Tag Archive for: Scott fly rods

Scott Sector S 8107

Scott Sector S 8107

Scott Sector S 8107
Smallmouth Bass Fly Rod

Scott Sector

The Scott Sector S 8107 is one of the newest fly rods in the Scott Fly rod line up. The Sector series is geared toward the Saltwater market. Needing a new seven weight I decided to pick up the 8 foot 10 inch 7 weight in this new series. While understanding it’s one of the fastest rod actions in their lineup, it would give me diversity in my fly rod selection. If I have to be completely honest, I tend to lean heavy on the Scott Radians.

As soon as I picked up the Scott Sector S 8107 the first words out of my mouth were “man this is light”. Being a guy that is known to break pretty much anything, having the lightest usually isn’t what I’m most thrilled about. But after taking the Sector through a Hex season on the Upper Manistee and giving it a good test during the first part of my Smallmouth Season, this rod gave me a good first impression.

Positive Feedback

Scott’s all new Carbon Web technolody improves torsional stability and rod durability by encasing the unidirectional fibers in a web of ultra-light multi-directional carbon fiber.

As I mentioned the rod is super light, and the above quote from Scott Fly Rods gives some of the techie stuff that I don’t really understand, but makes it sound super fancy. What I know is that you can cast this rod all day, especially if you balance it with a light reel. I have a Ross Revolution LTX on the Sector I am running and it seems to balance well on this rod at 4.65 oz.

The next thing I noticed with the Scott Sector S 8107 is the stripping guides. I love a big stripping guide and these are some of the largest diameter guides I can remember seeing on a 7 weight rod. The Sector features all new CeRecoil stripping guides with nickel titanium frames and super slick Zirconia inserts, along with Recoil nickel titanium snake guides for low friction and corrosion free performance. The guide sets are PVD coated in a low reflective coating for even greater durability and stealth. Large guides allow greater line speed when you cast, thus a farther cast.

The S 8107 seems to team up well with the short quick line tapers that are now common from most fly line companies. I’ve been running the SA Glow Line during my Hex Hatch season, which is on the Frequency Magnum taper, and the SA Bass Bug Taper for my smallmouth fishing trips. These rods have very little swing weight and are great with short head lines.

8 Foot 10

I decided to go with the S 8107 because smallmouth bass was the main target for this rod, having a quick responding easy casting rod that can quickly fire into small pockets is what I was looking for with the Scott Sector S 8107. This is exactly the situation in which the Sector excels. This rod is fast, much faster than the Scott Radians, which I have to note here again is my personal favorite trout rod!

When I’m fishing topwater flies for Smallmouth Bass I like to make longer casts, chugging or popping the popper a few feet off the bank, and then quickly picking up the line and firing it back towards the shore. No complaints when it comes to picking up longer amounts of line with the Sector. This rod has handled every range of casts I have thrown at it.

Cons

Really the only cons of the Scott Sector S 8107 are some minor points, but really they are little facts about the rod that it actually wasn’t designed to do anyway. The rod seems too fast for dry flies and casting at slow rising trout isn’t really in its wheel house. While as a mousing stick I think it will work out about perfect, but jet setting on a trout with this quick stick seems to be a common occurrence. Also I wouldn’t buy this length if I planned on roll casting, the Sector is designed to be fast, so roll casting isn’t really what it’s known for. Also because the rod fishes so well with the short head fly lines we already mentioned, those lines to are not going to help you in the roll cast department either.

Overall Review

While the new Scott Sector S 8107 isn’t going to take the place of my Scott Radians during the Hex Hatch or even on my next trout streamer trip, it defiantly has a place in my arsenal. Especially when I know it’s going to be a long day of casting, the rod is so light and so far very durable. It casts tight loops, throws poppers and frogs into heavy cover, and has plenty of power to pull smallmouth bass away from logs and stumps. It’s going to be a great rod next time I get to travel again to the salt. If your looking for a fast rod the Sector should be first on your list of new fly rods to cast, so please go check one out at your Local Fly Shop.

XL Steelhead

2018 XL Steelhead

XL Steelhead

I like to think of the steelhead season like a hockey game.  It has three periods to the game, that last a total of 6-7 months.  Period one is the Fall-Run, then Winter Steelhead, and the final period is Spring Steelhead. In the first period of this game, the Fall Run  we have had some XL sized Steelhead show up.  In my personal experience fishing the Manistee River, we had some epic battles with steelhead.  These battle would make your cry on one hand, and almost laugh on another.  The pure strength , speed, and power of these fish left my anglers helpless, and these XL steelhead finished them off so quickly that we didn’t even know what happened.  I relate this too a UFC Fight.  Round 1 first 10 sec TKO.

