12" Makes A Huge Difference

In my last entry you saw my other rod, an 8'-6" 4wt rod, and I love it. The problem is that about 60% of the fishing I do is on small streams. Streams that I'm finding out have been grossly underrated but that's not what this post is about. I decided that I needed a different rod to fish these streams, but I didn't want to spend a ton of money on one. So I did some homework and decided on Cabelas Three Forks rod. I was like a kid waiting for Christmas with this rod, well, I am for anything I order through the mail but... The rod only cost about $50 dollars and is worth every penny from what I can tell so far anyway. I also got a Scientific Angler 3 wt reel to match it, I bought it used but it doesn't have a scratch on it and it came lined with a WF line. They balance perfect together. The rod is a little less flexible than I'm used to but I think it works well for the purpose.

I set out today at about 12:00 to use the new setup. The sun was shinning and the temperature was about 40 degrees, but it felt warmer, and the water was cold, not sure how cold ,but it was cold. I started out using a dry in hopes of enticing a rise, no such luck. I didn't waste much time on this dream because there were fish to catch (yeah, sooo cocky). I put on a hares ear and immediately caught probably the darkest brookie I've ever caught and I forgot to take a picture of it. Something I should tell you, I can't leave a nymph on fishing for brookies,  it just doesn't seem right. Needless to say I took it off after the next pool and put on a black bead head wooly bugger; which by the way might be the best and most versatile fly ever made. After tying on the WB that's when the real action started. At one point it seemed like every pool brought a strike, hookup, or fish. I came to a pool that was directly in the sun, this is unusual on these small streams. It turned out to be the best pool of the day. I'm sure I stung every trout in this pool, and it It also produced the biggest fish. Fish in these streams are never "big" but if you realize that in the beginning then when you do land something with some size then it can be a pleasant surprise. All the fish that were caught today were in the 9" range, except one that was about 6", that's a good day on a mountain brookie stream.

After fishing for about an hour I realized I had barely spent any time in the trees. This is huge because on these streams I spend more than my fair share in the trees and bushes. This was only the first time using this rod so it may be an anomaly but if this holds up I will be extremely pleased.

Something else I've learned recently is that I love taking pictures while I'm out fishing. I just can't seem to get them to fit into the blog the right way... But I'm working on it, it's just not going so well. I do NOT need another hobby so I gonna try to keep it to just fishing pictures.Tomorrow I'm headed to Spruce Creek and tribs, and if there is enough time I'll hit the Little J also. Hopefully I have something else to report then.