fly line taper

On Sat, 23 Oct 2004 18:28:30 GMT, "Larry L"
wrote:

I fish two or three places, Hebgen gulpers, Davis Lake damsel hatch, and
others similar, where I have yet to feel I've "solved" the casting
requirements of the situation. Specifically, you have a long line out on
the water and want to pick it up and lay it down quickly in a new direction
to cover a riser that has cruised into range. All stripping in of line to
get to the 'head," and false casting use up valuable time ..... cover
these fish quickly and you've got him ... take a while and you probably
guessed wrong on where he was headed. I need to be able to pick up a long
floating line off a stillwater and maximize my minimal abilities doing so.

My question, as my post season tackle check shows my lake floating line
cracked and ready for replacement, is there a specialty taper available that
will help in this situation?

For kickboating stillwaters, I, usually, fish an 25++ year old Scott 10ft
5wt that is lovely for the work, in general, and I have a wide variety of
lines for it. But it's rather slow in action ... maybe one of the 'modern'
broomstick rods would be best for this special situation? I doubt I'll
invest in a special rod, but if I did, what 5wt rod would be best, period ?
best for the buck? is the TFO 5wt TICR suitable?


This depends a lot on the flies you're using, but check out Airflo's
Bankmaster and Delta tapers. They have very long front tapers that
produce, thick, heavy bellies as compared to other fly lines of the
same AFTMA rating. If the entire belly is hung off the tiptop, it
results in a very quick, deep load that'll pick up and fire a lot of
line.

However, heavily weighted flies are difficult to cast on these lines
unless you're a very deliberate caster (which you may well be
considering your choice of rods.) On the plus side, they'll cast the
same heavy flies very easily using spey casts instead of going
overhead. These were designed as reservoir lines in the UK, meant to
cast a team of flies a long way, without tangling. UK reservoir rods
are quite long, usually 6/7 wts., and depending on the manufacturer,
vary from fast to slow.

As far as picking up, changing direction, and laying out line without
false casting, it's worth learning the single spey. Never tried it
from a kickboat and that could be a problem, but you could pick 40' to
45' of fly line plus leader, off the water and change direction easily
up to 60 degrees without a single false cast. While they weren't
designed specifically for the job, these Airflo lines are the best
spey casters out there in trout weights.

The TT line suggestion is a good one for the same reasons as the
Airflo -- a lot of grains packed right behind the tiptop producing a
rapid, heavy load. TT trout lines also spey cast quite well.

Trout spey rods are just entering the market now so the choice is thin
and the prices can be high, but Echo Rods (Rajeff Sports) is putting
out a 12'6" - 6/7 wt. trout spey that is supposed to retail at about
$270.00 USD. I haven't tried it yet so I can't comment on it's
performance, but the price is OK. The next closest would be the
Winston Ibis at $495.00 USD. Scott makes a nice, light 6 wt. but it's
$$$$. Cabelas offers a rod in this size range as well but I'd be a
bit leery of it -- the Cabelas line doesn't command much of a
following in the spey ranks. That could be driven by snobbishness,
but considering the number of folks also looking for a bargain in this
business, their lack of popularity would suggest something else.

I hang around the Spey Clave forum and one of the regulars there
talked about his first foray onto a BC trout lake with a light
double-hander. Apparently, the other angler's thought he was nuts
until he started booming out very long casts and hauling in a load of
fish. It's nothing to do 80' to 100' overhead and 70' to 90' on the
spey with these rods. Casting out of a kickboat would reduce the
distance somewhat but you'd still go a lot further than a single
hander would in the same position and expended a lot less energy in
the process.

To take this further, both Rio and Airflo make a 65' head spey line in
the 6/7 wt. range that matches these rods. Put a 10' to 15' leader
and the entire head outside the guides -- you get an idea of how much
line you can pick up and cast in one motion.

