New Line

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.

Fall

God I love fall. If you're a fisherman and you don't get a special kind of giddy feeling at the thought of fall fishing you better check your pulse and I'm not talking about some baetis hatch on the Yakima here. Fall is when the inland rivers are choked with steelhead, water temps hover in the 50s and fish will move four feet to hammer a number 8 hairwing or skater. Fall is also when huge, prehistorically badass wild chinook salmon enter our rivers, the last of the pink snagging assclowns are off the river and the coho really start to come in in good numbers. Yes, fall is the time when most of us seriously consider quitting our jobs, leaving our women and sleeping under a bridge on our favorite steelhead river just so we can savor every last minute of it.

A sweet fall fish on the dryline, hella manly or something. Hangdown...



Of course fall is poingiant to. The leaves are changing, the river is cooling down and pretty soon those inland rivers will slumber for the winter. When the first snow falls at snoqualmie pass you know it wont be long until the water temps drop below 45 and the dryline game is done. Well, soak it up whlie you can, record numbers of fish in the Columbia ment record numbers of douchnozzles out there flailing around with bobbers but with the weather getting shitty, most of them are home watching the NFL. Me, I'll just keep fishing that floating line, hoping for one more grab to put the icing on whats already been a memorable season.

Check out the photo of Ryans river sleigh and the fall colors post photoshopage. (boat for transport only)