Airflo Rage Compact Review

I met with Jason Lozano, the Airflo rep, a while back and he said that the new Rage Compact is really taking off.  I was a little confused as the new Rage Compact is considered a Skagit head so what's the difference between the Rage and the standard Skagit Compact? I did some research at Deneki.com and came up with some information to share. Let me try to explain it.

The designers at Airflo had already come up with four basic head designs. Three which have been around awhile and the Skagit Switch which is relatively new.

1. The good old Skagit Compact was designed for for sink-tip fishing, like T-8, T-11, and T-14 sink tips.
2. The Scandi Compact was designed for for finesse dry line work, and light tips, primarily the ones that are part floating and part sink tip.
3. The Tactical Steelhead for those that appreciate a longer casting stroke and want the versitility of a multi-tip line.
4. And the new Skagit Switch, which is designed as a sink-tip line for switch rods and shorter Spey rods. I'll explain this new line in another post. 

However, the Airflo line designers felt there was a void in the line-up.

The Rage Compact Was Conceived.

Airflo came up with the idea of the Rage Compact. Their thoughts on the Rage were that they needed an additional and different design for floating line presentations. The Scandi heads, which covers finesse dry line work, are great for line speed and tight loops. However, Scandi heads have their faults.First, they suck in the wind. The long, delicate front taper which gives Scandi's their finesse-like feel, crumbles in even a modest breeze. The other problem with Scandi heads is they struggle to turn-over skating flies and large wet flies. There just isn't enough mass in the front of the line to give the caster sufficient turn-over. Another shortcoming is that most anglers struggle when they switch from their Skagit to their Scandi. I know I do. The Skagit versus the Scandi lines cast so dramatically different. 

Tom Larimer with the blessings of Tim Rajeff, the US distributer of Airflo and over-all casting guru designed the new Rage Compact. Tom Larimer with the help of the Rajeff design team came up with a Spey line built for surface and near-surface presentations that cast like a Skagit but still had the finesse of a Scandi. The new Airflo Rage Compact is the perfect floating line to compliment your good old Skagit Compact. This is purported to be the best floating spey line Airflo has ever come up with.

Lining Your Rod  With a Rage Compact

To determine the correct weight to choose and as a general rule of thumb, line your rod 30 grains lighter than your Skagit Compact. If you like a faster-livelier feel to your floating head, go 60 grains lighter. Like all of Airflo's Spey heads, the lines comes in 30 grain increments and are available in 360 grains to 600 grains. 

Rigging Your Rod with a Rage Compact

As far as rigging, they recommend using a 10' Airflo Poly Leader with 2' to 4' of tippet. It is also recommended to fish an intermediate leader with skating flies.If you fish shallower rivers in the West, the Rage will easily handle a sinking Poly Leader and an un-weighted fly. It's a great line on rivers where a full blown sink-tip is overkill. It isn't recommended for casting big weighted flies, but it' will cast un-weighted flies or tube flies a mile. 

Try the Rage for Switch Rods!

The Rage also casts great on a switch stick.Line it exactly the same as your Skagit Switch. Just for reference, most #7 weight switch rods are taking a 450 grain head. On a #6 weight, a 390 grain head. 

Airflo's New Loop Labels

A new feature on all Airflo Spey lines that the labeling of line type/size is on the front loop, plus the old color coded system. Now you have an easy way of identifying your Spey lines!

In Summary a Quote from Airflo's Tim Larimer

I think Tom Larimer sums it up by saying, 

"If you love the feel of casting Skagit heads and want a floating line that cuts through the wind, turns over with total ease and doesn't take a PHD. in casting to make it huck, give the new "Rage" a try. I guarantee it will elevate your floating line casting and fishing".

Lower Yuba River - Tailwater or Freestone?

