The Trout Zone: Ruined

Tuesday, December 30, 2025

Ruined

There are certain things that will ruin you as an angler. Of course, by ruin I mean spoil you so thoroughly that you don't want to do anything else. Catching big fish can do this, of course. Finding the perfect rod or rods for a particular application can do this. Recently, a new to me old rod brought on this phenomena. Then, even more recently, a bamboo rod did the same.

It all started when my friend Chuck very generously offered me a bamboo rod. In fact, he offered me my choice between some different rods. After lots of casting, I surprised myself with the rod that fit me perfectly. It was an 8.5' Beasley rod for a 5 weight line. The rod has a lot of power. I enjoy casting, and really enjoy at least having the option of making long casts, and this rod can absolutely punch it out there. However, like most bamboo I've cast, it also has the ability to protect fine tippets, something that is important to me since I often fish 6x and small midges.

Of course, the final determination on any rod is actually catching fish on it. Thus it was that I found myself headed for the river with the boat behind my truck shortly after a gorgeous sunrise. My dad had agreed to join me on this trip which was a treat in itself. We hadn't fished together for years, so it was past time to get a trip on the water with him. The main goal of the trip was to get my dad out and catching a few fish. The bamboo rod was just an after thought. I figured I could anchor up and catch a few to see what I thought of the rod as a fishing tool. It had already been cast enough that I knew I liked how it cast.

We did things a little different on this trip. Since part of the trip was time with my dad, I picked him up at his house. Instead of running our own shuttle which is what we normally do on this water, I was planning to just use the motor to make a long run up the river and then float back down.

When we got to the takeout, the water was fairly high. Flows were up which would allow us to motor upstream through water that otherwise would be too shallow to navigate through with the boat and motor. After dumping the boat in the water and getting my dad situated in the front seat, I fired up the motor and we began a long run upstream. With my little 6 hp motor, it took us more than an hour but eventually we made it all the way up to the next boat ramp. Since it was cold out early, that wasn't all bad. It meant we could stay hunkered down in our warm jackets and let the sun warm things up a little more.

Once we started fishing, I gave my dad a quick refresher primer to get him catching fish quickly. It worked because he started catching fish right away!

Soon we were drifting back downstream on the falling water. The generators had cut off and the fish started feeding heavily. We caught a few and missed a few. Eventually, my dad hooked a fish and it was pulling hard enough that we couldn't just drag it in without risking a break off. I anchored on a shoal and coached him through the fight. Soon, the fish came to the net, but not before I noticed something just behind us, maybe 60 feet upstream. A nice fish had rose to a midge or something similar.

My dad was kind enough to quit fishing while I backed the boat up, anchored in position, and pulled out that beautiful bamboo rod. It was rigged with a Chubby Chernobyl with a Frenchie underneath maybe two and a half to three feet deep. I dropped the rig in just upstream of the active fish and kept adjusting my presentation through mends and line management. Eventually, a few casts later, I got the drift just right and the dry fly dipped as the fish ate the nymph.

The fish was an average stocker rainbow trout, maybe 11 inches in length. Nothing to write home about, but my first fish on this bamboo rod which was neat. We took a picture or two, but I was hustling to get the fish back in the water. You see, while I was fighting it, a big dark shadow chased that fish almost into the net. I'm not sure what the larger fish was planning, but it was very aggressive. I got a fairly good look and could tell it was a big rainbow trout. Of course, my first thought was to put the bamboo away and pull out a 6 weight and rig a streamer. In fact, I was very close to doing that before I had second thoughts. I had a very clear idea of where that fish had come from, and there really wasn't any reason it shouldn't eat the same nymph the first fish had eaten.

I lined up a cast, made a reach as the line fly on its way to the target, then added another mend or two into the drift. The second time I did the same thing, and the fly drifted aways before dipping convincingly. As soon as I set the hook, I knew I had hooked up with a rocket. The fish was powerful and surged this way and that before deciding that the best strategy was to head downstream as quickly as possible. I had put an old Orvis Battenkill reel on the bamboo rod and that reel was screaming. It probably needed some grease, and it didn't sound like it would survive the encounter. My heart sank as I watched the fly line disappearing and the backing start heading downriver as well.

At that point, I asked my dad for help. We needed to follow, and while he wasn't going to row us after the fish, he could certainly at least pull the anchor rope up for me. He kindly started pulling in the anchor and soon we were at least drifting down after the fish. A little downstream, we lowered the anchor back down as the fish came running back at us. Then, it made another hard run and we bumped down a little further again. Finally, after more runs than I could count, it finally got close to the boat and I told my dad exactly what was about to happen. I needed some help on the net and didn't want things to be ruined at this point.

When we got the fish in the boat, my dad took some pictures for me. This was certainly one of the most memorable fish of the year for me, a true fish of the year candidate even though it only taped out at a touch over 18". It was one of the strongest 18" fish I've ever encountered and a true treat on the bamboo rod. I firmly believe that I likely would have lost that fish on most other rods. The bamboo did an incredible job of protecting the fine tippet and by some miracle the fly held. I've noticed that some (but definitely not all) graphite rods are really bad to bounce or vibrate while fighting a fish, but the natural bamboo material was very quiet throughout the fight.

The rest of the float was anticlimactic. I was worn out. My arm was tired for a while. My dad fished a little more and caught a few more fish including one really nice one, but our day was definitely winding down. I even cast again when a sight fishing opportunity presented itself, catching another rainbow or two on a tiny midge. Still, nothing fishing wise would beat that big rainbow and the workout it gave me. I was now ruined and could envision myself collecting more bamboo rods than I know what to do with. I don't know if that will happen, but I do know that I'll be fishing that Beasley rod again...