3 Will Get You 5

I'm not one to name my fishing rods, but that last post was fun. So, back to reality. I wanted to take the 3 wt. out for a spin and see what was what. I figured the best place to go would be the Middle Fork of the Cosumnes at Cat Creek Rd. Close to home, should be fish, should be a good test for a new rod.

While I'm sitting here watching the Giants and the Padres I'll tell you how the morning went.

I headed out of the house at 0745 and after a quick coffee stop at Cooks Station, I got to the creek at 0830. Got wadered up and started by walking across the bridge and upstream. I thought some of the holes up that way would be a good test of the 3 wt. action.

First hole, first hookup, but it turned out to be a short distance release. Second hole and the first wild Rainbow brought to hand on the 3 wt. Wet hand, quick photo, and back for another day.

First trout on the 3 wt.

A couple more misses here and there and the second wild Rainbow came to hand. This one a smidge bigger than the first one.

Second trout on 3 wt.

The plants in the river are getting so big that it's almost impossible to find a piece of water to fish in. The best I can describe them is they look like the elephant ear plant. I didn't think to take a picture of them, but next time I will. In the Spring, they are just a tuber, but they grow to a height of about 3 feet and are all over the place.

I managed two more to hand in the area I usually fish, then walked back to fish the pools below the bridge. The pool directly below had a couple hitting the surface, but no interest in any I fly presented. I brought one to hand in the pool below and missed a couple. So there are still some fish in the creek, but they are small. The one in the second picture is of the biggest I saw and it's maybe 6 inches.

I did have one experience that I've never had before. I had one fish that saw the fly, came up to it and "sniffed" it and then took it. Would have been worthy of a picture, but once again a short distance release.

Before I go into my opinion of the 3 wt. rod, let me tell you about the hole I stepped in. No stumbling or falling or anything like that. Just a hole in the river deep enough to flow over the top of my right hip wader and let a little COLD water in. I was quick enough that all I got was a damp leg all the way to my sock. Could have been a wader full.   

My take on the 3 wt. (5'9") is this. It's an awesome creek rod. Can't get quite the distance of a 9' rod (maybe 20'), but in most of the creeks, the size I fished this  morning, 20' is enough. Rod action is excellent for small streams. Next stop for me and 3 will be the Silver Fork of the American River.

Stay tuned.