Showing posts with label 3. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 3. Show all posts
Thursday, August 15, 2013
3 Weight Carpin
Sage VPS Light 3 weight with quite the bend
This morning I had no intention of fishing as I had some business to take care of but when I finished at just before 10, I saw that the air was absolutely still and changed my mind. Normally by this time its about time to stop fishing as the winds start to pick up making spotting fish almost impossible.
Because Ive pretty much have these fish dialed in, Ive decided to make things a bit more challenging by what Im calling "stepping down the ladder." Every time I catch a carp, the next outing Ill go down a weight. Ideally you should go down a line weight but since I began fishing these waters with a 7 weight (Scott S3S), then I moved down to a 5 weight (Sage XP). Today I brought out the 3 weight. Its a Sage VPS Light that I built years ago, together with a Galvan OB2, this was my arsenal for today. So Im skipping every other weight or just the even numbers for now.
Although I was fortunate when I began to have no wind, I did have to make do without any sunshine for a while. Ill take windless over sunless any day carping. I had fished for hours, blowing several good opportunities to catch a carp until just about when I was about to give up, when the wind began to pick up, I finally hooked a lone feeder. It took much longer (obviously with a lighter rod) to land and for the first two attempt just when I tried to land it, it ran giving my Sage rod quite a bend. After a few minutes to gave in and let me grab him. I remembered to boga this one. It weighed in at an even six pounds. With the wind really affecting my casts I decided that was enough fun for today. With my "stepping down the ladder" theme, the next time I go out Ill be taking my 1 weight to see if I can land one on such a dinky rod.
Six pound carp on a 3 weight
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
NAC Micro FY49 2 3 Weight Fly Rod
A few years ago I found a little gem while in a Tokyo fly shop. It was the NAC Micro FY49 #2/3 fly rod. This is a 49" 6 piece 2/3 weight. I was told that it was made in Japan although nowhere on the rod does it says so. Its an absolute niche product and I dont even think its popular in its home country of Japan. I use it almost exclusively now for our local wild trout waters. The action is soft and slow. Glass rod slow. I havent tried it with a 2 weight as of yet but I think its best with a 3. All that I have had cast it, they all seem to really like the little rod. If I ever break it, I can almost guarantee that youll see me crying as its almost irreplaceable. I can not even find them in Japanese websites. Im not sure if they even make them anymore.
The blank is a deep gloss green.
The rod separates into 6 pieces making this rod a very convenient pack rod.
The handle and reel seat insert are made of the same wood material. Im not quite sure what wood it is but it appears to be a hardwood that has some nice figure. The reel seat is uplocking which would make one think given its small size to be off balanced but when I put a Galvan OB1 on it, the rod balances right toward the tip of the handle.
Wraps are the green and blend nicely into the blanks. The components are double footed appear to be TiCH gunsmoke.
The entire package is quite small and I have in the past placed it in the rear pocket of my Simms fishing vest as I hiked into the San Gabriel river.
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The blank is a deep gloss green.
The rod separates into 6 pieces making this rod a very convenient pack rod.
The handle and reel seat insert are made of the same wood material. Im not quite sure what wood it is but it appears to be a hardwood that has some nice figure. The reel seat is uplocking which would make one think given its small size to be off balanced but when I put a Galvan OB1 on it, the rod balances right toward the tip of the handle.
Wraps are the green and blend nicely into the blanks. The components are double footed appear to be TiCH gunsmoke.
The entire package is quite small and I have in the past placed it in the rear pocket of my Simms fishing vest as I hiked into the San Gabriel river.
Monday, August 12, 2013
Friday, August 2, 2013
San Gabriel Rivers with my new 49 3 weight
Early this month I fished the San Gabriel rivers both the the East and West Forks to try out my new rod I bought in Japan. It is a NAC Microfy49 #2/3 6 piece rod. According to the salesman at Sansui, it is made in Japan. It cost ¥22,000 or $230US or thereabouts. Once I saw it on the rack I knew I had to have it. This rod is very unique and quite a niche product. Slow actioned and tiny, I doubt it would ever catch on here in the states. Although I think it would do well here in SoCal or in the small streams of the northeast. Backpackers would also like this rod.
Well back to the fishing, I fished the East Fork the Saturday of the memorial day weekend. Talk about a circus. Luckily we missed the "diaper hatch" near the campgrounds. Although I wanted to hike deep before we started fishing, my fishing partner was getting a bit impatient and we fished alittle closer than I really wanted to. I cant blame him though the water always looks so good. But I know the better fish are further up stream. It didnt really matter this day, as Ed had to be home for a BBQ anyways, so going in too deep wasnt much of an option anyways.
The river was high and fast. Ive fished these waters hundreds of times and never had I seen it with so much water. Wading was not difficult but challenging at some places, especially since Im used to just raging through this place without a second thought.
The fishing was great. Ed was trying Czech nymphing and I was dry fly fishing. Why anyone would ever doing anything but dry fly fishing here is a mystery to me. So very few waters allow you to dry fly fish and consistently catch fish. Usually you need to wait for a hatch. or me I get plenty of subsurface fishing in the seirras and so whenever I get a chance to dry fly I will. Ed caught several. Im not sure how many but I got at least 100 strikes on the dry fly. That is a very conservative estimate. At some holes I was getting bit on every cast on my first 20 casts. Amazing. All on the surface. We left so Ed could meet his timeline.
Amped, I decided to return the following Thursday (June 3rd). But once I came to the road that leads to the EF, I decided I wanted to try the West Fork and Bear Creek instead. I hiked up to Bear Creek and decided to fish that first. I headed up the creek and hiked in. Still using the same fly from the last outing, the result was much the same as the last. Another 100+ fish day. On some holes a fish rose on every cast. I did not derig from the last outing, I wanted to see how long I could make this setup last. Kind of like a deranged version of the famous one fly contest. Eventually I lost my fly, so I switched and tried others. They were not so effective but still good. I fished to the San Gabriel Wilderness boundary until deciding to head back. The trail was hard to follow and I was tried of bushwacking.
Once out I decide to head up the West Fork. I fished several holes that produced over 20 fish each. Some holes trout were coming up taking flies. After a few hours I had enough and decided to head home.
Some observations from the two outings:
The EF has alot of water on it and moving pretty quick. Some areas were challenging to wade- not hard but challenging. I not used to having the EF move so fast.
Bear creek is a lot easier although the deeper you go in the bushwacking is out of control and obviously the WF is simple because of the controled flows.
There were a ton of bugs on the WF. I was bit all over and even snorted a few through the nose. I never noticed any bugs on the EF.
The fish at Bear creek seem to fight the hardest. The EF had the largest average size.
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