Float Tubing and Tackle Talk

 July 17, 2016...UPDATED April 2023

I paid a visit to the lake this morning. Up with the sun, on the water by 8 am.

    I took the Cumberland float tube to an area I've fished from shore many times. It is a small point with a boat ramp, and a tiny cove along one side. It has a small picnic site fronting the cove, and in the back, the cove is filled with driftwood that has piled in from the main lake.

   I started with surface bugs, as usual. But top-water was the wrong game. The fish weren't having my surface flies, and only once did a floating fly get a serious strike - and that fish self-released.

    But I'm no one-trick pony; I'll switch up in a minute if I need to. And this morning I needed to.

    Time to go subsurface - and that is where the bluegill were biting.

    The best fly this July morning was a small Cap Spider I first saw in the fly box of pal, Don Schmotzer. As he ties the thing, it is just a bit of fine chenille or dubbing for a body, with rubber legs and a gold bead head. I think of these as "slow sinking spiders," but Don calls 'em Cap Spiders, and that's good enough for me.

    Other flies that shared the catching duties were,

- Flash bodied soft hackle

- Wooly Nymph

- Cockatoo.... this Ward Bean wet fly is a fave of mine (You can see my history with this fly, here: The Cockaroo A link to Wards site is in the references)

    Some of the fastest action came while trolling along the rocks seen in the pics below. That is a trusted tactic once the water warms. A number of fish also came right off the end of the boat ramp, itself. You have to watch out for boats and stay clear, of course, but the ramp has a sharp drop-off on the end that attracts fish.

 
Tackle Trials
    The No Knot Eyelet Experiment kicked off today, with the eyelet holding fast, through many fish and some hefty snags.       The immediate benefit to the No Knot Eyelet is that it puts an end to hanging in the guides, like you see with looped leader connections. The last time I saw that was with super glued leader connections.

    Detractors say that the No Knot Eyelet stresses the line and causes it to crack where the eyelet is inserted. Others complain that they rust and eventually break. Those things may in fact happen with neglect, but they seem like things one can get ahead of with awareness and line maintenance.     Under the magnifier, it shows no signs of failure.
The torture test continues.

    These tackle trials also extend to my new bargain fly line, from www.discountfishingDenver.com. That line was $12 in 2016 ... in 2023, it is $19.99. My rod is designated, "5/6 wt," and the line is a WF6F... a Weight Forward, 6 wt. Floating line.

    So what does that mean? On weight forward lines, the first 30 feet are supposed to be thicker and heavier than the rest of the line. It is designed to be forward oriented on one end.     The opposite occurs with double taper (DT) lines; they are slightly thicker in the center but thin out toward either end.     The rod says, "5/6," however, so that means it is designed to use EITHER a 5 wt. double taper (DT) level line, OR.... a 6 wt. forward weighted line.    This can be taken as a general guideline. It mostly depends on how much line you have out: - Shorter casts favor a heavier front section on the line.

- Long casts require a lot of line out, so you can load the rod well without the extra front weight taper.     Such a rod might also handle line a bit higher or lower, say 4 wt. or 7 wt....  Little is absolute in fly fishing, and each rod is different. In my case, this Weight Forward (WF) 6 wt. line is just right, and it makes the line effortless to cast. In a float tube, you can closely approach your target, and that little bit of extra weight does the trick on shorter casts..

    How about that bargain line.... what do I think of it?     Well, I'm a hack - not a line expert... I can't really give a hardcore line report. What I can say is it flows easily through the guides and is maybe smoother than my Scientific Angler lines. That may also be because it's new.

    But it lays nicely in the stripping apron, is quite supple and has no tendency to kink or twist. In short, the line was trouble free. I never had to worry about it, and I suppose that says something.

    On that subject, I've also started using Scientific Angler's pure silicone fly line dressing. I applied it to this line right away, before using it. It seems to have made little practical difference that I can tell over the bare line.     But I feel that using it gives an overall improvement in line performance and longevity, too. So I'll keep putting it on.     In fact, I put it on all sorts of things. My only regret is it comes in such a teensy bottle!

PS I get no sponsor kickbacks for mentioning this stuff. I just like it. If you know of something comparable, please let me know.

Random Pics

From L to R: Cockaroo, well chewed
Red Cap Spider
Flash Body Hackle Fly
Cork Popper

The Wooly Nymph mentioned in the narrative is not shown, and is a mystery to me, today - that was seven years ago, after all...

But the large popper was NOT the one to use on a late July morning.

Regardless, this inspires me to tie up some July Bluegill Kits!

Thanks for reading!

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Do you want to add the catching flies seen here to your own fly or tackle box? Do you have questions, gripes, or suggestions?
If so, email me at...dahutist@gmail.com

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Thanks so much for reading, and...

Tight Lines,

Dave Hutton

© All rights reserved, David Hutton/Palmetto Fly N Fish 2023 

References

1. http://www.warmwaterflytyer.com

2. https://www.facebook.com/groups/flyfishingsouthcarolina

3. https://www.discountfishingdenver.com