David Siskind | Sunday, 5 January 2025
I reviewed my recent fishing outings and was surprised how little trouting I’ve done, less than 10% of my fishing days. As I have more time to fish I find that I have less inclination to drive when there is local fishing available. Trout are 2-6 hours away from LA. Currently I’m fishing a Redington Predator 9’for 5-wt more than anything else -- for carp in the river and in the surf for corbina, perch, halibut and other species. It’s my go-to rod. I use it 90% of the time. It does the job but I don’t LOVE casting it. I feel the same way about my TFO Clouser 9’ for 7-wt. I’ve used it for bonefish and as a backup/guest rod for local fishing. I have a Cortland 10.5’ 4-wt nymph rod I use but find it a little long for travel so mostly use it for drivable distances. I’ve been packing a Reddington Crux 9’ for 4’ wt for my annual trouting in NY and Pennsylvania.
Lately, I've been inspired to bite the bullet and buy a premium rod. On my last bonefishing adventure I broke the tip of my TFO and used my buddy Hunter’s Helios for a few fish and liked it. Late last year I fished with Paul and spent a week with a Hot Torpedo 9-wt and grew attached to it. And I’m getting older - I might as well fish the home stretch with some quality tools. The problem is what to get. I’m not sure what the future beyond the end of May looks like. Typically I’m filling an unaddressed need, but now my only real need is for a backup rod fishing for bones next month. Since I’ll be spending most of my time wading, I won’t be able to borrow from a fishing buddy if equipment fails.
Paul strongly recommended the HT 4-wt for my local fishery (said I’d love it) but I’m not sure if he was thinking about the beach as well as the river. I lobbied for the Hot Torpedo 6-wt or 8-wt, proposing using either as a backup bonefish rod, maybe using the latter for the stripers on our West Coast beaches but decided to give the 4-wt test. I bought a new 4-wt SA Amplitude Smooth Trout Standard fly line. With the Crux, it handles the flies I use on the river just fine. With my new “bump-less” cast I’ve been able to place even heavier nymphs nicely and the light weight of a 4-wt rod is a pleasure to cast. A caveat, despite SA’s new slickness additive, I find it didn’t shoot very well after a couple of uses; maybe I’m picking up some dirt casting on grass. Don’t lose your silicone (polymethylsiloxane) or your line cleaner if you want your line to shoot well.
Out of curiosity I took the Crux to the park and strung it up with one of my sinking lines. I have two. One is by SA and was sold to me by my local, trusted fly shop (Fisherman’s Stop) for use on my 7-wt. I lost the box so I weighed the first 30’ - it measured 235 grains. The other which I tested on the 4-wt was the one I usually use. It’s sold by Lee Bahrman, a local surf guru, under the Flyfish the Surf label. The first 30’ weighs 260 grains. It’s advertised as suitable for 6 and 7-wt rods. I know it seems nuts but it cast pretty well to 70-80’ (maybe more) with the 4-wt Crux. Blasphemy! That line, according to AFFTA standards, is right-sized for a 9 wt-rod. What’s going on here? The Sexyloops Board could weigh in on this. I’ll just make a guess at a few factors. I haven’t any real creds here so take this in the spirit intended:
The sinker’s running line has insufficient mass to effectively transfer momentum to a much heavier shooting taper, so it doesn’t pay to cast with a lot of carry. The loop might misbehave.
The weight of 50’ of the WFF SA 4-wt Amplitude Trout line is also approximately 250 grains, similar to the first 30’ of the sinking 260 gr line I tested - so it’s not entirely surprising that I could cast this with my Crux.
Sinking lines are not designed for accurate casts at any significant distance (if they were they would have a longer belly and require a couple of false casts - my opinion). The lines I have seem to be designed for pickup at less than 30’. A longer belly might allow for more carry and longer casts. Regardless it’s tough to pick up more than 30’ of a sinker.
The speed the loop unrolls is related to the relative speed forward of the fly leg to the rod leg. Too much initial line speed unrolls the loop too early. In my experience, early roll-out results in weird disorganized casts - maybe it’s just me. It’s easy to over-power these casts.
So these lines might have a tip-speed sweet spot - an optimal-maximum casting distance.
Please, someone, disabuse me of my delusions here.
So, do I want to use a HT 4-wt in the surf? I don’t think so. Some flies will be heavy and wind resistant and would be difficult to accelerate with a willowy rod. And do I want the HT 6-wt or 8-wt to back up my bonefish rod? What to do?
I decided to ignore sunk costs, and go all in for all three (4,6, and 8 wt). After all, if not now when? The die is cast.
David Siskind