I've been able to get on the river at least once a week for the past couple months. The dry fly fishing has been outstanding this fall...and I've been catching a lot of fish on the dry fly of the moment, usually a parachute adams or BWO. A few weeks ago, I pulled a rod out of my closet that I have had for a while, a Scott G 4wt 8'8 fly rod. I've had the rod for years...but have sadly not fished it as much as I would like recently. The Scott s4 4wt that I've been fishing is an outstanding rod, which handles dry fly and nymph fishing with ease. The G is a moderate action rod that is not as flashy as some recent rods...there is no space aged material used to make it that I am aware of, just a beautiful, well crafted fly rod that is made to do one thing well...smoothly lay out a dry fly.
Most of my fly rods are faster action, which I like. But fishing with the G for the last few weeks reminded me of some of the simple things that I love about fly fishing. It forces me to slow down my casting stroke, and carefully fish the water right in front of me. Although you can cast enough line when needed, the G is best when you are fishing close distances. When you hook a fish on a medium action fly rod, you feel that fish fight through the whole rod...even a smaller fish is an enjoyable fight. I can see why Cameron Mortenson and his fiberglass rod crew like those noodley rods.
They don't make the G anymore (Scott replaced it with the G2), and I think that makes me appreciate the rod even more. It is a work of art...a classic rod, and I'm lucky to fish it.
