The principle of production is to build an item, build it well and stand behind it.
For the last few years, every angler has seen the hype over rod warantees. Limited, 25 years, lifetime, etc.
Historically, rod building has almost been a religion, an art, or at the low end, quality products. Though perhaps unwritten, production failure products were always repaired/replaced at no charge. Most consumer breakage was approached at the same level on a good will level. Rod builders considered anything over 1% failure due to production as unacceptable.
Quality bamboo rod builders didn't even get close to the tolerance point. They'd destroy anything questionable.
After WWII the emergence of fiberglass as a rod building material, the rod makers continued these priciples. IM6 graphite posed no threat to backing what you made, even though some of the failure levels reached 5% range. Leonard, in their grpahite pioneering advised by ESSO, released one run of rods that totally failed and replaced each and every one of them at no charge.
With the emergence of high modulus graphites used in rod making comes high rates of failure. The majority of it being a direct cause of the material's properties or the production. Some of the major rod makers, their high modulus models are running return rates of 10% into the high teens. There is a great deal of failure. This failure is well documented by their accounting. So much that their bean counters have said it now has to inpact the prices. Most of the majors have one or two employees devoted full time to repairs. Check with your local fly shop. Will they return to the manufacturer a broken rod you purchased from them. Up to afew years ago, they all did. Now with the cost of shipping, between 5. to 10., packing it, and the enormous number to handle, most shops have stopped this service.
An educated consumer is a smart consumer. How can this information affect the angling consumer?
Understand that in purchasing the higher modulus models that the rod manufacturers are selling you an item that has a 10%-17% failure rate. They know this from their returns. So hope you fall into the 83%-90% catagory. And even if you do, they are still charging you enough to cover their failures.
Try and avoid a high modulus model unless it's perfect for your needs. If you must have one, use it extensively before taking it on a trip. A great deal of the failure comes within the initial hour or two of usage. No one has figured any use of a lifetime warantee standing on an Alaskan river with a broken rod.
If you have a problem, try and deal directly with the manufacturer, not the dealer. Most repair policies state that the broken rod must be returned to the factory and replacement will then be made. But if you're leaving for Chile in a week, and you know the local shop you purchased the rod from 3 months ago has another one in stock, go to the shop and have them get one of the rod's managers on the line. You can bet he'll authorize the exchange.
And if you're shopping for a high modulus model, call or write the manufacturer
for the failure/return rate on it.
Grey Fox
Went and did it. Put the trout gear away. The cold weather for me is the criteria. I don't like to stress the trout as their metabolism slows down. And besides, cold weather spells steelhead.
When a season closes, get a clean piece of paper, or notes on your computer and go to work. About 15 minutes can make next seasons start alot easier.
Check the lines, any cracks or breaks? Are they WF or double tapers? If DT is that back side good? If it is and the front is shot, spend the 5 minutes now and reverse it. If the cracks are in a WF, order a new one.
A cursory inspection on the wraps and guides will tell you if you need any service on them. I have one guide that somehow took a shot, slightly bent and the glass of both wraps cracked. It's going out this week to be re-done.
Most rod companies Oct-Jan will give about 7 day turn around on minor repairs. Feb.-April this goes to 30-45 days.
Reels are easy. No major damage, wash them off, grease the bearing surfaces, spey with silicone or WD-40 and put them away.
Reel parts need replacing, order them now.
Lower prices reels that have been giving you problem likely aren't worth trying to fix. Give them to your enemies, save your money and replace them.
If you're going to fool with reels with a screwdriver, make sure the screwdriver head fits. Standard screwdriver heads won't fit most reel screws. That's why there are so many buggered screws on reels. Either grind down the head to fit or look at gunsmith's screwdrivers.
If you have an Able, don't even think of using a screwdriver on the lock nut. They're designed to take a coin. Penny works great. And if you don't have a spare Abel lock nut, they're suppose to come with the reel, give them a call, and rectify the situation.
If the reel has a cork drag, release the pressure on it when not using.
Check all bags, cases and tubes. Holes in the ends of rod bags are a pain.
When time permits, check you boots and vest, etc. Patches stick better if you aren't in a hurry. Does your vest need any sewing? Or perhaps you're ready to chuck it for other types of carriers. These are the items that do well on snowy winter days. Fly boxes reorganized. Steam out matted hackle. Any pot with a spout will do it well. A pair of tweezers to hold the fly is the only other accessory needed. Notes on patterns to be tied or bought. Tippet material to be replaced.
