Haven't been fishing at all for the last couple of weeks. Early part of the field season is always hellacious with work like that I guess. Luckily evenings have been pretty quiet here in the heart of the California coastrange so I've had enough time to tie a lifetimes worth of summer steelhead flies. I also just ordered a single hand airflo 6th sense 7/8 online. For a long time I've been looking for the perfect line for my Sage 5120, and while an old 5/6 windcutter does the job it definitely isnt bringing out the best of that rod in my hands. 6th sense should be absolute butter. Its got the same taper as the delta which is my favorite line of all time. I know a lot of folks like to fish scandi lines for their summer fishing but somehow I can't get excited about fishing short shooting heads with small flies. After stripping and managing big lengths of running line all winter its the last thing I want to do when targeting summer fish. Of course some people who fish long bellys would say that a delta, with its 50-58 foot head qualifies as a shooting line, but on most summer rivers if you're shooting very far beyond that you're over casting. Besides, how many people do you know who can actually make a long line fly right most of the time? For the number of people talking about fishing them I've seen very few casters who make it look easy, so I find that a delta is the perfect compromise, plenty smooth for delicate presentations, easy to manage and cast.
Anyways, The 7/8 should be right on grain wise on that little rod. I'll let you know how it casts when it arrives.
Mallard March Brown Soft Hackle
6 days ago
Well put. I love the old Delta for my little 5-weight. Straight floater. Was the greatest mousing setup for Kamchatka bows, and doubled as a sweet outfit for small coastal streams in summer. I've been looking for a replacement. Keep us posted on the new line!
ReplyDeleteRegarding long-belly casters, I had the pleasure of fishing with a true master of the long-belly a couple years back. We fished together for two days, and I came away from the experience feeling that what long-belly lines & casting save in stripping is more than made up for in failed casts (even this master was hitting half to two thirds of his attempts).