kemper

I over power/over line everything. To each their own...

My float rods are spooled with 14lb main and never less than 6.6 lead. I just finished a 9wt spey rod that I'm running 12-15lb leads on, and my bass/pike gear almost never sees a line less than 30lb.

As did I when I was there.Eyes were wondering all over the place.Look at that,look at this one.I think he does it on purpose. EYE CANDY. Very nice work he does. I was very pleased with my float rod he built for me, even took it out last weekend for some salmon. I knew it was a no,no,but it just feels so right in my hands.Wont be doing that again,til the boots are done.SHAME ON ME.LOL

No problems beating chinnys with your trout stick Misfish - just don't over-line it and you will be fine.

I'm running a Hardy on my spey rod right now...not exactly the tool for the job but has no problem holding the skagit tip, 30lb running line, and 150 yards of gel spun backing.

So far, no complaints!

I've caught hundreds of Coho's and they don't look like that. I can tell from the tongue. I am serious about Coho's, all they do is roll and give up until near the boat then they thrash. It is NOT a fight. They do fight well once they change colour about November but by that time they are stream fish for the long rod crowd.

I've been having an absolute BLAST with cohos the past couple weeks. This time of year, nothing beats them!

For the most part our rivers aren't wide/deep enough to give chinooks the space they need to show their power, but the smaller cohos sure put on a show. They are also more than willing to take a swung fly...which is awesome.

Mike stop fleecing chinooks.

On second thought, at least you used the body after you squeezed the roe...

Got a bad case of booteritis eh Bill?

I caught a few cases myself this weekend, worth it to sort through to the cohos though!

Okuma for sure... decent reels for a good price.

I've had nothing but awful experiences with Okuma Bill - thought I haven't tried a pin from them.

Bought a very expensive baitcaster that was repaired on warantee once, and replaced completely twice. It never lasted more than 3 days on the water between these failures, complete rubbish.

I've been waiting for this one - fantastic Mike

Bronte was not good, it was the best at least of the west end tribs and everybody knew it hence the efforts to catch and strip browns by the roe crowd (ie you guys like you fellows). Now there's always the Oak and the other Lake O NY tribs you fellows frequent on egg trips. Like I said lame almost to the extent of trot lines and crickets (also defended, even legal, in their time)

You keep bringing up the Oak, which is a put and take fishery.... That huge dam with the lake above it a mile from lake Ontario kinda puts a damper on any successful spawning.

I'm not saying its a reason to kill em all, but doesn't it make sense to harvest stockers that wont spawn over wild fish that have a chance?

Just a thought

Damn that's unfortunate. I understand it's in their legal right to keep the fish, but why a big brown like that...

Also, nothing legal about snagging a fish and keeping it. Had it been legally hooked I would not have said anything.

The fish did go back, but after the double gill hold it was bleeding badly and certainly went belly up

Another thought - I would 100% back a no-kill on the rivers from August to 4th Sat in April.

Of course i would also support no kill fishing period, for every species, but I realize that isnt a popular idea.

Wouldn't bother me at all if it was banned. Until then, I'll continue to selectively harvest 1 or 2 fish a year that are edible and provide roe.

I can't even imagine dude.. I think I'll stick to bass/pike/walleye for now. Seeing crap like that just gets me pissed off.

I watched someone shank a handsome brown, pushing 10 lbs. It immediately got the double gill grab and was tossed into the dirt. Of course I was the idiot when I mentioned it needed to go back in the water...

I had watched this fish swim past my feet about 2 minutes earlier and thought too bad, you'll never make it past the barbarians upstream.

Actually the bottom line is the ruling drive in every culture. Karma is not a factor here. If any country wants to be the leader in a sector of a world economy they must make the sacrifices needed to bring a product to market that satisfies the most people either by quality or price. Jobs that are farmed out overseas are because they can provide the labor or material cheaper than the area where the product is sold. Now everyone has an idealist thought that we need to all make sacrifices to keep the jobs at home which is a noble thought that few can afford. We see this every day you open a BassPro flyer and see that rod X is $5.00 more in Canada than in the USA. The thread becomes a grumpfest on the injustice of the price being more up North. Now if it was just as easy to purchase and there was no shipping or taxes or penalties would you buy the rod from the USA? (Meaning save the $5.00 but send your money into an economy that does not support your infrastructure)( please answer this in your head so you can be honest). If we take this one step further and we decided that we all would take on the responsibility of buying only items made at home no matter the cost the system will still break down. The percentage of money (our income) that we have is divided out with priorities being met first Taxes, Food, Roof over our heads and essentials. The money we have left over for non essentials fishing gear, vacations, boats, and dinners out would become less and hurt the local tackle maker, cottage owners, marina, and restaurants. The currents of a world economics is like a tide it moves and flows, strong in some areas as it weakens in others. While the INK has moved to the USA I am sure we can find examples of jobs that the USA has lost to Canada that will replace the jobs that went South.

