Fat and Fierce
Landed on the river about noon today and spent the first hour just talking to other anglers that were parked in the same spot or drive byes who stopped to chat. The day was stunning with temps in the 60’s and a bit of color to the river ,most visible in the deeper pools. The first few hours were slow with a fish touched here and there, but the deep pools were not as active as I thought they might be. I changed flies 12 times, adjusted weight and depth every 5 casts and generally went about my normal business. I checked numerous spots that I had not fished yet this year to see how they had fared through the high water and winter. Fishing by all accounts was a bit slow. The stone-flies were in the air at mid afternoon, but the fish seemed to mostly shun our offerings even in what looked to be fabulous water. A few fish were caught by our group of three with tens and twelves as the norm.
Urged by my friend Casey to stay and fish for the last hour of daylight-proved to be worth it. This little piggy ate my stonefly in the top of a fast water drop. Although I hate taking pictures like this, the fight and the beauty of this male were worthy of a memory.
A high note for the day was the welcome addition of a new Sharkskin fly line on my reel which I installed riverside this afternoon. I had not changed fly lines in two years. My old line was cut and cracked and dirty. The performance of this old line was pathetic and I knew it. I have always liked the Sharkskin lines but have used them mostly on my bigger rods for trout out west, steelhead or smallmouth bass fishing where casting distance and long mending are necessary. 3M has continued to improve the floatability and slickness of this line, and it was a dream to cast and mend, even on the smaller waters of Western Wisconsin. Today I was convinced, that for the way I fish, this is the best line that is out there.
19 users commented in " A Fine Day "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a Trackbackis that just because you haven’t fished with a airflo ridge line before?!
I’m not one to brag, but I submit that my cracked, dirty, garbage-worthy line is in way worse shape than yours. And like a fool, I’m still fishing it.
In fact, it’s SO bad, it’s cut a groove into my reel body – the grove is deeper than the line diameter itself! So not only do I have a bad line, my reel is shot too!
Enjoyed the report. That sure is a nice fish. Reading it got me ruminating about my own similar outing the day before and I wrote up a report on my blog. Cheers.
That Brown trout is fat due to the San Juan shuffle! It is a beautfil specimen.
I always thought it was hard to justify the $100 for Sharkskin. I did however pay the hundo and put it on my reel when it first came out. I fished well had little problems and it casted well. However, I decided to switch back after reading several articles and talking with fellow anglers about the small streams in Minnesota. I put on my new GPX and hit the stream. What a rude awakening! Suddenly I was struggling to roll cast as smooth as I had before. My line did not float as high and reaching across the stream seemed to take more energy.
So I did what any good sportsman would do…..I bought more line! Yep….spent another $100, hid the payment from the commander and cheif (my wife) and put Sharkskin back on. Big difference at least for me…..so I agree with you Andy.
If you need new Willow color WF GPX line I know where you can get some cheap! 😉
Greg
A fine report and a great site. Thanks for sharing. Your writing is great.
My boyfriend and I were on the Kinni today, and we pulled in 4 browns about 10-12 in with crank baits! Awesome =)
And your fishin’…and friendship…ain’t so bad either.
No matter what anybody else says….
Andy – thanks for the kind words, glad you enjoyed the report. I certainly enjoy your blog as well. Cheers.
Hit the kinni today at F bridge from about noon to 2:30 – not ideal timing, but good to be on the water nevertheless. When I was just getting geared up two gentleman were leaving and proclaimed “there are no fish in this water.” they may be right – beautiful day but caught nothing. I tried pheasant tails, black stone flies, wooly buggers, and the closest things I had to pink squirrels all to no avail. I did see one fish rising, but was not able to present anything that caught its fancy. Water was very clear and lower than I thought it would be.
QTowle
Sometimes, she just won’t give up her bounty! I have been there before my friend. Thanks for the report
A
I also just spooled up some SA Shark skin. I saw it on a Cabelas clearance $40 for 3wt blue heron WF. I almost pulled a muscle getting my wallet out that fast. I thought I would never see it on sale AND in the color and Wt I wanted.
So far, I love it. Casts like a rocket but the zipping sound of the line is a little annoying. The performance far out weighs the associated noise.
I’m gonna play devil’s advocate here just because it’s fun and meaningful to me. Yes, I agree with you all that the new Sharkskin is another fun toy, but for $100!, give us all a break. You better be slicing over-hang trees with the speed if this line if that’s the case. A twenty-foot cast is a long hual on most Driftless streams, let alone all the fly dapping we do, which is most of the time if you sneak up on the good holding water. Fly fishing isn’t like driving a Porche, it’s more like…tootling-along like a turtle; there is no fast morning commute on a trout stream. Think like Yoda here…slow wins the race(in a deep voice in your head). I’m more interested in how it mends, the floatability and simple longevity of the life of a fly line itself.
