As a side conversatino to this post: https://pnwflyfishing.com/forum/index.php?threads/usless-hunting-fishing-report.6101/ I wanted to bring up a few things:
1) Anyone watch Alone Season 9 where they were limited to 'fly fishing only' up on Labrador for beautiful brook trout? My kids and I enjoy watching this show. This one resonated well with us as it included fly fishing and grouse hunting - 2 of our favorite things.
2) Somewhat inspired by that show, on a recent hunt, I opted to leave the fly rod/reel home and to with a 'survival kit' approach. 4 flies and a the remnants of a spool of 6lb max UG mono line. The target creeks is very small and overgrown. Very limited access and the areas you can reach, dapping is the best approach given the many logs and branches you have to fight through. I also planned to focus more on grouse hunting and wanted to minimize the weight of my overall backpacking gear.
Once camp was set up, I decided to go try a few of my favorite spots from the past when I had an actual fly rod. As noted in that report linked above, this entire drainage was severely impacted by a fire not long ago. It changed quite a bit - opening up access considerably. Unfortunately, the brookie and cuttie population hasn't fully rebounded yet, so after an hour of sampling a few spots that would normally hold multiple fish, I decided to let them be. I only managed to find one fish - a 6 inch chunky brookie that took the dry fly aggressively.
Back to my question though - anyone every use a stick as your fishing rod? It was harder than I expected to find a good stick rod. Of course, the fire situation didn't help much. I was looking for 10 to 12 foot sticks with a little flex and as light weight as possible. Found one that did the job, but was heavier and harder to wield than I expected. What I found was that even dapping was hard as even a slight breeze and it was challenging to get my fly into the desired spot. Any attempt as 'casting' was laughable. The length of the stick was essential in reaching the target. The length of the line needed to be in the right zone - too much and you get tangled and less accurate. Too short and you can't drive it down into the sweet spot as well. Seemed like about 8 feet of line on the 10 ft stick worked best.
Anyone else ever try this? I suppose I could have gone full tenkara and brought a section of floating line that would have helped some, but definitely would have needed to spend more time finding a better stick with more fly rod like handling. Bottom line, in a survival scenario, a bit of mono line and a few flies in a small creek would get the job done.
1) Anyone watch Alone Season 9 where they were limited to 'fly fishing only' up on Labrador for beautiful brook trout? My kids and I enjoy watching this show. This one resonated well with us as it included fly fishing and grouse hunting - 2 of our favorite things.
2) Somewhat inspired by that show, on a recent hunt, I opted to leave the fly rod/reel home and to with a 'survival kit' approach. 4 flies and a the remnants of a spool of 6lb max UG mono line. The target creeks is very small and overgrown. Very limited access and the areas you can reach, dapping is the best approach given the many logs and branches you have to fight through. I also planned to focus more on grouse hunting and wanted to minimize the weight of my overall backpacking gear.
Once camp was set up, I decided to go try a few of my favorite spots from the past when I had an actual fly rod. As noted in that report linked above, this entire drainage was severely impacted by a fire not long ago. It changed quite a bit - opening up access considerably. Unfortunately, the brookie and cuttie population hasn't fully rebounded yet, so after an hour of sampling a few spots that would normally hold multiple fish, I decided to let them be. I only managed to find one fish - a 6 inch chunky brookie that took the dry fly aggressively.
Back to my question though - anyone every use a stick as your fishing rod? It was harder than I expected to find a good stick rod. Of course, the fire situation didn't help much. I was looking for 10 to 12 foot sticks with a little flex and as light weight as possible. Found one that did the job, but was heavier and harder to wield than I expected. What I found was that even dapping was hard as even a slight breeze and it was challenging to get my fly into the desired spot. Any attempt as 'casting' was laughable. The length of the stick was essential in reaching the target. The length of the line needed to be in the right zone - too much and you get tangled and less accurate. Too short and you can't drive it down into the sweet spot as well. Seemed like about 8 feet of line on the 10 ft stick worked best.
Anyone else ever try this? I suppose I could have gone full tenkara and brought a section of floating line that would have helped some, but definitely would have needed to spend more time finding a better stick with more fly rod like handling. Bottom line, in a survival scenario, a bit of mono line and a few flies in a small creek would get the job done.
I might revisit it if they have a fly fishing series.
