Fly Fishing Colorado

Here I was on Clear Creek to review another T.L.Johnson Fish Creek Velocity Fly Rod. A beautiful 7ft 9in 3wt lightweight. I was really eager to see how this rod would perform with a three nymph rig and a 4wt fly line on it. I used two weighted nymphs a #12 beadhead haresear on top, then a #14 tan scud in the middle and finally an unweighted #14 black pheasant tail as tail fly.

I was using 0X to 2X then the point fly, 4X to the middle fly and 6X to tail fly. This light weight rod would put out great roll or river casts up to 15 to 20 feet with out strain. When the wind was not blowing, I could get a nice overhand the same distance or slightly longer. Admittedly, this rod is not designed to throw weighted nymph rigs but it is nice to know you could do so if necessary. The rod is primarily designed as a small stream dry fly and light weight nymph rod. Used with a three weight line, I believe it would serve excellently in that capacity. As always, Terry Johnson builds extra power into his rod designs.

On grass casting tests with a 4wt line on the rod, I could easily get 40 to 45 foot casts with this fine little rod. The load feeling was excellent on the back and forward strokes allowing shooting casts with ease. The accuracy was excellent at 40 feet dropping cast after cast within 12 inches or less of my target.

The rod blank is the same gloss green as the other series tested. The 9ft 4wt and the 8ft 4wt. The blank is a 57 modulus to produce extra power when needed. The guides are Fish Creeks own 316 stainless. On the test models, there are two lined stripper guides but the production models will have only one.

The reel seat is polished aluminum with a maple insert. The production models will have a duller titanium finish rather than the highly polished finish on the test models. The top reel seat guide securely holds the reel. The bottom sliding reel seat ring is generous enough to fit most reels.  The uplocking single ring holds the reel securely in place without too much pressure.

Best of all the Velocity Rods are designed to be priced slightly under $300. So you can own a fine rod without breaking your budget.

Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Marshall, Editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com
Everything you need for fly fishing
www.110flyfishingtips.com
www.troutadventures.com
Alaska Trout Fishing Information

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

4/29/10 Wednesday

Colorado Fly Fishing Conditions on Clear Creek today started out looking pretty good. Air temp in Devner at 7:15 am was 64 degrees with sunny skies mostly clear. Forecast was for 20 mph winds in the afternoon on Clear Creek.

My friend Brett and I started in Golden, CO behind the Community Center at the Kayak Runs. The water from here downstream past the 1st bridge behind the municipal building parking lot was highly silted in with lots of leaves on the bottom. The pools and runs for the kayaks were deep and or fast. Flow rate was between 126 and 150 CFS.

All the insects we saw on the bottom were small 22 to 26 as a result of the silted bottoms and inadequate oxygenation. I was testing a T.L. Johnson Velocity 7 ft 9 in 3 wt rod rigged with an M60 fly reel and a 4 wt line. I used a 3 fly rig with two weighted nymph on the top two flies. A size 12 beadhead hares hear, 2nd fly was a weighted 14 scud and the tail fly was a #16 black pheasant tail on the bottom. My leader was an old leader butt + 3 ft of 0X+ 2 ft 2X fluorocarbon + top fly + 18 in 4X fluorocarbon + fly + 15 in 6X fluorocarbon + the pheasant tail. (Would have used a size 18 or 20 black or purple pheasant tail if I had any.)

I saw one flash at my middle fly, the scud, but that was it. Brett had a couple of strikes but no hookups. We started up the canyon toward tunnel six.

On the west side of tunnel six the water was much cleaner than in Golden and the flow appeared some what less. Brett was fishing below a small water fall and had a hookup but did not land the fish. I took 15 minutes wading across the creek to fish some likely looking seams and a pool. The bottom was like skating on ice.

The Velocity light weight was performing great for such a light weight rod. River casts were on target and the roll cast worked well. Unfortunately the wind was starting to come up. Gusty but not too bad yet. I worked the pools and seams then waded back across the stream to the road side. Brett had several good strikes but no fish while I was playing around.

