I wanted to take a moment to give thanks to all of the great equipment we used on our recent Steelhead outing to the Methow and Grande Ronde River:
Our fly rods performed flawlessly. Nymphing the cold waters of Washington State in February for steelhead can require heavy flies and sizable strike indicators. The G. Loomis Classic GLX 10’ 8wt (2-Piece) fly rod easily roll-cast everything we threw at it. The rods medium-stiff action also mended line well and had enough
back bone to turn the head of a mulish steelhead in heavy current.
*Note: Loomis doesn’t appear to make the Classic GLX 10’ 8wt (2-Piece) anymore. But it looks that their NativeRun GLX line of rods use the same GLX technology but in 4-Piece. Awesome fly rods… check them out:
NativeRun GLX or
GLX Classics.
We also had great results with the Solitude 3 reel. These reels have a very smooth drag system and are well designed with a clean look. I was happy to find out that the Solitude Reel Company is located in Mount Vernon, WA, just a mere 28 miles from I was raised and the epicenter of some great steelhead country. Burlington/Mount Vernon were the launch off points for my fly fishing pursuits on the Skagit River, Sauk River, Stillaguamish River, Skykomish River, Cascade River, and Nooksack River. It would have been nice at times to stop by Solitude’s shop in an equipment emergency or just to nose around. Check them out:
Solitude Reel Company.
Two different types of fly line were used on this trip. We used both the Rio Versitip System and Scientific Anglers Nymph Line. They both performed exceptionally. The only difficulty I had was with the connection point on the Rio Versitip system getting caught in my ice-clogged eyelets. This was a minor issue that could have been solved by sensible people only fishing when the air temperature is above 32°, unfortunately there were no sensible people on the Methow River during the two days we fished there. Give these lines a look at:
Rio Products and
Scientific Anglers.
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