Epic Day

Traditionally the word "epic" referred to a long story surrounding a heroic main character.  Today the word expresses wonder or awe at the overall awesomeness of something.  When the word first gained modern popularity it was almost annoying how often people were using it. Epic fails, epic wins, epic stunts, you name it and you could find it being done, epically.  Fortunately, the "epic" spouting has calmed down.  The word has been changed forever thanks to the flexibility of the English language.  There are some word trends I wish we could forget. "Porn" this and "porn" that. I may sound like a prude, but I would be glad to see that word stay a red-light district term and keep away from the world of angling, but that's a whole other topic.  As for the word "epic", it was overused for a time, but I'm okay with it being around today. And sometimes things are just... well... epic.

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I awoke to the unobtrusive sound of crickets issuing from my phone.  "Text me when you leave your house" was the message I sent Shane the evening before.  Rubbing my eyes, trying to read the text, I made out "Wakey wakey." Ha ha, good old Shane.  Groggy but determined I forced myself out of the bed I had crawled into a mere three hours previously. With determination I had stayed up till 3ish in the AM to ensure a whole homework-free day on the water.

I pulled into the gas station parking lot, threw stuff into Shane's pickup, we grabbed some breakfast, and headed out for some unseasonably warm, winter fishing.  The sun crept over the hills, slowly illuminating the sparse cloud cover with hues of pink, red, and blue.  Good vibes were in the air as we pulled up to the water. That new fishing trip excitement is infectious. There's something about a whole day full of angling possibilities that gets me giddy. I think most serious anglers can relate.

Suited up, we started beating the exposed riverbed with our wader clad feet. The best fishing spots require foot work (without a boat), and we put that theory into action most outings. Ice cracked underfoot. First casts... Shane's indicator sunk, set, fish on!  My indicator moments later... dunk, set, fish on!  A double on the first casts of the day.  It was as if the Beach Boys were singing their immemorial tune "Good Vibrations" in the background. It was a sign of good things to come.

And so it went throughout the day, the weather was great, the flies did their trick, goodhearted banter with jokes went on, and the fishing was productive.

The fly that did the trick for almost all my fish was a white bugger-like fly tied on a Gamakatsu 211 Jig hook (tutorial to come, eventually).  Jig flies are something I have been experimenting with for about a year now, with great success.  They're nothing new to tie flies with, but rarely seen being fished on a fly rod, especially under an indicator.  Apparently it works.  I fished white in tandem with a hotwire hare's ear trailer the whole day, and Shane fished olive with a san juan worm trailer.

You really never know what you're going to get on your line in any given day, location, or run.  The fishing had already been great and it was not yet noon.  We came up to one of our favorite spots and began catching fish pretty quick.  After we had been there for a bit I decided to drift one right up close to the bank.  The indicator sank and I thought it might have been a snag. After the precautionary hook-set (because you never know) I felt a heavy, throbbing headshake.  A few moments later I could make out the form of a stout fish, doing what Adele would do if hooked, rolling in the deep.  I hollered at Shane, and being the faithful friend and fishing companion he is, he scooped up his net and hurried over to help.  Once landed we could see it was a beautiful hybrid.

A few casts later, a little more upstream, but in the same run, a similar thing happened.  This time it turned out to be a hearty bow.  This was one of maybe three fish that took the hare's ear the entire day, but I think that was because I fished it on a tag end a couple feet above the jig fly, so as to not hinder the jigs swimming motion under the indicator.  One thing I have noticed with these jig flies is that twitching your indicator is actually a good thing, where it gives the fly movement and the weight of the jig still keeps the fly "in the zone."  Often the indicator would tank immediately after a twitch, similar to fishing with chironomids.

I'm not entirely certain what is was about this day, but the big hybrids were out and hungry.  A little later in the day we were exploring some water that looked promising.  Shane's indicator did what we like it to do and he connected with another fantastic hybrid.

On one instance my indicator went down and I set only to find myself hooked up with what felt like a carp, or massive trout.  Carp have a distinctive bulldog fighting style and with their mass they do not move around as quickly as a trout does.  It fought well for being in nearly freezing water.  It was a wonderful surprise, and on a white jig fly no less.