Grey Fox
If you can't cast it doesn't make any difference what rod, line or leader you use. Therefore your choices are much simpler.
Most guides estimate that between 70 to 85% of their clients can't cast. By casting, very simple put, they mean putting the fly where it belongs.
Can you put your fly where you want it 85% of the time? If you can't, you can't cast.
A good trout fishing test is at 30', putting the fly in a 24" circle 9 our of 10 casts. 30' is average trout fishing range. Even with slight wind this should be obtainable.
Cut a 24" circle out of a cardboard carton. If you have any bright color paint in a spray can, give it a quick hit. Tie a dark fly on and give it 10 shots. If you hit it 9 times, quit.
Less than 9, you've got your work cut out. Practice. 5 or 10 minutes a day, on and off, can't do anything but help.
If you're a long way from 9 hits, try starting at 25', and a 30" circle. You'll be surprised that you'll not only see when the fly hits the circle, but usually you'll hear it. You'll wonder if the trout can hear the steel hitting the water.
Analize the situation. Does the line match the rod.? Does the rod match your style? Can you feel the rod as you cast? Many of the higher modulus graphites are too fast with no feel that novices and intermediates cannot compensate correctly in their timing. Did you realize that faster actions are more difficult than slower rods to cast straight? To keep a rod in an absolute verticle plane, try each. Because of the slower recovery rate, along with other factors. The slow rod is much more controlable. Line balance. If you can feel the line pulling and/or straightening, it's much easier to adjust your timing and get a "feel". If this is your problem, go one line size heavier.
Carefully follow your leader as it turns over. Anglers will spend a great deal of money and time on their selection of rods and reels but will buy generic leaders with no sense of of exactly what it should do. And how it is doing it. This few dollar item can :& will make or break the day. If the end of the cast isn't flowing smoothly, and the odds are against it, refer to the article on tying your own leaders.
If you have a video camera, run some tape or your casting. Have someone who cast well use the outfit and compare. Are the loading, flexing the same? Pay attention to the non-casting hand. Is it keeping th line under total contral?
A week or two, some thought, some practice and you'll be surprised at the results.
"Grey Fox"
Over the last 25 years an amazing new fishery has evolved:
the Great Lakes. Starting in Michigan the stocking and in some cases, establishment
of natural runs, of Pacific Salmon and Steelhead, has been changing the
map of North American big game fly fishing. Michigan's success has influenced
all the other Great Lake states and Canadian Provences into their own stocking
programs.
Roderick Haig-Brown, the great northwestern angling writer was renoun for his coverage of the Pacific salmon. For anglers in the rest of the country, his writings were read on the chance that you might make a trip to the Pacific Northwest. If you plan a trip to the Great Lakes, Haig Brown books should be required reading.
With the rapid growth of fly fishing, many trout anglers put the tackle away in the fall. Great Lakes tributeries angling is just starting up. Here is a fishery that can put fly fishermen who are excited over 20" trout into 20# trout and 30# plus salmon. Much of the standard trout tacke can suffice for the Coho, Lake, Brown trout and steelhead fishing. For the Chinooks, 8 and 9 wt. are much better and some anglers even go the 12 wt., when they are running and fresh from the lake. If you can read water, cast well, mend, dead drift a fly you have an excellent chance for success.
Many of the main population centers are well within a day's striking distance of this fishery, so a week-end trip is feasible. Ask, write and call and try to time your trip to the main runs of the species you are seeking. Have advanced lodging reservations as rooms are hard to come by during peak periods. If you're looking for wilderness conditions, don't make this trip in prime run times. When this is occurring, crowds are common. Wilderness conditions can be had in winter months as the steelhead will be in the rivers till spring.
Basically, Great Lake angling trips are a bargain. Rooms run anywehere from 10. to 60. per day, double occupancy. Resturants in those areas make it easy to get breakfast to dinner cost below 35. per day. For 1994, 2 day trips to the Salmon River, NY area, run 100., with double occupancy, plus gas and tolls.
As angling in any new situation and area, a guide is a big plus. Good fly fishing Great Lake guides are charging 250. for 2 anglers per day. Most of the top guides are booked well in advanced for "prime time". If you can get a top guide, plan to use one at least for your first couple of ventures.
If a guide is not available, follow the crowds. Is there a "fly only" or "fly fishing section"? Ask for help at the local shops.
When you see your first chinook plowing up the riffles leaving a wake, looking to spawn and complete the cycle, you may even think catching it is secondary. It could even provoke you into reading some Haig-Brown.
