I've mentioned here before my plan to eventually target redfish with my 3wt fly rod.

Well...yesterday a fellow angler unintentionally beat me to it.

Out the door at 4 AM, we loaded kayaks and a few heavier fly rods into the truck intent on chasing reds as the sun rose. He's still fairly new to the sport, so I wasn't completely surprised when he struggled a bit with casting at points during the day. Still he did well and hooked his first red within 10 casts. And finished the day having landed two slot reds along with a nice sheepshead that threw the hook at the net.

About an hour after we got home, he gave me a call. As he was cleaning up, he had come to the realization that he had spent the morning fishing the 3wt Echo Base I sold him recently (paired with an 8wt line) and not the 8wt Echo B.A.G. he thought he had brought with him.

Reviewing my photos, it should have been evident even from a distance. Just look at the bend an 18" redfish put in his rod.



Zooming in on his shot of the landed fish, you can make out Base 376 on the rod.

He unintentionally brought the 3wt. Both his 3wt and 8wt are Echo Rods. He thought he brought the 8wt, fished the rod all day, and only realized he had been using the 3wt after he got home.

In retrospect, it explains why he was having trouble landing some smaller 16-20" redfish.

More than anything, I'm fairly amazed he was able to cast an 8wt line on the 3wt all day without breaking the rod.

Chris

Hilarious!
I kinda want to put the 8 on my 2 to see what it feels like!

Actually, it depends on how one sets the hook. With the traditional "trout set", that is, raising the rod tip to set the hook, it would be difficult. But by using a "strip set", that is, bringing the line hand back sharply without raising the rod tip, you can basically take rod flex out of the equation. It also is a faster way to set the hook, and sometimes that in itself is a big advantage.