First raft trip of 2018

I am just in between two groups of anglers at the moment, so with a few days off i better make the most of it and enjoy a day's fishing for myself. After the cold weather we had and with an other spell coming at the weekend, i knew this was the time to hit a river.

We got a good few fish, mostly jacks on the fly. Intermediate line and large game changers was working well for me. Every time i go out and fish a game changer i realise how deadly this pattern can be! So good that every time i come back home from fishing i need to tie some more for my box.
An other thing that i had time to test properly was the Bad ass glass rod from Echo. My first impression of the 10 weight model was not great as the rod felt fairly heavy in my hand (compare to the one i'm mostly using, the Bandit from Epic). But after a couple of hours casting, i got my rhythm and the rod totally changed my early impressions. I find it very capable at casting large streamers with ease. As with all glass rods, you need to slow down your movements, and with practice it becomes very addictive. I have been fishing fibreglass all the time for the last two years now and it's going to take a lot for me to go back to graphite.

 The Echo is a great entry level rod for the one who likes to try glass for the first time. The Bandit, because of its price tag is better suited when you know that glass is for you and that you want to commit with these rods ( or you are well off money wise..)
I had the chance to try the Bad Ass in 8 weight and its a fantastic rod. It's a lot lighter than the 10 weight. You probably won't be able to cast big chunky chicken flies with it but for the smaller streamers, its an absolute pleasure to use. And don't be scared by using an 8 weight (fibreglass) for pike, these rods have huge reserve of power in the butt section. I had the 10 weight sent to me from Toby at Funky fly tying. I am not longer with funky fly tying due to personal reasons, but if you want to try the Bad ass for yourself, get in touch with funky and get your hands on some glass.Life is too short just to cast fast rods... Ad some fun to your fishing!
There will be a lot less fishing for me from now on as the new season will get very busy here at the lodge, but i will keep on tying flies as the Alaska summer trip is coming fast!