29
Aug 12

TNT from T&T and an old Sage RPL

When I head to Belize for the honeymoon I’ll have a few rods along. One of those rods will be the new TNT from Thomas & Thomas. I wanted to see how the rod stacked up against one of the oldies-but-goodies, the Sage RPL. So, I headed out to the park with a camera and did a little casting.

The TNT and the RPL, New meets Old.

 

http://youtu.be/prHWnhKEBy8

First up was the RPL.

http://youtu.be/FT5SJxQK-9g

I was actually a bit surprised at how nice this rod cast. I was hitting 50′ pretty well and into a little wind. The rod didn’t feel as fast as I remember it being.  It is a two piece rod so it won’t be making any salty journeys with me, but it is a solid rod and a good choice for carp and Lower Sacramento trout fishing, maybe even some steelhead if I ever find the time to chase the steel again.

Next up was the TNT.

http://youtu.be/3yy6jSvwRqQ

This was a pretty nice rod. I liked it. I probably had another 5′ of control and maybe 15% more accuracy.

http://youtu.be/T4nqrNVo7Pk

In short, I like the rod. It is a modern, saltwater rod in the same vein as the other top rods out in the market. If you like Thomas & Thomas, I’d look at this rod. My go-to 5 wt. is actually an old T&T Emerger (my second choice 5 is actually an old Sage RPL+, so it is funny that I got to do this comparison of 7 wt. rods).

A 7 wt. is a legit rod selection for bonefish, especially Belize Bones.  I tend to think of an 8 as the ideal, but I forget that my first bonefish was caught on a 7 and it was fun. I’m looking forward to chasing bones with this rod. Sadly, I’ll have to return it when done.

 


28
Aug 12

Full Speed Ahead, Saracione Islamorada Reel

At the show I ran into Andrew Bennett, owner of Deneki Outdoors. He told me about a reel maker in a back corner with some really interesting, old-school reels.  He was into them. He also mentioned the prices, $1,200. I saw the booth, but knowing the price acted like some sort of BOTB Force-field.

Deneki put up a post about the reel. It’s a beautiful thing.

Classic

It does have a certain nautical look to me. Where have I seen this before?

Hmmm… looks familiar.

What do you guys think?  Would you want one of those Saracione reels?  They are probably pretty amazing to handle, maybe a tad heavier than I’d want to fish with and certainly more expensive than I’m likely to ever plop down for (excluding inflation).

Would you buy one?


27
Aug 12

Boron III SX

At the show I got to cast the rod that won the award for Best Saltwater Rod, the Winston Boron III SX. It is a nice rod and it hits all the high notes for premium rods.

Super Fast Winston

The folks that like Winston Rods for their saltwater fishing have not told me that they liked super fast action rods, but they liked the little bit of moderation, the feel and touch you get with a slightly slower rod. I wonder if this rod is going to hit all the right notes for the anglers that already love Winston rods.

It casts well, it looks nice.

Now, while this is a really nice rod, I don wonder what makes it “the best” from the show’s perspective. I’m pretty sure I’d rather cast a Helios 2 or a Sage One over the Winston, having cast all three of those rods now.  I guess it comes down to personal taste and how you like to cast.

Evaluating a rod comes down to so much personal bias. For me, it is a good rod, but it isn’t going to get the “Bjorn’s Top Saltwater Rod” award. Anyone have one and think it is the bee’s knees?

 


25
Aug 12

I Need This. Umpqua Line Scale

I saw this a few weeks ago and couldn’t remember where I had seen it. Luckily, someone remembered that it had been on Midcurrent. Score.

I need this. I have a plethora of lines and some of the tags have, well… did I forget to put tags on some of those to begin with?  That was dumb. Anyway, I have lines for which the exact weight is unknown. Enter the Umpqua Line Scale.

Yes please.

 

This could be big for me. I’m pretty much ordering this now.

 


23
Aug 12

From the Show – Ross, SA and Cheeky

It is hard not to feel like a “kid in a candy store” at the show. All the gear is there for you to drool over. It doesn’t suck. I tried to get some of the gear makers to let me help them out when they packed up by taking some of the gear home, but, alas, that didn’t come to pass.

I got around to talk to folks and here is a little of what I saw.

Ross

Ross, at the show.

As you probably know, Ross got a bit bigger in the last year as they were acquired by 3M. 3M owns the Scientific Angler brand and most of the news was coming from SA.  Ross has taken a step back and is re-engineering a lot of their reels to bring them more in line with the F1 series, meaning sealed drags. I’m really curious to see what they come up with.

