I am lucky my job puts me in a boat out on a pretty Oregon lake several days a week. I get a chance to really study what happens in the ecosystems trout thrive in, and watch what tackle works best for my clients, my friends, my family, and myself. It is a great life. On top of that, when I am not guiding, I spend my days off with Tina on the lakes. We truly love it.

Deep Chironomid Rig

One of the ways to fish that I really enjoy is setting up with a Deep Chironomid Rig.
In the early season, this is often done in less than 10 feet of water, but as spring moves to summer the method almost always moves to deeper water. Right now I am finding fish in my main lake (East Lake) from 15 feet out to 20 feet which means I need a 19 to 20 foot leader.

Rods

Casting this set up is a challenge, some might even say a pain in the rear. But it is manageable and here is what I use to get the job done better than anything out there.
For guide rods (I keep eight rods set up in my boat for my clients) I use the Echo 3 Ten foot 5 weight, with a Echo 4/5 ION reel set up with a Rio Grand In-Touch WF6  fly line. That rod is long, and it is smooth casting which helps roll cast the long leader and 2 or 3 flies to the surface where you can then launch a quick shoot to 30 feet.

Line — Rio Grand In-Touch

The line is overweighted which slows the cast down and lobs out a 20 foot leader plus a break away indicator (call it a bobber, I do!) and three bead head nymphs.

Besides the line being overweighted for the rod, which I believe helps people achieve a good cast more often than not, this In-Touch line is a ultra low stretch core which means when the bobber goes under, your reaction and hook set is going to be faster at driving in the hook better than a standard line that has a lot of stretch.

Since moving to these lines this season I am positive my clients are hooking and landing more fish than ever. On a side note, I also moved to
In-Touch Type 3 Sinking Lines and have increased hook ups down deep too.

The Echo 3 5100-4pc rod is a bargain at $349.95, the ION reel is $79.95 and the Rio Grand In-Touch line is $89.95. If you buy it all from us we will set it up with the Ultimate Chironomid Leader, the same I use guiding day after day and give you a dozen of my favorite Chironomids and Balanced Leeches.

Ultimate Chironomid Tackle Setup: What Jeff Fishes

When I am fishing on my own I use a similar set up but go with the Sage X 10′ 5 weight, an Abel Super 5 reel and an Airflo Bandit WF6 fly line. It is the best of the best and besides having this rod set up all summer in my boat for Oregon lake fishing, I use this rod to travel with in the Winter when I go to Patagonia and New Zealand.

Chironomid Leader Setup Diagram

Here is a diagram of the leader set up I use for Chironomids all summer:
Enjoy and go fish!