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Winston Boron III Plus Fly Rod Review

September 17, 2016 by adminewa Leave a Comment


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This is a Winston Biii Plus fly rod review and is intended to be informative and as objective as possible for the sake of being helpful to those researching the high end, faster action rod market.

Most of the casting/fishing with these rods has been done with a variety of Airflo lines such as the following as well as a smattering of other manufacturers lines:

Winston Boron III Plus 9′ 6wt – Exceed, Elite and Cold Saltwater
Winston Boron III Plus 9′ 8wt – Bruce Chard, Bonefish
Winston Boron III Plus 9′ 10wt – Bruce Chard, Permit
Winston Boron III Plus 9′ 12wt – Bruce Chard, Tarpon
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I have spent a lot of time, in many different locations and fishing scenarios from here in Seattle to all corners of the earth in cold, lukewarm and tropical water.  During these times, every chance I have to take a swing with a different rod I do so.  As a guide, casting instructor and store owner I feel strongly that is behooves me to know each rod on the market whether we carry it or not.  I own the B3+ rod in the 5, 6, 8, 10 and 12 weights so I can attest to most of the line up…these rods are absolute money from top of the line to the bottom.

Think about all the different situations you find yourself in while fishing.  From a super short dollop cast to permit that quickly appear out of nowhere to a long light presentation cast across a windless lake to sipping trout.  Then there is the bread and butter, those casts whether on a trout stream or anywhere else where you are casting and using the rod/line in THE ZONE, that sweet spot most rods are built for, 30-50 feet.mccoy_d_tnz7490a
The industry is readjusting after a period of building rods way too fast for most anglers to be able to handle.  Forcing those who fell victim to the marketing machine to literally throw their rod…not cast it.  It wasn’t an obvious change but now we are seeing all or most of the manufacturers step back to a place where “FAST” or “TIP FLEX” is something the average angler can still feel when making casts in the zone.  All in all this a great thing and it has pitted most of the major rod builders more against each other as now there are a number of great rods in this same class.  That being said, the B3+ marries the most important qualities together perfectly.

I want to see a rod without being over lined be able to make a precise cast at 15-20 feet and still be able to feel the tip load and unload without having to over exert the stroke.  The B3+ excels at this at all the line weights…check!mccoy_d_sno1v7a3010a
The bread and butter casts are those all important ones, the ones where your fish of a lifetime come from when you least expect it.  Anglers should feel as though they are not having to think about these casts, 25-45 feet should be as easy as walking.  Obviously anglers have varying casting strokes and enjoy a different feel to their rod.  I look for a rod that can accommodate a variety of different lines.  Not just for various applications such as bass versus spring creeks but also to manipulate the rod to fit what the angler is looking to feel from it.  Classic taper to aggressive shooting head lines, these rods handle them quite well making this a versatile stick.  Check!
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Now to the fun aspects of choosing a rod.  Can these sticks carry a lot of line, long leader and a fly well, delivering tight loops into wind then immediately hook up and be tested into the deep backbone?  Yes and yes.  I am not saying these rods do this and others don’t.  What I am saying is as a complete package of a rod that can perform all these tasks well, I have found few that match them side by side in each category.  Think of this like a competition where you would have to perform short accurate casts as well as distance, these rods kick rump.
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Add a double haul to these rods with any line and they come alive.  Being able to feel the line speed accelerate allows the angler to back off the power infusion and allow the rod to do the work for you.  At a distance of 30-40 feet, across the board these rods will pick line up off the water well enough to be in the right position for most anglers to easily end up in their normal casting stroke even with heavier flies.

I always tell people it is akin to corporation.  You as the angler are the board of directors, your rod is your CEO and the line is your company.  As a board, you do your due diligence to hire a CEO you think is good for your company, give them specific goals or directions you want the company to move in and then step back and allow them to do so.  I watch too many anglers micromanage their CEO and end up with a poorly run company.

At the end of the day, you can change the outcome of your cast with the line you match on your rod but by doing so for a particular fishing situation does that negatively effect how it performs in other situations when needed with that same line.  If so, find yourself a place where you can legitimately cast side by side as many of the rods you are thinking of and see which one you come away with.

Filed Under: Emerald Water Anglers Tagged With: 10wt, 12wt, 5wt, 6wt, 8wt, Airflo, bonefish, Dave McCoy, double haul, Emerald Water Anglers, permit, steelhead, tarpon, tropical, trout, Winston B3+ fly rod review

Food For Thought

June 7, 2011 by adminewa

Check out this video filmed by Shark Diver Magazine of Sailfish getting after a school of bait.  Gets me pumped for my trip to Mexico next month!!

Sailfish Attacking a Baitball from Eli Martinez on Vimeo.

