Bob's Fly Fishing Log

Every now and again I come across a rod and line combination that’s absolutely sweeeeeet! A rod that suits the style and type of fishing I enjoy most of all (small salmon rivers) and a line that’s so balanced with the rod that fly casting is absolutely effortless. So much so that I really feel like I’ve found the Holy Grail in small two-hander and line combo’s.

This was very much the case yesterday when helping one of our customers match new lines with his old rods, I tried one of our Sewincaster lines with a Scott LS2 12ft #6wt two-handed fly rod. Now the Sewincaster fly line is only available as an 8wt and is used mostly by those people fishing for sea trout with 9-10ft single handed fly rods, rated say #7/ 8. The line profile (front taper) lends itself to turning over heavier than average flies and tubes and so it was this that got me thinking. Whilst the rod rating was for a #6wt line the #8wt Sewincaster might have just enough head weight (the weight forward section) to load this lighter rated two-hander, well it did! And with spades!

So much so that I’ve now made this my preferred choice of rod/ line set-up for fishing for grilse in our smaller Westcountry rivers this summer, big sea trout and surf fishing for bass. What’s more it’s also a an ideal combo for those just starting out in fly casting two-handed rods as there’s just so much feeeeeel for the line loading at short range. Available in Floating, Sint Tip Type I, III & IV, I have a Sewincaster line for just about any bigger game fishing situation….awesome!

Bob is off doing some stupid man stuff with a kayak and the sea so I have taken the liberty to write a little blog while he is away.

Pete

Quite often we go out and have a cast together. Sometimes if it’s for a short time and we are working in the office then it will be in the car park. When the sun is shining we call them vitamin c breaks. These are important for a sense of wellbeing but are also just fun. If we have been teaching then it might be an early evening session. It might be me, Bob and Mark and perhaps a few others. I remember one winter when Bob, Champo and myself met up about 10am and finished at dusk. It was just one of those days where we bounced ideas off of each other, had a Barbie and just had fun. I also remember that after this session that we were packing up and then someone grabbed a double handed rod and the casting started again. The down side was that my keys were in the truck and it has one of these panic alarms where it locks itself after a few moments. That’s another story though!

Anyway, it’s funny at these sessions where you watch your mates casting and think to yourself “man, that was a sweet cast” and then you pick up and the rod and someone says something nice but to you it doesn‘t look as good as the casts you have just seen. Now, that isn’t us being polite as I can assure you any duff ones get a suitable comment too! I think part of it is that as the caster you are watching the loop from behind and it just doesn’t look as sweet as you are watching it unroll rather than from the side where you can see how tight or wide the loop might be.

One of the things we do look for though is a smooth acceleration in the cast and I have to say the smoothest I think I have seen is when Bob picks up a double hander. I remember when I first saw it and it is still a pleasure all this time later. Bob is one of the most modest guys I know and will hate that I have written this but it reminded me of the fact when he was helping two AAPGAI candidates prepare for their two handed exam. I asked them how it went and we talked about the casting for a bit. I then asked if Bob had cast and they said “oh yes, we call him Smooth Bob now”

So here’s to you Smooth Bob!