Steelhead Guides

But two of my fellow Steelhead Guides had the opportunity of landing two extremely large steelhead.  Fellow Guides and Scott Fly Rod Pro’s. Kevin Feenstra and Brad Petzke shared these images and my mouth dropped.  Kevin’s fish came from the Muskegon River on a swung fly.  One of his Halloween Leech patterns.  (FYI now available commercially for sale)

XL Steelhead

20 pound Steelhead caught on the Muskegon River

The second fish of XL size was shared by Brad Petzke who guides the Upper Peninsula in Michigan, less is known about this fish as Brad works really hard to find steelhead hot spots so we are going to respect that and provide no additional details. But if your looking to fish the UP you have to give Brad a call.  I’m not sure if this steelhead was eating baitfish out of the Great Lakes, or Big Macs at McDonalds.  The girth on this fish is very impressive.  Great job Brad and thank you for sharing.

XL Steelhead

Amazing Steelhead from the UP in Michigan

Second Period

I look forward to the second period as winter steelhead fishing probably provides one of the best opportunities to land a XL Steelhead.  With water temps dropping these big Boyz don’t have full speed anymore.  Still have plenty of power to pull us all into deep timber but, the best chance to land a XL is starting now.  Stay tuned hopefully for more XL Steelhead pics to come.

Scott Fly Rod Calendar 2016

Honored to have a few images from Mangled fly be included in the 2016 Scott Fly Rod Calendar, thank you Erik Rambo for steading the DJI Phantom for December shot.

scott fly rods

Scott fly rods

Radian Review

Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a gear head. I have enjoyed being a member of Scott’s pro staff for more than a decade but will always give you an honest opinion about any given model of Scott rod if you ask. They have made many models of fly rod, and I have owned a lot of them. Many of them–but not all–have been rods that I like. Furthermore, as a guide, I have had the ability to cast a lot of different rods by other manufacturers. This is due to the fact that clients are always bringing their own rods into the boat. In this day and age, it is more difficult to find a truly bad rod. It is even more difficult to find a truly great rod that sets itself apart from all the other choices. To me, a rod has a couple of hoops to jump through to be a truly great rod. The two questions I ask myself are:

1) Is the rod versatile or is it limited in function?–This question is something that each person needs to ask when they purchase a rod. Some rods are great for dry flies, some are great for streamers, etc. Very few can do it all.

2) The second questions that I ask about a rod is something that is more apparent to a fishing guide. That question is “Is this rod durable?”. If you use a rod or reel a reasonable amount during the course of the year, and pack it and dry it after each use, you are not likely to test the limits of durability of your stick. As a guide, rods see constant use and exposure to the elements. It is blatantly obvious over time which rods are consumer grade and which are really meant to last.

There is a rod that has hit the market over last couple of years, the Scott Radian. I am happy to write this brief review that confirms that the Radian is indeed a great rod. It is more than adequate at most tasks, in fact, it is downright awesome at many of them. Furthermore, it is an extremely durable rod. Because of its versatility and its durability,I strongly recommend this rod to anyone looking for a new fly rod for fishing in Midwest waters.

I can’t recommend ever putting your fingers this close to a musky!

Here is a breakdown of the Radians that I have used extensively and a little breakdown on the performance of the rods.

Radian 908/4: This is a great heavy duty freshwater rod. It pairs with 200-300 grain sink tips, and can cast large flies better than many 9 weight rods. It is a good steelhead rod but is also a really nice smallmouth rod. When over lined, it becomes a popper fishing machine. Recently, I took this rod musky fishing alongside of 9 and 10 weight rods. I found that I put the heavier rods away and just fished this one. It was capable of casting the large flies and putting the wood to large toothy ones. I dream of the day that Scott builds the Radian in a 9 weight, but for now this is a great alternative.

Radian 907/4: This is a great streamer/smallmouth rod. As a seven weight, it is more of a niche rod for freshwater use. It is at its best with a floating line for smallmouth fishing or a 200 grain sink tip for below surface work. A good smallmouth rod needs to be able to cast a tight loop, so that flies don’t catch overhanging trees while fishing from the boat. This rod fits the bill.

Radian 906/4: Hey, I am not in the retail business, and wouldn’t typically say this. However, the 906 Radian is one of the finest all purpose freshwater rods for a Michigan angler. I own a few of these; they are my bread and butter guide rod. They are also the rod that can do just about anything you could ask while fishing for trout and smallmouth bass. This rod can cast a dry fly delicately. It has a very satisfying feel when it loads and is equally at home with a sink tip and short leader. It also roll casts nymphs and weight with ease. I don’t think it would have a problem with light duty steelhead fishing for that matter.

