It's that trout fishing time of year again.

[StG58]

One of the things that makes me a little crazy about my TJ has always been the inability to stuff a decent fishing rod into the back and not get it buggered up on the way to a fishing spot.

There is a solution though, courtesy of Eagle Claw (Wright - McGill) and all of the backpackers out there.

Eagle Claw makes a series of fairly decent rods that break into 4 to 6 sections depending on how long the assembled rod length is.

The weights run from medium to light, and they have an ingenious system that allow a couple of them to convert from a spinning rod to a fly rod.
I've used variations of these rods for over 40 years, and they have all held up well. The newer ones have corrected, mostly, the dead spots from the ferrels where the rod sections connect together. My favorite is the 7'-6" combo in a light action.

 

[brianb2]

I'm one of those backpacker folks, and I've seen that setup. Pretty slick. I've been using a tenkara rod for the last three years and love it. It's great on small to medium size streams and ok on big streams. There's some expensive ones out there, but I found a decent one on eBay that's worked well. If you search Willow and Cane you should find them. I have three and one of them stays in the jeep with smallish dry fly setup tied on. It's great for unexpected opportunities. I got each of them for about $30.

It's telescopic, here's a photo of it small. I put the fork beside it for reference. The more expensive one get even smaller, but this has always served me well.

When I go out on a planned fishing trip here's my kit.

And here's dinner one night. Fresh trout over a campfire makes everything else seem second rate. The white flecks on the fish are kosher salt I sprinkled on the skin.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mike_H]

I use a 4 piece rod from cabelas...I haven't fished enough "good" rods to notice any downside. I am pretty new to fly-fishing tho.

I do have a couple of nice spinning rods though, and I dont notice much of a difference in feel between the one piece and two piece blank.

 

[StG58]

That's a nice, simple, workable setup you have there @brianb2, I like it! And the results speak for themselves. Kudos for cooking that trout over a "hat full of fire". That shows a "little" experience right there.

Some of the guys at work give a load of crap over the dead spots on my fishing poles. I haven't noticed, maybe because I'm not that sophisticated of a fisherman, and don't really care. I thought that I would mention it though, because some people feel about fishing rods the same way some people feel about TJ control arms.

I've come to appreciate the convertible rods a lot over the years. The fishing conditions on the high lakes around here change over the day, and the trout get picky sometimes. It's nice to be able to present bait or lure with a spinning rig during the day or present flys in the early morning or late evening depending on what the fish are going for at the moment.

I'm not new to fly fishing @Ranger_b0b, but I surely suck at it. There's a finesse thing to fly fishing that continues to escape me. If it was a sure thing, it'd be called shopping though and not fishing!

 

[Mike_H]

I'm not new to fly fishing @Ranger_b0b, but I surely suck at it. There's a finesse thing to fly fishing that continues to escape me. If it was a sure thing, it'd be called shopping though and not fishing!

That is part of the allure to me as well. If I want to catch fish, gimme a spinning rod, a tub of crawlers, a hook, and a bobber. I'll pull panfish all night. Almost guaranteed. I do get the occasional skunk, but mostly, I know how to catch bluegill, bass, perch, etc. At least well enough that I won't starve. This is how I fished growing up, and its still fun, but...

Trout are another story. I got my first flyrod last year and have yet to catch a trout. Missed a couple bites late season on terrestrials (hoppers)...but I haven't landed one yet. I'm getting pretty good at using it with pan fish, which is how I'm developing my casting and retrieving technique, but this year I really want to spend more time in the rivers and see if I can get some decent rainbows or browns. Its a fun challenge for me.

 

[StG58]

lol, we don't have a lot of pan fish around here, at least that I know of. We do have bass though, and there's a pretty good fishery on the Columbia River, and some of the coastal lakes. The fish that I flat didn't know we had, were channel cats. There are some monsters up on the Columbia. Ran in to a guy some years back in a marina in Rainer that had a boat full of them. They seemed to average about 24" long or so from the ones he had anyway. I was impressed, to say the least.

Bobber fishing with night crawlers or power bait is pretty much my go to setup for trout on the lakes. Most of them are planted by ODFW and are pretty stupid as fish go. I don't think that they know that bugs are trout food. Stream fishing and high lake fishing are a whole 'nother story. Catching those fish can be plain frustrating. I've watched them swim up to my bait and then swim right around it and keep going! When they do that, it makes you want to try a DuPont spinner sometimes.

 

[Mike_H]

Growing up and Living in Michigan is a whole other level of fishing. I'll post some pics later tonight when I'm on my home machine. We get all kinds of fishing...panfishing in our inland lakes, fly fishing in our rivers and streams, and then "deep sea" fishing in the Great Lakes.

Biggest fish I've ever personally caught was about a 27 lbs Lake Trout. Massive SOB, didn't even fit in our cooler (one of those big white Igloos). Lake Michigan is good for those, Steelhead (rainbow trout that spend their lives in the big water), Brown trout, Coho, and King Salmon. The fishery is down right now though...Zebra mussels have made Lake MI Crystal clear...Great for Swimming, but it has affected the entire food chain, so there isn't enough food for the big boys to eat now.

My favorite fish to catch for eating is Walleye. We go to the Saginaw Bay (on the East side of the state, where the web of the thumb is) and troll for them in 10-25 feet of water. Two to three lines per fisherman, running planer boards and Crawler harnesses. They can be fickle, but when they are hungry, watch out. Not unusual to limit out in a couple hours, pulling two to three fish in at a time. Lots of FUN.

I love fishing, I just wish I had unlimited means to do so. I'm always begging to go with someone who has a fishing boat. I've got half a notion to convert my Run-about size cuddy and make it a "sport fisher" but to do it right takes a heaping pile of cash.

 

[Scott B.]

That's a nice, simple, workable setup you have there @brianb2,

I'm not new to fly fishing @Ranger_b0b, but I surely suck at it. There's a finesse thing to fly fishing that continues to escape me. If it was a sure thing, it'd be called shopping though and not fishing!

You just perfectly described my lack of talent with a flyrod. My Dad's continuous message is "Stop muscling it!" lol