There are times of the year that the Lower Yuba has the characteristics of a tailwater with bottom released flows from Englebright Dam. During these times the river can be spring creek like with crystal clear water and wary trout where fishing with stealth is a must. This is the time of year that the flows stabilize from somewhere between 850 and 1600 cfs. This happens at two specific times of year. The first in mid to late summer once the agricultural flows are dropped down and second during the winter and early spring when the powers that be determine that they need to hold water back for summer agricultural need. These two periods are when the river fishes as a true tailwater.

Once winter hits the river can turn into a raging river with water pouring over the top of Englebright dam with flows in the neighborhood of 30,000, to even 80,000 cfs. The river seems more like a brawling Alaskan Coastal river during these times. Just like a free flowing freestone river.

Lets break the flow regimes of the Lower Yuba River through the year and compare. Tailwater or Freestone characteristics?

January through April - More like a Freestone

The Lower Yuba River in the period between January and April can be all over the place. It can drop down to fishable levels of 900 cfs to 2000 cfs with decent clarity, 2 to 8 feet or it can be a raging torrent. This is the time of year for Baetis and Pale Morning Duns mayflies, March Browns, and the Skwala Stones.

In these months the river flows go up and down depending on the size and duration of the storms. As the bigger storms come in the flows change uncontrollably. This is the result of the three branches of the Yuba River all flowing into Englebright Reservoir and the inability of that impound to handle flows over 5600 cfs +/-. Englebright Reservoir is a bottom release dam that has the capacity of releasing about 5600 cfs.  When flows are 5600 cfs or lower the water is released from the bottom of the reservoir. Once the flows exceed the 5600 +/- it flows unregulated over the top. This can turn the Lower Yuba into a  raging unfishable freestone stream, flooding out of its normal channels and cutting corners, moving thousands of tons of gravel, rocks and boulders and changing the characteristics of the river. Let me try to explain how.

When conditions are such that there is snow up high in the Sierras and a warmer storm comes in with rain at higher elevations, the snow pack starts melting and running off. This results in huge amounts of water running down every creek, and tributary which eventually ends up in Englebright Reservoir. This is when there can be flows like 30,000, and up to 120,000 cfs. This happened just two weeks ago in December of 2012 when a big wet storm came in and the river peaked at 36,000 cfs.  When the Lower Yuba gets these type of flows multiple times during the course of one winter it can affect the bug life in the fishery for years to come.

How do these high flows affect the river? The Lower Yuba is a channelized river as a result of these high flows over the years. The bugs live in this portion of the river. When big flows run over the top of Englebright the rocks, boulders and gravel get pushed around and the river gets "rolled". The bugs live in this part of the river and the next thing they know is that their homes are getting destroyed. The bug population is decimated. I'm no entomologist but evidence from watching and fishing the river over the years has enforced my hypothesis. .

Part of this eveidence is the fact that the caddis hatches above the Parks Bar Bridge has been almost nonexistent  in the past number of years. The Skwala populations are also down above the bridge. Last year when the Skwalas were showing, we had meager success above the Parks Bar Bridge while guide friends were having big days throwing Skwalas below the bridge. In 2012, the further you's head down below the Parks Bar Bridge the more bugs and hatches you'd encounter. This has been the trend. The fish also tend to go where the bugs are.

So in summary, flows in January through the end of April can be all over the place, it can fish like a tailwater when the flows drop and stabilize at lower levels of 2,000 cfs or less or it can become unfishable during high winter storms. The fishable range is from 800 cfs to 2,000 cfs when walk and wading of up to 6000 cfs when fishing from a boat. With that said you really need 2 feet of visibility to make it worth your while. The water during these months will typically be off-colored and the river will fish more like a freestone than a tailwater.

Big edge to Freestone Characteristics.

April  through Early June - More like a Tailwater with a touch of Freestone

Once you hit May the storm season is about over. Flows stabilize and the flows will depend upon predicted weather and its affect on storing agricultural water. If the powers that be feel that they need to store water the flows can stabilize at lower levels typically in the 1600 cfs range. The water can clear up and there can be good visibility. When this happens the river fishes more like a tailwater fishery. The PMD's, Stoneflies and Caddis start coming into play.