There is something about trout colors in the winter.  They get so much brighter and the fish appear so much healthier.  It would be a crime not to take a picture of how beautiful some of these fish are.

Not much later in the day, and in the same place Shane picked up his dandy I set into another thick hybrid.  I have no idea why the hybrids were so active, but I'm not arguing!  

Shane stuck another beaut, unfortunately the camera's settings got changed when it was stuffed into a backpack, and I didn't think to check them.  I think you can still get a sense for the quality of fish it was from the pic. 

It was one of those trips that leaves you on a fishing high for days.  It felt like "indian summer fall" kind of weather and the fishing matched.  These are the kind of days you walk your tail off to get.  Was it worth staying up till 3 in the morning?  You betcha.  I can probably count the number of these kind of days on one hand.  Sorry to overwhelm you with pictures, but sometimes they tell the best story.  And what better way to show how a day on the water can be, than to show some beautiful fish pics and tell you it was simply... epic.

Fly Tying: Hotwire Hare's Ear

The Hotwire Hare's Ear has proven an extremely effective pattern.  I nymph with it as well as use it to trail streamers.  The fish love to take it slow stripped, on the swing, and dead drifted.  I'm not sure if they think it is an emerger or tiny baitfish, but either way they seem to like it.  The "hotwire" rib seems to makes it pop in murky conditions too.  It's no great leap of innovation in the world of fly tying, but it seems to work.  I always have some in my box now.  It's a quick and simple tie, so have at it.





One of the recent goods it has produced...

Gear Review: RIO Perception Fly Line (WF5F)

One of RIO's great claims to fame is their unique flex tippets.  When I think of RIO Products, that is one of the first things that comes to my mind.  Enter RIO's new Perception fly line.  A no-stretch, no-more-missing-fish, no-fooling fly line.  The idea took me a while to digest, considering RIO is a company famous for their line "stretch."  The concept has merit, and I was interested to see if it would make any difference in the field, or if the hype and claims in the advertising were a stretch themselves.

RIO not only claims that this new line lacks stretch, but that it still includes all the existing RIO technology used on their other lines. They say this results in more sensitivity or "perception," a lessened reaction time when setting the hook, and better casting.  RIO produced a short video explaining the features.  It's a bit goofy, but gets their point across.  I'll have to admit that I was skeptical that there would be any significant difference from previous lines.  I was pleasantly surprised.

Dry Flying:  This line has called my reel's spool home for the past four months and has been through considerable use.  The first test was on a family outing to a medium sized river, full of planter bows and small wild browns.  The first thing I noticed was how well the line casted.  We stuck on a small orange stimulator and immediately started catching fish.

Casting to eager planters gave me a good opportunity to test the dry fly capabilities of the line.  I had plenty of chances to try different approaches.  The line is so responsive that if the angler doesn't adjust their approach, fish will still be missed.  What do I mean by that?  A regular line with some stretch is forgiving on a overly aggressive hookset, but on the takes that require a faster response a stretchy line falls short.  The lesson I learned quickly was that I needed to adjust my game a bit.  It was nice to have more options.

Fish were everywhere in this family friendly river so I decided to try some long distance hook sets.  I bombed line clear to the other bank of the river.  On some I would do an immediate mend, but on others I would let a large bow happen in the line.  On both instances I was hooking fish.

Overall, from this first experience with the line I was impressed.  The hookup and landing rates were quite good, especially for fishing a small stimulator (they have those goofy turned in hooks I'm not a big fan of).  I was excited to do more with the line.

The next big testing ground was a whole day of fishing for wild cutthroat on the Yellowstone River.  These were fish that see very few artificial offerings.  It was a blast and we each managed over a hundred fish easily.  Midway through the day I took my buddy's rod to throw his line for a bit to see the difference.  Instantly it was apparent that the Perception casted better.  It FELT better, and I hadn't realized how used to the extra responsiveness I had become.  My buddy even commented on how much better it fished and casted.  We were throwing big foam dries most of the day but at the end of the day I couldn't resist throwing a streamer just a bit.  It worked great, though I can't say I felt much advantage over any other line for that purpose.  (To be honest I prefer sinking lines for streamers.)

