grant schofield
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I am glad I helped make this possible by getting your glass Garcia and Southbend 1155. I can’t wait to put it in the regular rotation.
Grant
I have used the Frog Hair indicators for a few years now and while they are nice, they slip a lot on anything below 4x. I am trying out the Rio Kahuna Twisty indicators and I think I like the design better overall.
The nice thing about the Frog Hair indicators is the ease of making changes for depth, but I got to fed up with them slipping after 30 minutes of fishing. Lightning Strike also offers a similar style to Frog Hair, but they are a little more bulky.
Grant
Here’s my question, why can’t I find a cheap version of a Tibor/Abel/Bauer/other cork disc reel? The only ones I’m aware of are the TFO Hayden reels, and even those are in the $350’s. The design of these reels doesn’t seem all that complex. You would think someone could have built these offshore pretty cheap.
Isn’t the TFO Hayden made in Asia? I am assuming it is because it doesn’t say on TFO’s site or on the reel that it is made in the USA. On Zach’s podcast with Ted Jurasik he talked about the high cost of good quality cork. I suppose that fact, combined with the fact that people will naturally pay more for a reel with a cork disc drag, means the prices are higher.
Grant
Since you can’t wait too long for some of the older Simms models to go on clearance I would go ahead and get the Freestones. My mom needed a new pair of boots a month ago and she got some Freestones for around that price on clearance. She loves the way they feel and while she doesn’t fish too hard I have always heard they are rock solid.
Grant
While I will admit to being a gadget freak, I bought my Waterworks because of its flexibility. With my Force2 I got 2 reel sizes for the price of a reel and an extra spool which was very appealing when I laid down the money for the reel. Granted, I generally try to not pay retail and will search for a deal on my gear and try to save 25%-50% if possible, even if it means waiting a month for a deal to pop up. I will readily admit that my reel on a 4wt is overkill for most of my trout fishing, but like I said I am a gadget freak and Waterworks reels are just plain sexy and rock solid.
This discussion seems to happen all the time amongst trout fisherman and always seems to center around the quality of the drag, and I agree that 99% of the time it won’t matter if you have a click-and-pawl or a disc drag when trout fishing. However, if I ever have the opportunity to get a hold of that “once in a lifetime”
I suppose I always say this when the topic of weird trout comes up, but anyone who likes weird trout should really pick up Trout of the World by Prosek. It not only give you a lot of pretty pictures to gawk at, but you learn lots of great facts like there was attempt to stock Huchen in the US.
Just to offer an alternative to the Orvis and Ross reels, if you want to spend a tad more ($130) you could get a Lamson Konic. Also you could look at an older model Lamson Radius that can be gotten for around a hundred bucks if you tackle Google with good search terms.
One thing to note is the fish I holding in my image to the left. That is actually a wild North Fork rainbow I caught 4 years ago. If you have never seen one there are some really good digital shots up on John Wilson’s board posted by Brian. The fish have bright orange pelvic and anal fins that are unique to the fish there.
Grant
This is probably one of my most favorite places to fish. The fishing might be tougher than your average tailwater in the south, but I think that is just because of the spooky wild trout. If you have good first presentations when nyphing you are sure to land some fish.
I have been struggling with my sun glasses as of late. I have always gone with Columbia glasses with grey polycarbonate lenses and while I love the way they fit they just can’t handle the varying conditions I find myself in now that I have stepped up the amount of fishing I am doing. Zach, I was curious if you got to pick up the Smith Interlock glasses at the FFR show and if so what you thought of them.
I think you will love your new SAS. I just got an A2 6wt (pretty much the same except for cosmetics and mine is a 4 piece). I would for sure cut down on a camera expense to get a new rod too.
As far as cameras go, I am pretty much a Pentax fan boy because of the K mount. Even with the slow focus issues (K10D is a bit better than the 100/110D/*istD) , I would probably choose a Pentax over a low end Nikon or Canon. When I got mine the low end Canons and Nikons just didn’t feel as solid.
I am putting a set of rod holders on my Subaru and plan to go with the ones at http://www.rodmounts.com. There are lots of others available, but I like the design of these the best. I think they cost less than most of the others I have seen.
Grant
You can laugh at my Pentax *istD, but not the Pentax KxD series. There are some really great reasons to go Pentax (especially when the *istD was released).
Both look like good choices to me. I am pretty obsessive about lumbar packs because I am a smaller guy and fit is very important to me and many of the packs tend to feel way too big when I have them on.
I have had a Mountainsmith back pack for about 6 years now and it is bullet proof. I used to carry it every day and can’t speak about the quality of their products, but its not like they are cheap products either (your looking at one on a good deal it looks like).
While I do buy a lot of things retail, like my Blue River lumbar pack and Simms wading staff, I will always check my eBay feeds and forum feeds for good deals on things I need. Forums really pay off for reels and rods and I wouldn’t have near the amount of gear I have if it wasn’t for the great deals I find. I have quite the gear fetish and with a wife in the water now too I try a bit harder since I am lusting for two.
Thanks for linking to this. To me the most interesting thing was to hear the Simms guy talk about all the great products they are putting out for women. I am gearing up my wife and the last piece of the puzzle is a decent pair of boots. She is wearing some of my old crappy boots they aren’t quite right for her width wise and they make her back hurt after an entire day of fishing. There are a few women’s boots out there, but I am surprised that with the new women’s wader and wading jacket Simms doesn’t have a boot to match.
