Harley's Pond

[JohnScott]

Went down to Les Schwab this morning to get the tires on my truck rotated. So what does this have to do with fishing, you ask ??

Well, Harley showed up a few minutes after I got there with a tire he needed to replace. That gave us some time to shoot the breeze, which means talk about fishing. Which talk turned to one of Harley's current projects - consulting on titanium fly rods made by ADG. Which talk led to an invite to come out to his place to try casting one of the rods.

Harley would be Dr. Harley W. Reno. Harley's Pond would be that blue stuff in the middle of the first page of the link.

http://www.srv.net/~hwr/index.html

It's stocked with bows and browns, which can get very large. Now pond fishing is something I don't do. But when invited to try a titanium fly rod in a private pond using flies designed and tied by one of the most knowledgeable and complete fishermen I know, I just kind of feel compelled to accept.

The rod was a 7'3" for 7/8 lined with a Rio Gold WF8F. Did I say rod ?? I think I meant cannon. Geeeesssh. That rod is super light in hand and super fast. ( For more about the rod, see the link at the end of this post. ) Yes, it compares to the bamboo rod that I fished exclusively the first half of this year. No, it won't be me that makes the comparison.

The two flies I used were Harley's "yes" fly and his "no" fly. "Yes" is for yesterday. "No" is for no tomorrow. I forgot to pick up a yes fly on the way out, but did get a couple no flies, which is the one that worked for me on Harley's Pond.



After a few casts to adjust to the speed of the rod, got down to some fishing. Didn't take but a couple minutes before I missed but then foul hooked a 20" bow. That fish did not take to having a sharp object stuck in his flank and proved to be a real handful. Glad that Harley was standing by to help land and release the fish. Fair hooked it would have been quick and easy, but foul hooked it could have been pretty tough on the fishy to land him myself.

Fished the no fly for three quarters of an hour, maybe a bit longer. Fair hooked and landed four rainbows ranging from 17" to 21" and lost one in that size bracket. That was only the half of it. This was casting out over a pod of ten to fifteen trout that averaged in the high teens inches just 10-20' off the bank. Kind of unnerving to be casting over fishies like that. I actually fished to some of those guys, and had a couple follow the fly and one almost get it before I pulled it away too quickly, but didn't hook up with any.

Also fished the yes fly for a while. Only managed one 14" bow with that fly.

When I left for Les Schwab's this morning to get my tires rotated, the last thing that would have occurred to me was that I would be fishing a private pond for trouts this afternoon. Ain't surprises grand ??!!

John

http://www.adgfish.com/index.php?opt...d=15&Itemid=30

Just a note about this rod. I am not much of a caster. But with a little practice, adjusting to the speed of this rod, and some concentration, I could pick up about ten feet of fly line plus leader with something of a water haul, make the back cast and shoot fifty feet of line with relative ease. No telling what a good caster could do with this rod in hand.

[kglissmeyer]

John, thanks for the update on Harley. What a character! I was able to spend a day with Harley on the South Fork a year or so ago and what a blast that was. You probably heard Harley's commentary on short, fast rods. He doesn't build or use anything much over seven feet and I think he prefers a six footer and he fishes in rapid fire casting his "brillo pads" right tight against the banks as he's drifting by. I tried it, under his watchful eye, and I actually broke a sweat and it turned into work. We caught some great fish and I have super memories of the day. Harley even wrote an on-line book regarding his trout "hunting" method. I'll try to track it down and give the link.
Glad you got to fish his ponds. Tragically, a few years ago, at the height of the drought we were experiencing then, he lost the majority of his fish, so it's good to hear that things have come back finally.
Thanks for the report and sharing such a "classic" guy with the rest of us. I think I have a photo here somewhere:

Here's Harley at this past Spring's East Idaho Fly Tying Expo in Idaho Falls, Id.:



Kelly.

[kglissmeyer]

It appears the only place to get Harley's latest book is through the Federation of Flyfishers and is titled as follows:

His recently published book, offered as compact disk by the Federation of Fly Fishers Hunt?Don?t Pray?for Fish: Techniques and Strategies for Fly Fishing from a Drift Boat is a culmination of almost 60 years of guiding and fly-fishing experience gained from fishing all over the United States and parts of Canada and Mexico.

If you're interested here is the FFF link: http://www.fedflyfishers.org/

Kelly.