprised a couple good ol boys making some meth stream side right at the access around dusk and it got rather tense.  Thankfully, some other locals showed up around that time and I had the opening I needed to leave.  As I was driving away I saw two police cars racing down F toward the bridge so I am sure they were headed in that direction.

The pregnant gall drinking a Budweiser was a nice touch.

Been back several times after that with a buddy without incident, but there are some weird folks in that area.

yeah i believe all of that as sad as it is. I don't fish any of the streams without someone with me . I'd ran into a couple unsavory fellows while wading mineral fork near the old rivermont grounds. They were a long the banks in some brush and when they saw me and stepped out they didn't have a bit of fishing gear with them. I guess that coupled with all the white power neck tattoos told me they weren't good people lol I could tell they didn't want me there and were eyeballing me hard so i just nonchalantly shifted my fishing pack so they could see i was armed and that's about all it took. I just left and went home after the incident. Not sure what they were doing...maybe i interrupted a date or something.

[bkbying89]

I just wanted to drop a hint that Cabelas has a Hardy Shadow in 8 weight in the Bargain Cave for cheap, real cheap. I haven't been able to find much on them but Hardy has a very good rep and if you are in the market for a decent rod you could check it out. I did order one and will cast it, If it doesn't work for me I will take it back. and keep looking. I also looked at the St.Croix Mojo Bass rod. Just wiggled it, it felt very good but listening to the comments about the Sage gives me pause. Does anyone know how they settled on the length of 7' !!" for tournament fly rods? 

[shrapnel]

My best day on the fork produced 2 18" smallies on back to back casts from the same log in current. Had many 20+ fish days there years ago.  It's sad that the meth heads make it scary now.  Used to just park at the 47 bridge and walk forever downstream but now there's a 99% chance you come back to busted windows.

[SpoonDog]

22 hours ago, bkbying89 said:

I just wanted to drop a hint that Cabelas has a Hardy Shadow in 8 weight in the Bargain Cave for cheap, real cheap. I haven't been able to find much on them but Hardy has a very good rep and if you are in the market for a decent rod you could check it out. I did order one and will cast it, If it doesn't work for me I will take it back. and keep looking. I also looked at the St.Croix Mojo Bass rod. Just wiggled it, it felt very good but listening to the comments about the Sage gives me pause. Does anyone know how they settled on the length of 7' !!" for tournament fly rods? 

my understanding was maximum rod length for tournaments was 8', so Sage went a hair under so their rods would be allowed.

[Flysmallie]

17 minutes ago, SpoonDog said:

my understanding was maximum rod length for tournaments was 8', so Sage went a hair under so their rods would be allowed.

And I have yet to see anyone in the bass tournament world use one. I think it was more of a marketing gimmick than anything. You will notice that a lot of rod manufacturers have backed away from this or started offering those rods that were limited to 7' 11" in other lengths.

I like the shorter rod because it fits in the canoe much easier. I haven't lost any distance due to the shorter length either but I don't feel the need for real long casts unless I'm fishing the beach.