Breaking in the 4wt

recently i purchased my first actual fly rod that is soemwhat decent (to me anyways) a cabela's wind river 8'6' 4 piece 4wt. i already have a wind river 8wt for coho and steelhead/bass and stuff so thats what solidified my choice, i knew it would be a nice rod for the money. was on sale for 44.99 regular 89.99 i took it down to my favorite small stream today and it preformed flawlessly. a lot of delicate, long cats had to be made in certain areas where fish would spook. also allowed me to high stick my dries while not being too close to the fish. undercut banks, bushes hagning into the water held the most fish. it was fun fast pace dry fly fishing. caught a lot of smaller fish but managed to hook two cutties over 12 inches..they both came unbuttoned,but what made my day was a 9inch rainbow caught at an undercut bank with bushes hanging over probably 8 inches deep fast water .whata fighter! fish thought he was 16 inches. it was a fun few hours breaking in my new rod really can't wait for the water to get higher and the big fish will come out to play again though money flies were tan hot butt elk hair caddis, cdc tan elk hair caddis and parachute blue wing olive all size 12-14. heres some pics from the trip. enjoy!

Like I said in the other thread, the Wind River 4 weight is a damned fine rod. Cabela's makes some of the best rods for the money in just about all of their price classes. Yeah, they're all imports from manufacturers in Asia - but so are almost all of other rods in the sub-$300 range too. Don't let anyone give you grief for a Cabela's rod man. That rod will serve you well for years to come. I used to have a Three Forks 3 weight that caught lots of fish 15-20 inches and never had a problem. I finally wore it out from fishing it so hard - and doing things with it they never really intended it to do, like tossing Decievers and Clousers and deer hair poppers for bass (not a lot of distance with a 3 weight line with the poppers, but for close in bassing it wasn't a big issue).

If you decide to get a mid arbor reel at some point - the Cabela's Prestige Plus is a good reel. It's not as light as the bigger dollar reels, but it's still lighter than a Medalist, with a disc drag too.

GungasUncle said:

Like I said in the other thread, the Wind River 4 weight is a damned fine rod. Cabela's makes some of the best rods for the money in just about all of their price classes. Yeah, they're all imports from manufacturers in Asia - but so are almost all of other rods in the sub-$300 range too. Don't let anyone give you grief for a Cabela's rod man. That rod will serve you well for years to come. I used to have a Three Forks 3 weight that caught lots of fish 15-20 inches and never had a problem. I finally wore it out from fishing it so hard - and doing things with it they never really intended it to do, like tossing Decievers and Clousers and deer hair poppers for bass (not a lot of distance with a 3 weight line with the poppers, but for close in bassing it wasn't a big issue).

If you decide to get a mid arbor reel at some point - the Cabela's Prestige Plus is a good reel. It's not as light as the bigger dollar reels, but it's still lighter than a Medalist, with a disc drag too.

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nice to see another cabelas rod fan, i was looking at their prestige plus reels ,i need aluminum,although my pflueger summit is a hardy reel and has taken a beating from hitting hard surfaces and getting line peeled off it from fish over 18 inches. gunna buy a new line soon, probably overload it with a 5wt line. a cortland 333+ not sure if i want weight forward or double taper though. double taper might come in handy for tight casting. but the rod itself casts good in tight areas for being 8'6' if it doesn't rain sunday will be testing it out on some hardy gills n bass.

way to go buddy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is the 2nd fish photo a fry/smolt?

good job...will have to check that out on sunday.....nice pics

Brandon, you are such a good young fisherman! I always "feel" your passion for fishing in your post!

Glad you like your new rod and it is working as you hoped for the type of fishing you bought it for.


Randy

Coastaldweller said:

Is the 2nd fish photo a fry/smolt?

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its a small rainbow a little big to be a fry. although i did catch one smolt that day. changed my fly so the smolts stopped eating it. thanks guys. was a fun trip but tuesday is the real test. taking a bike ride into the hills and going for the big cutts. wish me luck!

Good luck Brandon!!! Sorry our fishing was canceled.......there will be another day for me to get that bass.

nice job bro.. light rods are soooooo much fun!