Peter

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Visit The Streamer Page at http://www.mountaincable.net/~pcharl...ers/index.html

From the posts I read, you are getting lots of advice that is clustered
together and I cannot determine a consensus. So if I were in your shoes,
I'd do one or all of the following:
1. Hire a guide to take you to one of your favorite places and have him
bring along those rods and tapers to field test. If he will, have him load
the lines on identical reels to eliminate that variable.
2. Solicit your favorite fly shop to provide you with several identical
demo rods/reels loaded with the various lines and go fishing on your lake
with the fly shop owner.
3. Convince BOTH guide AND fly shop owner to go fishing with you on your
favorite lake and bring along their rod/reel/fly line combinations. You
might have to agree to buy a new rod and reel but if you get exactly what
you want, it's a win/win deal for you, the guide and the fly shop owner.

If you are lucky enough to get option 3 on the water, I'll bet you learn
enough tips about fishing your favorite lake to make the trip "The Trip Of a
Lifetime." On subsequent trips alone back on your favorite lake, betcha
you'll have lots of good memories that make whatever you wound up paying
priceless.

If you choose to do this, give us some feedback. Good luck.
John


--
Remove FLY to reply
"Larry L" wrote in message
...
I fish two or three places, Hebgen gulpers, Davis Lake damsel hatch, and
others similar, where I have yet to feel I've "solved" the casting
requirements of the situation. Specifically, you have a long line out on
the water and want to pick it up and lay it down quickly in a new direction
to cover a riser that has cruised into range. All stripping in of line
to get to the 'head," and false casting use up valuable time ..... cover
these fish quickly and you've got him ... take a while and you probably
guessed wrong on where he was headed. I need to be able to pick up a long
floating line off a stillwater and maximize my minimal abilities doing so.

My question, as my post season tackle check shows my lake floating line
cracked and ready for replacement, is there a specialty taper available
that will help in this situation?

For kickboating stillwaters, I, usually, fish an 25++ year old Scott 10ft
5wt that is lovely for the work, in general, and I have a wide variety of
lines for it. But it's rather slow in action ... maybe one of the
'modern' broomstick rods would be best for this special situation? I
doubt I'll invest in a special rod, but if I did, what 5wt rod would be
best, period ? best for the buck? is the TFO 5wt TICR suitable?

On Sat, 23 Oct 2004 18:28:30 GMT, "Larry L"
wrote:

I fish two or three places, Hebgen gulpers, Davis Lake damsel hatch, and
others similar, where I have yet to feel I've "solved" the casting
requirements of the situation. Specifically, you have a long line out on
the water and want to pick it up and lay it down quickly in a new direction
to cover a riser that has cruised into range. All stripping in of line to
get to the 'head," and false casting use up valuable time ..... cover
these fish quickly and you've got him ... take a while and you probably
guessed wrong on where he was headed. I need to be able to pick up a long
floating line off a stillwater and maximize my minimal abilities doing so.

My question, as my post season tackle check shows my lake floating line
cracked and ready for replacement, is there a specialty taper available that
will help in this situation?

For kickboating stillwaters, I, usually, fish an 25++ year old Scott 10ft
5wt that is lovely for the work, in general, and I have a wide variety of
lines for it. But it's rather slow in action ... maybe one of the 'modern'
broomstick rods would be best for this special situation? I doubt I'll
invest in a special rod, but if I did, what 5wt rod would be best, period ?
best for the buck? is the TFO 5wt TICR suitable?



Forgot to mention Brian Chan's book, "Stillwater Fly Fishing". I'm
sure that it would be a decent source as well as any UK stillwater
book. Since fishing on rivers and streams in the UK, can be very
expensive, a lot of fishing is done via day tickets to local
reservoirs or ponds. So, there's a lot of expertise there on
stillwater trout fishing. BTW, a 5 wt. would be considered very light
by UK standards for lake fishing. This Sunday, I watched a Canadian
fishing show where they're fishing for rainbows, from kickboats, on a
BC lake, using 8 wts.! They had to -- you should've seen the hogs
they were landing.

Peter

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Visit The Streamer Page at http://www.mountaincable.net/~pcharl...ers/index.html

Larry Specifically, you have a long line out on the water and want to
Larry pick it up and lay it down quickly in a new direction to cover
Larry a riser that has cruised into range.

Sounds like a job for the good ole double taper. And as a bonus, are
those casts a sight for sore eyes after watching WFs being smashed
around :-)

The problem with DTs is that they take up a lot of space on the reel.

--
Jarmo Hurri

Commercial email countermeasures included in header email
address. Remove all garbage from header email address when replying,
or just use .

