Rajeff Sports

I had previously brought down my ECHO 2 Saltwater 6wt with me to Loreto, Baja California but this trip I brought its big brothers, the 8, 10 and 12 wts.

The first day out I chose wisely and had the ECHO 2 10 weight in hand when we made our first stop to fish. It was a quiet spot I had fished before for roosterfish but I usually ended up with triggerfish, fun but not a roosterfish.  On about my third blind cast over some Sargasso covered rocks, my bullcandy fly was hammered and the fight was on. We at first thought it was a roosterfish because it did not run for the rocks to break me off like a pargo or cabrilla would do.  After 5 minutes of tugging the line went tight and it did not move so now we knew it was a pargo and a big one at that.  I gave it some slack and when I felt a head shake, I pulled hard and the fight was on again. Then it happened again but this time we moved the panga to where the line went straight down and we saw what was on the other end…a huge pargo.  But this pargo wasn’t in the rocks, rather it was tangled up in the Sargasso weeds that covered all of the bottom.  It freed itself and after some time, we netted the fish.  I have caught some big pargo in Baja but this one was HUGE….weighed in at 25 lbs later that day. This was the maiden voyage for the Cuervo Especial, the new super panga for Capt. Francisco Munoz of the Baja Big Fish Company.  He was so excited that the first fish to hand was such a big one that there were high fives all around.

The second day out we tangled with big jack crevalle right out of the harbor.  Within seconds of leaving the harbor, we spotted the jacks crashing bait and I made my first cast…and hook up.  Once again I was using the ECHO 2 10wt which proved the best choice for these jacks which are notorious fighters.  I landed the estimated 20lb fish but the school had moved some so we followed about 20 yards and I was hooked up again.  This fish was a tad bigger and just as aggressive as the first. From here we moved down the coast to look for roosterfish, found a few small ones and moved further south again.

We stopped to fish off the big rock in Nopolo where we saw some people hand lining from the rocks. We also found another school of jacks and I was once again connected to a “Toro”, the name they go by down this way.  This one was much bigger than the last and gave me the best and hardest fight of the day. Unfortunately the jack took the fly deep; he was bleeding badly so we gave him to the people fishing from the rocks. The three of them packed up and headed home with their dinner, they were very grateful.

The third day out had us heading north rather than south for some sightseeing with my wife on board and wouldn’t you know it, we run into a school of jacks again.  This was a large school of the biggest jacks we had seen yet and all I had taken out with me that morning was a ION 10 wt to play with. I waited to get in range, made a cast to the side, near the leader and watched him turn the group as one onto my fly.  After that it was pandemonium as we watched a huge jack inhale the fly, then tear about 200 yards of backing off my reel, this fight lasted a bit more than 30 minutes and wore me out.  I always have ‘heat’ on the fish but this guy would not break, heck he hardly even bent.  He was finally netted, bottomed out a 30lb Boga making him the biggest jack of the trip and released in better shape than I was in. It took about 15 minutes to even think about casting to another fish, no matter what the size.

One thing I took away from that last tussle was, I’m using the 12wt next time………………plus I finally landed a golden grouper of which I had been trying for 10 years.

This is a product review from an unabashed Echo AirFlo addict.  Briefly, here’s the deal.  Timmy’s TR Spey rods are a marvel.  I was intimidated when I read the promo material.  I am no expert caster and expected the rod to be difficult to cast.  It ain’t!  Very user friendly.  Second point:  again and again, on the river, I have had accomplices “bum” my AirFlo Skagit Compact heads, giving up on their (brand omitted) heads.  They cast their line.  It is a hassle.  They put one of my Skagit Compact heads on their rod, and it goes out like it is supposed to.  No bull.  Guide friends have done it.  Forsaken their “supposed-to-fish” brand lines because they just couldn’t push the sink tips out into steelhead waters.  End of story.  Go fishin,” y’all.

BTW, if you are interested in hatchery and wild fish issues, check out my wordpress blog for all the opinion and science you can tolerate, especially a recent post on the historical expectations of salmon hatcheries in the PNW.

http://fishingwithjay.wordpress.com/2010/06/22/perspectives-on-salmon-hatcheries/

Thanks.  JN

In line with what Lee posted earlier, we are also putting the new light weight switch rods to use on the beaches around Puget Sound.  While we await the arrival of the 240 grain Compact Scandi, the 40+ has been working very well. 

Why do we like these from the beach?  It isn’t why most people would think.  Different here than from SoCal, we do not have to fight surf and need additional length to lift line over breaking waves.  Instead we are finding that many clients enjoy learning a new casting style while tackling these beaches for sea run cutthroat.  Teaching the standard Double and Single Spey, Poke and Snap T, all of which are relavent to fishing our beaches here.

Another reason they have become such a great tool here is many of our beaches have a significant tidal current which allow for a swung fly for these anadromous trout.  So for steelhead anglers looking to scratch that itch while many of our rivers are closed, this has been a savior and the fact that Echo is making one of one a few 4wt switches out there makes it even better since the 6wts tend to be too much for these fish most of the time.

Happy fishing this summer to everyone, don’t leave home without your Stroft!

I was always afraid to try a Spey rod because I thought it would muck up my casting stroke, what stroke there is anyway. Well, I received a 7wt ECHO Switch rod one fine day and I have had a hard time putting it down. The first day out on the beach I admit I used it 90% of the time in the one handed mode so I spent a day in the park trying to organize my thoughts and actions into a competent two handed cast.  The next time out on the wet sand I was doing the two-handed-cast-and-catch.

First fish on a two handed rod,

The next time out I used it only in the two handed mode and not only caught 42 surf perch, but I landed some nice big ones like this about to burst mama.

Then I got this big boy on the Switch and I have to admit that the extra almost  2 feet of stick hasn’t hurt the feel.  It’ll also handle the big boys as I snagged a 4 foot leopard shark  and the extra length help lead it on to the beach.

Now all I have to do is decide if it is going to Baja with me this year.

I have been using the Airflo polyleaders for a while now, but only the sinking ones for swinging to chrome……….
I recently started using the floating ones for my all- around trout fishing. They are awesome, especially with the new Stroft tippet materials. Very hassle free process and they cast like a dream…….I have been going mostly with the 5ft floater…….this allows me to be very versatile and jump from dries to nymphs quickly…..Our water here in the Adirondacks is very low, so the 8ft floater is coming out to play.I have had great results w/ the Stroft material…no knot failures, and I am able to use a stout tippet size due to their awesome lb test ratings…….
Thanks guys………
On another note, please come out to Pineville NY (Pulaski/ Salmon River) on June 19th for the Spey Nation event! I will be there w/ Jaime from the home office, and we will have all the goods……lines, rods, reels etc for your demo-ing pleasure. Also the new Speydicator line…….plus a free barbeque and sweet demos from many awesome casters……….See ya there.

I am a recent addition to the rajeff sport pro staff so I thought that I would hop on and say hi. My home turf is Michigan or more specificaly the Manistee river and her tributaries. My primary game is swining for steelhead and around here that consumes my guide schedule and personal fishing time for about 8 months of the year. Outside of that I am probably casting dry flies for trout or chasing smallmouth. I can’t say how impressed I am with the line up of equipment that Rajeff sports handles. Tim and his staff have certainly dialed this stuff in and they are also receptive to input from the folks fishing their equipment. What could be better, good people and great gear.

Jay Niederstadt