Outcast Discovery 10-IR

Pontoon Boat Accessories

Discovery 10-IR
"IR" stands for 'improved rocker' for improved performance.

 Inflated Size
120" X 56"

Walk along the shoreline of the Deschutes River and study the vegetation growing on the rocks in the splash zone.  There is a lot of it is yellowish, greenish, stringy stuff that looks like some kind of algae.  Fact is, much of what you think is plant life is actually midge eggs; zillions of billions of them. Some species of midges lay strings of eggs on anything that is wet at the edge of the water.  This includes not only shoreline rocks but boats, oar blades and the waders of wading fishermen.  These eggs hatch into midge larvae.  Midge larvae are very simple worm-like creatures. You can imagine how many there might be in square foot of river bed. In fact, in a square yard of river bottom there can be thousands. That is a lot of food for trout and other fish. 
The following is quoted from: Hatch guide For Western Streams - "Midge larvae are found in all types of water, though those in stillwaters tend to be larger than those found in streams.  They live on, or burrow into, the substrate and feed on algae or decaying plant and animal mater, though a few species prey on smaller insects.  In streams the larvae are found in most water types, but bottoms where debris settles often have dense populations of midge larvae.  Because midges have several generations per year, larvae are present in streams all year and are constantly found drifting in the currents.  Even though they are small, the large numbers found in the "drift" offer trout a steady supply of food when other insects are not available.  In heavily fished streams, trout often feed selectively on midge larvae, even when other insects are hatching."
The flies below are effective midge larvae patterns for moving water.  Fish them dead drift along the bottom of any river, any time of year. Fine tippets often increase strikes.

Josh Linn and Roger Shearer have been experimenting with Guideline Spey Rods since 2006. After hundreds of hours on the water and many fish landed, their conclusion is that Guideline makes some very high performance rods. Guideline a Swedish company is red hot in Scandinavia. We don't have a big stock of rods in-house, but can deliver any of the rod models online quickly, direct from Guidline's warehouse here in the Pacific Northwest.
More Info on Guideline Rods...

You might know the name Guideline as the suppliers of the famous F.I.T.S. tubing used for tying tube flies. It has been featured in an article on Scandinavian Tube Flies. The tubing is available in four sizes; X-small, Small, Medium and Large. The sizes fit into each other. Hooks can fit directly into these flexible tubes.  The dimensions of the tubes are synchronized to work with cone heads. This tubing is very popular because flies tied with it are great looking and very productive. More Info

Most of the insects that you will see on or around rivers and streams hatched from the water.  That is, they spent several months to several years as a water breathing insect and then crawled or swam to a place where they could change into an air breathing insect. Normally these various species of insects spent over 95% of their lives crawling or swimming deep in the river and only became air breathing/flying insects for a brief period to reproduce and die.  Much of the time many

aquatic insects are actually living in the river bottom under the gravel or in vegetation where it is hard for trout to find them.  During fluctual water periods insects can become dislodged from the bottom. This is called catastrophic drift. During certain cycles of each day, aquatic insect populations tend to redistribute themselves by drifting down the river with the currents. This is call behavioral drift.  Both kinds of drifts expose the nymphs to the trout and heavy feeding can occur.  It is during these periods that the skilled nymph fisher can score big numbers.  This is especially true during the early spring months, because all of the insects that will hatch during the spring and summer months are crawling

around on the bottom of the river and the population of aquatic insects is the highest early in the season. Very few aquatic insects get very far from the bottom unless they are coming to the surface to hatch.  Few aquatic insects get more than 6" from the bottom and many more are much closer the majority of the time.  When fishing with nymphs, it is often most productive if your flies are moving naturally within a couple of inches from the bottom.  The rig pictured above consists of two nymphs, a sinker and a yarn

strike indicator.  The second nymph swims free on tag end of a blood knot. There are many variations on this type of two-nymph set-up. Blood knot droppers are only proven to be reliable when using hard monofilament such as Maxima Clear and Chameleon or Fluorocarbon such as Rio Fluoroflex Plus. Softer leader materials may deform when a blood knot is tied and the junction of the tag ends become weakened.  To minimize this problem, many anglers tie a short leader to the bend of the hook on the first fly with an improved clinch knot. In my experience more fish are caught with the first method.  I also have found that a twist-on lead strip sinker is quicker to customize to the exact weight needed than are split shot.  They tend to get hung up on the bottom less too.  There are many kinds of strike indicators.  All are miniature bobbers.  They not only help detect impediments to the free movement of the flies, but also may suspend the flies slightly above the bottom of the river and reduce the mount snags that occur.  In some places the current at the surface of the river is much faster than the current at the bottom of the river where both nymphs and trout live.  You must watch and make sure that the indicator isn't pulling the flies down stream unnaturally fast.  Only repeated mending up stream will allow the flies to drift naturally.  In this situation it is often best to remove the strike indicator and feel for strikes.  A fly line with a bright tip can help keep track of what is going on.  When fishing nymphs close to the bottom, hang-ups will occur.  When hooks come in repeated contact with the bottom it is inevitable that points will get dulled.  Be sure to carry a hook-sharpener and use it often. Drifting fish eggs and emerging sack fry can be fished with the same methods as nymphs. Longer rods will help increase the length of a drag free drifts you can make.  A ten foot rod will give you more control than a nine foot rod.