T A L K I N G F L Y R OD S
Making the 11 weight work, blasting out another long cast on a remote jungle river in Nicaragua.
I don’t get to do that as much as when I lived in California, but still manage to get a couple trips in each year.
Speaking of tarpon and saltwater rods. When fishing at the Tapam lodge in Nicaragua, we often discuss whether to bring 11 or 12 weight fly rods. What is your view on this? For Tapam, I’d bring both. You’re always trying to balance ease of casting, presentation, and power with tarpon. It really depends on the fishery. In the Keys, almost all the ocean side fishing is done with a 10 or 11 weight now, and fly sizes have gotten smaller and leaders much longer. In deeper water, or water where sinking lines are blind casted frequently, a 12 weight is the tool I like. I think 12 weights have a bad reputation because some rod brands have made them so stiff and tiring to fish that no one wants to fish a 12 these days. We try and make our 12 weights cast and fish like our 11 weights, only handling that extra 3 grams of fly line weight. A good 12 weight should be just as easy to fish all day as a good 10 or 11, and they really have a place when targeting tarpon, GTs and other heavy, hard fighting fish.
make huge differences. Several rods in a series are made on the same mandrel, and sometimes it is only one millimeter of fibers that makes the difference between two rod sizes. A
I think 12 weights have a bad reputation because some rod brands have made them so stiff and tiring to fish that no one wants to fish a 12 these days. very small difference when making the rod, but we all know how much a change of fly rod can do to the experience on the water.
What are the biggest challenges in designing modern fly rods? The major challenge is to link theory with reality. Fly casting is very complex when you study the physics of it, and there is no easy way to be successful. Even small margins
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A lot of our clients worry about breaking rods when heading for steelhead, since some brands have difficulties handling the heavier skagit setups and larger flies. This doesn’t seem to be the case with
GETAWAY FLY FISHING 2017 / 2018