If the longer range weather forecast is for additional storms and the snowpack is high the powers that be may start releasing water in anticipation of the late spring early summer runoff. If they start releasing water the flow come up and the river can fish more like a freestone.

This makes these months sort of a crap shoot. Each year can be different. What hold true is that flows typically are somewhere between 1600 cfs and 5,000 and are bottom released from Englebright. The river tends to run more off-colored and can muddy up from Deer Creek with seasonal small storms.

Edge to Tailwater Characteristics.

Late June through Mid July


Once the early summer hits, flows are ramped up to deliver water to the valley for growers, rice, fruit etc. The flows can bump up to 4000 to 5500 cfs +;-. This typically continues through mid summer. During this period water is bottom released from Englebright and is often off-colored. More green than blue. This is the result of the muck that is at the bottom of Englebright. The water in the lake is always a off colored gumbo. Any larger volumes of released water cloud the water. This can produce great results using deep nymphing techniques as the trout can see your flies but they can't see you. The fish are pushed to the edges and soft eddy water. They also tend to pod up. The off colored water provides stealth. The fishing gets really good once clarity hits the 6 foot mark. I've had some of my best days during these conditions. Throwing hoppers to the bank can be excellent. Banging the banks.

The river fishes like some of the tailwaters in Montana that release water for irrigation.

Edge to Tailwater Fishery

Late July until winter storms arrive, typically December - Definitely a Tailwater

Once the agricultural needs subside the flows drop to the 900 cfs to 1200 cfs levels at mid to late summer and are typically maintained through the rest of the summer and early fall. This period is when the river turns into a spring creek with unlimited clarity and the trout being the most wary. It is also the time when salmon start appearing and digging their redds, The trout will start eating eggs as early as August and will continue to eat them the rest of the year.

The tailwater characteristics continue up to the point that the first series of big storms come in. Then it can be like the winter storms that blow out the river.

Lower Yuba 101 - Bugs of the Riffles

Riffles are the Life Blood of the River 

On almost every river and stream in the Pacific Northwest riffles are the life blood of the river. This is where the bugs live and subsequently become available to trout and migratory steelhead. The riffles are home to stoneflies, caddis and crawler mayflies. Some species of swimmer mayflies also live in the riffles.

Bugs of the Riffles 

The following list of bugs are the ones you'll encounter the most when fishing the Lower Yuba River and other tailwaters or freestone streams.

The Blue Wing Olive Mayfllies - BWO's, are of the swimmer group of mayflies. The BWO nymphs live in sun struck riffles and the runs below the riffles where algal growth is present. Most BWO nymphs swim to the surface to emerge in the runs below sun struck riffles, eddy pools and calmer water. Some BWO nymphs crawl to the edges and emerge at the rivers edges and climb out on sticks and rocks to make their transition to duns. Heres a link to info on the BWO's http://www.flyfishingtraditions.com/patterns/blue-wing-olive

March Brown Mayflies - The March Brown Mayflies are well adapted to spring creeks and tailwaters which in some years can provide a welcome dry fly hatch here on the Lower Yuba River. March Browns thrive in riffles and runs. They Browse on thin layers of photosynthetic growth that covers bottom rocks. Populations are diminished in tailwater locations after when scouring occurs which can happen on our Lower Yuba River. Here's a link to info on March Browns
http://www.flyfishingtraditions.com/patterns/march-brown-mayfly

Pale Morning Dun Mayflies -  PMDs are well adapted to spring creeks and tailwaters like our Lower Yuba River. PMDs thrive in riffles and runs. The nymphs browse on thin layers of photosynthetic growth that covers bottom rocks. Populations are diminished in tailwater locations after when scouring occurs which is definitely the case on the Lower Yuba. It seems like there are larger populations of PMD's the farther down the river you venture. Here's a link to info on the PMD's
http://www.flyfishingtraditions.com/patterns/pale-morning-dun

Pale Evening Dun Mayflies - PEDs are adapted to clinging to the substrate of fast water such as riffles, but commonly also inhabit the slow to moderate reaches. The nymphs are rarely found in the drift until days preceding a hatch. A few days prior to emergence the nymphs migrate from water with moderate currents to side pools, eddies and shallow runs. Here's a link to PED's
http://www.flyfishingtraditions.com/patterns/pale-evening-dun

Slate Drake Mayflies - Live in riffles and hey often perch on tangled branches or debris that trail into fast water They are extremely strong swimmers They emerge in late afternoons, evenings and just after dark Look for cast away nymphal casings on the rocks along or just below riffles for indications of hatch. Here's a link to Slate Drakes.
http://www.flyfishingtraditions.com/patterns/gray-or-slate-drake-mayflies

Mother Day Caddis - Brachycentrus - Grannoms - Grannoms build square-shaped cases and live in riffly water or runs with moderate to fast currents. Here in Northern California the hatch typically takes place in about April. They prefer shallower riffles and runs. The larvae, though cased, often become available to trout due to their common occurrence in stream drift and an unusual rappelling behavior. Here's a link to Mother's Day Caddis.
http://www.flyfishingtraditions.com/patterns/mothers-day-or-spring-caddis

Hydropsyche - Are net-spinning caddis don't build a case in which to live. Instead, they build a rough shelter of gravel and plant debris that they attach to the sides of rocks. Hydopsyche prefer moderate- to large-sized streams with warmer temperatures, somewhat slower currents, and smaller substrate The larvae of net-spinning caddis periodically crawl out of their shelters, let go, and drift downstream 40, 50, or even 100 feet. This activity occurs on a daily cycle, and peaks near sunrise and sunset. Here's a link to Hydropsyche Caddis
http://www.flyfishingtraditions.com/patterns/summer-caddis

Skawala Stoneflies - The Skwala stonefly nymphs habitat is quick choppy riffles with a substrate of large gravel and cobble. Prior to adult emergence the nymphs migrate to the banks where they crawl out of the water when ready to become adults. Usually they crawl out on the banks, large rocks or even a limb or log. Trout tend to feed on them along the banks when the hatch starts. Here's a link to Skwala Stoneflies.
http://www.flyfishingtraditions.com/patterns/yuba-skwala-stone

 Yellow Sally and Golden Stone Stoneflies. Like the other stoneflies, nymphs their preferred habitat is quick choppy riffles with a substrate of large gravel and cobble. Prior to adult emergence the nymphs migrate to the banks where they crawl out of the water when ready to become adults.
Here's a link to Yellow Sally's
http://www.flyfishingtraditions.com/patterns/little-yellow-stone

Here's a link to Golden Stones
http://www.flyfishingtraditions.com/patterns/golden-stone


You can go to the Fly Fishing Traditions Lower Yuba River Hatch Chart to get recommended patterns to match them. Here's the link to the Lower Yuba Hatch Chart
http://www.flyfishingtraditions.com/hatch_chart

The link is also at the top Navigation Bar at the Top of the Blog.

Welcome  to School!

The Swamp Thing

This is the new addition to the Fly Fishing Traditions fleet, "The Swamp Thing". It traveled all the way from Donighan, Michigan to make its home here in Northern California. As you probably have heard I'm selling my 13' 4" Boston Whaler Sport to make room for it. The whaler is in the shop right now getting the chines re-worked and a new coat of epoxy marine paint on the entire bottom. I'm also stripping out all the Philipine Mahogany wood work and refinishing it. When I'm done it will be almost completely restored. I decided to do it right!

The Swamp Thing is a 16' 1982 Lowe Roughneck. It's been around the block, the paints pretty tarnished but I rubbed it out and it looks a lot better. I've ordered some factory "Lowe" paint and I'll give it a new coat later this summer, but you know how that goes.

The controls are in the right front position and it has 3 other seats. It's got a live well, not that I'll be using it, a carpeted platform at the bow with a receptor for the post and seat. The main section is carpeted.

Here's a shot of the storage under the bow and the carpeted deck. The seat mounts in the bracket.














Here's a shot of the captain's seat with the controls. The motor also has a power tilt function that is on the shifter. There is also controls on the motor itself. It works!

The best thing about this boat, other that the fact it is a jet sled, is that it's got an Envirude factory Jet Pump. The motor is a V-4 which is known for its dependability. It's a 90 horsepower that delivers 65 hp through the jet pump. The motor is a 1993 that has very little hours on it. My marine mechanic, Steve Cyr, from Float Your Boats believes it has less that 40 hours on it.

I didn't hardly sleep last night anticpating meeting Steve to fire the motor up. He had me pull the plugs, squirt WD40 in each cylinder (it's a 4 cylinder) and let it sit for at least 2 hours. Then I cranked it over without the plugs in it to spit out the WD40. I put the plugs back in and headed to Scotts Flat Lake this morning to meet him.

When we got there he pulled the plugs again and cranked it one more time, to make sure I'd got enough of the WD40 out. He then squirted some starting fluid in each cylinder and we put the plugs back in. I attached the gas line and we crossed our fingers. It popped immediately which was from the starting fluid. I tried it again and hit the electric choke and it started after a couple of bumps. Steve kept pumping the gas line to ensure all the air was out of the line and when it warmed up it just purred. Steve pushed me off and I moved outside of the 5 mph zone and opened it up. It jumped up on plane and it flew. Fast that is. This surprised me a bit. It seemed as fast as my whaler. I took a few turns to see how it handled and it just slides through the turns. That's a jet pump.

So I guess this boat buying experience is one with a happy ending. Buying an ebay boat by relying on pictures and asking question is and was nerve racking. Especially when it was in Missouri. I had it hauled here by uship. All in all it was just a leap of faith. Looks like this time it payed off.

March Brown Emerger

We've been seeing a few more March Brown Duns lately and maybe we'll get a real hatch this year. The March Brown hatch on the Lower Yuba just isn't one that comes off consistently year after year. With the early spring type conditions and the lack of rain maybe this will be one of the good years. With that said it's time to tie up some March Brown patterns to get ready just in case.

Here's a March Brown Emerger that is tough to beat. It's worked well for me. I'm not sure where the pattern came from but this is how I tie it.

March Brown Emerger Recipe

Hook: 2x Long Nymph Hook, TMC 3761BL
Thread: 8/0 Tan
Lead: .015 wrapped along side hook shank outrigger style
Tail: Ginger Z-lon
Tail Fibers: 5 or 6 Brown Hackle Fibers
Rib: Small Copper Wire
Dubbing: Hares Ear Synthetic Dubbing
Hackle: Partridge Soft Hackle
Underwing: Ginger Z-lon
Overwing: Brown CDC Fibers

Step 1: Insert hook into vise and start the thread at the head and wrap down the hook shank just to the bend of the hook.

Tie in .015 lead outrigger style if desired.

Step 2: Separate a small bunch of Z-lon fibers, about 12 to 15 strands and tie in as a tailing shuck. Extend the fibers long and cut off 1/8" past the end of the hook.

Step 3. Select about 5 brown hackle fibers and tie in as the tail. Extend the hackle fibers about 1/16" past the Z-Lon shuck.

Step 4. (Multiple Steps)
(4a) Tie in small wire for rib
(4b) Wrap thread dubbed with a sparse amount of Hares Ear Dubbing forward to about 1/8" from the eye
(4c) Wrap the wire rib forward and tie in off. Clip off excess
                   wire.







Step 5: Prepare a small partridge hackle and tie it in about 1/8" back from the eye. 













Step 6. Wrap the soft hackle so you have a sparse soft hackle all the way around.













Step 7. Tie in a small bunch of Ginger Z-lon fibers as an underwing. Cut the Z-Lon fibers at the bend of the hook shank.

Step 8. Select a small brown CDC hackle and tie in as an overwing. Match the length of the Z-Lon underwing.

Step 9. Tie off the head and whip finish.