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Last week Paul and I went out to kayak fish the Medina and had a blast. The water was super clear though and we could not get any fish to bite. So I decided to head out on my own, wading the river and see if I couldn't get a few. The water clarity was slightly off color comparably, so I was able to get a few to nibble. Quite a few sunfish, and one really nice one. Then also some bass. What a fun time! The fly that caught most of the fish was something I came up with. I called it the panfish delight. Here is a link to that tying video on how you can tie the same fly. https://youtu.be/AbdUmeNTABQ

here my new fly tying video for a mini streamer; subscribe to my new YT channel for new fly patterns! https://youtu.be/AQKaE1AqmTg

So this trip was not my best on the San Juan. Only one decent fish in the net on the river, but I took a quick drive down to a small lake close by and got a really nice brown trout! Wonderful fish, and almost better than what I was going for in that lake, which was carp. The reason why the river wasnt doing all that great was because they recently changed the water flow, which sent the trout deep for cover. Just a week before, a buddy of mine caught 10+ fish over 17", but the water flow change definitely messed things up.

perused the forum and found many topics on kayaking from the standpoint of kayak selection. I am currently looking to replace my 7 wt fly line, and my primary mode will be river fishing smallies from kayak (Tarpon 120, which I dearly love for 5 years now). I will always be seated, which generates my question, in that I cast from a seated position that is low/close to the water. Although I've done fine with the Orvis bottom of line flyline of 8 years ago (I don't even remember the model), I want a line I can punch out a lot of distance (50-70 ft regularly) with heavy streamers/baitfish and poppers with the least possible line out in my backcast (i.e. shorter head), and minimize false casting. Looking for the ability to load and fire quickly as it were as I float down a river. I was thinking a shorter head, such as in a Rio outbound shorty, would offer a nice compact head to get the best distance for the casting stroke. I do need some control for fishing my crayfish and nymphs, but most of my throws will be the baitfish and surface bugs and poppers. I use an Orvis T3 9 foot rod. A local shop has recommended the Rio smallmouth bass line, and I was going to get that, but second thoughts due to the kayak - want the best line to support easy distance casting from that platform. I'm going to see what my shop has to say on that aspect tomorrow, but I enjoy the feedback of the experienced folks here in this forum. I'm wondering what experience folks have with the Rio line in a 7 or 8 wt, especially if you have kayak experience. I also use the 7 wt for pond and lake fishing (secondary). Thanks all!