This afternoon was being out on the water for 2 reasons… No 3 actually, 1) spend some time with Warren who’s always great company, 2) To test a Nymphing Line variant as mentioned in yesterdays post, and finally 3) To test what has now become my indicator of all indicator applications… EVER!
1) I always have good conversation with Warren about many things but fishing in particular, he’s someone I’m always keen to pass stuff over to for an opinion… he’s likes to learn and I’m keen to share.
After reading a spider fishing article by river fishing maestro Paul Procter, Warren had tied some of the recommended flies and used his techniques over a shallow but fish filled riffle on the Test… needless to say it worked.
2) Thanks to Artie at Cortland I’ve some of their new Nymphing fly lines and indicator material winging its way across the pond in order to do them a review.
Prior to it being organised I’d taken their theory on the line and attempted to match it as best as I could… through trials and tribulations I finally ended up using 45 feet of running line from a Snowbee #6 XS Delicate Presentation Fly Line. As well as the crucial bit being 45 feet long, it also perfectly matched the grain weight of the Cortland version at 140 grains, what surpassed having the 2 criteria was also having the third… it had a Continuous Rear Taper… 3 out of 3. The line was designed by my good friend Vic Knight, if my light bulb had gone on sooner I wouldn’t have wasted hours looking through others but gone straight to this already knowing the profile as I do… doh!
Your not really seeing much here other than me in the water using it, you’ll spot the line easily as it comes in a range of colours such as the one I’m using – Hi Vis Olive 
Now what you may want to know is did it work?… the answer is YES it did… and well up to a point. Spooling it up I set out with the MX 10ft #2 and consciously treated it like any other fly line, I used it for dry fly, high sticking and some czech nymphing with equal success (Catching fish)… it was ruddy marvellous, unfortunately I couldn’t use the maximum 45ft range at any point nymphing but maxed out at about circa 28-32 feet, this was mainly due to the location and flow, or lack there of. I’m sure if I’d been on a bigger and pushing river, that may have been possible – perhaps.
All be it everything seemed to go swimmingly fishingly, it wasn’t perfect by any means. Having micro gauged it the prior evening I’d established that over the distance of 45 feet, the taper from butt to tip reduced by only 0.29mm which was almost negligible in the scheme of things. You could say it was more like a double taper with a long presentation tip at the front even though minute. It turned over well when nymphing both light and heavy flies (and teams), not so for dry fly where I felt it was less dynamic, it almost ran out of steam to the tip and needed a firmer stop… not that the plan was to use it for dries in the first place.
I’ll be very interested to review this against the profile/taper of the Cortland line, remembering that they’re both 45 feet long and 140 grains… the Cortland is supposed to have an ultra fine taper so I’m keen to understand it’s weight distribution… that review will follow
I didn’t attempt its use on either of the 11ft and 12ft rods as I’d hoped to, I’ll give it another try against the Cortlands when they arrive. It’s started me on a bit of a journey upon which I’ll continue to play… it doesn’t really change anything, it just floats my boat.
3) Nymphing Indicator ~ having designed and used many a variation on offer to us keen nymphers, this one ticks all the boxes for me and has now become my go to option. I’ve not invented anything here, just put 2 and 2 together so to speak.
It may or may not be better or worse than what you consider to be your finest… it’s just another option but it works for me and does so exceptionally well in any condition and on any leader. It dries in seconds, it’s waterproof, is easily visible, it’s supple and forms part of the main leader without knots or hinging, you can remove it in a second and re apply elsewhere throughout the setup.
It’s likely many of you coarse anglers have used something similar at some point. So what is it?…
Sensas Bristle Paint
Here’s a quick snap on video, apologies for the quality from the basic compact, it’s video automatic focusing properties isn’t one of it’s stronger points. unfortunately it only really captures it’s application, in use it can be held above the water a la’ French Nymphing and Czech styles or floating on the water… it’s just very versatile.
I’ll hold my breath in readyness for the Tipp-ex brigade… tut!