When I go out and fish on my own, the 906 is the rod that I always grab. The Little Muskegon River runs behind my house; it is a fair trout stream and a good place to catch smallmouth. Often times I will work my way upstream casting dry flies for trout in the riffles, only to turn around and fish heavy crayfish patterns on the way down for smallmouth. This rod handles both of these tasks easily and enjoyably. It is available with or without a fighting butt, which is a nice option to have. I always use the model with the butt attached, but you may prefer the other option.

Radian Spey 1308/4: I received this rod a few weeks ago. Aesthetically, it is a cool looking rod with orange wraps and an unsnapped blank. When I first put it together, I was a little bit concerned because it is a pretty stiff blank. I have had several shooting head rods with apparently similar action, and really didn’t like them. All this skepticism was put to rest upon the first cast of the rod. It has a great, muscular feel and casted an intermediate skagit line and a scandi head with equal ease.

OK, so these rods are great fishing rods, and they have a great deal of versatility. But how well do they hold up? I can’t guarantee this, but I am pretty sure that they know my name at the Repair Department of Scott Fly Rods. There have been years that I have sent back 15 or more broken rods in a single year. Guiding in the Midwest is inherently hard on equipment. This is especially true when you make your living casting flies with lead eyes through much of the year. Since receiving several of the Radians, not a single one has broken in over a year of heavy use (this is the main reason for this favorable review). They are heavily reinforced as is apparent on the blank. This includes fishing in all sorts of heavy and extreme weather, and being pelted by weighted eyesand split shot. I watched helplessly as a Radian was crushed by the weight of a robust angler. Somehow, the rod survived.

Due to their great performance and durability, I can recommend the Scott Radian line of rods to any Midwest angler. The 6 weight is a star and if you are looking for a fantastic, premium, all around rod, this is the best option I have seen. The other models, including the spey, are equally impressive. The versatility and the durability of the Scott Radians makes them an extraordinary series of fly rod.

Kevin Feenstra

Pic of the Day – Loving the Blues

Cool blues on the cheek of this dry fly eating Michigan Brown Trout.  Put down the streamer rods and broke out the Scott G2 once again to capture this resectable 16″+ Hendrickson sipper.  Also every day more and more impressed with the SA GPX Sharkwave taper.  Day in and day out putting it in new clients hand this line is amazing.

IMG_1958

Scott fly rods

Scott T3H Video

Had a great time working with Erik Rambo on this little project.  Great job Erik you do amazing things with the camera and at the editing desk.  Thank you Erik for all your hard work.

Thank you Brad Petzke and Kevin Feenstra for helping in this project as well.  And thank you Scott rods for making such a good product.  If you like the two-hand rods, you owe it to yourself to pick up one of the new T3H’s, they are sweet.

Swinging with the Scott T3H from Mangled Fly Media on Vimeo.

Created process has started – Picture of the Day

What does one do when it’s single digits out?  Well let’s break out the camera and start working with a new fly rod.  As I mentioned in previous post, I have a new 1108 T3H Scott and it needed to get wet.  Can’t share the video yet, need a couple more hours behind the lens with Erik, but a jpeg below shows the created juices have started to flow, not a video below!T3H scott fly rod

New Scott T3H just arrived

scott t3h fly rod

New rod just arrived and can’t wait to go play.  Had the chance to fish the 12’8″ 8wt T3H for a couple weeks and all I had to say was WOW!  So went to www.scottflyrods.com to see what other rods they made in the same graphite, and found myself a new switch rod,  1108 T3H.  As winter transitions into spring, I love to start swing smaller minnow patterns and I think this rod is going to be perfect .  Rod matches up with about 440 grains, perfect grain weight for throwing small 1-2″ salmon parr that steelhead love to gorge on in early spring time. If you have not wiggled the new T3H, you need to find your local dealer and check these great new rods from Scott Fly Rods.  They are pretty sweet.  A little personal catch phrase for this rod is, “just add water” it will catch fish.  Certain rods when you pick them up you know will just cast they just feel fishy, they feel right. This rod makes you shake with that feeling.

With a little more free time than I like, going to photo and video up some cool stuff with this stick, so come back soon to see what we have come up with.  Or give me a call and join me and be part of the footage.

Handcrafted in the USA – Built from beginning to end in Montrose, Colorado.

T3H scott fly rods