Sage R8 Core REAL world test on the McCloud

[@johnshand6176]

Beautiful is the best word to describe the location, fish, and presentation of that R8Core Sage rod. It is much appreciated down under in NZ. Cheers.

[@driftstone]

You're welcome and this particular stream is pretty unique. Not sure there's another like it in California.

[@HamishLeslie-h4i]

I used to fear tying with deer hair but I now absolutely love using it. Davie McPhail has some fantastic fly tying videos on here and his deer hair technique is sublime.

[@alanmagana1927]

Been fishing mccloud all weekend and caught my first fly caught trout there! With your video its a Great way to end my mushroom/ fishing trip. I live in siskiyou and hit that spot hard for mushrooms.

[@driftstone]

Oh wow, congrats! That's one hell of a river to get your first one on. I bet that's a great place to forage, so much shade and cool air down there.

[@alanmagana1927]

Thank you! When it hit I got so excited I had to tell myself calm down let it do it's thing for a few seconds and it was on! It was on a whatever the real name is for a bee fly. My friend made me a few. Once I get some more skrilla I'm going to get on getting some from driftstone! I've never actually found them near the river I've looked in the shasta forest since I was growing up. Last year I took my friend morel hunting and he had never fished the mccloud so after finding a few morels we decided to go down to river and we got a couple to go with our morels. We cooked them together and it was amazing. First time ever trying it like that and it just happened to work out the way it did and it's one of my favorite memories. I'm heading out with my brother tomorrow to try and get him ok some fish with a fly as well. Wish us luck!

[@cachi-7878]

Watch out for rattlers…😬

[@familiarwatersfishing3914]

McCloud is without a doubt one of the prettiest rivers in the west. Great video. The beauty of a broken rod is new toys!

[@driftstone]

Yup and yup ha. I still feel pretty spoiled every time I open the rod tube.

[@craigmcbride6696]

I told you they were biting, great video and keep up the great work.

[@driftstone]

Yes sir, you were right! Thanks for the new order!

[@mattsflytying2816]

This was your best video yet. The joy is back in your voice great job

[@driftstone]

Hard not to be excited on new rod day :P Thanks for watching!

[@somewhereonadirtroad]

Nice work Eric, great video! Our alpine rivers in WA don't open until Memorial day weekend, you got me amped up for it.

[@driftstone]

Ah nice, how are the fisheries doing up there? All the news I've heard about the steelhead streams have been bad, but I hope the high freestoners are still in good shape. We have got a handful of streams that open that weekend as well, I'm super excited about them.

[@RosinFlyFishing]

Lol the fall at the end. I took a few of those last week and have the bruises to show for it. Beautiful video Eric and the Sage looks like a hell time :)

[@driftstone]

Oh dang, I got away without any purple marks, hope you're okay. The Sage is pretty fancy, I'm spoiled.

[@everythingflytv507]

I just ordered one, I’m really looking forward to fishing the Truckee with it next week. Thanks for the video.

[@driftstone]

You'll love it, I love mine quite a bit.

[@everythingflytv507]

@@driftstone I need to ask, have you thrown it will an indicator yet?

[@tick_magnetedschaper5611]

I like it when you talk about the fly rod. Thinking of getting a Sage R8 but need help working up the nerve to spend the $1000. THANKS!

[@familyflyties3913]

Wonderful video Eric. Love the water you are fishing here! That pod of risers reminded me of my most recent trip. I switched to a dry dropper, the dropper being a perdigon and the action was on. It ended up being a great day. Looks like this video is doing well for you also!

[@driftstone]

Yeah, it's a bit different than Utah eh? I kick myself for not rigging a dry dropper now. I Need to work on that rig and get more confident with it. Do you run a prefer to run a foam fly for floatation or do you try to match the hatch?

[@alanmagana1927]

Awesome video!

[@driftstone]

Thanks Alan, I appreciate the watch!

[@alanmagana1927]

@@driftstone videos are top notch and I love the fishing report at the end. And how you put a picture in the corner of the fly our using is sick af!

[@driftstone]

@@alanmagana1927 Thanks for the feedback on those. They take a bit of extra time in the edit, so I'm glad they've brought you value. I've always thought it was pretty useless to hold a tiny fly up to the camera and expect people to actually see it :D

[@mattsflytying2816]

Haha I'm proud of you your casting has improved greatly since I fished with you last. That rod looks like it performs awesomely might have to get me one

[@driftstone]

You're welcome to spend some time on it the next time we head out.

[@colbymyers6278]

Awesome! I have been strictly fishing my floating line for everything lately. You should try indicator nymphing with your fly line. Its a lot easier to cast a whool indicator

[@driftstone]

What weight mono did you normally cast? I don't have problems casting wool with a 20lb butt section.

[@colbymyers6278]

@@driftstone 20lb all the way down to 12lb. 12lb sinks the best euro nymphing. A whool indicater is really easy to cast. I was noticing you have been casting a bobber style lately.

[@anatoliyantonov7149]

the video and this fucking river is beautiful. great shots!!!

[@driftstone]

Thanks man, you're not wrong about this place!

