View Full Version : Don't leave home without it...
mkwerx
09-10-2009, 09:36 PM
Your fly reel, I mean.
Got suckered into working today - made a run from Beaverton to Bend. On the way back I figured I could lolligag (it is/was my day off) and make a few casts on the D on the return trip. Stopped at the put in just south of Warm Springs. Watched a couple guys fish for a little, then decided to give it a try, wading wet. Before leaving this morning, I threw my 4wt and backpack in the truck under the seat. When I went to pull the reel case out of my bag - it wasn't there. I forgot I had taken it out of the backpack last week... so I had a flyrod, flies, leaders, everythying BUT my reel.
I wasn't going to give up though - I tied up a 10' leader, tied it to the tiptop, and tried old fashioned dapping, and tried the little channel that cuts up right next to the boat launch - out of the way of the guys who had all of their needed tackle with them. Had a few strikes - but without a reel, with the leader tied to the tiptop, I had a heck of a time getting hooked. I DID watch one of the gents land a nice trout by nymphing before he & his partner headed downstream in their drifter. They probably thought I was nuts or something :D
I need to get another run to Bend or Madras so I can try that again - only this time with a complete rod & reel combo...
veilside180sx
09-10-2009, 10:55 PM
Hey at least you were willing to try and work with what you had.=)
Your fly reel, I mean.
Got suckered into working today - made a run from Beaverton to Bend. On the way back I figured I could lolligag (it is/was my day off) and make a few casts on the D on the return trip. Stopped at the put in just south of Warm Springs. Watched a couple guys fish for a little, then decided to give it a try, wading wet. Before leaving this morning, I threw my 4wt and backpack in the truck under the seat. When I went to pull the reel case out of my bag - it wasn't there. I forgot I had taken it out of the backpack last week... so I had a flyrod, flies, leaders, everythying BUT my reel.
I wasn't going to give up though - I tied up a 10' leader, tied it to the tiptop, and tried old fashioned dapping, and tried the little channel that cuts up right next to the boat launch - out of the way of the guys who had all of their needed tackle with them. Had a few strikes - but without a reel, with the leader tied to the tiptop, I had a heck of a time getting hooked. I DID watch one of the gents land a nice trout by nymphing before he & his partner headed downstream in their drifter. They probably thought I was nuts or something :D
I need to get another run to Bend or Madras so I can try that again - only this time with a complete rod & reel combo...
mkwerx
09-10-2009, 11:32 PM
I don't know what I would've done had I actually hooked a good fish using that setup. Answer probably would've been "broken my 4 wt" or something similar. Would've been a hoot while it lasted though.
I kick myself for usually not having a rod in the truck when I head that way. Always want to stop and fish, at least for a little while. This is the first time I've actually had the rod w/ me.
Next time though, I think instead of my 8' #4, I'm going to opt for the 8'6" #6.
veilside180sx
09-10-2009, 11:48 PM
I don't know what I would've done had I actually hooked a good fish using that setup. Answer probably would've been "broken my 4 wt" or something similar. Would've been a hoot while it lasted though.
I kick myself for usually not having a rod in the truck when I head that way. Always want to stop and fish, at least for a little while. This is the first time I've actually had the rod w/ me.
Next time though, I think instead of my 8' #4, I'm going to opt for the 8'6" #6.
And...hopefully the rod/reel combo case.=)
yomper
09-11-2009, 01:14 AM
Your fly reel, I mean.
Got suckered into working today - made a run from Beaverton to Bend. On the way back I figured I could lolligag (it is/was my day off) and make a few casts on the D on the return trip. Stopped at the put in just south of Warm Springs. Watched a couple guys fish for a little, then decided to give it a try, wading wet. Before leaving this morning, I threw my 4wt and backpack in the truck under the seat. When I went to pull the reel case out of my bag - it wasn't there. I forgot I had taken it out of the backpack last week... so I had a flyrod, flies, leaders, everythying BUT my reel.
