I had a few hours to get out on Sunday, so I thought I'd take my newish 5wt to a local park (more on this place in a future post) and spend the time catching some bluegill. The park isn't very productive, but there are a few holes that are reliable for panfish, with the occasional smallmouth thrown in, too. The real benefit to the place is that it's a very short drive, and there's a paved trail that runs next to the river for over a mile.
I got into the spot that I expected to be most productive -- actually the only spot on the river I'm truly optimistic about. I make a few casts, and the sky darkens, the wind picks up, and I hear thunder. "It's trucks on the highway," I tell myself. I try to convince myself, but I'm not buying it. The problem is that I'm heading off on a wade that has little in the way of extrication options, and if a storm's coming, I don't want to get caught in waist-high water far from an access point.
I climb out, and check out the sky one last time to convince myself, it's really, truly, a storm coming. I start walking back to the car. After about half a mile. The sun comes out, the wind dies down, and the thunder stops.
At this point, I have to choose between re-tracing my steps or just jumping in the river at the next good spot. Given that I'm only out for a relaxing day, I don't bother re-tracing my steps. Which means, of course, that I only manage to catch one bluegill all day. And fall directly onto my knees on some rocks.
I also manage to somehow foul up my dropper rig, leading me just to nip off one fly and stick with Bully's Bluegill Spider (more on this in a later post, too). At one point, I can't lift my line off the water to cast. Puzzled, I discover I've hooked a long length of monofilament. In my effort to pull it in, I discovered one end is tied to a beer bottle. I leave it. I usually pack out other people's trash, but I'm not sure what I can do with 30 feet of mono and a beer bottle, and I'm also not entirely convinced it isn't some sort of bait trap or something (and I have no idea how far the line extends in the other direction.
I'm about to head to the car, and I decide to take a few casts right by the parking lot. It looks like a bit of a dud, but sometimes you catch fish that other people pass up because they're too obvious. Nothing at all.
The high point of the day: some swimmers just down from this final spot call to me and point out some deer crossing the river upstream from me. They're both big, and the one in front is a buck with an impressive rack, probably 8 or 10 points (it's just a little too far to count).
I head back to the car. I run into a guy with a canoe, and it turns out he's a fly angler, too, and I enjoy our conversation. He recommends a new spot for me to try (actually, parking for a spot I'd been meaning to try), and I figure I'll hit it soon.
So, all in all, a pretty stupid day, but I still had fun.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Gear Review: L.L. Bean Ultralight Combo
It's been a slow few weeks as far as fishing is concerned, but I'll still get some new stories up soon (and eventually return to the original idea of this blog, which was to write up some of the old stories, rather than just provide outing reports).
Anyway, thanks to dumping a canoe, I've now managed to own two of L.L. Bean's Angler Spin Series Outfit, 5' Two-Piece Ultralight. The obvious review is that I re-bought it the day I sunk the first version, so it must be great. Well, yes and no.
I originally set out to simply replace my current ultralight reel, part of a combo I stole from my dad years ago. My biggest complaint was that it didn't have infinite anti-reverse.
It turns out that that's not as standard a feature as you would think on ultralight reels. Yet it's absolutely essential -- the first thing I look for in a reel (I'm not a gearhead by any means, so retriever ratio, ball bearing counts, etc. take me some more time to parse). Reels were getting more expensive than I thought, and I was beginning to see that a combo might be a smart way to go.
Then I found L.L. Bean's offering for about $35. Bean isn't known for underpricing, but they aren't known for making junk either. I ordered one. Not surprisingly, it was backordered for over a month. When I finally got it, I was pleased, but I need to offer a few caveats.
The rod is great -- no issues there at all. I've got fish ranging from half a foot to 23 inches and the rod's proven to be very sensitive and capable of protecting the line.
I was waiting to review the combo until the reel had a workout. The big catfish should have been that, but it never took line from the drag (even though I felt like I had it set light). I'm not sure what to make of that, so no news here on how smooth or loud the drag is.
The reel is truly infinite anti-reverse. So big plus there. Unfortunately, both reels I got came with too much line spooled on, and I wasn't a big fan of the curly line in general (I think it's Sufix, which should be a good choice). With both reels, I had a few snarls until I got down into it a ways. I'm not sure if this is from overspooling, improper spooling, line choice, or reel design, but my suspicion is it's some combination of the first three.
The other, more serious problem, involves the drag knob. Three times in one outing, I found the line catching on the drag knob, and winding on top of the reel instead of on the spool (leading to obvious problems). Even factoring in for user error as I was "guiding" and not fully attentive, it's still not an issue you should have to deal with. High-memory line, however, could contribute to the problem.
So, my conclusion: better than you might think. At $35, this combo is an absolute steal (unless the reel gives me further problems, which I doubt, considering I gave the first one a pretty good workout without this issue). It's an entry-level price for a better quality combo. If you're a hardcore ultralight enthusiast, it's probably not the combo for you. However, if, like me, you like an ultralight for occasional forays, or if you're a newcomer to the style looking for some inexpensive-but-quality equipment, it's a good place to go.
Anyway, thanks to dumping a canoe, I've now managed to own two of L.L. Bean's Angler Spin Series Outfit, 5' Two-Piece Ultralight. The obvious review is that I re-bought it the day I sunk the first version, so it must be great. Well, yes and no.
I originally set out to simply replace my current ultralight reel, part of a combo I stole from my dad years ago. My biggest complaint was that it didn't have infinite anti-reverse.
It turns out that that's not as standard a feature as you would think on ultralight reels. Yet it's absolutely essential -- the first thing I look for in a reel (I'm not a gearhead by any means, so retriever ratio, ball bearing counts, etc. take me some more time to parse). Reels were getting more expensive than I thought, and I was beginning to see that a combo might be a smart way to go.
Then I found L.L. Bean's offering for about $35. Bean isn't known for underpricing, but they aren't known for making junk either. I ordered one. Not surprisingly, it was backordered for over a month. When I finally got it, I was pleased, but I need to offer a few caveats.
The rod is great -- no issues there at all. I've got fish ranging from half a foot to 23 inches and the rod's proven to be very sensitive and capable of protecting the line.
I was waiting to review the combo until the reel had a workout. The big catfish should have been that, but it never took line from the drag (even though I felt like I had it set light). I'm not sure what to make of that, so no news here on how smooth or loud the drag is.
The reel is truly infinite anti-reverse. So big plus there. Unfortunately, both reels I got came with too much line spooled on, and I wasn't a big fan of the curly line in general (I think it's Sufix, which should be a good choice). With both reels, I had a few snarls until I got down into it a ways. I'm not sure if this is from overspooling, improper spooling, line choice, or reel design, but my suspicion is it's some combination of the first three.
The other, more serious problem, involves the drag knob. Three times in one outing, I found the line catching on the drag knob, and winding on top of the reel instead of on the spool (leading to obvious problems). Even factoring in for user error as I was "guiding" and not fully attentive, it's still not an issue you should have to deal with. High-memory line, however, could contribute to the problem.
So, my conclusion: better than you might think. At $35, this combo is an absolute steal (unless the reel gives me further problems, which I doubt, considering I gave the first one a pretty good workout without this issue). It's an entry-level price for a better quality combo. If you're a hardcore ultralight enthusiast, it's probably not the combo for you. However, if, like me, you like an ultralight for occasional forays, or if you're a newcomer to the style looking for some inexpensive-but-quality equipment, it's a good place to go.
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