Winter Fishing and New Suntech GM Suikei Keiryu Special 39

James and I tried to go fishing last weekend, as the December weather is so far pretty cooperative.  We were oblivious to the fact that the Saturday we went was the first day of the first of two fairly brief Iowa shotgun deer hunting seasons.  It was interesting from a sociological perspective, I guess.  Actually, it was a pretty amazing spectacle, literally hundreds of white males with clashing full body camo and bright orange, little camo glorified golf carts, shotguns made to look like assault rifles, also in camo.  Apparently walking (or driving in your glorified golf cart with a name like Defender or Patriot slapped on it) along public roads and shooting volleys of what seemed like suppression fire into the woods is how you hunt deer.  I did not know that.  I used to hunt, briefly, when I was a teenager.  This isn’t what I remember.

ANYHOW, so we went to five separate streams but fishing did not feel like a wise decision.  Actually looking up the schedule, there was a recent two day break between the two short seasons, and the weather was advertised as cooperative again, so I dashed out.

The forecast was 55F, sunny, and breezy.  Not “10% chance of sprinklie-winkies”.  Sunny.  I first went to a very popular state park stocker stream.  The roads are closed for the winter, but you are allowed to walk in from the park gates and it’s only about a half a mile to the upper reaches of the stream.  It was, I have to acknowledge, sunny.  To begin with.  There was a howling wind, but it was a little bit better down in the valley.  The water level was surprisingly high but very clear.  I’m used to seeing this stream absolutely stuffed with fish – it’s stocked twice a week during main season.  It still held trout, but only a few.  I hooked into four rainbows, all briefly, and failed to land any of them.  I thought I might be in for some solitude, but was soon joined by a spin fisherman.  He was pleasant, but he had a creel along.  sigh.  I have nothing against keeping stocker rainbows, but c’mon, it’s winter, the stream has only a handful of overwintering fish, and you’re going to remove some?  At that point the rain started.  “Sunny.”  And the sky went out.  And the wind turned into a gale.  I bailed – somebody else was now ahead of me on the stream with a spin rod and I wasn’t liking the feel of it to begin with.  I went back to the car and ate lunch in it while it rocked on its springs and rain pelted the windshield.  “Sunny.”

Next I went to a bridge over the Maquoketa, where it looked absolutely lovely earlier in the day.  I arrived to see two men just leaving their car, both with fly rods, heading where I was planning to go.  Well, some evidence there’s a reason to fish there, I guess.  So at that point, with the rain pounding pretty good, I decided to beat a retreat to one of our favourite streams.

I didn’t get there until after 1 pm and didn’t get on the stream until nearly 1.30, on one of the shortest days of the year.  It turned out to be worth it, though.  With hindsight, I should have just headed straight there in the morning.

Winter in Iowa.
Winter in Iowa.

I had James’s Nissin Fine Mode Kosansui 320 rigged with a black woolly bugger.  I fished mostly with my brand new Suntech GM Suikei Keiryu Special 39, which is a mouthful.  It’s a three position zoom rod which can be fished at 320, 360, and 390.  It was the first time out with it.  I fished weighted nymphs with it on a number 4 line (in case I wanted to cast something lighter in the wind, which turned out to be basically impossible).

I tried downstream a little first.  The water was again very, very high but as clear as I’ve ever seen it.  There were a few rainbow lurking, but they were very spooky.  I caught a small brookie on the woolly bugger.

A looming shutout broken in early afternoon.
A looming shutout broken in early afternoon.

A brookie being a brookie, I didn’t feel in my heart of hearts I’d really cracked the spooky winter fishing yet.  However, heading upstream cured that.  I stopped at the first upstream stocking pool, hooked two rainbow and finally landed a third on a #14 hare and copper.

Normal service is resumed.
Normal service is resumed.

At this point the rain really started in earnest.  Of course I didn’t have my rain gear.  I know this is on me, but seriously, there was *not a hint* of precipitation in the forecast.  “SUNNY.”

