Flip Pallott Joins TFO Staff

[Zach Matthews]

Hey guys –

Many of you may have seen the recent announcement that Flip Pallott is joining the TFO advisory staff.  I spoke to Rick Pope about this and he says Flip will be involved in, among other things, outreach programs designed to help get more people into fishing.

I’ve said this before, but TFO is the most directly-involved manufacturer in grassroots fly fishing organization that I’m aware of.  Chances are more than excellent that you will find a TFO booth at just about any regional or even local event, from fly shop Saturdays to things like Troutfest to the touring fly tackle shows.  More than any other manufacturer, TFO has shown a commitment to availability to the general public: more often than not, you can walk up to the booth and start a conversation with the owner of the company (a company, I might add, which is now as large as any tackle manufacturer in fly fishing).

I find this a touch ironic; TFO doesn’t run from the fact that their products are all made in Korea, and they got a lot–a lot–of flack online for being one of the most prominent outsourcing companies in the industry a few years ago.  That has largely died as very nearly everyone else now uses the same manufacturing model as TFO for at least some of their products.  In fact, there’s not a single American fly fishing manufacturer that isn’t at least getting and selling *something* (components, soft goods, etc.) from overseas.

The reason I like the Flip ‘acquisition’ (to use a baseball term) so much, is that Flip has been a very prominent tone-setter in fly fishing.  He bridged the gap from the last generation to the present one, carrying on with fly-fishing’s tradition of cerebral reflection, but also targeting new and exciting species.  He had a whole lot to do with popularizing saltwater fly fishing through his show, “The Walker’s Cay Chronicles.”

TFO has made a habit of picking up guys who other companies have used as more advertising figureheads, and then actually giving them something to do.  If you haven’t had a chance to see the Gary Loomis-designed spinning gear TFO came out with this year yet, you need to.  They are really nice rods; especially when compared to the different standards over on the conventional tackle side of the market.

So I say good for TFO and good for Flip, and I’m excited to see what kinds of programs they come up with to help promote fly fishing to new anglers.

Zach

[lawrence underwood]

Cool.

[Neal Osborn]

When will you be joining the TFO pro staff Zach?  LOL.  

Edit:

[Jay Hake]

I like Flip too.

[anonymous]

Flip is a cool dude. I met him a couple times at shows and such, and had a great chat about keys Tarpon, we’ve fished with the same guys a few times.

[mick mccorcle]

I second (or third) the good words about TFO.

[lawrence underwood]

Flip is a cool dude. I met him a couple times at shows and such, and had a great chat about keys Tarpon, we’ve fished with the same guys a few times.  Obviously there is money involved, so hey, Flip needs a job too!  

I cast a few TFOs and some of them are very nice rods.  They need to sell them with rod tubes though.

I have two TFO rods.

[Shannon Drawe]

The math on thousands of rod tubes is … prohibitive. Maybe take the bargain on a good TFO rod, and go over to REC Components and order a tube custom made to fit your rod. That’s what I do.

Rick Pope, left, at last weekend’s Texas Freshwater Fisheries Fly Fishing Event.

[Zach Matthews]

Rod tubes are WAAAY overrated anyway.

[Zach Matthews]

PS, one of these days I am going to get a saddlemaker to custom-build me a monster one of these out of leather.

[Abe Mathews]

PS, one of these days I am going to get a saddlemaker to custom-build me a monster one of these out of leather.  If anyone knows of any of those out there, or a saddlemaker who would do it right for a reasonable price (I understand it will be expensive), please let me know.  I travel with rods a lot and nothing is as durable as leather.

Zach

http://www.arnemason.com/rod_cases.php

Part way down the page.

[Zach Matthews]

I’m betting I could get a custom saddlemaker to build one to spec for about half that.

[h hoskins]

You are!
Brett

[Steve K.]

This summer…when I head to Alaska….I’m thinking of wearing my waders and boots on the plane to save weight and space in my checked bag. I haven’t seen any rules prohibiting this

[dusty montgomery]

This summer…when I head to Alaska….I’m thinking of wearing my waders and boots on the plane to save weight and space in my checked bag. I haven’t seen any rules prohibiting this   😮

Drifter,
I would make sure to take a tube or two of Aqua Seal and some patches if you plan on living in your waders that long!
D.

[Adam McDowell]

Zach, i bought a tube from dan baileys a few years ago that has a leather bottom. generic with no logo.

[J.T. Griffin]

Flip is probably my favorite fly fishing personality and I’m glad to see him active with TFO.

[Zach Matthews]

Hey JT –

TFO had some really stringent protocols in place to prevent people from spamming internet boards; they’ve generally been very savvy about how to use online marketing.

[jt benton]

Nice to see Flip on their staff.

[Bob Riggins]

I must admit, I was initially turned off by their guerilla marketing on the internet when they first hit the market, whether it was company sponsored or not.

[Author]

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