Let's Try This Again

Here's the deal:
I got my 8 weight Redington RS4 fly rod yesterday. Pretty sweet looking rod. I grabbed the rod sections out of the cloth sack and noticed that the top two sections are for a 7 weight rod and the bottom two pieces are for an 8 weight rod. Great :(. I attached the new Lamson Velocity Hard Alox reel to the rod just to see what the balance was like. The reel was cherry. The rod; well let's just say that this rod is STIFF. I mean like broomstick stiff. I'm sure this rod has some power, but the action was way stiffer than I though it was going to be, and that's with the 7 weight pieces on top . This rod is way too stiff for what I want to use it for.
Here's what I did:
I wrapped the rod back up, packed it in the box, and dropped it off at UPS to return. I did what I should have done from the beginning, and placed the order for the Scott ARC 10' 8 weight (4-piece) rod. Hopefully it should be here next week. :) Tight Lines!

Trail Riding

I was able to get out for half of a day yesterday to do some trail riding in Otter Tail County. The weather was perfect for rding, with temps in the low to mid 20's, almost no wind, and partly cloudy/sunny. Unlike the Twin Cities, we only got a couple of inches of fresh powder the past week,however, the trails where I was riding were still in great shape. I only managed to meet four others riders out there, over three hours. It was nice to practically have the trails to myself. The section I was riding in was hilly, and several areas had mini-switchbacks to ascend them. There were quite a few twisties and curves in this wooded area, opening up to a few areas of prairie where you could open it up bit. This section of trail was somewhat technical and definitely required a little more skilled control over your sled, but the ride was rewarded with several incredibly scenic vistas. I only put on 40 miles yesterday, but under the conditions, they were well earned.
My legs are a little stiff from yesterday's ride, but it will be good conditioning for longer rides over the next few months. We have been blessed with good snows so far this year, enabling an early start to the season. Here's to a happy new year and good riding!

Happy Birthday to Me!

It's just over a week early for my Birthday, but here's what I ended up doing today:
I purchased a Redington RS4 10' 8 weight fly rod. I also purchased a Scientific Angler Mastery Series Steelhead taper fly line and a Lamson Velocity Hard Alox fly reel.
I looked at the new hybrid switch rods and their utility, and my needs. The switch rods would fit my application, but I would need an entirely new reel and line system, and the switch rods are somewhat more expensive than a single handed rod. Yes, I know I bought a complete new set-up, but I can interchange the new line and the reel with my existing fly rods (hard to do with Spey fly lines). The tradeoff for the switch rod was opting for the 10' rod for better roll casting and line mending. There's no reason that I can't still use two handed casting techniques on the new rod.
Basically I got a brand new steelhead setup that I will be using for buffalo, redhorse and carp. But I now have the option of using the rod for steelies too. I was trying to keep my whole setup under $600. I found a sweet Scott ARC 1008/4 steelhead rod for $369, unfortunately this put me well over budget. I suppose I could have skipped out on the reel for now, but that Lamson should handle the beating my other reels recieve on the rocks.
I'll be getting some gift certifcates to Bentleys for xmas, so I'll probably pickup some tungsten sink tips for the line, to add some versatility. Maybe there's hope to make me a steelheader one of these days :P

Otter Tail River Adventure

I made it out fishing Friday on the Otter Tail river, and it was definitely a day to remember. The day started off well when I caught this pike while targeting a bunch of buffalo and carp holding in the shallows, early in the morning. At first I thought it was a big carp, especially after a couple of blazing runs that made my reel scream. I tried to my hardest to keep this fish out of the main channel, otherwise I knew I'd lose it. After about 15 minutes, and at least 4 solid runs, I finally tired the fish enough to land it near shore.As I was fishing by myself from shore, I decided to keep the fish in the water and not handle it to reduce stress. I measured 38" alongside the fish. I'm sure a proper measurement and tail pinch could have gotten me another inch or two.
I had a few more strikes and runs similar to this after I caught this fish. I caught another fish of similar size, but after the strike, he spit the hook and lodged it in the dorsal fin area. Once the fish broke to the main channel I broke the line off, since I knew it would be near impossible to land it without hurting it.
I managed to catch a multitude of species throughout the day: walleye, smallmouth bass, green sunfish, bluegill, common carp, freshwater drum, mooneye, channel cat, etc. I was catching so many channel cats, that I was almost getting tired of taking them off the hook. It was definitely one of my better days on the river, and one to remember for quite some time.

Overdue

It's been way to long since the last blog entry. But to be honest, I have hardly been able to get out fishing this year. That and unseasonal flood waters in the Red River drainage lasting through mid-June.

With the Otter Tail river finally near normal flows for this time of year, I hit the river, downstream of the Orwell dam, this morning. I first started fishing the slack water areas with my fly rod seeking to hook up with the ever elusive buffalo. I fished a brown buggy woolly bugger on a floating line and had a few hits, but to hookups. I switched over to a hare's ear nymph, a small mayfly nymph imitation. I landed crappie after crappie, usually nothing to complain about, but I wanted to hook up with a roughie. Eventually I got bored with catching crappies, and the occasional sunnie, so I was about to move to a different spot when I finally hooked a buffalo. I played it for a while and got near shore, when my line went limp. Dang. I kept at it for a while longer and proceeded to catch more crappies and then, a monster bull bluegill. The thing was huge. While I was releasing the gill, my fly was in the water, and I managed to catch another nice big sunnie, slightly smaller. Nice.

I moved upstream from where I was and was trying to catch a few more fish for my lifelist. I heard reports of mooneyes and goldeyes being caught upstream. I was hoping to catch one so I could get a picture for the lifelist; last time down here, I caught several goldeyes, but didn't take any pictures. I ended up not catching any goldeyes, but caught a small channel cat, and snapped a photo. I also managed to hookup with a nice smallie. It was one of the biggest bass I caught so far this year, either number one or number two.

The bite began to die off, and of course, by now I wanted to head back down to the crappie spot, but a father and son were there. Not to spoil their good time I fished a little more, unsuccessfully, downstream and then packed up and headed out.
It was kind of disappointing not being able to catch a few more different species of fish for my lifelist, but I was able to land two nice fish. And as they say, any day on the water is a good day. Tight Lines!