Fly Fishing: My first fish

[Scott Brady]

Awesome fish Dan!

I am jones'in for a little more of the San Juan. . .

As an interesting and related note, we just completed our Overland Journal subscriber survey for 2010 and better than 1 in 4 subscribers fly fish!

 

[spressomon]

Thanks Scott. I've be reliving the moment all week . Interesting: 25% of OJ subscribers say they are fly fishingfolks! That's incredible!

 

[Mike S]

caught my first monster (to me anyway) trout earlier this week. Took me almost 1/2-hour to get this to my buddy's arms for a couple photos, revive and release. 10-ish pound cutthroat. It was a super thrill to catch...and it was the first fish on my new 5wt z-axis! Btw: Love the rod!!!

pyramid?

 

[spressomon]

pyramid?

Yes Mike. Its been hot and cold out there...we've been 10-20 degrees below normal for the past 6-8 weeks. Damn El Nino anyway.

 

[flywgn]

Caught my first monster (to me anyway) trout earlier this week. ...

Lovely fish, spressomon. Each time I experience a photo like yours I also imagine the real experience, especially with a species as athletic at the cutthroat. Lovely fish.

Allen R

 

[Mlachica]

Caught my first monster (to me anyway) trout earlier this week. Took me almost 1/2-hour to get this to my buddy's arms for a couple photos, revive and release. 10-ish pound Cutthroat. It was a super thrill to catch...and it was the first fish on my new 5wt Z-Axis! BTW: Love the rod!!!

Sweet fish Dan! That must have been a blast to catch.

I'm finally going to order my first fly rod today, also the 5wt z axis 4 piece 9 foot. I can't wait to get it. A friend and I are going to build it as well :bike_rider:

 

[spressomon]

Sweet fish Dan! That must have been a blast to catch.

I'm finally going to order my first fly rod today, also the 5wt z axis 4 piece 9 foot. I can't wait to get it. A friend and I are going to build it as well :bike_rider:

So you're buying a blank? I've only been fly fishing for a few years but have a blast at it. I have a Sage 5wt 9' SLT, which is a nice rod and certainly not a cheap rod. But its only a two piece and a PITA to haul around so I bought the 4pc Z-Axis on the recommendation of my buddy. I was floored how much the Z-Axis improved my casting! The rod is worthy IMO of all the accolades its getting.

 

[Mlachica]

Yeah I ordered a blank custom kit - sage z axis 590-4. I customized the kit to come with a struble U-24, burl maple wood insert, Pacbay TiCH snake guides and winding check and factory thread. It's less than half the cost of the factory built rod. My friend has built a handful of fly rods so he's going to do it for me. He was saying too that the technology in the newer rods are much easier to cast. I can't wait to use it - Eastern Sierra's hear I come!!!

 

[07 Elephant]

Since folks are talking about what rod/reel they just bought...I'm hoping to land my first bone fish in a few weeks. Taking a trip to the Abacos - meeting my folks on their boat. They'll be floating around the islands for 6 months. Expeditions run in the family...no marinas just he hook.

This is not my first fly rod.

I bought a G-Loomis 8wt Nativerun in glx graphite. It's a 9ft 4piece and I matched it with an Abel Super 8 anti reverse in red fish pattern. I've been wanting this setup for 2 years and finally had a good enough reason to pull the trigger and lay down the dollar bills.

 

[fisher205]

A couple of Northerns with a flyrod

 

[spressomon]

A few colorful brookies taken in the High Sierra last week while backpacking...

 

[Z O O R O P A]

nice fish

How do you like the Helios? pretty well I'm guessing

what kind of reel are you using there?


can't believe the prices on Fly equipment these days

I'm looking at picking up a Switch rod, still trying to swallow the price although I know I'll have it forever

I was able to play with some Hatch reels, quite nice, almost as much as a Switch/Spey rod lol

 

[07 Elephant]

Nice fish. I'm happy to see catch and eat is alive and well. Way to much attention paid to catch and release from where this hungry boy is sitting.


:chef:

 

[spressomon]

nice fish

How do you like the Helios? pretty well I'm guessing

what kind of reel are you using there?


can't believe the prices on Fly equipment these days

I'm looking at picking up a Switch rod, still trying to swallow the price although I know I'll have it forever

I was able to play with some Hatch reels, quite nice, almost as much as a Switch/Spey rod lol

This Helios is a 2wt that I picked up recently for small fish and backpacking. Its great! Super light, super sensitive and very easy to cast into the wind (for a 2wt)! That's a Galvan Spoke 3w reel...more than I certainly need for this type of fishing ;-)

I also have an 8wt Helios I broke in during our Alaska Sockeye trip last month: Incredible rod on all fronts. There are several of us going back to Alaska in a couple weeks for the silver run and a buddy has a Sage Z-Axis 8wt...we are curious to swap rods and feel the differences on a apples to apples comparison. FWIW I do, inspite of not liking Sage from a customer service/post sale support perspective, have and thoroughly enjoy fishing one of their Z-Axis in 5wt that is truly wonderful on a wide range of trout from 12" to 10lb'rs...

You'd be surprised at how many shops will give a little discount for the asking. Still not cheap but something of a reward for asking...particularly if you buy gear from the respective shop regularly.

 

[spressomon]

Nice fish. I'm happy to see catch and eat is alive and well. Way to much attention paid to catch and release from where this hungry boy is sitting.


:chef:

I caught more but released them as we only needed 5 for our dinner...normally I only keep one once in a while for a treat...but the vast majority of small alpine pond trout out and around here get released by me.

Salmon on the other hand: Its "Fillet and Release" :coffeedrink: