grouse11
Member
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2012
- Messages
- 72
Spent our last long weekend in the mountains from Fri. - Mon. Got out fishing twice and did pretty well. Friday Morning, went out after the rain and didn't do too hot. Caught one and lost one other. here is a pic of him.
Here is a pic of him to show size although it is fuzzy because he wouldn't stop moving.
Got back out on Sunday afternoon and did a little better. Went to a new stream and boy was I impressed. The gradient of the stream was much higher than others in the area creating a lot of plunge pools just perfect for trout.
The first hole that I came to looked very promising. First cast got a take from a nice fish but I lost him. Next cast got a rise out of a little guy and I brought him to hand.
As i was bringing him in, I saw the big guy chasing him so I thought I had a good chance of getting another strike out of him. It was confirmed on the next cast and he was hooked well this time.
continued to work upstream and hat a few rises here and there and managed to catch 2 more. I only got pics of one because I was having trouble removing the hook on one and wanted to get him back in the water ASAP.
This is where the bad comes in. I was using my homemade "banty" fly rod and was attempting a short back cast to reach a more distant pool. When I brought my arm forward, I heard a snap. I looked down and the tip section was snapped in half. I kinda had a feeling that the rod wouldn't last because the blank was a cheap mass production blank from a big department store. It got skinny and then got fat in the last foot and was an oval shape instead of a hex. Because of this, the last foot of tip did not bend.
Anyway, I wasn't about to stop fishing then so I got out my leatherman and used the wire cutters to cut the blank at the next guide. I then managed to catch two more and losing a bunch before quitting. It was definitely tougher to cast and set the hook but not impossible.
I like this dark one
All in all, I wasn't too upset. It was my first attempt at making a rod. It turned out attractive in my opinion and managed to catch 7 fish. Sounds like a success to me. I already got supplies coming to make my first graphite rod, a 6' 2wt to fit into the tube I had for this rod.
Here is a pic of him to show size although it is fuzzy because he wouldn't stop moving.
Got back out on Sunday afternoon and did a little better. Went to a new stream and boy was I impressed. The gradient of the stream was much higher than others in the area creating a lot of plunge pools just perfect for trout.
The first hole that I came to looked very promising. First cast got a take from a nice fish but I lost him. Next cast got a rise out of a little guy and I brought him to hand.
As i was bringing him in, I saw the big guy chasing him so I thought I had a good chance of getting another strike out of him. It was confirmed on the next cast and he was hooked well this time.
continued to work upstream and hat a few rises here and there and managed to catch 2 more. I only got pics of one because I was having trouble removing the hook on one and wanted to get him back in the water ASAP.
This is where the bad comes in. I was using my homemade "banty" fly rod and was attempting a short back cast to reach a more distant pool. When I brought my arm forward, I heard a snap. I looked down and the tip section was snapped in half. I kinda had a feeling that the rod wouldn't last because the blank was a cheap mass production blank from a big department store. It got skinny and then got fat in the last foot and was an oval shape instead of a hex. Because of this, the last foot of tip did not bend.
Anyway, I wasn't about to stop fishing then so I got out my leatherman and used the wire cutters to cut the blank at the next guide. I then managed to catch two more and losing a bunch before quitting. It was definitely tougher to cast and set the hook but not impossible.
I like this dark one
All in all, I wasn't too upset. It was my first attempt at making a rod. It turned out attractive in my opinion and managed to catch 7 fish. Sounds like a success to me. I already got supplies coming to make my first graphite rod, a 6' 2wt to fit into the tube I had for this rod.
