Expect the Unexpected

by Sean W
(Boston Ma)

I was fishing Jamaica Pond with my Nissin 450zx medium, set up keiryu style with tenjo, 5x, and then 7x.

Using my recent favorite lure of a Trout Magnet on a Gamakatsu R10 hook, and a tungsten bead head above thats left to slide, I caught quite a few fish today. Plenty of bluegills and yellow perch, and a fairly large number of largemouth bass.

Remember how I said 7x tippet.

I saw a big (16-20in my guess) rainbow trout come into the shallows to eat all the flies that were hatching. So I lobbed the lure over, and it slammed it! Everything seemed ok, the rod was within its limits, and even stayed hooked up through two jumps. Unfortunately, it broke right off when it jumped once more. The 450zx is rated for 6x, with which I've had no trouble landing 3+ pound largemouths...so of course I had 7x on when i tried to catch something big.

Long story short, I learned the same lesson as Chris when he was trying out the Fieldmaster Suguru Long H...Use the higher rated tippet if you think you might encounter big fish.

“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.

We've all had situations where seriously chewed up flies kept catching fish after fish after fish. It is no sin to tie flies that come off the vise looking seriously chewed up.