Hi Larry,

Your line has to be new so it does not soak up water.

It needs to be clean and dressed.

If you had a newer fast, light 9.5 or 10' #5 rod it would help too. Sage XP
or GLX?

I like the Sage Performance taper.

--
Bill Kiene

Kiene's Fly Shop
Sacramento, CA, USA

Web site: www.kiene.com


"Larry L" wrote in message
...
I fish two or three places, Hebgen gulpers, Davis Lake damsel hatch, and
others similar, where I have yet to feel I've "solved" the casting
requirements of the situation. Specifically, you have a long line out on
the water and want to pick it up and lay it down quickly in a new direction
to cover a riser that has cruised into range. All stripping in of line
to get to the 'head," and false casting use up valuable time ..... cover
these fish quickly and you've got him ... take a while and you probably
guessed wrong on where he was headed. I need to be able to pick up a long
floating line off a stillwater and maximize my minimal abilities doing so.

My question, as my post season tackle check shows my lake floating line
cracked and ready for replacement, is there a specialty taper available
that will help in this situation?

For kickboating stillwaters, I, usually, fish an 25++ year old Scott 10ft
5wt that is lovely for the work, in general, and I have a wide variety of
lines for it. But it's rather slow in action ... maybe one of the
'modern' broomstick rods would be best for this special situation? I
doubt I'll invest in a special rod, but if I did, what 5wt rod would be
best, period ? best for the buck? is the TFO 5wt TICR suitable?

Hi Larry,

Your line has to be new so it does not soak up water.

It needs to be clean and dressed.

If you had a newer fast, light 9.5 or 10' #5 rod it would help too. Sage XP
or GLX?

I like the Sage Performance taper.

--
Bill Kiene

Kiene's Fly Shop
Sacramento, CA, USA

Web site: www.kiene.com


"Larry L" wrote in message
...
I fish two or three places, Hebgen gulpers, Davis Lake damsel hatch, and
others similar, where I have yet to feel I've "solved" the casting
requirements of the situation. Specifically, you have a long line out on
the water and want to pick it up and lay it down quickly in a new direction
to cover a riser that has cruised into range. All stripping in of line
to get to the 'head," and false casting use up valuable time ..... cover
these fish quickly and you've got him ... take a while and you probably
guessed wrong on where he was headed. I need to be able to pick up a long
floating line off a stillwater and maximize my minimal abilities doing so.

My question, as my post season tackle check shows my lake floating line
cracked and ready for replacement, is there a specialty taper available
that will help in this situation?

For kickboating stillwaters, I, usually, fish an 25++ year old Scott 10ft
5wt that is lovely for the work, in general, and I have a wide variety of
lines for it. But it's rather slow in action ... maybe one of the
'modern' broomstick rods would be best for this special situation? I
doubt I'll invest in a special rod, but if I did, what 5wt rod would be
best, period ? best for the buck? is the TFO 5wt TICR suitable?

"Larry L" wrote in message
...


My question, as my post season tackle check shows my lake floating line
cracked and ready for replacement, is there a specialty taper available
that
will help in this situation?

try a wulff triangle taper or one of the slick coated distance lines, both
SA and Rio sell them, Cortland probably does too.


For kickboating stillwaters, I, usually, fish an 25++ year old Scott 10ft
5wt that is lovely for the work, in general, and I have a wide variety of
lines for it. But it's rather slow in action ... maybe one of the
'modern'
broomstick rods would be best for this special situation?
I doubt I'll
invest in a special rod, but if I did, what 5wt rod would be best, period
?

they are not broomstick rods but they are fast action, Sage XP, Winston
Boron IIx

best for the buck? is the TFO 5wt TICR suitable?

Only you can answer what is best for your buck and I don't know about the
TFO series aside from seeing them on the rack in a few shops.

On Sat, 23 Oct 2004 18:28:30 GMT, "Larry L"
wrote:

I fish two or three places, Hebgen gulpers, Davis Lake damsel hatch, and
others similar, where I have yet to feel I've "solved" the casting
requirements of the situation. Specifically, you have a long line out on
the water and want to pick it up and lay it down quickly in a new direction
to cover a riser that has cruised into range. All stripping in of line to
get to the 'head," and false casting use up valuable time ..... cover
these fish quickly and you've got him ... take a while and you probably
guessed wrong on where he was headed. I need to be able to pick up a long
floating line off a stillwater and maximize my minimal abilities doing so.

