Hi, I'm 'The Grizz,' one of the chat-room hosts here on
FAOL; from Atlanta, GA. I am also a fly fishing addict.
Because of this addiction, every time I find a new fly
fishing related product I just have to try it. The problem
with this is, I sometimes end up with a lot of useless
items. Recently though I found one that works, really works.
I was up in Tennessee visiting my friend Mike to fish the
South Holston River the next day. Mike works part-time at
a fly shop and had to go in the evening I arrived. He invited
me to go along with him for his 4 hour shift, promising I could
go outside and cast as many rods as I wanted. I agreed, since
spending any time in a fly shop sounded great to me, remember
I am addicted. I knew I was not going to buy any more rods
and I was determined not to spend any money at all.
Well, as the night went on, Mike said he had to show me some
new tippet material that they were carrying. Now I have my
favorites when it comes to tippets and I have tried Fluorocarbon.
It has its uses but I have always disliked its tendency to break
on a hard strike, whether from a large fish or, in more of my cases,
from the branches of bushes and trees behind me. Mike motioned
me over to the counter and showed me a new product called 'Frog
Hair,' from Gamma Technologies, Pittsburgh, PA. It checked out
true to its name, it is, "As fine as Frog's Hair."
I was a little skeptical about its strength though being as
thin as it was. Mike took me over to the counter, stripped
off a length of 6x, wrapped it between two sets of hemostats,
handed them to me and told me to break it. I couldn't believe
the amount of pressure it took. That was it for this junkie.
I immediately bought four spools, 5x to 8x. Tomorrow I would
see how it worked on the stream.
The next morning we got up early and headed down to the river.
It was a cool morning and we had this part of the South Holston
all to ourselves. We caught a few fish in the morning nymphing
but as the day wore on and warmed up I started to see a few
fish rising. I figured I needed to tie on a small dry, so I
got out a #24 BWO Parachute and knotted it to a length of 7x
(2.8lb) Frog Hair. I noticed right away it seemed to be very
soft and it was easy to work out any coils in the tippet.
I picked out the riser I wanted, pulled out some line and as
usual, forgot to look behind me. I snagged a limb on the
back-cast. Not only did the 'Frog-Hair' not break, it was
strong enough to pull the branch down and retrieve my fly.
This was a benefit I had not thought about. I checked the
fly, it was alright, and tippet didn't have any rough spots,
so I went back after the fish. The next cast went out like
it was supposed to, the fly turned over, drifted just right
and the riser smashed it. Not a sip, but a hard, splashy
strike.
He took off around a rock and down over a ledge. The 'Frog-Hair'
held. Shortly I landed him, not a giant but a 14 incher and
that's a good size for this river. I was sold on the tippet,
still am for that matter. And this was even before I read on
their web site that one of the main advantages of 'Frog Hair'
is its ability to stretch as much as 35%.
When thinking about this, having a shock absorber on the end
of my line sounds great to me. I am looking forward to using
it next year when I go back up to Michigan after those huge
browns during the Hex Hatch on the Au Sable River. ~ Jeff
Sales in the USA and Canada
Gamma Technology
200 Waterfront Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
1-800-437-2971
724-776-4045 (fax)
Website: www.froghairfishing.com
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