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Fly Fishing for Smallmouth with the
G.Loomis Shorestalker (continued)
  Retrieving:
Smallmouth bass really are an ideal species for flies, in many cases they will
readily take flies on the surface or right below making for an exciting fishing
experience. I fished with a number of different flies and had the most success
right on the top with flies that created more commotion on the surface, similar
to fishing with conventional poppers. Some of the most realistic looking flies
looked great in hand but proved less effective than those that splashed and
churned on the surface.
Where the ShoreStalker excels is
getting flies positioned in tight spaces near structure
Once a cast is made with
the ShoreStalker I would start stripping line in a variety of different styles
ranging from a steady retrieve to a strip and pause or even popping and straight
dead drifting. With flies that mimicked frogs or floating minnows the action is
really what drew strikes, but the further up the Sacramento River and the
clearer the water got the more finicky the Smallies became and the more I turned
to a pop and drift retrieve. In most cases the Smallies struck the baits on the
pause rather than during the actual retrieve, and while I got fish to follow
with a steady retrieve I wasn’t able to draw any actual strikes this way.
A traditional hook hanger is
included to stow flies
Stripping line with the
ShoreStalker is easy and while I could have used a bucket to better manage my
line I found stripping right onto the deck of the bass boat was easy enough as I
didn’t have all that much line out since I was making short precise casts for
the most part. I had to reprogram myself to fish for Smallies with a fly rod as
I am so used to imparting action on the baits with a jerk of the rod tip, in
this case the Shore Stalker helped maintain the right presentation and line
tension but all the action came from a combination of stripping line and the
design of the flies themselves.
We fished with Scientific Anglers
Sharkskin lines during our tests
Sensitivity:
The ShoreStalker FR1026-4 is an enjoyable rod to fish and while you will enjoy
every bit of the fight this is not the most sensitive fly rod out there, and
honestly I didn’t expect it to be given the price. I’ve fished with a lot of GLX
based rods in the past and while this rod isn’t able to compare to GLX when it
comes to that unique crisp sensitive feel it is by no means a “dead” feeling rod
either. In fact it is more sensitive than many competing rods at the 400 dollar
price range.
The ShoreStalker rods feature a
blend of a number of G.Loomis graphites that are lower modulus than GLX
Power:
The ShoreStalker FR1026-4 is designed for “stream-sized” smallmouth but we found
it can handle decent sized smallies with a surprisingly powerful backbone that
lets fish run without stressing the rod, all the while protecting the leader.
This is a great choice if you are like me and you relish the fight. Basically
any smallie or largemouth over three pounds feels like am absolute lunker on the
end of the fly line with this rod, but you will feel outrodded if a 4lb
largemouth takes your fly.
A crayfish fly that we fished
during tests but was not as effective at drawing strikes as topwater
floating flies
If you want to horse bass
back to the boat or solely want to target largemouth then the FR1027-4 (7
weight) will offer more power in the butt-section to turn fish quickly before
they get tangled up in structure or may even consider the FR1048-4 (8 weight)
which can pull fish out of structure but is still light enough to cast all day
long.
One of the most productive flies
during our tests was a swimming frog which we stripped and paused like a popper
Next Section: Ergonomics, Price &
Applications & Ratings
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