We headed on upstream above Idaho Springs to a large pull out where we had both fished. This area has some excellent water and should have some reasonable fish in it. I had changed out the bottom fly to a smaller 18 gray RS2. Several drifts down a seam to a small pool along the near bank, I hooked up with a small 8 inch bow but lost him. Some days old hands are all thumbs.

Brett and I fished a half river mile of stream hard for the next two hours. Brett saw one 14 inch rainbow in a pool but a dozen casts could not move it. He did catch a couple of small bows on the journey upstream. All this while the wind had come up to the steady 20 mph predicted with some gusts to 25 to 30 mph at a guess. Temperature was dropping too with clouds coming in.

I did talk to one othe flyfisher who had hooked 3 smaller fish on a beadhead pheasant tail size 18 or 20. Fishing the same pool head, the fisherman was working the tail of, I hooked an 8 inch bow on the middle fly (scud). That was it for me today.

I headed back for the car. Brett showed up shortly after I arrived at the car. He went down the bank to fish the tail of some fast runs. I watched him catch and land a 10 inch brown out of one small pool. Then we called it quits, broke down the gear and headed for beer time. (Some of favorite fishing time.)

Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Marshall, Editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com
Everything you need for fly fishing
www.110flyfishingtips.com
www.troutadventures.com
Alaska Trout Fishing Information

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

4/1/20 Monday

The Fish Creek Velocity 8ft 4wt 4pc fly rod was grass cast before being tested on stream. I rigged the rod with a 3/4 wt Fish Creek reel and a 4wt line with a 1X leader on it. I use a 7.5 ft – 1X leader for grass casting and practice.

During casing practice I used some sprinkler flags as targets. The rod loaded ok during the backcast but I had some trouble feeling that loading. There seemed to be a small wobble about halfway thru the back stroke. That may have been me having a not so good casting day. I kept at it and this feeling went away after a while.

On the forward stroke, the loading feel was solid and shooting line was no problem. Double hauling was easy with this rod. Casts at 20 feet were accurate and at 40 feet were solid and on target even with the wind which had come up.

The Velocity series are solidly built rods with a green blank and a gloss finish. The reel seat is polished aluminum that will be a duller titanium finish on production models. The insert is a lighter maple wood insert. The sliding ring on the seat is generous enough to fit most reels yet hold them securely. The uplocking single ring works smoothly on the seat to lock your reel in place.

There are two oxide lined stripper guides on this Velocity rod with 8 hard chromed snake guides including the tip top. That makes a total of 9 guides not including the bottom most stripper guide. One guide more than the number of feet is an older guide to judging rod quality. The Fish Creek Velocity series is going to be a mid-priced rod at slightly under $300.

On stream on Bear Creek 4/19/10 Monday, this rod performed quite well throwing a 2 heavy weighted nymph rig with a drift indicator. It also worked well with a bb weight on the leader with roll casts at 15 and 20 feet when needed. Overhand casts with a bit of weight on the line seemed to make the rod load better on the back cast than without any flies or weight. Overall this is a solid rod that can offer years of fly fishing service.

Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Marshall, Editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com
Everything you need for fly fishing
www.110flyfishingtips.com
www.troutadventures.com
Alaska Trout Fishing Information

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

4/19/2010 Monday

Today was the first good looking day in a couple of weeks. Beautiful sunrise, air temp in Denver 46 degrees at 7:30 with a bright blue Colorado sky and a few puffy white clouds. I was headed to Bear Creek with my friend Michael for a few hours of fishing. And to test a Fish Creek Velocity 8ft 4wt 4pc rod by T.L. Johnson.

Bear Creek had been running 52 CFS flat for last 3 days and I was hoping that the water might have cleared  up some. We parked in the parking lot for Knotnewwood and geared up. The water was still pretty off color but not the chocolate mud color of a week ago. Water visibility was about 1 to 2 feet maximum for rocks but not clear enough to make spotting fish easy.

I waded across upstream from the Bar Pool and got into my usual casting position. I was rigged up with a heavy weighted scud on the bottom and a weighted beadhead goldribbed hares ear on the top. Even with these weighted nymphs, getting down at the beginning of Bar Pool where fish should be holding was not easy. After a dozen or more drifts through the head of the pool and along the pool tail out, I had a fish on during the Leisenring lift. But the take had been so gentle and soft, I missed a good hook set and the fish rolled off the hook. It had definitely taken the brown-olive scud imitation though.