"Sunny."
“Sunny.”

There were no fish in the overhang pool, which I think is a good indication the stream has been harvested pretty hard.  I went down to our favourite pool in the woods, though, and everything started feeling pretty normal.  I parked myself there for over an hour, and landed ten rainbows.  They were generally on the small side, 9-11″.  Again, I think the fish have been winnowed and the larger ones removed.  I caught all of the rainbows on the hare and copper.

Another of the dozen rainbows on the day.
Another of the dozen rainbows on the day.

I went up to the big pool, couldn’t see any fish holding, but caught one more rainbow there.  I then headed upstream, with daylight fading fast.  Sunlight did finally return, about an hour before full darkness.  I switched to a peacock herl nymph, as trout are sparse upstream and the other critters seem more partial to the herl.  The strategy worked pretty well, as I started to catch quite a few large shiner and chub.  What I didn’t catch were any centrarchids.  During the warmer months this stream section yields rock bass and sunfish by the dozen.  I’m almost certain I spotted one smallmouth – can’t miss the big forked tail – but I didn’t see anything else and didn’t catch a single centrarchid.  Still, the fishing was a lot of fun.  I didn’t get very far but as full darkness set in I was literally running upstream, trying to get in one more pool.  sigh.  This is what happens when you don’t have your eight year old to keep you tethered to common sense.  I fished until I couldn’t see the water any more.

That left me in complete darkness, upstream with swollen water, and needing to mostly wade my way back.  My light-up hat must have been left with the switch on, as only one of the three LEDs lit up, and weakly.  It was enough to see the bottom directly in front of my feet.  Sadly, my feeling was that this was among the most awesome things to happen in the past several weeks.  I absolutely reveled in picking my way down a stream in the dark after wringing every minute of fishing I could out of the day.  The last fish I hooked before total darkness was a rainbow, but I lost it at the net.

I really, really liked the Suntech GM Suikei Keiryu Special 39.  It took some getting used to compared to the Rhodo that’s been fused to my hand all year.  At 320 it felt exquisite because it’s so light.  But it took me a while to get used to casting, because it’s substantially stiffer (RFI 5.8 vs 4.3).  I high-sticked it at 390 quite a bit, which was a treat.  I couldn’t really get a feel for casting at the longer lengths because the wind was howling and there was so much wind resistance.  For the upstream part of the day, the much greater backbone at 320 kind of overpowered the shiners and chub.  The Rhodo gives you a little hint of an adventure with a 7″ shiner.  The Suntech GM Suikei Keiryu Special 39 just hauls them out.  But there’s a good chance it’ll become my go-to rod for many situations. I do zoom the Rhodo down occasionally, but not often.  The ability to extend to 360 and 390 opens up all kinds of possibilities.  I fished with an eleven foot #4 line and was able to get a much wider range of drifts with the tungsten bead nymphs than ever before (on pools I know very well by now).

Anyway, proof that winter fishing is pretty much just as much fun as the regular kind.  I ended up with one brookie, 12 rainbow, 18 common shiner, and 13 creek chub.

Returning to the car in the dark.
Returning to the car in the dark.

2 thoughts on “Winter Fishing and New Suntech GM Suikei Keiryu Special 39”

  1. I stumbled on your blog a few weeks ago and went back to read all your postings. I found them very interesting. I am an avid trout fisherman but I’m just a spin fisherman using spinners and jigs, no fly rod. When you used to post the streams, I enjoyed that as I was very familiar with most of them you fished. Bear Creek is one my favorites with the exception of the hike out!! I chuckled at your description of deer hunting, I went a few years ago during shotgun season and learned quickly that it is 3 weeks that I do not fish!!! Keep on posting and I will keep reading. Thanks for sharing

    1. Thank you for the kind words! I don’t think there’s anything qualitatively different between using a spin rod and a fly rod; it’s all fooling a fish into biting an artificial lure, the rest is just details. I spin fished for years when I was young. Anyway, thanks for reading and maybe I’ll run into you on the streams!

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