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Just returned from an unbelievable baetis hatch on the Green. Fish are really healthy and strong for this time of year and the amount of bwos is staggering. On sunny days the hatch was so big it carpeted the water. Fish would rise like bubbles over and over again and the rainbows were footballs. Amazing we could catch fish out of the millions of flies to pick from but we managed some very nice fish.
Best days were windy which cut down on the number of natural on the water. Best fly was a befus emerger or similar emerger with hackle tied around a foam post. Parachutes and thorax duns worked as well, mostly size 18 but did manage a few on a size 16 parachute bwo.
We floated but walking up from Little Hole is just as good if not better. Fish really got going on top later in the day even though we'd see bwos hatching by 10am. By 4pm the fish were rising everywhere. You can see how literally stuffed to the gills this rainbow is with mayflies.
Best dry fly fishing of the year! Get up there now!
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That first picture is awesome I wish I could get out there!
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I had never thought of attaching my reel to my sleeve. Very clever.
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Thinking that may have been sarcasm from Troutfoolery.
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It was a stab at humour apparently I missed. It looked like the reel came off the seat.
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Nice fish! I got out there around this time last year and wiitnessed the same thing. Awesome to see so many fish rising at once. Best fishing was during snow showers. Hope to get out there soon.
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Hey Flygoddess,
I gave you a free Rexfly so you could try it out. Are you saying you don't see any advantage after after casting with it? What was your experience with it?
Some of the top FFF instructors in the country love it including Macauley Lord, LL Bean's top instructor who wrote their fly fishing book, Bruce Richards who designed SA's fly lines, and Joe Mahler who just wrote an article with Lefty on casting for Fly Fisherman.
I'd still love to hear what your experience using it was.
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I get a kick out of the Headhunters blog. Again its folks who have never tried casting without a reel making assumptions without ever bothering to try it out. And the funny thing is how easy it is to try out. Just take your favorite fly rod outside, strip out a bunch of line and put the reel in your pocket. I've had thousands of people try casting without a reel and all but a half dozen have been amazed how much lighter and easier it is to cast.
Since the Rexfly went on the market last year I've sold over 1000 of them with only 4 returns. I have many great photos from happy Rexfly users but this one is my favorite. The photo is of PHWFF amputee and former Marine Omar fly fishing with one arm with the help of the Rexfly.
And you should check out this video if you think the Rexfly is not suitable for big fish.
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Yes for an amputee it seems to have a potential place. Again I said big fish. Even for a baby tarpon that was a very small fish. And the rexfly didn't seem to offer anything in the video. Can you explain what the advantage was as I didn't see it? A 6wt reel for a fish that size isn't so heavy to begin with.
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I don't mean to be overly critical. Good luck with the rexfly. Sounds like it could find a niche market like a lot of other fishing products.
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I guess I just don't get the point of it, just seems like more to deal with, but that is just me, not for me but I guess 1000 people have a use for it.
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[quote night_flyguy]Hey Flygoddess,
I gave you a free Rexfly so you could try it out. Are you saying you don't see any advantage after after casting with it? What was your experience with it?
Some of the top FFF instructors in the country love it including Macauley Lord, LL Bean's top instructor who wrote their fly fishing book, Bruce Richards who designed SA's fly lines, and Joe Mahler who just wrote an article with Lefty on casting for Fly Fisherman.
I'd still love to hear what your experience using it was.[/quote]
Are any of these gentlemen using it? I know one of them and pretty sure he isn't, but that is nether here nor there.
I did try it and lost a nice size carp. There is no palming the reel without taking that time to click the reel back on the rod (go figure). Not to mention the carp hitting like a freight train and almost pulled the line out of my hand due to the sudden weight on the tip.
Sometimes seconds count.
You say the line on the reel weighs....so does the line out the tip of the rod making it tip heavy. Rods are designed to be like pendulums for most comfort.
I am glad you are proud of your product and I got to say, you get after it. If one person loves and uses it then you are good to go. Just not me.
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That wasn't close to a 20 lb Tarpon in the video- more like 6-8 and I've caught tarpon this year for reference even if none where that small. The picture at the end is clearly a different tarpon than the one landed in the video. If he did catch it with the rexfly it was in despite of it not because of it and that's why we aren't seeing the video to go along. Yes I know I can cast a rod without a reel but if I hook a big fish that takes off instantaneously I want my reel on my rod as long as I have 2 functional hands. Hopefully I'll never need your product but certainly a potential niche market there that you can make fly fishing more accessible to.
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Macauley got it primarily for smallmouth fishing, Bruce bought it for use in his pontoon boat and Joe actually uses it when he's teaching casting. In fact Bruce refused to let me give him one, he bought it because he said its the most innovative thing he's seen in fly fishing in decades. When he was designing Scientific Angler's fly lines, they didn't bother putting prototype lines on a reel, they just strung them on a rod and cast the line so he already appreciated how nice it is to cast without a reel.
Sorry you lost a fish but I am very happy that you went and tried it out. Thank you. I appreciate any feedback, good and bad, from people that will really try it. I imagine that you don't wear the chest harness strapped as tightly around your chest as I and most men do. My wife wears it lower, below her chest and it definitely is not as stable. I can see how that would cause an issue with palming the reel. This is the first time I've heard of having an problem with palming and I have guys who've sent me pictures with salmon, carp, stripers and false albacore with no issues.
Thanks again for trying it out and maybe you can pass it on to someone else who might like to try it.
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