About a month ago Jon Spiegel discussed with me an opportunity to go to Nebraska to fish for Pike. I thought it was a good idea as he had a perfect weekend reserved for us. But you all know how the "perfect" weekend most of the time works out. Well, the weekend that we had reserved just happened to be April 30 & May 1 and we all know how it was here in the Metro area -- we had snow!! In Nebraska there were only some mild snow flurries that were actually being released from the heavens in North Dakota and being blown into Nebraska, meaning that the wind was just short of hurricane force, and it was COLD!!!

These weather conditions were actually perfect for testing the 9 weight Rio, Clouser Coldwater Fly Line. The temperature on Saturday, April 30 hovered around 46° ~ 52°.

In my opinion and under these conditions the line performed above and beyond as advertised. The first thing that impressed me was that the line didn't even need to be stretched before use as there were no "memory" curls. After fishing Saturday, the warmer of the two days, there were some twists/curls because I was throwing size 2/0 Clouser type fly with 3/8" deep sea eyes; these type of flies tend to "helicopter" quite a bit. When I cut the fly off and made one cast the "helicopter" curls were gone and the line was as supple as when it was first removed from the factory spool at the shop where it was around 72°. I again tried this same fly on Sunday, May 1 and experienced the same results when the air temperature may have reached 40°, the water temperature 42°, and the wind was blowing around 10 ~ 25 mph. It also really turns these large flies over exceptionally well. With all these factors considered the weather was perfect for the testing of the Rio Clouser Coldwater Fly Line!!!

The result of all this is that, in my opinion, Rio got it "right" with this line. I am so impressed with this line that I am going to purchase a 7 weight Rio Clouser Coldwater Fly Line for my Bass fishing.

Casting heavy or wind-resistant flies has always been a challenge, even for good casters. RIO collaborated with Bob Clouser, famed fly tier, guide, instructor and conservationist, best known for inventing the Clouser Minnow, one of the most versatile flies for both fresh and saltwater. The Clouser™ line, with a unique reverse compound taper and a bullet front taper, smoothly transfers energy to prevent the characteristic "kick" with heavily weighted flies. This taper effortlessly turns over heavy flies into the wind for both short and long casts.

By the way, we actually did catch some Pike, not really big but around the 25" to 30" mark which are nice fish for me anyway. Even a blind squirrel will find some acorns.