small stream fly fishing -coast range

brandon4455
brandon4455
i
 
Last edited:
G
GDBrown
I have a 7ft/3-4wt rod that I use all the time for that kind of fishing. Try a size 14-18 Royal Wolfe or Elk Hair Caddis or similar with a 7 ft 6X or 7X tapered leader an 18-24 inches of 2-4 lb tippet. Sometimes I go down in the evening and catch 25-30 fish before the bats come out. Oh, and when the bats come out quit fishing or you'll be catching bats instead, you don't want to do that!

GD
 
R
RunWithSasquatch
Are you fishing the old lake bed?
 
brandon4455
brandon4455
RunWithSasquatch said:
Are you fishing the old lake bed?

i did last year. well..atleast i think it was the old lake bed. it's more like a little pond that had a small spring that runs into it. i explore up there a lot i fish most of the small streams that run into luckiamute and both forks of rickreall creek. my dad said somthing about a lake that use to be up there and it had some big fish in it.
 
brandon4455
brandon4455
GDBrown said:
I have a 7ft/3-4wt rod that I use all the time for that kind of fishing. Try a size 14-18 Royal Wolfe or Elk Hair Caddis or similar with a 7 ft 6X or 7X tapered leader an 18-24 inches of 2-4 lb tippet. Sometimes I go down in the evening and catch 25-30 fish before the bats come out. Oh, and when the bats come out quit fishing or you'll be catching bats instead, you don't want to do that!

GD
thanks for the advice gd :D
 
R
RunWithSasquatch
Ive found old fishing reels, and boat motors in there elk hunting, its pretty crazy. 'Lilly pads' off of log trim ends the size of a dinner table. South Fork of the Siletz comes out of it. They took the dam out in the late 80's for the steelhead. (PS they're talking about putting a 100' tall dam on it again)
 
brandon4455
brandon4455
RunWithSasquatch said:
Ive found old fishing reels, and boat motors in there elk hunting, its pretty crazy. 'Lilly pads' off of log trim ends the size of a dinner table. South Fork of the Siletz comes out of it. They took the dam out in the late 80's for the steelhead. (PS they're talking about putting a 100' tall dam on it again)


ive found a lot of stuff out there myself. i found and old ford emblem, a tool belt, some cool stuff. . and i don't think i should drop my spinners there again.. because if it's attached to the s.f siletz it's closed! yikes! but yeah, it's a cool area up there. love it. and why would they put a dam back up don't dams just ruin the fish runs? people are retarded. but, i do love to fish the small streams up there. ever been up black rock road when it's open? that a cool place to.
 
R
RunWithSasquatch
I have been up black rock many times, we walk in for archery during elk season from the main gate. As far as the dam goes, its not good for the fish, or the giant numbers of elk in that area. Polk county is the main pusher, last I heard they were trying to get Lincoln county to help finance it, with backing from the Siletz Indians... this is last I heard though, its been a while since ive heard new info... They want it for future water rights, and pipe it to those two counties.


"The proposed dam on the South Fork Siletz River would be 100’ tall and create a reservoir 5 miles long and 3 miles wide. A total of 20 usable river miles of mainstem and tributary habitats would be blocked. The best and preferred chinook spawning habitat in the South Fork Siletz would be directly inundated by the dam. The remaining stream reaches in headwater tributaries above the reservoir would become isolated from one another, confounding the seasonal migration of juvenile fish among various tributaries essential for their survival. The lake itself would become a gauntlet of invasive stillwater bass, bullfrogs, and other species that always seem to benefit at the expense of native salmonids."
 
brandon4455
brandon4455
yeah see, thats bullcrap.... it would just completely ruin the wildlife up there... and i know what you mean about the elk, i have seen huge herds while target shooting my my 12gauge up there. i hope to god they don't build that dam...
 
GungasUncle
GungasUncle
I love fishing small streams.

My favorite rods for fishing such waters are short and light. I absolutely had a blast with a 6' 2wt TFO Signature Series that I sold because I needed cash. Perfect small stream rod! The 2 wt would lay a fly down super delicate, and you really don't need anything heavier for the average fish you'll get there. Fish upto 18" are fine with a 2wt. You could, of course, go with a 3 or 4 wt and have more "backbone" - but when you're fishing 2 and 3lb tippets, it doesn't matter how much back-bone a rod has.

A good all-around small stream rod, that can work on larger bodies - would be a 7 or 7'6" 3 or 4 wt. I would opt for a double taper line, 7' leader, and not use a tippet thicker than a 4X. I usually fish 5X when fishing dries, and fish 6x or 7x with small droppers tied to the hook bend of the dry. The dry fly serves doubleduty - both to catch fish, and serve as a strike indicator :)

Right now, my shortest flyrod is an 8' 4wt - that I underline and fish a 3wt double taper floater on. It's nice little WW Grigg made rod.

YOu could, of course, swing the other way - and go with a long rod, say a 9' 4wt. The long rod would limit your casting in tight quarters - BUT you would be able to dap more easily with such a rod. And with a properly built leader - you can cast just the leader with a flick of the rod tip. I'd fish a 9 or 10 foot leader with the longer rod, tapering down to a 5x tippet.

In general, most of the small, coastal streams I fish better with a short rod. It allows me to cast under the overhanging canopy more easily, and shorter casts are a bit more accurate with the shorter rod.

I had no problems casting #10 bead head woolly buggers or bead head nymphs with the 2 weight. Most small-stream casts are 20 feet or less anyway, if you're fishing right.

A good inexpensive option for such a rod would be Cabela's Three Forks 3 piece 3 weight. I loved loved loved mine. Like a damn fool I sold it when I got my 2wt TFO - since I had the 6' 2wt, and an 8' 4wt - I figured I no longer needed the Three Forks rod - so I sold it off to a fellow on iFish years ago. I hope he loves that rod like I did!

I've also had thoughts of replacing my TFO with something like likes of the Orvis One Weight, but if I can find one, I think I'd just as happily get another of those TFO's :)
 
T
troutramp
oh man I am drooling just thinking about those fat cutties.
 
brandon4455
brandon4455
GungasUncle said:
I love fishing small streams.

My favorite rods for fishing such waters are short and light. I absolutely had a blast with a 6' 2wt TFO Signature Series that I sold because I needed cash. Perfect small stream rod! The 2 wt would lay a fly down super delicate, and you really don't need anything heavier for the average fish you'll get there. Fish upto 18" are fine with a 2wt. You could, of course, go with a 3 or 4 wt and have more "backbone" - but when you're fishing 2 and 3lb tippets, it doesn't matter how much back-bone a rod has.

A good all-around small stream rod, that can work on larger bodies - would be a 7 or 7'6" 3 or 4 wt. I would opt for a double taper line, 7' leader, and not use a tippet thicker than a 4X. I usually fish 5X when fishing dries, and fish 6x or 7x with small droppers tied to the hook bend of the dry. The dry fly serves doubleduty - both to catch fish, and serve as a strike indicator :)

Right now, my shortest flyrod is an 8' 4wt - that I underline and fish a 3wt double taper floater on. It's nice little WW Grigg made rod.

YOu could, of course, swing the other way - and go with a long rod, say a 9' 4wt. The long rod would limit your casting in tight quarters - BUT you would be able to dap more easily with such a rod. And with a properly built leader - you can cast just the leader with a flick of the rod tip. I'd fish a 9 or 10 foot leader with the longer rod, tapering down to a 5x tippet.

In general, most of the small, coastal streams I fish better with a short rod. It allows me to cast under the overhanging canopy more easily, and shorter casts are a bit more accurate with the shorter rod.

I had no problems casting #10 bead head woolly buggers or bead head nymphs with the 2 weight. Most small-stream casts are 20 feet or less anyway, if you're fishing right.

A good inexpensive option for such a rod would be Cabela's Three Forks 3 piece 3 weight. I loved loved loved mine. Like a damn fool I sold it when I got my 2wt TFO - since I had the 6' 2wt, and an 8' 4wt - I figured I no longer needed the Three Forks rod - so I sold it off to a fellow on iFish years ago. I hope he loves that rod like I did!

I've also had thoughts of replacing my TFO with something like likes of the Orvis One Weight, but if I can find one, I think I'd just as happily get another of those TFO's :)

thanks for the advice bro, ive been looking at the three forks for a while and looks like that what ill get. any suggestions on a reel that comes loaded with line thats cheap to? thanks



brandon
 
GungasUncle
GungasUncle
You won't find a 3 weight reel pre-loaded wth line. The thing with ultra light flyrods - they're a bit more expensive than the bigger 5,6,7 weight stuff. A good inexpensive reel is Albright's little click-pawl reel. I forgot the model number - but River City sold them. I wouldn't cheap out on a line either - not for a light flyrod. When I initially got my Three Forks - I bought the combo. Back then, it came with a POS graphite reel, and a cheap Rio line. The line was junk, as was that reel (it froze up tight as a drum the first time I tried casting it on the lawn). I broke down and bought a nice reel, and a good line - at the time it was the Orvis Rocky Mountain 3/4 reel, and an Orvis Hi-Flote #3 Double Taper line. That setup lasted yeeeeeeears, until I finally broke the reel when I tripped over a rock and dropped the rod. BUsted the handle off. I replaced that reel with the Ross Flywater, I think it's the #2 size. The Flywater reel set me back over a hundred bucks - but it really is worth it, at least to me. It's a sweet, sweet reel that is light weight, and every bit as durable (if not more so) than the Orvis reel, and that Orvis reel took a LOT of abuse and hard use. When I finally wore out that Hi Flote line, I replaced it with a Scientific Angler's Mastery #3 double taper. I got it on sale for about $40 - I think the Mastery Lines run anywhere from $50-60. I've been using that line and reel for 5 years now, and the line is still in great shape.

