Nissin Flying Dragon 5.3

by Jared K
(CO)

I had the opportunity this past weekend to fish at Boxwood Gulch, a private ranch known for extremely large trout. When I told my guide that I would be using a tenkara style rod, he told me he wouldn't recommend that because of the size of the fish and the heavy current. I told him this was not an ordinary tenkara rod, it was designed for carp but he was still skeptical. He said he would bring a fly rod for me to use just in case, and I agreed if I broke off I would switch to it.

He also recommended using 2 or 3x tippet. Since I already had a 4x Keiryu line, I just added 3x tippet. I knew if I broke off I would lose my whole line, except for the upper tenjo made from a 2.5 level line, but I didn't want to rerig.

Because of the swift current and deep runs, I was using 3 BB split shot and a weighted nymph to get to bottom. The rod had no problem casting this weight.

Soon I hooked up and we realized it was a big fish. He made many strong runs trying to get downstream, but every time I was able to turn him and keep him from going over the plunge into the next pool. I was in complete control the whole time and eventually I had a large rainbow in the net. My guide thought he was almost 10 lbs. I am not good at estimating weight, but I know it was the largest rainbow I have ever caught.

The rest of the day was filled with many memorable fish. Toward the end of the day I switched to a large Amy's ant dry fly and tungsten dropper, and surprisingly could cast it really well with the Keiryu line. Then I added a third fly, a killer bug and could still cast great.

At the end of the day, my guide told me he was very impressed with the rod and really enjoyed watching me fight those fish without a reel. I never broke the 4x on a fish, so I didn't use the fly rod all day.

It was an amazing day fishing and I think this rod made all the difference in handling these fish. I highly recommend it for large trout!

“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten” - Benjamin Franklin

"Be sure in casting, that your fly fall first into the water, for if the line fall first, it scares or frightens the fish..." -
Col. Robert Venables 1662

As age slows my pace, I will become more like the heron.