Chris Price’s All-Around Trout Rig

Chris knows his trout.

Photo: Trevor Covich

Pretty much anywhere in the world where people fish for trout, there are three primary methods – using dry flies, using nymphs and using streamers. The ideal gear for each method varies somewhat, and on any given day on any given stream, all three techniques may work.

So should you always bring three rods along when you’re headed out for a day of trout fishing? In a perfect world, sure – go for it. In the real world though, this isn’t always feasible. For example…

You’re on a guided trip, floating the river with a buddy and you both want to be rigged for any circumstance. This is a minimum of six rods rigged and ready, two of which will be in hand, and four of which will be…where? Is there room on the boat? Will they be in harm’s way? Ever heard stories about anglers falling on stacks of rods? They don’t have happy endings.
You’re on a walk and wade trip, wading the river, crossing to and fro, hiking, shimmying and clambering to get to the hot spots and to places where no man has gone before. How many rigged rods can you carry and if you do carry two rods at best, what do you do with the extra one while you’re fishing?

For the past decade, Chris Price, our manager at Chile West, has been researching different fisheries in almost every situation possible.

Chris Price researching fisheries.

Photo: Trevor Covich

We asked him, “If you were going on an exploratory outing in Chile and could only take one trout rig, what would it be?”

Here’s his answer.

The Summary

Cabela’s FT 905 4 piece rod. This rod is no longer available, but current fast-action 5-weights would work as well.
Cabela’s Drake III reel
Rio Clouser Weight Forward line in 7 weight

The Detail

100 yards of 30 pound Cortland Micron backing, tied to the spool with an arbor knot.
Rio Clouser 7 weight line attached to the backing with a nail knot. “Over-lining the rod makes it easier to load the rod, which means less false casting and more time in the water. A ‘pick it up and lay it back down’ technique will always increase fish to hand ratios. This line is great for turning over big dry flies as well as adding a heavy nymph dropper.”
Butt section of 12 inches of 30 pound Izorline tied on with a nail knot and a perfection loop on the end. “This helps turn over the line when throwing big flies.”
6- to 8-foot tapered leader, tapered to 5 – 10 pounds, connected to the butt section using a loop-to-loop connection and another perfection loop. “If it’s windy and I’m throwing a big dry, I go with a 6 foot, 10 pound, 3X leader. I may add a couple of feet of 8 pound tippet.”
#6 Orange foam bodied Stimulator with brown rubber legs, tied on with an improved clinch knot. “The foam keeps the fly from drowning and also will float with a heavy nymph dropper. My choice of nymphs would be a #8 weighted brown stonefly nymph, a #10 bead head hare’s ear with rubber legs, or a #12 Prince nymph.”

The Commentary

“Leader length on the nymph is 24 to 36 inches of 6 pound Izorline, tied on to the shank of the dry fly hook with an improved clinch knot and tied to the nymph with a non-slip loop knot.”
“I also like to bring an extra reel with a 7 weight multi- tip line for ‘just in case’ streamer fishing.”