On Saturday I built a 8 foot 5 weight fly rod in order to replace the Okuma 5 weight that I used while in Montana. After tilling and finishing off planting the garden I decided to head to a rain swollen river to chase trout with the new stick.
I bought the components and rod blank on Ebay for 75.00 using some of the money I made on a recent fly sale! The blank is a dark green which shines great in the sun. The green thread that I've been using on rods blends great with the blank color. This is the fourth fly rod that I've built and it easily came out the best of any thus far. My area got over an inch of rain Thursday which left the creeks slightly overflowing their banks. I decided to hit a stretch close to my house where a spring fed tributary pumps clean water into a mucky main stem. I tied on the Pink Squirrel of Prey and dredged the bottoms of deeper runs on the murky stream while making my way towards cleaner water.
The fish were hungry but care had to be taken to avoid hang ups. As I approached the clear water tributary I spotted some rising fish. I decided to continue subsurface and was rewarded with a nice trout.
I hooked into a few nice fish, one of which pulled me into an undercut bank and snapped my line. Most of the fish I caught today were pretty small but what they lacked in size they made up for with color.
This funky lookin' trout bit on a black CDC caddis pattern that I just started tying. I believe I'll tie some more! In total I caught around two dozen fish with most measuring around 10 inches with the largest topping out around 14. After getting the new rod on the water I decided I like the 8 foot rod but would maybe prefer it in a 4 weight. This rod casts beautifully but has a little too much backbone for some of the quick runs these driftless brownies take!
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