Have at it dudes.... I'm giving it two and a half more weeks.

Great, I'm leaving a week after Ripley and his worms and spoons while I'm flinging flies.

I guess my only condolence is I'm pretty sure I'll be on a different river.

I'll be flinging flies for a few of the days, too...but I wouldn't expect the fish to get much of a holiday because of it.

Fish on...

Todd

Wooie, look who's talkin' fly smack! You get 'em Todd.

Just fishin' smack in general...the only difference between flyfishing and other forms of steelhead fishing is the delivery system...they're the same fish, in the same spots, with the same habits, no matter how you fish for them.

Fish on...

Todd

Sometimes Todd can be such an ascothole.

Adapted for swinging.

Find the aforementioned green slots, wade in up to your belly button, cast as far as you can to the other side of the river, repeat all day while taking small steps down, hook no fish, give stink eye to each passing boat.

To complete the experience go home and rant on the internet about etiquette and line selection then spend a few hours polishing your new Sage ONE.

There we are. Back on track.

Back to hijack, which is more fun. Astonishingly, there is some actual winter fly water on the Duc, when Q is low. Been there, done that, but only a couple times. The majority waving fly rods there aren't fly fishing; they bobber-cate, which, like bait fishing, is far more effective for winter runs on the Duc and elsewhere.

Sg

There may come a day when I decide I've caught enough steelhead to start refusing to employ certain tactics, but I haven't gotten there yet, so for now, I'll keep on bobdicator fishing the water I can't swing through effectively. I've accepted my darkness.

Nothing wrong with going to the dark side IMHO.....

Funny, a good friend of mine and one of the better fisherman I know makes similar arguments about swinging. Too boring, not interactive enough, takes little to no skill, etc.

Even though nymphing is "selling out" he prefers to fish that way over swinging because it keeps him constantly engaged having to read micro features in the water, mend line, mix and match casts based on the many variables, etc.

To him, swinging is boring to the point of not being worth the effort invested. Sure the tug is awesome when it happens, but throw in the fact that you are severely limiting your odds of getting to fight a fish, and the contest between swinging and nymphing, in his book anyhow, isn't much of a contest.

Coley, I thought you were talking about me until I saw the "one of the better fisherman I know". I totally agree though. Nymphing from a standing position is, without a doubt, more technically challanging and engaging than swinging. Getting drag free drifts through a combo of casting, angler postion, and mending isn't easy. There is also a difference between what most fishermen consider to be a drag-free drift and one that truly is. The fish certainly know. Granted, nymphing from a moving boat requires MUCH less skill (at least from the fisherman).

I'll concede that swinging is probably more "zen" but that is more due to repetition than anything else. Hell, swinging spoons is similar.

To each their own.

One other thing to add about nymphing.
Whether trout or steelhead, lots of folks automatically think of split shots and indicators which isn't necessarily the case.
Some of the best nymph fisherman I've seen use neither. They are masters at mending to acheive the results they seek.

Oh this style of discussion is so much more fun than the whoop-dee-doo of high tech plastic known as the Sage ONE.

I don't think the swing v nymphing discussion is about the relative degree of skill required of either among knowledgeable anglers. It's because an angler skilled at both can consistently hook a lot more fish nymphing. Why do I hear about good nymphers choosing to swing when they get the opportunity? For me (not a skilled nympher) it's always been about choosing to catch that more difficult fish, the one that would be easily duped by a nymph or bead, but may or may not rise to a swung fly. Same reason I took up archery hunting with a recurve bow decades ago, I was motivated by the challenge of stalking deer within 30 yards or less as opposed to popping them at hundreds of yards with a high power rifle. I used to know a shotgunner who felt similarly that pheasant hunting was too easy, easy shots in easy terrain, and preferred chukar hunting for its harder shots in more difficult terrain.

Meanwhile a guy on the Skeena says the Bulkley is out for two weeks. Maybe he's trying to persuade Todd to stay home.

Sg

1. Your guy on the Skeena is full of crap...that, or the four guys I've heard from the last two days are full of crap...I know where I'm putting my money.

2. I'm amazed by the seemingly easily accepted concept that steelhead get much smarter when you use fly gear instead of casting gear...their "smaller than a pea" brains are the same size no matter what you are throwing at them.

Due to the amount of days I fish per year, I gear fish some days on river conditions that are ten times more challenging than the four or five "perfect days" that a hypothetical fly angler might fish on...does that make me "more pure" because it's harder for me to catch one on a worm on those days than it would be to catch one on a fly on the good condition days?

Fish on...

Todd

P.S. Blah, blah, blah.

A hook is a hook... No matter how you fling it out there.

Following Todd's line of thinking, who is to say that the steelhead that will come to the surface to hit a skated fly is the difficult one to catch? Perhaps the most challenging fish are the ones stuck on the bottom that you have to go down and get? Anyone can catch a "player" who is active and aggressive. Maybe the real stellar fisher is the one who can select the proper method, gear, position, and make the impossible presentation to catch that one fish sulking on the bottom?

My decision making with regard to chosen tactics basically revolves around two notions;

1. How do I want to fish today

or

2. What is the most effective way to catch fish today.

I find myself switching it up either when I am bored by either repetitive motion, or not catching fish...respectively. Maybe it is just the ADD, but if I do any one thing for long enough, regardless of how cool it was when I started, i get bored eventually. For me a big part of the reward comes from overcoming a challenge or building some degree of skill or knowledge. With spey casting at least, I do it so infrequently that each time is a lot like starting over, and I get a fair amount of reward out of just remembering how to get the line and hook out there.

The good news is that everything's not out...and the parts that aren't are fishing really, really well...can't wait, I'll be up to my knees in it on Friday morning

Fish on...

Todd

Whatever turns you on, fishing gear through my journey made me a better fly angler for steelhead; I've enjoyed the ride all along and still like picking up my old lamiglas on occassion.

At this point, in this anglers journey, it is a narcotic for the take on the swung or skated fly and it doesn't bother me to take my hits of less fish, I enjoy pushing that lever too much for the piece of cheese. It will be a successful day if I catch one fish if I personally expect more from the river it will be passion without joy. All I ask for in your pursuit is let me fish the piece of water I am in without interference. When I am done, go ahead and fish through the water for that difficult fish that I could not move.

Remember it's not contest and there is no trophy for your skill at the end only how you enjoyed the river it's fish and folks you shared it with.

Now back to topic; is the Sage One better than the rpl?