Eclecticisms
I have oftentimes been accused of being eclectic. Perhaps I am. The attached photo is a photo I took one day after spending the morning fishing with Randy Brock. We are pretty good friends, and we fish when we can. He had to head off to work, and I decided it was time for round two.
Round one: West Beaver creek, Houston Cty Minnesota. A few years back, I began fishing with furled leaders. Usually made of thread, which I prefer to this day, they are incredibly supple, and quite strong. Not being one to leave it at that, I did my research and learned that historically, before silk gut was used, Horse hair has been used for both tippet, and leader material. Upon looking more deeply, I realized there is (read: was) a whole counterculture on correct choosing of said horse hair, how to prepare it etc, for best results.
I also own a horse...or my wife does anyway. So, Why not give it a try. So...off to the pasture I went. The choices were 1) black and short, 2) black and long, 3) black and weak. Usually #3 occured with either one or two. So, With a thread leader in hand, and a few horse hair tippets in an plastic baggy softening, I went in search of a trout.
After reaching the creek, I quickly found rising trout, and stepped up to the plate. I don't recall which cast it was, but I soon found myself trying to play a fish in a battle reminiscent to the Maginot Line. Quickly thereafter, the leader and fly parted ways, and I was down 0-1. Another fish was rising upstream. A few casts later, I connected but with similar results. At this point, was thinking, "What am I doing? I don't stand a chance". Batter up. The thrid fish was a little more upstream, and with a few casts, the little troutling rose, sipped, and soon afterwards was hooked. He was a fish of about 9", and after being VERY careful, I soon had him to hand. My first fish with a horsehair tippet.
The day with Randy had been uneventful. We each caught fish, and even had a small olive hatch, but it wasn't as if we were breaking records. About 1pm he had to head off, and I was left by myself. I had all the water above the cars yet to fish, and a caddis hatch was just starting. I decided then to switch to a cane rod, and relive my day on Beaver with one exception. A full horse hair furled leader.
The leader took hours to build. First of all, I decided that I wanted a white leader. No real reason other than a black leader would have seemed non-traditional - as if the space age grahite rod I had been quite happily fishing for the past few hours was. I had procured white horse hair from a horse aptly named, Mule. It was a part draft horse, part quarter horse, with enough long white tail hairs to suffice. I had collected what seemed to be several dozen, and softened then in water overnight. Next up, I tied them into a much longer single strand nearly 30 ft long, of which, I needed two - one for each side of the furled leader. The leader itself would need to be simple. each side would have maybe three different sections, each with fewer and fewer amounts of hair. I broke the first section, succeeded with the second, and then re-made the first. I then VERY gingerly twisted them as not to break the hair, and allowed the two sides to furl together. I made a loop of horsehair, wrapped with brown and black horsehair, tied it off and waxed it. Au Natural.
On the creek, I soon spotted a rising trout. I picked a grade A horsehair tippet from my moistened package, and then added another for maximum length. I would guess it might have been 3' with a 4X equivilent. I tied on the fly, greased it and started to stalk my quarry. I don't remember if it was the first fish or second I cast to, but I soon had a fish on. If I remember correctly, I landed it. And so it was. For the next two hours, I caught countless fish on dry flies with horsehair tippet. I think the cane rod helped protect it much better than a graphite would have, and when I do it again, I'll do it the same way. I may have landed 20 fish that afternoon using horse hair. I broke a few off too. Each time I landed one, I laughed. I may have even giggled. It was a just an absolute stitch. The fish in the photo was the largest. I suspect it would have made an honest argument at 14" - a hulk on horsehair. I was indeed surprised after showing the photo to Steve Klotz when he asked if they could used it for the most recent trout Regulations booklet. I was also flattered.
I don't know how many people who looked at the photo realized that something was different with the leader and tippet, but it's pretty easy to see its not your ordinary leader. Its kinked, and somewhat stiff appearing. It casts how it looks. Horrible. But, I suspect the trout know, and perhaps are a bit forgiving.