I wasn't going to give up though - I tied up a 10' leader, tied it to the tiptop, and tried old fashioned dapping, and tried the little channel that cuts up right next to the boat launch - out of the way of the guys who had all of their needed tackle with them. Had a few strikes - but without a reel, with the leader tied to the tiptop, I had a heck of a time getting hooked. I DID watch one of the gents land a nice trout by nymphing before he & his partner headed downstream in their drifter. They probably thought I was nuts or something :D
I need to get another run to Bend or Madras so I can try that again - only this time with a complete rod & reel combo...
True story I was fishing in the Campbell river,BC and a Japanese guy came into the river after asking me Salmon,Salmon? I replied yes Plenty he then produced a 30 ft. telescopic rod and tied a line onto the end and started dapping all the while instructing a cameraman who was set up on the bank with a pro TV camera. She who must be obeyed and I often wonder where he would have ended up if a 50 lber had grabbed his line?:meme:
gustav
09-11-2009, 08:44 AM
Your supposed to hook into a 35 inch native Steelhead when you do something like that; at least that's how it happens for me. I forgot the whole setup; rod, line, and all the rest a couple years ago on the Metolius. It was a great hike.
nookslayer
09-11-2009, 09:04 AM
I like the MacGuyver episode. Nice work on using what you had. If you would have found a beer can, some bubble gum and a roll of duck tape I think you could have fashioned a reel. Then you could have pulled some back from a tree and woven some fly line as well.
In Japan they have a style of fishing called Tenkara.
They literally are just a rod with a leader attached to it for dapping.
Im not promoting them in any way shape or form, just thought if you havent heard of them, it would be interesting. I know I wouldnt mind having one of those those rigs I could just pop out and run.
http://www.tenkarausa.com/about.php
mkwerx
09-11-2009, 01:53 PM
I dap a lot when fishing small streams - but I've always had the actual reel w/ flyline with me, in case I hook Moby Dick...
A telescopic or multipiece dapping rod wouldn't be a bad thing - I think the problem I would've had if I'd hooked anything would've been that I was using an 8' 2 piece limber little 4wt.
And a 35" nate would've been a blast for the whole 2 seconds we would've been attached to one another before he either took off upstream with the tip-section of my rod, or busted the 3lb tippet... my post then probably would've had to go on the Lost & Found section to the effect of
"Lost: Tip section of a 8' 4wt. Last seen on the Deschutes, attached to a 20lb native hen heading for Bend. Cash reward for fish pix + rod tip." :)
FLGator
09-11-2009, 03:14 PM
Know how you feel! I made a long drive to a spring creek and went to line up my 389LL...only thing in my tackle bag were spey reels. An 8 wt spey line REALLY loaded her waaaayyyy down to the cork!
Thunnus
09-11-2009, 04:53 PM
This kind of reminds me of when I drove all the way to Yellowstone to fish from the Gorge. I got there took out my rods, and gear, but where were the reels? Couldn't find them so drove into W. Yellowstone and bought the cheapest Berkley reel i could find w/ a cheap line. Caught more fish than I knew existed there for the next week.
Your outfit also reminds me of poke poling in the tide pools around Trinidad, CA. You just put a few yards of line on the end of a rod, and put some squid or other bait and poke it in between the rocks for rockfish, etc at low tide.:twocents::twocents:
byproxy
09-13-2009, 08:01 AM
i've done this. except i remembered the rod(s) but none of the gear!! sucks for sure.
mkwerx
09-13-2009, 09:52 AM
I'm glad I'm not the only one who'se forgotten something important only to find out streamside.
If my trip were more than just a little spur of the moment stop while driving home, I would've turned around and gone up to the flyshop a couple miles back and purchased a reel & line. Didn't think it was quite worth that for what amounted to 20 or 30 minutes of fishing though.
I'm taking a vacation at the end of the month, and can't decide if I want to take a couple days of it and head over to central oregon and try the D or the Metolius or if I want to head coastal and try for sea run cutts and maybe see if the fall chinook are in by then. Decisions decisions...