Filed Under: Emerald Water Anglers Tagged With: 12wt, awesome, bluewater fly fishing, Emerald Water Anglers, feeding frenzy, Sailfish

Not “Really” Fly Fishing

June 3, 2011 by adminewa

Big, heavy lead eye flies, thirty foot sections of T-14 that are impossible to cast, 10-12 wt fast action rods, choppy water, heavy wind and  deep, rocky, current swept environments that will test your skills and eat your tackle.  To say that this fishery is a challenge would be an understatement.  In fact, tell most any angler that you are targeting lings on a fly rod and all you will get is a look of bewilderment.  I have heard all sorts of responses from “those fish come to the surface for a fly?!?”, to “you f*king out of your mind boy?”.  However there are a few in the know who will grin and nod, knowing full well what you are getting yourself into.  Good luck getting more than that out of them.

So why fly fish for lingcod?  The answer is simple.

Lingcod are biters, period.

From the moment it is born a baby lingcod is a cold blooded killing machine, eating anything and everything it can get its jaws around.  And even if it can’t, you can bet it will try!  Recently I had a customer come into Outdoor Emporium and tell me a story from opening day of ling season.  He hooked a keeper size ling and had just gotten it close to the boat.  He was about to net it when out of nowhere a lingcod twice the size inhaled the smaller ling, refusing to let go.  The larger fish was so stubborn that the angler was able to net it and remove the smaller one from its mouth.  He weighed and released it, a whopping 32lbs, while the “bait” at a modest 27″ was taken home and made into another kind of meal!

A story like this is enough to spark my intrigue.  Hear enough of them (there are many) and it is hard to imagine why anyone would shrug off a chance to pursue these fish with a fly.

Never seen a lingcod?  Picture a sculpin.  Yeah, like the ones you have in your fly box but never fish because they are “too big,” for trout.  Now imagine that sculpin is over two feet long and has a mouth the size of a volleyball filled with razor sharp teeth.  Word of advice, if you manage to catch one, don’t put your fingers in its mouth to remove the hook!

Lingcod are not selective, and they are definitely not shy.  They will eat just about any big nasty fly that you can put in front of them, but therein lies the challenge.  As in all aspects of fly fishing, presentation is the key to success.

Imagine drifting over a piece of structure 20-50 feet below the boat and trying to hurl an 8″ fly attatched to 40lb test and a 30 foot piece of tungsten core line, then give it time to sink to the bottom and work it in front of a fish before the current carries you away from the zone.  Now factor in wind, which is almost always working against you, omnipresent chop rocking the boat and the feeling in the back of your mind that at some point those extra large lead eyes you lashed to that 5/0 jig hook are going to find themselves imbedded in the back of your skull.

 

Cold blooded killers.

I said it once and I’ll say it again!  This is why we are here.

It is a beautiful evening on Seattle’s Elliott bay.  Across the glass calm water the city skyline is glowing red and orange in reflection of the sunset.  I’ve mapped the structure, made the cast, set the drift and counted my fly down.  All without giving myself a bunny fur lobotomy!

I know I’m down.  I can feel my fly scrubbing against rocks every so often as I work it in with short strips.  I feel a jolt, then big, heavy head shakes.  I set the hook hard and hold on to the line.  My drag is cranked down to the max and the rod is doubled, tip digging into the water as the fish dives for sanctuary impossibly peeling line of my reel.  The fight is on and this fish is no slouch!  I crank hard and hold my ground, knowing that giving even an inch will allow the angry and panicked ling to find sanctuary in some dark hole.

The brute strength of these fish is impressive.  They will test rods and reels designed for much larger and more gloried game fish.  Chasing them, especially the larger specimens is as addictive as tying the flies needed for pursuing them.  As I feel the fish surge and pull with all of its might I know for sure that we are both firmly hooked!

 

Some people would wet their pants to see a 20″ trout rise slowly to slurp their meticulously tied size 20 blue wing olive from a glass calm surface, some get tingles from the sight of a tailing bone inching ever closer to their carefully presented shrimp puff and there are a select few who revel in the thought of that moment between sky and earth when their line is swinging across the current, interrupted by a big tug and a chrome rocket shooting out of the water.  I will not turn my nose up at any one of these experiences, and I will openly welcome anything new that comes my way.

Contrary to what many would like you to believe, fly fishing is not a purist sport and can’t be defined by any one moment, feeling or pursuit.  There are no rules, only limitations that challenge us to hone our skills and refine our technique.  The further we push the envelope, the more we learn about the sport and ourselves.  Get out there and give fly fishing for lings a try.  When you are connected to the Puget Sound’s baddest fish then you can by all means ask yourself if you are “really” fly fishing.

 

 

Filed Under: Emerald Water Anglers Tagged With: 12wt, Emerald Water Anglers, huge flies, lingcod, Puget sound fly fishing, Seattle, Washington

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