Stonefish

Microsoft co-founder and owner of the Seahawks, Blazers and part owner of the Sounders passed away today. SF

I don't fish Stripers, but always fish my leader to the rod tip. Depending on what the current is doing, I'll either sweep the fly across my body or back towards the beach with my rod tip in the water. That acceleration of the fly can get followers to commit. It works on multiple species of fish. SF

Very envious. I wish we had those up in my neck of the woods. SF

Great looking craft. SF

BFD, Enjoyed the report and glad you made it out on the water. Best of luck with your treatments. SF

Very nice! SF

Sounds like they are trying to reduce flossing but requiring shorter leaders. We see lots of folks up this way using 10’+ leaders and a black corky or yarn. They catch lots of non biting fish by setting the hook multiple times per drift. If they’d just learn how to drift fish with a 3’ leader and how to detect a real bite, they’d catch just as many fish. SF

From what I’ve seen, the old versions and the new versions have the same grain weights. I have 7 wts in both and if I recall correctly, they are both the same grain wts. SF

I will also note that where I fish, we generally don’t have “surf” like you would say on a open Pacific Ocean beach. We also have a fish handling law up here that any salmon, Steelhead or char you don’t intend to harvest can’t be removed from the water, thus the use of a net. As I mentioned, not a perfect solution but the best I’ve come up with. SF

Ben, I use a wooden net because it floats in case I lose a grip on it. The dimensions are 14 x 18 on the hoop with a 13” handle for a total length of 31”. The rubber bag is 16-17” deep so the fish don’t easily flop out of it like they are on a trampoline. I stuff the handle down underneath my wading and stripping basket. It stays out of my way while casting and is easy to access when I want to net a fish. Not a perfect solution but in the days of selective fisheries management up here, it’s the best solution I’ve come up with for releasing fish I don’t intend to harvest. This is a picture of a 5 lb or so coho lying down in the net. SF

Does anyone ever use a net while fishing beach stripers or do the surf conditions make it not a viable option? Just curious. I never used one before for coho fishing up here, but started this year due to mandatory wild (unclipped) coho release in some areas. Coho a pretty susceptible to scale loss which leads to mortality, so the rubber bag net really helps for quick releases. The net I’ve been using is small enough to just stick under my wading belt behind me so it is out of the way. I think it would probably handle fish up to 12-15 lbs. Now I just need to catch one that big..... SF

Thanks It looks like you extend the foam further back over some of the tail. Will give that a try. I think our searun cutthroat will go crazy over those. SF

jabster, Those are tied on a tube, correct? Very nice. Will have to try that. SF

Great report and nice looking fish. Never fished either of those. I have a close friend who's brother lives in Boise and sends me SF fish pics. Some really nice fish in both. SF

Those GLX classics are timeless. Introduced 25 years ago and still better then many new rods. I’ll be disappointed if I ever break any of the three I still have left. To the OP...NRX. SF