If you buy just the Three Forks rod, it's $49.99, Ross Flystart reel Model 1 for $55, and and the SA Mastery Trout DT #3 Floater for 69.95 - you're looking at about $175 plus shipping. While it might seem like a lot - the reel and the line will won't have to be replaced if you decide to upgrade rods in the future. Also, the reel is machined aluminum, instead of crappy injection molded plastic aka "graphite". You could probably go cheaper on the line, like the Cortland 333+ DT3 Floater - which is 29.99 - so you'd look at about $135 plus shipping, the 333 lines are fine, basic lines. I like the Mastery line more - it's just a higher quality line, and personal preference - I don't skimp on my lighter weight outfits, especially since the smaller spool diameters of the lighter weight rigs will mean tighter coils to stretch before fishing. The higher quality lines don't have as much memory.

That'd be the route I go for a good starter small stream, light weight fly setup.
 
brandon4455
brandon4455
GungasUncle said:
You won't find a 3 weight reel pre-loaded wth line. The thing with ultra light flyrods - they're a bit more expensive than the bigger 5,6,7 weight stuff. A good inexpensive reel is Albright's little click-pawl reel. I forgot the model number - but River City sold them. I wouldn't cheap out on a line either - not for a light flyrod. When I initially got my Three Forks - I bought the combo. Back then, it came with a POS graphite reel, and a cheap Rio line. The line was junk, as was that reel (it froze up tight as a drum the first time I tried casting it on the lawn). I broke down and bought a nice reel, and a good line - at the time it was the Orvis Rocky Mountain 3/4 reel, and an Orvis Hi-Flote #3 Double Taper line. That setup lasted yeeeeeeears, until I finally broke the reel when I tripped over a rock and dropped the rod. BUsted the handle off. I replaced that reel with the Ross Flywater, I think it's the #2 size. The Flywater reel set me back over a hundred bucks - but it really is worth it, at least to me. It's a sweet, sweet reel that is light weight, and every bit as durable (if not more so) than the Orvis reel, and that Orvis reel took a LOT of abuse and hard use. When I finally wore out that Hi Flote line, I replaced it with a Scientific Angler's Mastery #3 double taper. I got it on sale for about $40 - I think the Mastery Lines run anywhere from $50-60. I've been using that line and reel for 5 years now, and the line is still in great shape.

If you buy just the Three Forks rod, it's $49.99, Ross Flystart reel Model 1 for $55, and and the SA Mastery Trout DT #3 Floater for 69.95 - you're looking at about $175 plus shipping. While it might seem like a lot - the reel and the line will won't have to be replaced if you decide to upgrade rods in the future. Also, the reel is machined aluminum, instead of crappy injection molded plastic aka "graphite". You could probably go cheaper on the line, like the Cortland 333+ DT3 Floater - which is 29.99 - so you'd look at about $135 plus shipping, the 333 lines are fine, basic lines. I like the Mastery line more - it's just a higher quality line, and personal preference - I don't skimp on my lighter weight outfits, especially since the smaller spool diameters of the lighter weight rigs will mean tighter coils to stretch before fishing. The higher quality lines don't have as much memory.

That'd be the route I go for a good starter small stream, light weight fly setup.

damn dude, you know your stuff don't ya? :lol: thanks for all the help i really appriciate it.
 
GungasUncle
GungasUncle
I've been fly fishing for 15 years :) I might not be a super dooper caster, but I've caught my share of fish, and had enough gear from different makers to know what I like, what I don't, what works well, what works alright, and what's utter crap. Also being on a pretty tight budget all those years, I've learned to make my dollars count - and sometimes that means scrimping, and sometimes it means saving for good stuff that is going to last longer, thus cost less over time. If you buy a GOOD line that sets you back $70, but you can use for 7 or 8 seasons - that's $10 year. You can also cheap out and buy the bargain basement $20 lines that will last a couple seasons at best before they start to fall apart... how much is your frustration and time and energy worth - in addition to potentially loosing a fish because your line is junk?

I made that mistake a couple times - the last time I cheaped out and got a bargain basement line - it snapped - when I was winding it on to the reel for the first time. Won't make that mistake again. You learn :)

I've also developed over those years a love for fishing small streams and small waters - kind of a specialty for me :)
 

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