SHOP NOTES | C.J. BOVA RODS

Photo: Clint Bova The fall brings typically low clear water, weary surface feeding trout, and lots of “boil rises”. My midge box is stocked with a favorite pattern that I have edited over the last ten years into a very no frills pupa design. After the chironomids larva stage the pupa develops a pronounced thorax and as it shucks in the surface film it begins to splay its legs and wings. A sparse horizontal hackle collar that appears translucent gives the impression of this shucking display. Using a dyed gray turkey T-base feather gives you an identifiable profile in the water but not as contrasty as a white post. White posts breaking the trouts cone of vision will scare a shallow spookey pool full of browns. Hence the name “Fall Ghost Pupa”. I have used D-rib and turkey biots for the body but have found that dyed quills add extra flotation for the TMC 2487 hook. The slightly canted wing post works great with the geometry of this hook and hangs it in the surface film imitating the natur...

  Sometimes I bring back a fox or two from the River to keep me company while I plane strips and let them flutter around me. Stenonema Vicarium are muscular enough that you can tie a strand of 8/0 silk to one of  their legs and fly them around the room like little kites They seem to like to land on my bamboo shavings and are curious and somewhat more athletic than other mayfly's. ~Clint Bova   A Mayfly's Life   by Mary Ann Hoberman ~ Named Children's Poet Laureate Think how fast a year flies by A month flies by A week flies by Think how fast a day flies by A Mayfly’s life lasts but a day A single day To live and die A single day How fast it goes The day The Mayfly Both of those. A Mayfly flies a single day The daylight dies and darkness grows A single day How fast it flies A Mayfly’s life How fast it goes.

 A logging road often becomes the one and only artery to a piece of water that you know more than likely will bring you the biggest dividends. The repeated likelihood of siltation at certain times of the year create a gnawing anxiousness that is magnified when you look down on both sides of your truck and cannot see the dirt or gravel. Nahalem County Oregon holds many secrets or at least did when I lived there. Black bears unfortunately haunted the same woods I lurked quietly around in looking for coastal cutthroats. Some evenings my legs could not move fast enough when a nearby tree started shaking which is always terrifying to me. It was on cool calm early evening that I was working my way back upstream in the Cascades. Earlier the same day I had seen a mountain goat dead on the side of the stream, maybe only a few days old. Hours later the carcass was gone when I came up on the same spot. I dismissed it for all of about ten seconds when across the river a medium sized Dougla...

After writing my entry called “Driven by Process” I received several e-mails in regards to “Production rods” and differences with hand planed rods. Another much discussed and heated topic among cane enthusiasts and makers. Quite simply a skilled craftsmen with a milling machine can put out a very fine rod that is very very accurate based on its given taper. A maker that uses simply a traditional block plane and a set of forms can also put out a very very accurate taper. Cosmetically speaking can you tell the difference? In many cases yes based on what is called “grain run-out”. Depending on the skill of the maker using the milling machine he is going to have a cutter running the length of the strip on the enamel side of the cane at some point. Some do not. Depending on their skill you may see grain run-out you may not. The question arises how deep is too deep when it comes to biting into the power fibers after the enamel is removed. Inevitably this will affect the performance of the...

  A nice Brown caught this season during  the Trico hatch August 2010 on the “Johnny Logan” 7' 4wt. I recently had an inquiry about this particular rod and I thought I would elaborate a little on it. I started developing this taper back in 2004 specifically for tight stream situations and tiny fly's. It has served me well over the years as a frequently used rod throughout the season. It also is one of my more popular selling rods. I also use it as a go-to rod for Trico hatches and midging. It has a very smooth “true” 4wt. action. It loads great for in close casts and out to the 40 foot mark. It is definitely a rod that I use for smaller drys for fussy Browns. The picture above is a Brown caught on a #22 Trico using the “Johnny Logan” at about 5:30 am in the morning. When the Trico hatch is on this rod pulls through for me every time. I have a few PA clients that love fishing this rod on the Letort and Penn's Creek for the same reasons I do. The rod casts like a gem and pu...