Sage Corner: August 2015

Hello all and thanks for checking in to another edition of SAGE Corner. With fall nearly upon us, and our beloved Ark Tailwater still not up to its awesome potential, I have had the opportunity to reminisce about my early days of fly fishing. 

I remember my first fall as a full blown fly fisherman. I had headed to the Ark just above Canon City, and by that point hadn’t had much success fishing dries, but that one magical day made me see fly fishing in a whole new light. I remember casting up behind a rock and watching an 11 inch brown explode to the fly. He came a foot out of the water to enjoy the treat. I don’t remember if I landed that particular fish, but the experience of watching a take from the top, to this day, still gives me goosebumps.

As the years went on and my addiction turned more to big fish, I kind of lost the rush of dry fly fishing. I, along with many anglers during that time, began moving away from traditional fly rods and began preferring stiffer and stiffer rods. Reading magazines and dealer books on the fast rods seemed to come with the same voice of the “Monster Truck Rally” pitchmen. “OUR rods are the fastest, fastest, fastest rods you have ever put in your hands, cast straight through any brick wall, throw that Adams 175 feet with no problem, even 100mph winds won’t affect these tight loops”. Okay, I may be exaggerating a little, but I think a few of you might get the point. Yes, I love the fast rods as well as anyone, but now that I have put my years in on the river, I have come to appreciate the benefits of the medium and moderate flexed rods as well, so in this article I wanted to highlight why each day, I grab more and more for a softer flex.

            Now the main point I want to start with is that these med fast rods are to me, really the do-it-all rods. For this introduction, I think we need the voice over from the old Ronco commercials “they slice, they dice and they make julienne fries, and you can even cut through an aluminum can.” Okay, another one of my over exaggerations, but you get the point. Probably the best attribute of the med fast rods are the ease at which they cast. I know as a guide one of my jobs is to teach newer anglers to cast, now if you have ever seen me cast, then you could see how that could be a problem. My Accel 9ft 4wt makes that part of my job easy. I put it in a clients hand, tell them to bring the rod forward, and watch the client smile as they realize how easy it is to throw a proper loop. Now as September hits, and the upper Ark clears and lowers, almost every fish in the river will be looking up. Some days it seems that every rock and oxygenated foam line hold a fish and that is where the med fast rods (Accel), sorry about that.

         When walking up a long riffle, those forty foot casts are not only unnecessary, but are nearly impossible to control, so here is where you need to be able to make that accurate and lightly landed ten foot cast. The med fast rods are perfect for loading and unloading at shorter distances and dropping dries exactly where you want them. The super fast rods can be a little difficult to delicately drop a dry at ten feet, but a midflex makes it easier. If you ever want to turn a ten fish run into a twenty fish run, think short, delicate and accurate casts.

       The last great attribute I wanted to talk about with the medium fast rods is just the plain feel while fighting fish. I just had a chill run up my back as I was thinking about fighting fish on my Accel. I know I tease people who fish stiff, about how maybe they would be just as well off fishing a pool cue with line but truly feeling every head shake is an awesome experience.

            Now to bring this article back to The Drift, the shop is currently stocked very well with the Accels. The latest rod coming out from Sage is the new Mod, and these rods have been built with the same Konnetic technology that made the One famous, but with a little softer taper. We should have a few of these in the shop a little later this fall.

            Thanks for reading, and as always if you ever have a question about which rod would suit you and your preferred water best, stop by the shop and we can help you out. – Connell O’Grady