TR: streambred trout and 2 Cortland CLs

Forgot I had a 4 pc. Cortland CL 8'6" 5/6wt. rod. I bought it for a nice
pack rod, but mostly 'cause it was green. Took it out on the lawn with a
buddy who is a good caster, and realized what a really nice casting rod this
is. Hadn't used it in many, many years.

Took it up to Cook's creek on a Saturday morning. Cook's is a limestone
creek flowing through upper Bucks county, Penna. Hiked in from the Delaware
River, past the old paper mill, and found a shady pool with rising trout.
Caught two nice streambred browns on a quill gordon:

http://www.juvenal.com/cooks01.jpg

http://www.juvenal.com/cooks02.jpg


Then when back out to the river and cast some streamers about but, alas,
without avail. A green heron was flying back and forth and landing in the
trees along the stream. Ungainly looking bird, not as shy as his great blue
cousin, apparently.

Headed north for the real purpose of the days outing: fishing feeder streams
of the Brodhead with a new 6'6" Cortland CL 3/4wt. Yes, I bought it because
it is green. Tried it with both 3 and 4 wt. lines at the store, and decided
on 3 wt. line.

It was getting a lot later than I had realized, and so only made it to one
stream; Devil's Hole Run. This is a feeder of Paradise Creek (West Branch
of the Brodhead). Went past the spot where Henryville House once stood.
The long outbuilding is still there, but Henryville House has been torn
down. The property is still for sale.

Devil's Hole Run is a wee thing tumbling over mossy boulders, with pools and
holes and undercut banks beneath root tangles. It flows largely through a
State Game Lands, and the path is apparently listed in some sort of Best
Hikes in the Poconos book, so there were a lot of dayhiking families on the
trail. There are mouldering buildings on the property, including the
remains of one of the sawmills from the 1800's that assisted in the
deforestation of the Brodhead watershed, and remains of the old railroad
grade.

There are also streambred brookies, including some nice ones in some of the
bigger holes. Lots of fun sneaking up on the holes on hands and knees,
carefully threading a cast between shrubs and branches, landing the line,
leader and fly light as a feather, a natural drift past a tangle of
submerged roots, and ! the fly is sucked in.

http://www.juvenal.com/dhr01.jpg


Timothy Juvenal

Timothy wrote:snipForgot I had a 4 pc. Cortland CL 8'6" 5/6wt. rod. I bought
it for a nice
pack rod, but mostly 'cause it was green. Took it out on the lawn with a
buddy who is a good caster, and realized what a really nice casting rod this

thanks for the ride along. Pretty country and a pretty fish. I have an old
Cortland 4 piece 8 foot 4 piece rod from I think it was 1986 vintage so it
could be the grandfather of your rod. Last time I cast it I wondered why I
bought all those other 6 weight rods. That rod was tied to the bike for over
1000,000 miles on that old BMW motorcycle. As a friend's dad once said "Two of
the three finest things in the world are going fishin' and riding motrosicles."

Big Dale

Timothy wrote:snipThe action of the Cortland fits much better with my casting
style, or
lack thereof. The 6'6" 3/4 wt. rod was only a hundred bucks, and IIRC, the
8'6" 4pc might have been around 80 bucks back then.


It has been long enough ago that I don't remember what I paid for the rod. when
I rediscovered how much I enjoyed casting it, I packaged up a few of the newer
rods and shipped them to Main for the fly fishing class in the middle school.
Thanks for reminding me of that. It might be time I shipped off a few more rods
that I don't use up there for the kids again. It puts a giggle in my heart when
I do that and they were just sitting in a corner and were doing no one any
good. It would not hurt some others to do the same. We all have extra stuff and
we need more kids involved in fly fishing.

Big Dale

Big Dale

"Big Dale" wrote...

I have an old
Cortland 4 piece 8 foot 4 piece rod from I think it was 1986 vintage so it
could be the grandfather of your rod. Last time I cast it I wondered why I
bought all those other 6 weight rods.


My 8'6" 5/6wt. 4pc. is the same vintage. Really a great value rod - casts a
long line, turns over and picks up nicely. When I rediscovered the rod in
my rod pile 8^) I went ahead and sold a new St. Croix Pro Graphite 9' 6
wt. The action of the Cortland fits much better with my casting style, or
lack thereof. The 6'6" 3/4 wt. rod was only a hundred bucks, and IIRC, the
8'6" 4pc might have been around 80 bucks back then.

Timothy Juvenal

Timothy wrote:snipThe action of the Cortland fits much better with my casting
style, or
lack thereof. The 6'6" 3/4 wt. rod was only a hundred bucks, and IIRC, the
8'6" 4pc might have been around 80 bucks back then.


It has been long enough ago that I don't remember what I paid for the rod. when
I rediscovered how much I enjoyed casting it, I packaged up a few of the newer
rods and shipped them to Main for the fly fishing class in the middle school.
Thanks for reminding me of that. It might be time I shipped off a few more rods
that I don't use up there for the kids again. It puts a giggle in my heart when
I do that and they were just sitting in a corner and were doing no one any
good. It would not hurt some others to do the same. We all have extra stuff and
we need more kids involved in fly fishing.

Big Dale

Big Dale

Timothy wrote:snipThe action of the Cortland fits much better with my casting
style, or
lack thereof. The 6'6" 3/4 wt. rod was only a hundred bucks, and IIRC, the
8'6" 4pc might have been around 80 bucks back then.


It has been long enough ago that I don't remember what I paid for the rod. when
I rediscovered how much I enjoyed casting it, I packaged up a few of the newer
rods and shipped them to Main for the fly fishing class in the middle school.
Thanks for reminding me of that. It might be time I shipped off a few more rods
that I don't use up there for the kids again. It puts a giggle in my heart when
I do that and they were just sitting in a corner and were doing no one any
good. It would not hurt some others to do the same. We all have extra stuff and
we need more kids involved in fly fishing.

Big Dale

Big Dale

"Big Dale" wrote...

I have an old
Cortland 4 piece 8 foot 4 piece rod from I think it was 1986 vintage so it
could be the grandfather of your rod. Last time I cast it I wondered why I
bought all those other 6 weight rods.


My 8'6" 5/6wt. 4pc. is the same vintage. Really a great value rod - casts a
long line, turns over and picks up nicely. When I rediscovered the rod in
my rod pile 8^) I went ahead and sold a new St. Croix Pro Graphite 9' 6
wt. The action of the Cortland fits much better with my casting style, or
lack thereof. The 6'6" 3/4 wt. rod was only a hundred bucks, and IIRC, the
8'6" 4pc might have been around 80 bucks back then.

Timothy Juvenal