[Roy Conley]

Mathematically: if the “warranty” cost of the rod is $75, everyone pays an extra $75 when they buy the rod.
Zach

Zach, not really.  If the rod’s price from the maker includes $75.00 for repairs then the retail buyer pays $150 for that repair.  Lets remember that the fly shop takes a $300 cost rod and sells it for $600.  So an issue for the rod maker is that retail price goes up by a factor of two and only $.50 of each dollar paid (give or take 5% or so) gets into the hands of the rod maker.

Roy

[Roy Conley]

overpricedability  😉

Not really, there are many buying the line and then complaining about the noise made by the guides as the line is cast and then they are selling the line for half price or less.

[Roy Conley]

If you like SA, then their Select Trout lines are true weight. Just go to a companies website and review the spec for the various lines they sell.

[Roy Conley]

Roy –

Yeah, I’ve thrown them – I tossed them at the FFR last September.  I like the new BIIMX rods; I just wasn’t sure if they’d gotten fully distributed yet.  Also, frankly, when you have covered as many rods as I have you tend to forget a few in all the alphabet soup.  🙂

Zach

No kidding! To keep things simple here we only own Winston green sticks.

[Roy Conley]

Shane –

 A Winston BIIx is as stiff and fast a rod as Winston makes, but Winston is known for slow, flexible rods.  
Best,
Zach

Correction, the newer Winston B2MX is the fastest rod Winston makes and the B2X is next.  

Zach, if you like faster rods with good feel through the grip track down some of the B2MX rods and give them a try.

Roy

[Roy Conley]

Has anyone had any experience wearing them outside the waters and banks?
My fishing consists of walking the road/path many times and I am afraid I will wear them out before the uppers wear out.

I e-mailed Simms about the life of the sole and their response was that the Vibram soles were expected to outlast felt 6 to 1.

Roy

[Roy Conley]

Chota Has some, but they are much heavier than my Simms Freestone boots with the vibram soles.  Which model of Simms were you looking at? BTW, I have been wearing the new Simms for over a month and I believe they are better than felt, overall.

[Roy Conley]

Yep, Abe, one of the biggest problems I have with the “Rice Rockets” is that they do not carry/tow much.

[Roy Conley]

For those looking for a sharkskin line, over on the FAOL board a guy is selling both a 4 wt and 5 wt line (new) for $50. each. Get them while they last.

[Roy Conley]

With handling I also meant stripping line.

Obviously, when fishing streamers you strip a lot faster (and more frequent) than say fishing dries or nymphs. But nonetheless if you fish the whole day with dries and/or nymphs (I fish 99% of the time with nymphs) there’s still a lot of stripping involved. Not as quick & jerky as fishing streamer.

In fact, there are times you need to react to a quick take and you’ll strip a short distance of line pretty close to striking a streamer take.

If you are streamer fishing all day, with any fly line, you will have finger cuts.

[Roy Conley]

If you are primarily going to be stripping line in, I would stay away from sharkskin.  It will shred your fingers up.  You could wear a glove to prevent this if you wanted.

In my opinion, it’s a better dry fly line and the best nymph line out there.

I could not have said it better.

[Roy Conley]

Thanks Roy,

Have you or anyone else you know used the Sharkskins for streamer fishing or other situations that require constant line pinching while pulling the line through?

I am planning on using this for river smallies, which require motion 95% of the time.  As you can imagine, a line that cuts you after a long day of stripping flies and strip striking fish could be a problem…

I have used it streamer fishing but my favorite floating line for that purpose is the RIO Cold Water Clouser line.

[Roy Conley]

I have 4 sharkskin lines, the UT in 4,5 & 6 and a GPX 4.

[Roy Conley]

When the dudes that climb rocks and dangle from ropes start to wear Vibram – I’ll be convinced.

😉

I googled “Mountaineering boots” and the link below was the fist listed. Have fun working your way through the list of $200 – $400 boots and see how many do not say Vibram in description of the sole.

http://www.trailspace.com/gear/boots/plastic/

[Roy Conley]

Keith,
The 8.5 foot 5 wt B2X is a great rod.

[Roy Conley]

I spent today fishing, err…, testing the new Simms StreamTread soles on a North Georgia tail-water and once again I am very pleased with the sure footing provided by the new soles.

[Roy Conley]

I hope this does not mean i have to get an aeronautical degree to become a better caster!   😉

[Roy Conley]

You guys haven’t done a lot of mountain brookie fishing have you? 🙂  You don’t do a lot of “waving a rod around” up there, Roy.  Well over half your casts are simply dapped into the hole at the length of the rod.  Anything that will allow me to creep to within 9 feet of a trout without looking like a bright tan blob is going to be a benefit, I’m pretty sure.

Zach

Zach, I have only been doing it since 1964 or so.  I guess you are looking like one of the camo guys that fish places like Waters Creek. Camo head to foot and belly crawling to the edge of the pool. I have never seen the need for this, even on the tiny brookie streams.  Those creeks are nearly devoid of food and the brookies are so aggressive that a tan # 18 elk hair caddis will almost catch every fish in a pool. On a good day.

Roy

[Roy Conley]

I also do not understand the Camo pattern.

[Roy Conley]

I am concerned that the new rubber bottom boots are going to wear out leaving a similar surface and similar results, which will mean I have to purchase boots more quickly than I normally would.
Keith

I sent an e-mail to Simms asking about the wear on the new StreamTread wadding boots and their answer was that they expect 6 times the life out of the rubber Vibram soles as compared to felt.

[Author]

Posts