I got my new forecast 6'6" 2 piece 2 weight on some water today.

After a few back yard casting sessions this week I was very excited to fish this interesting little rod.

The morning started out cold and cloudy in Denver with a little snow falling. As I drove to pick up my brother my mind dwelled on the BWO's I hoped to see on the Big Thompson today. Well they weren't there as the clouds had moved out by the time we got to the water... but the fish were there and so were the midges. I tied on a #16 hares ear and tailed a #24 black thread body midge behind it. I then proceded to put this sweet little rod through its paces.

I fished it with an Orvis Wonderline Advantage 3 wt double taper line (which is a terrible line...stiff, tons of memory and the tip sinks.) Even with the anoying line, split shot, two flies and a strike indicator this rod was casting like a hoss. Dead accurate and did everything I asked it to. I even got to fight some nice fish on it. I caught 7 rainbows between 12 and 17 inches and never once felt undergunned with this rod; nor did I wory about snapping my 6X tippet. The 17 inch fish surprised me a bit but once I got a little line in and put him on the butt of the rod he was quickly subdued.

There was however one big downside to this otherwise sweet little rod. Mendning was extreemly dificult do to it's short length, as I had feared it would be. However after a little while on the water I found that I just needed to change my stroke and give it a bit more power and I could get the job done. All in all not the best nymphing rod, but I immagine I will have a ton of fun using it with dry flies in tight spots this summer.


I also got another rod on the water today. Although it was a bit much for this small a stream (25 cfs today) my brother tried out the 9'0" 4 piece 5 weight forecast I built him. He liked it a great deal and had a ton of fun with it, with no negative comments other than being too much rod for this low flow.

I would definately recomend both of these blanks for someone looking for another rod to build.

Mark

Sounds like a sweet day of fishing

Indeed.... short, but sweet. We only fished about 3 hours. Today we will be in search of some huge spawning rainbows and cutthroats on the South Platte at the famous Dream Stream. :-)

Mark

So many places to fish - so little time, and money