Clickety Clack

I love click-pawl reels. There's some primal connection of man to fish about them. I love the sound as you strip off line or a fish runs. They just have this immediate and tactile quality that's hard to truly describe. From talking to other fly anglers, clickers seem to be a love or don't proposition. The Hatch guys mostly look at me like I've lost my low-tech mind.

Currently, I own a bunch of clickers for a variety of sizes and applications. From larger models on full spey rods, down to a small reel for my 4-weight trout rod. Each has unique and distinctive features that set it apart from the others. The common thread? I love them all. I think I picked up this mantra from my guns - I don't own any guns I don't love. I've had a couple, and when I sold them, I felt better. Same goes for my clicker reels.

I own clickers from Abel, Bozeman Reel, Kingpin, and The Spey Company (Speyco, to most). Speyco occupies a special place for me. But it's hard to put my finger on exactly what it is that I love about Tim Pantzlaff's reels. If I was pressed, I suppose it would be simply Soul. Tim's reels have soul that is unlike anything else on the market. It's in the feel in your had. The purr of the clicker. The wide range of customization options he offers to make it "your" reel. Some of my other reels have smoother machining/polishing (I'd have to give that to Kingpin, with Abel a close second). Or are more "classic" - the Bozeman SC probably gets that honor. Speyco combines soul with bombproof construction. These things are just built. You talk to Tim for just a few minutes and it's clear that this guy knows how machinery is supposed to work. And his reels reflect that knowledge in every aspect. Top-notch bearings. Everything fits together exactly as it should - rather like a finely crafted firearm.

If this sound like a commercial for Speyco, well, I suppose it is. Recently I received my second Speyco - a 3-3/4" Switch model in all black with the Snake Roll handle. This one's for my smallmouth swing set-up on a 6-weight TFO Deer Creek 11' switch rod. As soon as I got it in the reel seat, I knew this was the right call. Swinging for smallies on the previous Ross Evolution LT (a great reel -- my go-to for stripping streamers or fishing topwater smallies) just didn't seem right. Can't wait to hear it howl!

-Sean-

Video Review: Small Mouth; Big Appetite! DVD

If you fish for small mouth on the fly, or want to, there's a great new video out from Michigan guides Jon Ray and Kevin Feenstra. Small Mouth; Big Appetite is now available and it's excellent! Shot on Michigan's Muskegon and Manistee rivers, the video covers three styles of fishing (streamers, poppers, and crayfish hopping). Featured are tips and techniques, as well as equipment recommendations and fly patterns for each. Whether you're a novice or you've put in your time, there are useful tips, tricks, and techniques for everyone to catch these river thugs!

Take a look at the trailer to see more!

The DVD is shipping now - ask your local fly shop, or you can buy it directly from Jon's web site. Enjoy!

-Sean-

Big Time Small Mouth

Had a great opportunity to get my smallmouth bass game dialed in recently. Was invited to float a mid-Michigan river that's been producing epic levels of fish lately. Don't have to ask me twice!

Original plan had been to fish topwater with poppers. But we also were prepared with streamers, and friend Jay wanted to have a shot at carp, if we saw them. During the first ten minutes of the float, we quickly discovered that Murdich Minnow streamers were the hot ticket as Jay outfished me about 10 to 1! So, I quickly switched over to the streamer program.

This is super-cool sight fishing, especially in the low, clear water conditions we experienced. Just like trout, you could easily watch predator chase down the prey. Well, most times...

I got warmed-up on some dinks -- in the 6-8" range. Pretty quickly we were shaking off the little guys to pursue the river donkeys. By early afternoon, I had my personal best 18.5" fish. Came out of the edge of a weed line to SMACK the streamer. I love that smallmouth fight -- even the little ones are fun. But the big ones like this can get you bent on a 7-weight steelhead rod!

Just the sheer numbers we stuck that day were a huge help in building confident and experience. I quickly got better at hooksets and fighting fish. Between three of us we likely boated at least 75 fish and shook of maybe that many little guys. A few other highlights of the day:

• Spent a good part of the day casting a Scott S4S (hey, it was already rigged and ready). Wow - there's a reason they're $700. What a rocket!
• Mid-afternoon I cut the popper off and fished my Scott A4 907/4. While not the S4S, this new rod did not disappoint. And, I got a couple of nice fish.
• Made my drift boat rowing deubt! My friends say, "If you can't row, you can't go" so time to man up and learn. Did very well at managing speed, putting us in the right places. Even managed to back-row up to retrieve a streamer from a tree!
• Murdich Minnow was MONEY, time and again. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it held up, too.
• Having a great new waterproof camera is excellent. Unless it's bured in the backpack at the other end of the boat when you land your personal record fish...

Many thanks to Brian and Jay for inviting me along on their float. I look forward to the opportunity to do it again.

-Sean-

Ross Love

A couple of new reels arrived for the quiver - and both just strengthen my loyalty to the Ross Reels brand.

The first is a CLA-6 for my spey rod. I wanted a reel large enough to hold a Rio Skagit Short line, and balance out my Scott ARC 1287-3 rod (at 12' 8" that's a fair bit of rod). I own three other CLA's, but all are smaller. This new one's like an extra-large, extra-beefy version. Seems like it will be perfect to throw on the spey stick. Very impressive, especially at the price point. Funny though, the market calls it a "guide favorite". Knowing a few guides, I think this ironic. For client gear, most guides seem to aim toward good quality with a keen eye toward reliable performance. In a reel that means that they can hand them to clients of all levels of ability and awareness and expect solid performance throughout the season. Ultimate precision isn't typically the goal; a good dunking and a sand bath will kill that reel quickly. This reel meets these goals perfectly -- rugged, performance that will last for years without bells and whistles you don't need.

The second is an Evolution LT 4 and spare spool. This one's going to be for my streamer rig for chasing trout and smallmouth. One spool will get a Rio 200 grain sink tip, and the other a Rio Outbound Short. I'd seen this reel in a case at a recent show, but wasn't prepared for how impressive it would be in reel (ha) life. What an amazing piece of design and machining. Light, durable, and super cool looking. Shocking how light it is for a size 4. It will be great balanced on a 9' Scott A3 7-weight streamer stick! As mentioned previously, I do a lot with precision machined parts in my day job and this thing is incredibly well-done. As a bonus, it incorporates a super-simple drag system that just looks bulletproof. I think I may actually pick up a third spool and put my 300 grain sink tip on it too. This product completely exceeded my expectations.

All of this is why I've gone to standardizing on Ross Reels for all my rigs. Every one has consistently exceeded my expectations. Now I just need to talk myself out of the blisteringly cool F1...

-Sean-