small stream special

[corsican dave]

oops, that's torn it; 20% off the 5' 9" vision cult at my local retailer might have clinched the deal..... 

[caorach]

Might be one of these self making decisions in that case.

[corsican dave]

Might be one of these self making decisions in that case.

:lol: yep! but I do appreciate everyone's input. it's always useful to see what folks have to say 

[corsican dave]

okay, the deed is dood....

now, line choice for a modern glass rod? apparently it's impossible to underline, so i'm looking at a #3 max, possibly a #2. what sort of taper should I be looking at? any specific lines you could recommend?

[east wind]

okay, the deed is dood....

now, line choice for a modern glass rod? apparently it's impossible to underline, so i'm looking at a #3 max, possibly a #2. what sort of taper should I be looking at? any specific lines you could recommend?

Cortland Sylk ?
Thinking of trying one myself as all my rods now are full flex or middle to tip. I have the classic 444 on most of my reels and cast just fine for me. You can get a Sylk for around £32.

FWIW I have a 8ft #4 Cult (unfibered) and love it.

[corsican dave]

yep, that was one I was considering too. i'm in no rush since it's not likely to get an airing until march. maybe i'll get a chance to test one. if I do, i'll let you know!

[rannoch raider]

This thread reminds me of my 'plooky youth'. I grew up fishing small streams like the Gryffe and the Calder for nine inch fish, in fact more like six inch fish, a nine incher was a specimen.  My tool of necessity rather than choice was an old, slightly distorted, lightweight cane rod with the softest action you could imagine. I've no idea what line size I started with but I do know it came from the Winfield range at Woolworths. I had great fun with that rod which was usually armed with a size twelve or fourteen pheasant tail nymph or a similar sized black spider. I also owned a few Greenwell Glories and one or two others. Losing a fly to a tree or bush was a big deal and I learned to cast from all sorts of weird positions from standing against banks to creeping around under trees. The only names I knew for any of these casts was one where the line went upwards rather than behind to load the rod, it was known as a steeple cast. I really enjoyed the simplicity of that time. I'm not sure where my need for a decent bend in the rod and bigger fish got hold of me but I do know that I was at my happiest with my wee mates skulking around runs under over hanging bushes picking off individual fish. Brilliant memories ! :-)

[fergie]

You know i could have written almost the same post just substituting the fly's for march brown and coachman. I can't believe now that I
had the skills to catch those trout in such a wee and open river. I even started fishing dry fly some fly's provided by a pal of my dads. We caught loads on them.I still have that wee 3 piece cane rod that I put together myelf and Abu diplomat reel (my dad had pal in the Abu factory in Clydebank).
The river seems smaller now and for sure has less fish but no anglers.

[corsican dave]

those are the sort of experiences I never had, but i'm looking forward to having them. we didn't even know anyone who fly-fished where we were kids. it was all grand union canal and clay pits. the first time I saw a fly rod, other than in books, was when one of dad's friends gave me a B&W orthodox that he'd shut in a car door and lost the tip. I whipped on a new tip ring, affixed my intrepid black prince reel and proudly went down the canal. I thought it was pretty rubbish; the reel mounted in the wrong position to operate the bale arm and that little ring in front of the cork handle seemed to stop the line running through properly.......

[corsican dave]

I found the same problem! I thought I was the only one who had ever done that  :lol:


Andy

:roflmao so did I! must be a southern thing, Andy..... :