Klamath Today

[sculpin]

Bubzilla and I wandered down to the Klamath today to try and catch some steelhead and for me just get out of the fog. We accomplished both. The fish we landed were all small and we figured all were under 20".I was 2 for 4 and Bubz was 3 for 4 . We were away from each other when fish were landed so either of us could be lying. However I did take a picture of mine. I managed to do a perfect slow motion splash in the river and can say the water is cold. No wonder the fish seemed in slow motion as well. I also managed to bend the spool on my reel some. As we were leaving Bubz managed to take a good header with only one step left before clearing the river. He didn't get to wet but his knee and rod took a real beating. All in all a normal day on a river.

Mark

[jbird]

Way to go guys! Its not always easy to go to a new river and hook fish like you guys did. Sorry to hear you two fell. LOL! The klamath really dished out a beating on your guys' equipment. Glad you guys made it out alive

Jay

[Darian]

Hey Mark,.... I didn't know Steelies in the Klamath swam upside down.

One of the worst dunkings I ever had was in the Klamath near Beaver Creek on a foggy/rainy AM. I stepped off the bank into what I thought was knee deep water and found myself up to my armpits (taking on water) while rapidly flowing down the river. I grabbed a passing branch and pulled myself out.... Man, Irish medicine tasted good that AM....

Sorry to hear about Bubz knee (having a couple of bad ones myself )

[AndreD]

Hey Mark

Sounds like a good tip all the way around minus the slips and falls. So is that one of the Meiz's beauties? Looks like one of his new sticks.

Andre

[sculpin]

AndreD
Good eye,that is one of Bob's rods I am playing with. It's an 11ft 8/9 switch rod that I am trying out to see if it will work for the way I fish. It's been a challenge to find a line to do what I want it to. This was the first trip with a SA short head and it works pretty well. It's hard to get a system that will fish in close and at some distance and not over power the fish your after.


Mark

[AndreD]

Hmm, an 11' aye, I didn't know he was making one in that size. I do like those switchers. Gus actually turned me on to those. I tried Bobs 8/9 10' last year and it worked really well. Ended up going 3/5 on the rogue at the ponds, (one was a nice bbq'er). I ended up with the 6/7 switcher on his new FT blanks. I already had a 8wt and figured a strong 6/7 would be ideal for my use down here.

I still haven't gotten a good line for it yet either, right now I am just using my 8wt versatip and its working ok, but I think I will be getting a Hardy Mach 1 based on Bobs suggestions.

AD

[WillJ]

Sculpin,

<11ft 8/9 switch rod that I am trying out to see if it will work for the way I fish. It's been a challenge to find a line to do what I want it to.>

Could that be single hand spey & roll casting a 10 foot leader with weight & flies? If it is I completely agree. Am curious about the extra length on the switch rods. On the Rogue I've settled into my 9.5 8wt with Rio's AS/S line in a 9wt and I have to say I'm almost completely satisfied.
Glad to hear you got into some fish. Will be down there for a couple days next weekend.

[bubzilla]

My kneecap was about the size of a softball by the time I got home last night. Luckily I was able to apply the standard treatment: ice pack and quadruple shot of the Balvenie. I kept having Keno stretch flashbacks every time I waded down there without being able to see the bottom; both of us falling on our butts aside it's really not bad down there by comparison to the upper stretches, though. Was nice getting out of the snow for a while. It got warm enough to fish in just a longsleeve shirt by the afternoon. Won't have that again here until the Williamson opens in May.

[sculpin]

AndreD I'm not sure this rod is in Meisers normal line up. I was trying his 11'-7'' 5/6/7 and felt I needed something with a little more punch but light enough so single hand at times. He handed me this rod to try out.

Willj asked - Could that be single hand spey & roll casting a 10 foot leader with weight & flies?

Yes what you discribe is some of how I fish the Rogue. The Rio S/SH is probably the best line out there for fishing how you discribe. Bubzilla has been using them and I have tried his on my rod quest. The Rio line is great for single hand spey/roll casting . The taper isn't quite right for a two hand cast unless you choke up on the head and shoot line. I'm looking for the magic set up that may be impossible. I want a rod and line capable of two hand casting a very heavy bug and light enough to switch over to single hand use for mending.I may wind up having to do some line cutting and splicing to get the line I want. Bubzilla's eyes got real wide when I mentioned doing this to one of his Rio lines. I told him I could make it better , but if it didn't work I would put it back the way it was.

Mark

[Jasonh]

Mark, you might want to try the new rio outbound line. I have heard of some people using this line for both spey and single hand rods. You might have to upsize the line but it could be worth a try.

Jason Hartwick