If it helps Fred... If I were a fish, I'd be scared...

eeeeeeeeekkkkkk!

What do you think of the reel?

I picked up the same one.

Well I haven't tested it yet on the stream but the drag is powerfull and smooth is isn't to noisy either it get anoying when you have a reel that makes a clicking noise when you reel in . And it has a nice backing compacity I put 200 yards of 30 dacron on mine.

Yeah initially I'm pretty impressed with it. I like that is has no incoming click but it has outgoing. I like how smooth it is and if needed you could spin the spool to pick up a ton of line quickly (seen it done on tarpon many times). If that makes sense.

I def. can't wait to give it a workout and test the drag. For the price I paid you can't beat it with a stick. Bob has been a pleasure to deal with thus far too.

Well just got back from my trip to the island . The wind was blowing good so I decided to hit the bay area . So when I started getting ready I realized that I forgot my waders so I said F@@K it and wet waded with khakis on . I was a nice area to wade fish with a fly rod it like one big flat for the most part .I tried to do to many new things at once when I was there which made things harder than they should be.Iwas trying to learn how to cast two handed while using rio outbound intermedite with a stripping basket ,but i pulled it off for the most part and caught some of these guys the way they go after the fly reminds me alot like chain pickerel they hit it with bab intentions
I'm deffinitelt going back probally this Fri . here is the only pics I took .

very cool. I haven't been back to the island for a while. I LOVE those yellow eyes! Even the small ones give a good bend in the rod.

I actually will have a day to fish on sunday. Wife taking the kids to the in-laws. Let me know if you're going to be heading down there.

Fred. Looks like a blast. Think my 9' 9wt could cut it? I may have to get a new line or shooting head since I just have DT.

I am definitely interested in going there in october.

Way to go Fred! Wading Barnegat Bay (I'm assuming that's where you were) can be a ton of fun. It's mostly hard bottom and even better if you've got a kayak to get further back. Snappers will attack any fly put in front of them and can put a dent in a pretty big fly rod. That one photo really shows their teeth. By mid October they will probably be running in much larger sizes - although this past week there was a 20+ pounder caught at IBSP.

Nice Fred! Good to see you got some action. Looks like your rod and reel worked pretty well for you.

Jay a 9 wt is fine for the bay even a 8 wt is good . As far as line goes you could get away with a DT line . My switch rod is rated as a 9 wt .

Tom never had a chance to try out the drag the snappers put a good bend in my rod but I never felt the need to use the drag since I was using 0x floro .

Dave the ocean side of the island was blowing to good so I went to the other side to the bay it wasn't nearly as bad . It is deffinitely good yak water can't wait till I get mine . I would of waded out farther and try to fish the channel but I was in pants so I didn't want to go any deeper than the boys I seen tons of bait there mainly big minnows about 4" long and a few baby flounder and a big manhole size stingray swam right by me.

And Fridays are the only good day for me to go plus it beats the crowds .

Fridays are a no go for me. I am now paying the price for taking 4 days off for the jam. I can't take anymore time off.

Maybe we can work something out.

Cool. The concept of a "grand slam" obviously varies with locale but in the FL Keys it is usually implied to mean a bonefish, permit, and tarpon all caught within the same 24 hour period. Sometimes if one gets a snook or red too it can be termed a "superslam." While I've been lucky enough to have caught all the above species, I doubt I'll ever catch a Keys slam, esp FFing (had a few 2 outa 3 days). Frankly, my dream of catching a permit on a fly is one that I quite likely will never achieve. In the meantime, I've had a lot of fun experimenting with crab flies.

Wish I lived closer to salt.

Was pretty close to going on a Tarpon trip this past spring. When speaking with the guide we were going to use he told me he would give us a course the night before we go out- entitled.

"How to survive the first 6 seconds."

This is the types of stuff I love. How fun!