[@brandtl1486]

Lovely colour hue in video

[@driftstone]

Thanks Brandt! It's a pretty basic grade, but it doesn't come out nice :D

[@IsaacFNghost]

Mann I miss fly fishing. Sold my rod years ago. I had a TFO BVK 9' 6wt that I used for smallmouth bass in back country streams in PA and in the rivers.

[@IsaacFNghost]

I remember going to bass pro and looking at the $500+ rods and practically drooling lol. I LOVED my tfo bvk but I always wanted to feel what casting one kf the high end rods felt like.

[@driftstone]

It's really hard to communicate how something feels, but the biggest thing for me was the light weight and the power and precision. It just does what you want it to do more often.

[@blackflycreations]

Those loops tho🔥 Another great video Eric! Nice rod dude glad your enjoying it! I've contemplated using the mono rig and just swapping leaders or Reels... Sometimes carrying 2 rods is a hassle. Anyways take care✌️

[@driftstone]

Yup I feel ya there. I've stopped carrying two rods and I love the new fredome, but swapping leaders and/or spools is still a pain. I'm thinking of just tying my leader on the fly line loop with a knot rather than a loop-loop for speed. Thread it through is the most time consuming part.

[@cachi-7878]

The McCloud is so beautiful, I wish I had gone there more often. Rattlesnakes kinda kept me away but mainly distance.

[@driftstone]

I wouldn't let snakes keep you away. I've never seen a rattler there.

[@cabby8153]

Nice Rod! Well deserved...you make great content and love your hand made flies. After looking for the dredger online coming up empty handed with the black head and mint green body I caught a new video with your shop link and BAM! Ordered a bunch of them on the spot! Tip: You need much better SEO on your store...Google doesn't bring you there after several searches and I wish you sold a Trout "bundle"...oversell me...all of your videos I have watched you have done a great job of calling out your fly for marketing purposes ..amazing! Do a rig setup video please! Lastly, I do alot of bass/crappie fishing in central CA on the fly rod...I think that dredger in mint green may be an assassin. I will report back on my next back country adventure!

[@driftstone]

Ha that's hilarious and thank you for the order! The website is only 3 months old so it takes time to rank. I do need to spend some time on that SEO though. That trout pack is a great idea, you're not the first person to suggest it to me. I'm working on that one :) And definitely let me know how it works for the warm water guys! Good luck!

[@HamishLeslie-h4i]

I’ve just bought one of these rods for our fishing trip in south Uist.

[@jegibson10]

Great video!

[@driftstone]

Thanks 🙏🙏

[@cascadeflyfisher1489]

Great video buddy

[@pakfrd7887]

First video I've stumbling across of yours. Not even 10 minutes in but curious why you didn't just go with the ESN rod? I love tight lining. This rod seems like the trout quiver killer for me.

[@kansasscout4322]

Great review. Now all I need is a thousand dollars! LOL Well done

[@driftstone]

haha, well. All I can say is that I never ever thought I'd own a rod like this... :D Thanks for watching

[@andyharl6567]

Awesome video. Do you have a particular mono leader formula that you like fishing on a traditional (non-euro) taper rod?

[@HBadger89]

Brightness and resolution turned to 11. Beer in hand. Ready for the Eric Leslie show. #therapy

[@driftstone]

haha thanks brother!

[@silverc3057]

Awesome!

[@driftstone]

Thanks Silver! 🙏

[@wcdunn]

I just got my 4 wt x in. I'm excited to give this mono rig thing a go.

[@driftstone]

If you've tightlined that probably won't seem much different, but when you need to run an indy and you can just pick the line up and have zero drag, that's game changing. I haven't even gotten into the streamer bennies.

[@pauldeb9554]

It’s nice to see an old tioga in use? I still have mine, built like tanks.

[@driftstone]

Hi Paul, it's a Teton classic which is an old workhorse. Mine isn't old though. I new company bought the patents and brought it back to the market, so mine is newly minted. Bought it because there are so few affordable full cage reels out there. I'm pretty happy with this thing.

[@leopadilla3277]

Love your videos. which section were you fishing?

[@driftstone]

Thanks Leo, we fished along the PCT

[@TroutFlies]

Maybe a controversial opinion, I love the textured line noise... Also nothing like a good ole Bob quote concerning a rod and your body becoming one or something like that...

[@Mountaineer506]

add the blowtorch to the shop plz....the fly shop has a sorry assortment of options.

[@Nik-gh6gz]

He just started the shop like last month, I think it’s a work in progress

[@driftstone]

The blow torch is in there, it's the birds nest I want to get added

[@Mountaineer506]

@@driftstone you’re the man

[@anatoliyantonov7149]

now is the time to use a fat chubby with a big stonefly bellow as a dropper. i like em on a 3x tapered leader and a 4x dropper 3-5 feet deep. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oavEfKSIeNyqrZY this is the video that made me think how trout hide.

[@driftstone]

Don't tease me with videos like that haha, so epic! I have some plans to tie up some foam terrestrials in the near future!

[@erikherroz2638]

Fly fishing still the same after 30 years

[@driftstone]

Yup, it never gets old either!

[@Nik-gh6gz]

Haha a $1000 rod to cast a mono rig 😂

[@driftstone]

Gotta feel it to believe it!

[@chrisws6]

Great video!

[@driftstone]

Thanks Chris 🙏