 

Art

I was going to enjoy weighing in on this one (economics nerd) but there's not much left to say, Art nailed it.

The fact is, there is no human element in these decisions - unfortunate for those involved? Yes. Does it go both ways? Absolutely.

Best skein I've ever used is right out of a Port Hope chinny caught 5 mins before.

Up to your old tricks again eh Bill

You should see the slaughter, worse than I've ever seen.

I've got the same problem with a casting rod I bought this summer. In fact I can't stand it to the point that I'm going to tear down the handle and re-build with cork.

Funny you say that I think mine is a tad shorter than 5.5 and I've had a few guys tell me it's too far back to their liking, every one's different. The switch rod I have is a bit too short to my liking, (perhaps i need to learn to cast properly) , it's the wind warrior. Yours would be awesome to cast with all day

 

Is that a wind warrior reel?

The reel is a Hardy - not exactly the tool for the job but I got a deal I couldn't pass up. Likely I'll end up building a lighter spey rod and swap the Hardy on, and buy a heavier reel for this set-up.

I would really struggle with a rear grip that short on my float rod...I would think it would be really hard on the wrist because there is nothing to anchor under your forearm?

Generally, if I can see them I just keep walking or find another river.

Exception being stacked up fresh run fish that attack even in the clearest water - that can be an absolute blast.

too much of an ad for some product for me to bother watching

So I wasn't the only one that noticed....

I really like the rear grip length, actually that is my preferred rear grip on my float rod. I just put together a switch rod set up hoping to give it a try this season, Went out to practice and the flies are whizzing few inches from my ears

 

Congrats on a job well done bud

Thanks!

Length might be a bit deceiving, overall too long for a float rod in my opinion... Tapes out around 24 inches with only a 5.5 rear grip reason for the length is my natural grip width is fairly wide.

Nicely done Brady!

 

I haven’t bit the bullet yet on a spey rod of my own yet but hopefully this fall I can get a spey or switch rod done – Last fall I had a great time swinging flies on one G-bay river using my friend’s spey rods in 5-7wts. It’s hard to beat throwing and swinging half a chicken to large, aggressive steelhead – especially when they’re rising for dries . Eagerly waiting to get both the new 6 and 7wt Sage One spey and switch rods in my hands before I make the final decision.

Thanks, man.

Next project is a lighter one, for those times when chucking an entire turkey isn't needed. If I really get into this game a sage might be in the cards... But until then I can't turn away the excellent price and product I get from batson.

PM me when you have some time - I'm heading into my 5th year in Guelph and I had the same questions when I started.

Generally I don't fish much in January, unless we have a mild winter like last year.

I keep busy by building rod (or 3) that I probably (certainly) don't need.

Maybe a spec sheet would interest some people...

I build almost exclusively on Batson blanks - I've had nothing but excellent experiences and I have a great supplier with even better prices.

Blank: Rainshadow RX7 IF1369-4

Reel Seat: Heavy Duty Spey, Aluminium, Double locking - Gunsmoke (RA 8.5L2-SG)

Winding Check: .453 Aluminium winding check

Hook Keeper - Ti Carb keeper

Stripper Guides - Batson XTCMXNZG (TiCh, Zirconium ring, chrome gunsmoke finish) (20, 16, 12)

Snake Guides - Batson XTCHSNGP (TiCH, Chrome gunsmoke finish) (6,5,5,4,4,4,4,4,4,4)

Tip Top - Batson XTCFTL 6.0

Everything but the blank and the cork comes from a great supplier out west.

Mark Light

Valley Custom Rods

www.valleycustomrods.com

They will set you up with everything you need - quick service and any issues are dealt with the right way. My last build the shipment was lost somewhere and they sent me out a new order at no extra charge right away.

I'm not sure about forum rules on posting non-sponsor links, so I'll remove if needed.