Well, the stream trout fishing season has ended here in Minnesota, so I'm once again headed back to the tying table to try and do something to distract me from the itch to fish. Minnesota is off the map for most fly fishermen, but I thought you might like a few pics from the seasons catch of wild browns. They aren't huge, but then I'm still learning, and our healthy fishery supports a wonderful population. I don't fish stocked rivers so everything you see is wild.
Hi Psyfisher, Take a week off and come to California. We'll be fishing Putah for wild trout and some anadromous rivers for Steelhead. The great thing is that you won't have to deal with snow!
Those are some great pictures of wild fish. It looks like you had a great season in Minnesota.
I think I'm doing Honduras this winter instead of California. I'm sure I'll make it back to Putah, but maybe next year. That reminds me, has anyone done any Bonefish or Permit fishing? Would a standard 7 weight with a Prestige Plus reel be sturdy enough, or do I need a new rig?
I wouldn't trust the Prestige Plus reel. I wore out two of them: one on my 3wt and one on my 5wt. I abuse my 3wt a little more than others, but I still wasn't impressed with the reel.
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"Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught."
Prestige plus is a cabelas reel ? I have one I don't recall if it is a prestige plus but anyhow it works ok, Although I don't use it much and my other goto reel is a Abel so thats like comparing apples to oranges. Those are all very pretty brown trout psyfisher. I guess we are lucky here in northern california to have plenty of trout fishing oppurtunity's year round.
I think I'm doing Honduras this winter instead of California. I'm sure I'll make it back to Putah, but maybe next year. That reminds me, has anyone done any Bonefish or Permit fishing? Would a standard 7 weight with a Prestige Plus reel be sturdy enough, or do I need a new rig?
Honduras? You dog! One day, I'll fish over there. By the way, nothing gets me more excited about fly fishing than fishing the salt. Yes... I enjoy targeting trout, but fishing the salt is a whole other ballgame.
You might be in the fight of your life with a 7 weight on a larger Bonefish, but it would be fine for most smaller bonies (2 to 4 pounders). I prefer an 8 weight. For Permit, you may want a 9 or even a 10 weight. I would use a 10 weight for Permit since I don't own a 9.
You are going to need a reel that has a sturdier drag. Big cork disk drags or sealed carbon fiber/rulon disk drags seem to be the norm for salt water fishing. Permit and Bonefish don't dog you. These fish will take yards and yards and yards and yards of backing on each blistering run. I have seen some lesser disk drags burn out. I really like Abels for having a bomber cork disk drag system. I am also impressed with sealed carbon fiber/rulon disk drag system on the Hatch Outdoors reels.
Heh, well the Abels are certainly out of my price range. I might sound like a big spender fishing Honduras, but the truth is I figured out how to go for 12 days for less than 2 grand and that includes padi dive certification (from scratch), 10 dives, jungle tour, private villa(split with four other people), and airfare. I probably can't afford much more than 50 bucks, so unless someone has a big game budget option I might be stuck with the Prestige Plus. Those are the breaks that come with going back to college late in life.
If you are able to find a decent reel, don't forget to get a tropical salt water specialty line. These lines have monofilament cores that won't go limp due to the tropical heat. One time I was fishing for baby tarpon with a buddy. He had a steelhead line on his 8 weight. When he casted, his line would not track straight. I let him use my backup reel, and he was back in the game. Later at the hotel, I spooled up his reel with a spare line that I had in my gear bag.
Just a thought, Psy... I have a 7 weight Sage Tropical Taper that has about 4 days of fishing on it. There are no nicks on it from coral or mangrove plants. The line has been sitting in my line binder for 3 years in a large coil, and it will probably never get any use since I no longer fish 7 weights for salt water species. If you want it, shoot me a PM, so I can mail it out to you. It's yours if you want it.