My question, as my post season tackle check shows my lake floating line
cracked and ready for replacement, is there a specialty taper available that
will help in this situation?

For kickboating stillwaters, I, usually, fish an 25++ year old Scott 10ft
5wt that is lovely for the work, in general, and I have a wide variety of
lines for it. But it's rather slow in action ... maybe one of the 'modern'
broomstick rods would be best for this special situation? I doubt I'll
invest in a special rod, but if I did, what 5wt rod would be best, period ?
best for the buck? is the TFO 5wt TICR suitable?



Forgot to mention Brian Chan's book, "Stillwater Fly Fishing". I'm
sure that it would be a decent source as well as any UK stillwater
book. Since fishing on rivers and streams in the UK, can be very
expensive, a lot of fishing is done via day tickets to local
reservoirs or ponds. So, there's a lot of expertise there on
stillwater trout fishing. BTW, a 5 wt. would be considered very light
by UK standards for lake fishing. This Sunday, I watched a Canadian
fishing show where they're fishing for rainbows, from kickboats, on a
BC lake, using 8 wts.! They had to -- you should've seen the hogs
they were landing.

Peter

turn mailhot into hotmail to reply

Visit The Streamer Page at http://www.mountaincable.net/~pcharl...ers/index.html

From the posts I read, you are getting lots of advice that is clustered
together and I cannot determine a consensus. So if I were in your shoes,
I'd do one or all of the following:
1. Hire a guide to take you to one of your favorite places and have him
bring along those rods and tapers to field test. If he will, have him load
the lines on identical reels to eliminate that variable.
2. Solicit your favorite fly shop to provide you with several identical
demo rods/reels loaded with the various lines and go fishing on your lake
with the fly shop owner.
3. Convince BOTH guide AND fly shop owner to go fishing with you on your
favorite lake and bring along their rod/reel/fly line combinations. You
might have to agree to buy a new rod and reel but if you get exactly what
you want, it's a win/win deal for you, the guide and the fly shop owner.

If you are lucky enough to get option 3 on the water, I'll bet you learn
enough tips about fishing your favorite lake to make the trip "The Trip Of a
Lifetime." On subsequent trips alone back on your favorite lake, betcha
you'll have lots of good memories that make whatever you wound up paying
priceless.

If you choose to do this, give us some feedback. Good luck.
John


--
Remove FLY to reply
"Larry L" wrote in message
...
I fish two or three places, Hebgen gulpers, Davis Lake damsel hatch, and
others similar, where I have yet to feel I've "solved" the casting
requirements of the situation. Specifically, you have a long line out on
the water and want to pick it up and lay it down quickly in a new direction
to cover a riser that has cruised into range. All stripping in of line
to get to the 'head," and false casting use up valuable time ..... cover
these fish quickly and you've got him ... take a while and you probably
guessed wrong on where he was headed. I need to be able to pick up a long
floating line off a stillwater and maximize my minimal abilities doing so.

My question, as my post season tackle check shows my lake floating line
cracked and ready for replacement, is there a specialty taper available
that will help in this situation?

For kickboating stillwaters, I, usually, fish an 25++ year old Scott 10ft
5wt that is lovely for the work, in general, and I have a wide variety of
lines for it. But it's rather slow in action ... maybe one of the
'modern' broomstick rods would be best for this special situation? I
doubt I'll invest in a special rod, but if I did, what 5wt rod would be
best, period ? best for the buck? is the TFO 5wt TICR suitable?

Larry Specifically, you have a long line out on the water and want to
Larry pick it up and lay it down quickly in a new direction to cover
Larry a riser that has cruised into range.

Sounds like a job for the good ole double taper. And as a bonus, are
those casts a sight for sore eyes after watching WFs being smashed
around :-)

The problem with DTs is that they take up a lot of space on the reel.

--
Jarmo Hurri

Commercial email countermeasures included in header email
address. Remove all garbage from header email address when replying,
or just use .