WATCH HERE!

This is a beautiful little film from Patagonia about fly fishing and how simple life can really can be! Love this!

Al Quattrocchi is inviting you to a scheduled Flyfishing Chat Zoom meeting tommorrow at 9am

This is a chance to meet Al Q from Flies, Sand & Surf Blog, check in to see how everyone is doing and tell a fish story or two.

Sign up for the zoom app, its free, then enter the meeting id and password. Hope to see some of you tomorrow.

Cheers

Al

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/4895018743?pwd=YmhHNEJYUkhlYTdRZWNLNk5lc25wZz09

Meeting ID: 489 501 8743
Password: hightide

I just picked up a spool of this OPST Lazar running line , gave it the Q cast test and really like the way it performs. So far, I am a believer.

My friend Paul Cronin turned me onto it and said it is a very popular Skagit running line used for throwing long, on streams for salmon and steelhead. Being an old salty shooting head guy that likes to make my own custom sinking shooting heads, I decided to see what all the talk was about and built a 27 foot T-14 head, looped on both ends and attached it to some pink #50 pound OPST Lazar line with a double surgeons loop. I cinched down the loop knot real tight and compact and coated it with pliobond to clean up the knot so it sails through the guides easily. I did three tests, all performed off a small arbor reel which tends to keep tight loop coils. First test was just to strip a bunch of line on the floor, give it a good stretch, make one pick up with my head outside the rod tip, one back cast and a forward haul.  With ease the line flew through the guides, no tangles and I taped out my very first cast at 85 feet. The second test was to cast the line out of a shallow basket and then a deep stripping basket. Both performed well as you can see in the video that my daughter Quinn shot for me.

What I learned so far is as long as you give this running line a good stretch, it performs well, with little memory in coiling. The diameter seems thick enough to handle, but I need to fish it to see if I can hold onto it, on a big fish when its wet. One tip I want to try is to use a piece of electrical tape wrapped around the cork handle to cause friction in stopping the line. I will have to try that and report back, LOL

please be safe out there…

-Al Q

photos courtesy of Ryan Toal

photos courtesy of Ryan Toal

photos courtesy of Ryan Toal

My friend Ryan just emailed me a few pics from his trek through France. He has never fished there and is going to Ireland next. He seems to be having a great time so far, stream side in the Pyrennes catching grayling and wild rainbows while snacking on cheese, bread, prosciutto and wine, life is good! LOL

WTG buddy.