Why does everything have to be faster? The rods are faster, the lines, wading shoes, tippets; are chest packs supposed to be faster?….what about socks?, should we make faster socks? Simms probably makes a faster underware. Everything is so fast that I just want to know where everyone is going so fast all THE TIME!?
The Skarkskin’s a little over rated (like most of our gear)and I’ve tried several and love ’em, too…sorta like all the “generational” graphites right? All fun, but not “really” mind blowing.
$100!…hummmm, that’s a lot of dough for a fly line.
I like to play devils advocate. I like to play, most of all. This work stuff is over rated. Ahhhh yes, the $100.00 fly line. How much is enough, right. When is the escalation going to stop with the new technology, and the price? How much better can it be, twice as good? Does it hover?
Honesty is the only way to approach this topic. I have not bought a fly line in the last 10 years. Fortunately, I have had very good relationships with the manufacturers of fly lines. Remember, I sold fly lines from all of the major manufacturers, and in turn they provided me with their product to use, with the expectation that I would provide them feedback. I do fish a bit more than average Joe (and Joe the plumber). Testing new products can be a perk of being in the industry as well as having a generous Boss,( Thanks Gordo). But all new products don’t perform as well as the ones that already exist. When people ask me for an opinion, they tend to understand that I am not a big sugar coater. If the product sucks, I tell them. If I like the product, I tell them. If I can add improvement to the product ……..you get the idea. The manufacturers worth their salt, take this information seriously and use it, because many times the guys in the labs are not built from the same mold as the guys using the product on the water. Anyhow, my thought in adding comment about my new line was because of its amazing performance. I agree, line speed is over-rated on the driftless streams most of the time. This Sharkskin line floats better and mends better than any line I have ever fished with. That was my point, it was the best. I like it when I can find a product that works better than the last. I like the best line clipper even though it is $25 bucks instead of $8.
I like the best CDC feathers for tying comparaduns. I like the best,,,, if I can afford it. I wanted to let you all know. Will this line help me catch more fish? Probably not! Will it make me smarter? I think so. Would I spend $100 bucks on it if I had to buy it myself? I would. It would probably be when I had extra cash in my pocket and I just wanted something for I, I, Me, Me, Me.
A long time ago I bought one of those fancy $100.00 Wheatly boxes with the little spring loaded compartments, they were so cool until the knock offs came out for 25 bucks and I cried. I am impulsive sometimes with fly fishing toys. It is my passion, you know.
By the way, Under Armour just came out with a pair of socks that runs a 4.3 in the 40 every time. They make them for turtles too, if they can afford them. Just wanted you to know.
Thanks Holy
That’s cool, I respect your response, and it’s a good one. I just get bummed with the rising cost of hunting & fishing products. When I was younger(late 80s/early 1990s), I could afford a premium fly line and a premium shotgun on a modest professional lawn mower’s budget. Premium carbon fiber fly rods are now in the $700-$800 range and that’s currently at least half the cost of a fine bamboo rod…don’t even get me started on waders. And I think if the hunting & fishing community would stuff as much effort into R&D/marketing on products and put that effort into conservation and education, we wouldn’t need $100 fly lines in the first place. I get freaked out when there’s nothing in the middle, it’s either really high-end gear or just plain junk. That middle of the road approach really launched many of us to take up fly fishing as teenagers in the 1980s, which saw the industry’s largest “normal” growth(outside of the “River” movie).
Sorry for the long responses in my manifestos/treatise or whatever..it’s a great discussion, but I’ll end it here.
Kind Regards,
Holymoly
my issue with the $100 pricetag on sharkskin is that 3M put that price on it just for the sticker shock value. they wanted to have the most expensive fly line to go along with the most expensive fly rod and the most expensive fly reel. i’m not saying it is a bad line, but is worth the $100 pricetag in comparison to the other premium lines on the market?
Marketing! Today it is crazy. I agree. Many manufacturers now days will push the boundaries to see how much they will pay. Remember this fly fishing thing is supposed to still carry the elitist ball in the fishing world, it always has. Fly anglers are at the top of the food chain when it comes to gear. But I think the conventional guys are catching up fast when it comes to electronics, boats lures etc.
The worst part of SA jumping to the 100 price point, is it gave all the other manufacturers the chance to jump from 60 to 70 and still seem cheap by comparison.
I hear you brother.
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