January 29, 2021
By Fly Fisherman
For small creeks and streams you need a light, weight-forward line with a long front taper for delicate presentations, right? False. On tight, brushy, small streams, you often don’t have the space to even use the weight in a line with a 30- or 40-foot head. Those types of lines are for Silver Creek, the Henry’s Fork, and the West Branch of the Delaware. What you need is the opposite. The Creek Trout is a short-head fly line (22 feet for a 3-weight) with much of the weight rear-loaded in the head so you can load the rod adequately at distances of 20 or 25 feet, and still land the fly gently in small pockets. It comes in lighter line weights (2 through 7) with a tip that allows you to target smaller fish and use smaller flies. But the lines are one weight heavy. (Remember, weight is measured over the first 30 feet of line.) So a 3-weight is the AFFTA-standard 4-weight. But what we found using this line on small streams in Pennsylvania is that since you’re using only 20 or 25 feet of line when you’re casting, the rod is not overweighted. It’s actually perfectly weighted for shorter distances and for roll casting in places where you just can’t make a regular overhead cast. $100 | scientificanglers.com