A couple more drifts and I had a stick fish on. Fortunately, I was using 1X and 2X tippet off my leader butt so did not loose my rig. One thing about using heavy tippet is losing less flies. Another dozen drifts through the pool and again I had a fish on during the lift at the end of the drift. Again the take had been very gentle and again I messed up the hook set. The fish rolled of the hook after a brief struggle. But both times, the flash had been about 8 or 10 inches indicating a reasonable sized fish. Then the pool went dead for me.

Moving to the next pool upstream, I fished the run feeding the pool with no luck. A couple of casts in the middle of the bankside run with a drift to the tailout finally yielded a small 8 inch bow on the scud pattern. That was it for the Head Pool. Then a break for lunch.

After lunch, I pointed out two small 2 foot long runs to Michael at the head of the Bar Pool that should contain a fish or two. I moved back across stream to my usual casting postion to work the tail of Bar Pool. Several minutes later Michael hooked a nice 11 inch brown out of the top run. Several more minutes and he had a nice 12 inch brown out of the second of the two runs. Right where I had suggested he fish.

Meanwhile I was dredging the Bar Pool without luck. Even changing to a drift indicator and adding some weight to the line yielded no fish. Meanwhile Michael had moved up to the Head Pool and hookedup up with a small 8 inch rainbow.

It was now 3 o’clock and time to call it a day. A couple of days later, we entered a 4 day cycle of rainstorms. Bear Creek went from 56 CFS to 120 in less than 8 hours. The Creek has been bouncing around some and is currently flowing at 96 CFS and looking like yellow mud. Maybe in another 3 to 4 weeks, we will see flows between 60 and 80 with clearing water. Then we can get to some real fishing.

Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Marshall, Editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com
Everything you need for fly fishing
www.110flyfishingtips.com
www.troutadventures.com
Alaska Trout Fishing Information

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

4/13/10 Tuesday

Conditions on the St. Vrain Creek in Lyons, CO today were miserable. Sustained winds around 25 – 30 mph with gusts between 40 and 50 mph. Enough to knock over 50 gallon trash barrels and roll them around. Cold too.

So how did the Fish Creek Velocity 9ft 4wt 4pc fly rod designed by Terry L. Johnson work under these conditions? Much better than I expected.

I had rigged up a 2 fly nymph rig with a heavy weighted scud on the bottom to get down to the bottom of the pools I was fishing. Casting characteristics of the Velocity under the conditions were excellent. The rod performed both roll casts and river casts with accuracy and power left over. While it would not punch a cast directly into the gusts, not many 4wt rods would do so either. Accuracy was good enough that I delivered 6 15 foot consecutive casts into a 10 inch water pocket between a rock and a pile of sticks to get a drift along a seam where I eventually hooked a nice brown.

The line feel during casting was good. I could tell when the rod was loading even in the wind. Yet the Velocity had a delicate touch to let me feel when I was bouncing the nymphs along the bottom. Or when a fish took the rig.

The Fish Creek Velocity 9ft 4wt is finished with two lined stripper guides and high quality hard chromed snake guides and tip top. There are 10 total guides not counting the bottom most stripper guide. The rod blank is a nice gloss green finish. The Cork grip is high quality.

The reel seat is an uplocking single ring polished aluminum. The production models will be a duller titanium finish on the seat. The reel seat slide ring is generous enough to fit most reels yet holds my fish creek 3/4 wt reel securely. The single locking ring does not have to be screwed down hard to lock the reel in place which is a plus when taking the reel off the rod. The insert is a light maple.

The Velocity series will be mid-priced at slightly under $300 at the time of publication. But that pricing may change a bit when the rods reach production stage.

In the author’s opinion, the Velocity Series Fly Rods from Fish Creek a T.L. Johnson Company are an excellent rod for the price.

Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Marshall, Editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com
The Stores at Fly Fishing Colorado
www.110flyfishingtips.com
www.troutadventures.com
Alaska Trout Fishing Information

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites