NOVA Angler

Scott, I fished Pandapas a handful of times but not with fly gear. There are plenty of trout to be had there especially just after it's stocked. I fished Caig Creek a couple times and always caught a few. As far as flies go, I always did best there on a black wooly bugger or tungsten nymphs. I imagine Mepps Spinners would work well too as the stocked fish will basically eat anything that comes by. I also did well in Tom's Creek and Poverty Creek off of Mt Zion Rd. It's been a while so I don't exactly remember where I parked, but it was somewhere the creek crossed under the road. I didn't see many people fishing that area. Little Stony Creek, otherwise known as the Cascades has lots of wild brook trout. I've caught plenty of the small ones on weighted nymphs but the big ones are much harder to catch. For whatever reason I enjoyed the challenge of going after wild trout more than the stocked streams. PM me and I'll let you in on a spot that not many folks know about that supposedly has better wild trout. It's kind of a pain to get to though. I'm not sure it would be worth it with in-line spinners as these fish are pretty hard to catch. You pretty much have to match the hatch. Just down 460 from Little Stoney Creek is Big Stoney Creek. It's another stocked stream but I've caught a bunch there on Mepps spinners (before I started fly-fishing). Floyd County has a bunch of stocked streams so I imagine any of those would be good as well. The important thing is keep an eye on the stocking schedule and try to get out not long after the fish have been stocked. You can still catch them otherwise, just not as many. Let me know how you do.

It seems we still haven't received clarification on this point. I assume they are sending the broken rod back to him and making him use the Xpeditor service the way everyone else uses it. Am I wrong? If they completely hose him because they don't think it's a legit warranty repair, that's just wrong. I do believe RoLo is confused by the no questions asked warranty. If I recall correctly, the no questions asked pertains to the Xpeditor service. Either way, he should have a new rod for $50 and since he already paid to ship it there, they should give him a break on that price IMO.

Sorry to hear they treated you that way Roger. I'll definetly think twice before making my next rod purchase. The customer service everyone raves about is what always put Loomis above the rest for me. Let's hope this an exception and not the rule. Nothing bothers me more than someone who questions my integrity. I can't imagine buying products from a company who makes a habbit out of it. There are too many other quality rod companies out there competing for our buisness to put up with that.

12lb Flouro has always worked well for me in those situations. I'm more likely to rip the hooks out of their mouth before the line ever breaks.

I have a buddy who lives outside of Harrisonburg, VA. I'll email him and see what he recommends as well. I haven't fly-fished in several years. It would be nice to get the rod out and do it again.

Maybe I'm misisng something here... After they deny the warranty service, do they ship the broken rod back to you? Couldn't you then send it back through the xpeditor service? Is the complaint that you have to pay to ship it twice?

I fly-fished for trout quite a bit when I was at Tech. Usually hit the stocked streams but every now and then would hit some creeks with wild trout. Here is a link to the stocking schedule for the rivers and creeks in VA. http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/fishing/stock/ Go to the archive to see when streams you plan to fish were last stocked. Not sure what SNP means otherwise I would try to help more. Let me know when and where you plan to go. If it's within a couple hours of NOVA, I might be interested in going.

T-1 Terminators I own several War Eagles that I keep throwing because I hear so much good stuff about them. Still haven't done much with them.

My experience with the Bobby's Perfect Frog wasn't all that impressive either. I did like the softness of the frog, but the one I bought didn't float very well, and when it didn't sink I wasn't all that impressed with the action. My favorite frog by far is the Spro Jr. Soft, great action, and will cast a mile.

Haha...you've got it right...short for Northern Virginia.

When is it again?

Congrats man!

The fire burns!

I own two Loomis MBR844 IMX's and have been very impressed with them for many techniques including jigs. Very sensitive rods. If you watch the flea market, you can pick one up like new for under $200.

Awesome lake and nice fish!

Lipless Cranks - I like the Xcalibur Xr50 in Rayburn Red.

Push the weight down against the eye of the hook and watch how the hook turns in. I would imagine this increases the success of hookups though I'm not sure what actually happens on the hookset.

I'll take Boyd Duckett...

Nice fish! You're a brave man to be fishing in this weather. I can't take it!

I've been a member of NHBA for the last two years. I only fished one club tournament (Gaston) this past year because I started fishing the LAPR Tournaments. How long have you been a member? Once the weather warms up a little let's make plans to get out.

What kind of setup do you guys throw them on? I had a little trouble with casting distance/ backlashes especially on windy days. I started of with a Loomis MBR844C IMX paired with a Curado 200DHSV and 50lb Power Pro. After that I tried a Loomis BCR893 GLX with a Curado E7 and #15 Izorline XXX but still had some casting difficulties. I would prefer to use braid and have since switched the first setup to Berkely Fireline 50lb but haven't thrown the Shads yet. I want to find a setup that's ideal for them because I LOVE the action of these baits. The tails do break easily, but if they keep producing bites, I'll keep buying them.

I'm looking at purchasing that same rod. Any chance you'd let me sling it a few times? Once it warms up a little let's get together. I have an assortment of Loomis rods you could try out if you'd like...

Had a lot of blowups on the Rage Shad last year. Didn't hook up on a number of them, but they sure did want it more than other baits.

Get an IMX on ebay. I picked up an MBR844C IMX for $150 a couple years ago.

Could you be a little more specific. I switched to Owner Wide Gap Plus from Gamakatsu EWG Superline. If I can find the BMF hooks this year, I'd love to give them a try.