Q&A with Cortland Pro Staffer Andrew Ragas

Andrew Ragas

Cortland Pro Staff

Fishing Headquarters and Ragas Fishing

Websites:  http://www.fishing-headquarters.com/fishcast/

      http://www.ragasfishing.com/

          http://www.ragasmedia.com

Blog:        http://www.fishing-headquarters.com/fishcast/

Phone: 708-256-2201

E-mail: andrew@fishing-headquarters.com

Andrew, tell me a little about what you're fishing for most of the time? What's you favorite species to target?

I fish for most freshwater species I have access to. But most of the time I am fishing for largemouth and smallmouth bass, and muskies - these are undoubtedly my favorites and my specialties. I tend to dedicate the bulk of my spring and summer months to bass while early summer through late fall go to muskies.

I fish for other species as well which includes walleyes, northern pike, panfish, river redhorse and other cool looking assorted sucker species. To best describe my angling mentality, I am a multi-species angler and couldn't imagine it any other way. Occasionally I will dabble with coldwater fishes such as trout and salmon throughout the Great Lakes region whether it's on the lakes or their feeder tributaries.

Cortland Line is Here for You!

Blog post by Brooks Robinson

Have you ever had complex questions about your fly line that you couldn't answer yourself?  Maybe you just wanted to know more about your lines performance or what leader to build off of it? Take it from me, as someone who hounded their fellow co-workers for tips everyday, the employees of Cortland Line are your source for answers.  Honestly, what better way is there to learn about fly fishing than from the employees at Cortland Line? After all, these are the same people who make and fish the Cortland products you buy!

Everybody's Talking About Trout BOSS™

Our new Trout BOSS is one of the most talked about lines here at Cortland Line. Some of us think it is the best trout line we have ever made...I am with that bunch! The Trout BOSS allows strong, accurate, smooth casts at distances that other fly lines can't handle. Dry fly fisherman, look no where else for your next Trout Line.

Competition Nymph Line

Blog post by Joe Goodspeed

The Competition Nymph line is a specialty product designed to meet the demands that nymph fishing with the tight line methods European fly anglers have refined. Although there are distinct names for some of these methods – Spanish, French, and Czech Nymphing for example, there is often a considerable overlap between each of these methods, and they all revolve around making natural drifts with flies, usually weighted nymphs, and being able to detect the quick and subtle strikes from trout or grayling in moving water.

Cortland Line on Ebay

Everyone here at Cortland Line knows our own Christian Rotchford is kind of a big deal. What you might not know is what Christian does for work is an even bigger deal for you!

Hey everyone my name is Christian Rotchford. If you haven't checked out our Cortland Line products on Ebay you are missing out! We have great deals on fly lines, rods and reels. Our prices will pleasantly surprise you and our friendly customer service team will gladly help you with your purchase.

We have a large variety of discontinued fly lines including a full line up of shooting heads. Our reels are all STH products that can fulfill almost any style you fish. We also carry a variety of Diamondback rods ranging from 3-6 wt.

As I sit here typing we have rods, reels and fly lines going out the door fast. There are plenty of products left and many more to list but this is your chance to "Buy It Now"! I hope everyone takes advantage of this great opportunity because 50-75% off premium rods, reels and fly lines can't last forever.

Tight lines,
CR

Cortland Line's New Compact Switch

This past weekend I had a chance to cast our new Compact Switch line. I lined it up on Cortland's Sterling Reel and was using Diamondback's Swinger Switch Rod to swing flies for Steelhead.  Not only does this line rip, but the 25' lime green skagit-style head looks unreal as it turns over big flies and heavy sink tips towards the opposite bank.  

The Compact Switch line (4 - 8wt.) features an aggressive front taper for maximum energy transfer to any sink tip or leader. Head weights for the Compact Switch line are (4) 240gn, (5) 300gn, (6) 375gn, (7)425gn, and (8) 485gn. I paired the (7) weight 425gn with our 11' 6'' 7 weight Swinger rod and model III Sterling reel. Using two different sink tips totaling 490gn and 510gn, the Compact Switch line was a perfect match for swinging big flies!

Montana

This blog has been looking pretty stale from the lack of updates, and there is no better way to give it a fresh look than to post some pictures from my recent trip to Montana!

Sunset over the Missouri River.

We planned our trip for 9 days, splitting our time between the Missouri, Gallatin, and Madison Rivers. We caught the Missouri just right, nailing fish on dries, droppers, and nymphing. We took a lot of fish form the Might Mo once we figured them out and had a blast playing with the cookie cutter 16-18'' Rainbows.