The line goes from tan to camo (dark green) to green (bright green).  This multicolored line is meant to help the angler track the line during a drift.  It did in fact help me know how much line I had out and gave me the edge when mending, though I prefer a more natural color on the head section.  It is trickier to track the line, but I think it spooks less fish that way.  To compensate for the bright green tip section I simply lengthened my leaders, which was no big deal, and did just as well.  RIO provides another color scheme that is tipped in the Camo (dark green) color.  I think I would choose that one next time around.

Nymphing:  When nymphing, the colors in the line were quite pleasant.  It roll casted with ease and the colors made it easy to track the line and mend.  The lack of stretch in the line made for a quicker reaction time to a sunken indicator.  The bright tipsection of line also made it easy to fish without an indicator. The line nymphed remarkably well and I had no trouble in laying out a bit more weight with a clunky nymph setup.

Mousing:  When I first got the line, mousing was not something I had in mind, but I recently had the thought to use my 5wt for throwing mice, while I kept my 8wt rigged with a streamer for our night outings.  It just so happened that my 5wt was sporting the Perception line, which I am now grateful it was.

Mousing in the dark of night is a different experience.  The hookset is in response to sound, rather than feeling the take or seeing an indicator go down.  When retrieving the line you hear a SPLASH/SLURP sound and in most cases there is not any immediate tension in the line.  This means you need to set once you hear the take.

So how does a line that shines in it's extra perception/sense help when you can't feel the take?  It's in the improved reaction time.  The swimming retrieval motion you make when fishing a mouse puts a lot of slack in the line, so any advantage you can gain on the take makes a big difference.  The pictures show how effective a no stretch line can be on those kinds of takes.

Summary:  It has been a pleasure fishing with this line.  It will be difficult trying to fish another floating line now that I'm so accustomed to a no-stretch line.  I would not be surprised to see other companies following with their own rendition of a "no-stretch" line.

Pros:
-Smooth and responsive cast
-Floats well
-Mends well
-Easy to track on the drift (coloring)
-Increased response on the hookset


Cons:
-Learning curve with no stretch (on hooksets)
-Coloring (could spook fish easier)

RIO's Perception Fly Line retails for $89.95 and comes in two different color schemes, (Green/Camo/Tan) and (Camo/Tan/Grey).  If you're in the market for a new floating line I would not hesitate to recommend it.




*Disclaimer:

The reviews at Living Fly Legacy are my honest opinion. Often when offered to give a review, if the assessment of the product is more negative than positive, it is not published and the review is kept private between the provider of the product and myself. Living Fly Legacy is not sponsored by or associated with any of the stated companies and is accepting no compensation, monetary or otherwise, in exchange for this review. My independent status may change in the future, but as of the date of this publication, no relationship other than described above has been pursued or established.

The HF, She Be Good To Me

"Honey, after class I think I'm gonna go stretch my arms a bit."  "So that's what they're calling it these days huh?"  My wife is so good to me.  She is not the only one though, the HF, she be good to me too.

I told myself I wasn't going fishing Monday.  I was going to run some errands and focus on homework.  Then I got a text from Shane.  Three words. "Wanna fish today?"

Classes were done for the day around 12:30.  We wadered up at his apartment and headed out.  The sky was overcast and threatening to snow when we pulled up to the river.  The destination was a section of river with a slough and required a decent walk through a foot of snow.  Winded and sweating a bit we finally made it to the spot.  Shane immediately picked up a healthy (though deformed) fish on a streamer.  Then I picked up a good bow nymphing.  Nymphing was generally more productive throughout the day, but streamers still produced here and there.

What a fighter! The photo doesn't do the size of this one justice.  It was slippery and only stayed around for a couple shots. It was a shame because it had some some spectacular coloring. 

Buttery Bow

The next two shots are our ode to the straight-arm!  The face I was making can't be seen because of the buff, forgot that little detail.

Good times.  As we trudged back to my car through the deep snow we talked about how many miles we put in for good fishing.  Pay the dues and the river, she be good to you too.