Apachetrout's custom TFO BVK 9' for 5 wt ...
...
... meets Northern Idaho West Slope cutthroat trout ...
... on the very first cast ...
... and it didn't stop there ...
... and they got bigger ...
... until they got smaller shortly before I finished my first outing with this rod ...
Some of you may recall that I am a fan of the TFO BVK rods. And some of you may have seen my comments recently on the For Sale Forum thread started by Apachetrout.
Well, no one wanted Lanny's rod, so I decided to take a chance on it. Lanny's work is outstanding. The components on this custom rod are superior in every way to a factory built - much better cork, much nicer finish on the guide wraps, better ( single foot ) guides, way better reel seat and reel wood spacer.
I fished this "fast action" 5 wt with a Rio Selective Trout II WF4F line, with a thread furled leader, 4X tippet and an FEB golden stone which is about a size 8 or 6 fly. The rod is very light. It is a cannon. And it has lots of feel. Over four hours, the combination accounted for somewhere around twenty trout in hand, maybe ten or fifteen long distance releases, and a bunch of hits that didn't hook up.
Regarding the hits that didn't hook up, it was so much fun casting this rod that I was casting well beyond the distance it was reasonable to expect actually hooking a fish that hit the fly. On the other hand, most of the fish within 30' were well hooked and landed, and fishing the rod ( which most would consider underlined the way it was rigged ) at less than 20' was just dandy.
KUDOS to Lanny for his excellent work, taste, and choice of components all well suited to an outstanding blank from TFO.
John
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