Spent a few hours today on the Farmington River with the 6’6” 5 wt fiberglass rod that I just finished building. I’m happy to say that it was a chilly but successful inaugural trip for the rod, and my first fish of 2010.
Air temps were in the 20’s and the wind gusts were brutal at times, but it was great to break in a new rod and see the end product of many hours of work in action.
It started out slow as I crossed over a snow covered bank and a small ice shelf to reach the river. The water was low and clear. Tied on a double nymph combo consisting of a hare’s ear and a caddis pupa and waded into the tail end of a large pool.
Early on the guides started icing, but I was able to clear them easily by hand. After 45 minutes of nymphing in a couple of nice runs I was still fishless, so I went back to the car and warmed up, returning with a cone head streamer. Made about a half a dozen casts across a deep pool and felt the unmistakable tug of a nice 12” brown. It wasn’t a wild fight – no tail dancing, thrashing or surface rolling, but the fish fought me steadily until it was in hand. After a couple of quick pictures it was safely back in the water and on its way.
Fiberglass has much more flex than graphite, and also gave a softer presentation, which was beneficial in a smaller pool. I never lost confidence in its ability to bring in the fish, despite the reduced stiffness.
I built the rod primarily for kayak fishing with dry files on lakes and small streams, but was happy to see that it did a solid job as both a nymph and streamer rod. Can’t wait to see how it performs with a bass and panfish.