The New York Times, on Oct. 19 - reported the completion of a three way land deal among the Federal Government, a timber company and the Nature Conservancy of Montana to protected a 10 mile scenic corridor Along one of Montana's most celebrated rivers.
The Nature Conservancy announced on Wednesday that it had acquired 11,730 acres of land along the Blackfoot River from thePlum Creek Timber Company for $18 million. The land will in turn be sold to the Federal Bureau of Land Management, which will eventually pay for the purchase by selling parcels of public land elsewhere. The Blackioot area will be publicly owned and used for recreation.
Lined with forests of towering ponderosa pines as it flows through the mountains, the Blackfoot was the setting for the novella "A River Runs Through It," which was made into a film in 1992. This film which brought so much hyp and interest to fly fishing, has been in poor condition for years and Robert Redford, who directed the movie, said the river could not be used for the filming because of numerous clearcut logging operations in the mountains. Logging has also caused the river to be flooded with sediment that has hurt trout habitats.
Abandoned gold mines still drain sulfuric acid and other toxic waste into the river. And a mammoth new gold mine is being planned for an area that drains into the Blackfoot near Lincoln. Because of the problems, environmental groups have been looking for ways to keep the river from deteriorating further.
Plum Creek Timber, which has been attacked by environmentalists over clearcutting on its private tracts, said the sale was part of a program that found uses for environmentally sensitive lands other than logging. "The Blackfoot River is a special place in Montana," said an executive vice president of the company, Charlie Grenier.
The land, 15 miles east of Missoula, one of Montana's largest cities, had also been considered prime real estate for subdivisions. The new purchase more than doubles-to more than 20,000 acres- the land that the Nature Conservancy has bought or protected through scenic easements along the Blackfoot. Linda Coulston of the Montana Nature Conservancy in Helena called the area "biologically rich."
The region has several unusual plant communities, and the valley is home to moose, elk and deer as wellas bald eagles.
Conservationists and anglers have to wonder why government agencies cannot control these problems but be thankful for the resources and tactics of the Conservancy.
Allan J. Liu
Finally caught up with Walt Grau, Spey Rod Outfitters.
Walt is one of the most innovative steelhead guides around. He keeps a selection
of spey outfits around and if he thinks you're up to it, will get you into
it.
The spring steelhead season was extremely late. April which is historically
the best was a bust. Steelhead were landed on the Muskegeon to the end of
May, and the last 3 landed on the PM was June 11. Fishing was VG-exc on
both these rivers all of May.
Walt has develope a simple spey technique for novice anglers with a float
or stike indicator, which is particularly suited for chinook. By having
the leader drop straight down there is much less foul hooking and there
is no problem seeing the drift and stike. About 15 minutes of instruction
on the short cast needed and the novice is in action.
For some of the advance anglers, pencil lead or bell sinkers on spey rods
was the thing this year. Depending on the floating line wt., 12, 13 or 14,
sinker wt of 3/16 oz is tied to a swivel, at the end of a 8' leader. To
the other end of the swivel is your choice of egg pattern(s), streamer or
whatever fly you'd like. As most experienced anglers prefer weight or lead
over heads or weighted line for the simple reasons that it goes down faster,
and you get better drifts or the fly can be drifted instead of swimming.
When this method was used the spring, Walt said the results were excellent.
And if you're thinking where did Walt get these DT lines that large, as
DT12F is the largest commercially available, the answer is simple, Walt
makes 'em.
Walt is more than a certified fly fishin' nut. Walt's a certified fly fishin'
guide nut. By that I mean his fly fishing craziness is contagious. Not only
can you catch it, he'll teach you to expand it.
Walt has netted steelhead 100 yds. downstream from his sports. If you're
ever in the Pere Marquette area and like to fish with a certified fly fishin'
guide nut, his number is 616 898 3220. But call well in advance, as Walt
is usually heavily booked.
One thing Walt and John Kluesing showed me about 8 years ago, was to drift
mulitple egg patterns. So I wondered if anyone has ever landed 2 of anything
with these rigs. Walt said so far he's only heard of 1 pair of steelhead
being landed by another guide: a pair of 7 pounders. There has been quite
afew multiple hook ups, but with big strong steelhead, one or both will
break off. Just too much for the terminal tackle, normally 6-8# tippets,
to handle. Interestingly, double landing of chinook is much more common,
with 1 of the salmon usually being small. Initially, the multiple egg rig
was to use different colors to try and pinpoint the color of the day. Now
many anglers just stick with 2 egg flies, and if they know the color of
the day, use 2 flies of that color. Before you try multiple fly rigs, check
if they are legal.
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