Building The Rodfather SB1, A SageBuster 1wt [drc #9 - 8' 4pc 1wt] 28Apr21

I became a bit antsy with no pending Rodfather builds, so I fixed that. My only current "in starting rotation" Sage build now is the 7'10" 1 weight TXLF. I bought a Chinese blank and some inexpensive, but light, hardware to mate with it. The blank even came with a sleeve. Everything included, the rod will be ~$80 and may rival the 2 weight recently built for small stream fishing. I'm hoping it can replace my Sage 1 weight - mine is the SageBuster 1.

I was able to craft a new custom grip for SB1. I just dove on my leftovers and made a smaller half wells grip. The weight of the glue is noticeable when comparing my custom grip with a single turned block of grade A cork - but worth it for the cool, IMO.

The reel seat is an inexpensive aluminum chrome one but I still did add nice burled wood insert at acceptable weight. Still again, a smidge heavier than the pure cork insert I used recently on a 2 weight.

The 8' 4 piece blank is a nice shiny metallic green color. I'm using single-foot guides (for weight reduction and livelier action) and tiptop hardware of inexpensive chromed steel. I used Get Bent Fly Shop for all but the grip, thread, epoxy and build skills.

During some builds I find that one needs to grind the feet on the guides - this happens especially with cheap guides which may say they are pre-ground but rarely fit right off. The grind is to mate to the rod on the bottom of the feet and to create a gentle slope for the thread to ride in and out on during wrapping. I wrapped the SB1 with lighter sparkly green thread but that gets darkened with epoxy and yields a somewhat translucent look. The pics show after wrap and after epoxy.

The completed SB1 is super sweet and smooth and is a very righteous contender in the 1 weight category and may be THE winner on small streams. It measures out as a 1 weight - I was most concerned about this as sometimes Chinese blanks are much more powerful than marketed and getting righteous 1 or 2 weights is pretty hard. It's also a dutifully very fast shooter but still fine for dries. The stats are ERN 1.8 and AA 75°, which is so much faster than my Sage 1 weight, but is ~1 ounce heavier with a total weight of a scant 2.5 ounces (vs 1.6). I'm using my ultralight Sage Click II reel loaded with RIO Trout LT 2 weight line. The Trout LT is the only real choice down in these low weights. This thing is a hoot - I can't wait to use it on the upper Arkansas - I even measurement-marked it out to a very hopeful 20". How's it cast you ask? - An straight 65 ft into the wind - wow.

Hike & Fine Dining 25Apr21

Kala & hiked again on this fine Sunday. We rambled around the AFA on some new and some known trails. We discussed unexpectedly not having seen any wildflowers thus far this year - and then we did. We then enjoyed a nice evening dining with Jim & Mary. We hit the new, and excellent, Ambli restaurant in College Park. It was excellent - highly recommended.

RIP Adam Schlesinger 23Apr21

Pop rock lost a legend to Covid 19 recently, actually a year ago from complications... Adam Schlesinger, co-founder of Fountains of Wayne, a fav beyond measure, and a composer of so many more songs on Broadway and TV and elsewhere. Winner of awards. I might come back to this but Rachel Bloom put together a fine tribute reel but it's now private due to copyrights I imagine.

But you can dive on FoW and Adam's contributions here (click image to start video).

Now, in reverence and remembrance, some Fountains Of Wayne. Click images through to tunes.

 

 

Fishing The PT With Yohanan 23Apr21

'Twas a decent day expected in Pueblo, and it's still a weekday, so Jim & I headed south for an outing on the Pueblo Tailwater section of the Arkansas River. We had fine time but the vaunted BWO hatch didn't happen big. We caught fish both out of Nature Center and Valco. I landed my first decent brown on the PT this year, an 18" inch Scottish male. Other fish in the mix were cutbows like the thin (from previously carrying many eggs) 19" lady here or smaller 2nd year rainbows. For me the midges and Destiny's Child (during the BWO hatch) worked best. We traded rods at half time but again used Rodfather builds exclusively on the day.

GR8 BWO Hatch On The PT 21Apr21

It was most decent in Pueblo (rather than snow in 11 Mile) so I hit the PT @ Nature Center yet again - my 12th outing there this year. It was only 50° and featured a full day of cloud cover, so I was hopeful for a good BWO hatch. Flows were oddly way back down to 92cfs, making fishing pretty technical again. I started at 11am due to the cold AM and in hopes of just scoring the BWO hatch immediately... and I did. Plus, the clouds aided an extended hatch which came in 2 waves: one from 11:30 - 12:45 and another 1:30-2:30. Just when I thought it was over, and changed my rig @ 1pm, the starlings went crazy overhead again and I had to change back. Today I caught many med-sized fish, and not all trout, but just one 20"er. All cutbows but one were on some BWO nymph - either the RS2, MHFBPT or Destiny's Child. I did attempt the spinner fall when the fish were sippin' but I didn't tie on a 6X tippet and my 4.5X just can't float a dry clean - no takes and no wonder. The fish have definitely moved throughout the river and out to the riffles for the hatches, but I still caught the 20" behind a weir (it was a targeted "2 footer" which came in shy - looked bigger due to water optics). I also caught a couple of massive suckers via snagging by accident. Here's a small sampling of today's catch. Grey lenses are not the ticket for flat light - hmmm.

Deadliest BWO Mayfliy Imitations By River 20Apr21

It was 12° this morning; I did not go fishing. What should I do? I've been fishing a number of rivers in Colorado for 20 years now. Below are my observed deadliest BWO mayfly imitations for some of the rivers I frequent. I typically tie #18-#20 for the spring and #20-#22 for the fall though I prefer #20 and #22 in most of these ties. This is not scientific data as I am biased to use these "matched ties" when fishing with mayfliy imitations on these rivers, though I do use others of course. The evidence was gathered from use experience. The MHFBPT and the grey MH flash wing RS2 are probably my most often used mayfly nymphs and use is somewhat suggested by whether it's time for an emerger. I often use a tungsten bead mayfly nymph as weight during mayfly seasons, especially a black ice variant (during BWOs) or the rainbow warrior (during PMDs). Anyway, here are my ties of the deadliest.

A Cold Wind This Way Comes - More CutBows On The PT 19Apr21

Tryin' to squeeze in another outing to the PT before the next snowfall - I made it several hours before the cold wind sent me packing after just 3 hours. I was doin' nothing early as I spent an hour fishing to four 2 footers and when one finally took my bug she leaped high, shook her mighty head, and broke off my rig. I moved on and the BWO hatch began and got some action which was quickly shut down due to howling chilly winds. I went back to midges and caught most of the bigger ones on Awesome Midge but others on Destiny's Child (I gotta tie more as I've been living off last fall's inventory). The 20'ers were a thick, strong male with whom I had a great fight to net and a strangely skinny lipless female. Fishing is good; there were plenty of other cutbows. The good news was that other fishermen read the forecast and stayed home - very few folks were at the Nature Center.