# A nice rainbow and a question



## Matt Hougan (Aug 19, 2008)

Spent an afternoon with a friend on a Western Pennsylvania stream trying to get a trout to rise. The water was really low and just about colorless. I had a hard time keeping the chubs off my fly but the trout were few and far between. We fished in holes I would have given up long beore we did. I had faith in his expereince on this stream so I kept casting. As the sun dropped we witnessed a huge cadis hatch but were surprised with the lack of rising fish. On our way out I saw what I thought was a trout. I slipped my Prince Adams fly slightly upstream and watched as the fish rose slowly, looked my fly over for a few seconds and gentley sipped it in. I rose my rod tip and I had my PB rainbow on the hook. 12" rainbows fight a whole lot harder than 4" rainbows.

Other than that we had a bold eagle fly over low enough we could hear the wing beats cutting the air and then two groups of wood ducks tried to light in our fishing hole.

Heres my question. My buddy was fishing a 6' 6" 3# rod. His ly line was a high viz green line but it was so soft. I was watching him cast and it looked really graceful and the presentation very delicate. Contrast to my fly line which seems to be much more stiff. His Fly line seemed to be made of a soft string material and mine some sort of plastic line. I am really thinking of switching to softer line for these small Pa streams I am fishing.


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## TheCream (Mar 19, 2009)

Nice rainbow! What fly line are you using?


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## Matt Hougan (Aug 19, 2008)

No clue, I bought the rod at a garage sale for $3.00. It IS a G Loomis rod and reel.

Perhaps I'll take it to the Orvis shop today and see what they have to say about it. I also need to get my steelhead rod ready....


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## TheCream (Mar 19, 2009)

If you strip your fly line off the spool, say like 25-30' of fly line, does it lay sort of limp and slack or does it coil up like a spring?


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## Matt Hougan (Aug 19, 2008)

It does not coil


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## goatfly (Jun 21, 2013)

What is your setup a 5wt or what? A G-Loomis rod and reel are usually very expensive, I doubt if the original owner cheaped out on the fly line. If the line in really old or has not been stored properly, it could have gone bad. I usually buy a DT (double taper) line so I can turn it around and get double the life out of them. Scientific Anglers Mastery series lines are what I use. I use a 5wt with a 9'-0" rod. A double taper will not cast as far as a weight forward will, but 90% of my fishing is on smaller streams and I rarely cast more than 50'.


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## Matt Hougan (Aug 19, 2008)

The fly line was old, and appears to have been in the 5-6wt range. My rod is a 4wt. Both guys at the Orvis shop said the line felt pretty heavy. I went with the Orvis Access 4wt line. I went out back and made a few casts and it felt much better. It is a weight forward line so that could help too, but it felt like it landed much softer then the old stuff.

I also picked up some mesh loops for my steelhead rod. Wont be long for them....


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## briney dave (Aug 28, 2013)

Pa is loaded with great fly water. I have not made it over there in a few years and miss it very much. Fly fishing is like using a spinning reel. bad line equals loads of troubles the good news is that can be easily fixed.

I always match the wt to the rod and often use dt or double tapper so I can turn it around when that end gets too damaged


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## fishinnick (Feb 19, 2011)

It kinda just sounds like the line is cheap and/or old. You should do fine with the Orvis line...

Is the stream you fished in the original post the same stream as the one next to the shop? If so, from my experiences fall dry fly fishing there is kinda hit or miss. Also right now those fish are extremely fresh from the hatchery and haven't had a lot of time to get used to their new food sources yet. If those are two different streams then disregard what I said..


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## Matt Hougan (Aug 19, 2008)

I was near Volant Pa, so I'm not sure which shop. I never considered new fish not eating live food, although I'm sure some of them got a taste of live food.


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## BG Slayer (Feb 17, 2013)

nice rainbow


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## fishinnick (Feb 19, 2011)

Ok, I know the stream. I'll actually be on it tomorrow and/or Sunday, but it'll probably be crowded, especially since they took two other nearby streams off of the fall stocking list  

They can definitely be finicky with dries there at times, but it has some good hatches(more so in the spring) that bring up fish. Those really fresh fish don't seem to come up to dries much, but once they get used to the stream they should start feeding on top more.


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## briney dave (Aug 28, 2013)

i fished that stream too broke a brown off one summer that had to go 3plus lbs i had been catching loads of 10-12 inch bows and browns moved to a deep strech and tied a nymph pattern that few tye here in the States. my 4wt could turn her but could not get closer than about ten feet away. guys at the shop all knew the fish by name lol

good food at the Amish place up the block from the shop too! its a cute town

i agree that it was brittle old line. oil creek is also decent but can get vey low in the summer and hard to find active fish.


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## fishinnick (Feb 19, 2011)

Fished it today. Fishing was slow but consistent in the morning and throughout the day but it picked up in the evening. Nymphs and small streamers worked, and also got one on an egg. Surprisingly lots of browns....the past couple years they only stocked bows in the fall...

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