One interesting thing is that the SA System 4 reel has seen some big changes. It looks a LOT like the Ross CLA (I own one) and is now made in the USA (good on ya 3M).

System 4 – Made in the USA

Another product coming out of the SA side of thing is a new tippet holder with a build in cutter. They have really put some thought into tippet, coming up with a color coding system that will make it easy for you to figure out what you have your hand on. Interesting stuff. I got a couple spools, both for my fresh and saltwater fishing and I’m looking forward to trying it out.

There is a little razor blade to cut your line sans nippers. Interesting.

Cheeky

3M is a pretty large company and at the other end of the spectrum are newcomers Cheeky. I’ve covered Cheeky because I like the little guys. This was the first time I’ve actually held one of the reels in my hand. The styling is something you either like or you don’t. I liked it. They now have a full lineup that will handle the 4 wt. to the 14 wt..

They had me at the sign.

I’m sure that fish was taken right from the water and wasn’t exposed to the air for too long.

Kind of crappy cell phone camera, but you get the point. Sealed drag, btw.

There’s even more and I’ll eventually get that up for y’all.

 

 


20
Aug 12

Redington FTW

At the IFTD show there were a lot of awards handed out. There was one that was missing… best brand themed adult beverage… the winner? Redington pretty much killed it with the Rogue brew.

Well played, and yummy.

They actually had gear to show too and Redington continues to do well at that “value” end of the market.

It seems redundant to tell you this is the Redington booth.

Next went over to Sage and saw some of their new gear. They have a few rods coming into the mid-price point that I think are likely interesting and then they have some reels.  They have one reel that is coming out into that top-price-point and it looks good (as pretty much most reels at this price point do).

Looking good.

I’ll share more of what I saw there at the show over the coming days.

In the meantime, let me talk a little conservation. Odds are fair to good you are familiar with the No on Pebble Mine thing. There are some matching funds available right now, making this a very, very good time to support the efforts of TU to protect Bristol Bay and alllll those fish.

 

 


07
Aug 12

Cheeky Reels

Cheeky Fly Fishing has just launched a full lineup of reels, expanding from their previous two offerings. These look pretty interesting and the look itself is pretty unique.

Lightweight, dynamic, and tough, this lineup over delivers on performance and provides anglers with Cheeky’s signature style. “The lineup boasts five sizes of reels, each incorporating the same design philosophy,” says co-founder Pete Crommett. “Our philosophy can be described using one word: simple.”

The Mojo 425 is the bonefish-suitable reel and at $380 it stays away from the extreme ends of the price range. I’m curious about these reels, especially after my “It’s the Reel” post a few weeks ago.


27
Jul 12

The Helios 2 arrives

While I was down in Cuba I had a mystery rod along.  A couple (at least) guessed it was the new Helios from Orvis.  That was a correct guess.  Now, Orvis is starting to beat the drums so I can finally talk about it.

In short… it is kind of awesome.

Now, Orvis suffers from a brand perception problem that can get in the way of their gear at times.  It is an odd thing, but it persists. They do sell some pretty un-flyfishing related gear, but Yamaha doesn’t lose ATV customers because they make pianos. The brand gets labeled “elitist” but I’d say they sell at the price-points others sell at and some of that gear is damned good.

The rod is damned good. In fact, it is great. I know I posted about the reel being paramount, but I also said that I like good rods and this is a good rod.  It is light and powerful. It didn’t feel too tippy to me and loaded well and easily at short range. I kind of loved this rod and I was sad, very sad, to send it back. I was already a pretty huge fan of the original Helios and if I worked at Orvis I might have just stopped there, hung up my (whatever it is they wear there) and called it a day.  They didn’t though and this rod is lighter and stronger than the original. It was dreamy. If I weren’t already engaged, I might propose to this rod. Just say’n.

Big ups to Orvis for this rod.

[vimeo clip_id=”46309723″]


26
Jul 12

Rods that travel

Now, I’ve come up with my own work around to get my rods from Point A (bonefishless place) to Point B (bonefishful place). It is very practical, but not very attractive.  It involves a soccer sock and some REI straps.

How I roll.

Well, looks like Sage has just come out with a new traveling rod case.  Hmmmmmm….

I think I just lost the style war.

Watch for them to show up at Sage.

PS – I see the word “bookmarks” at the top of the page when published, but not on the edit screen. I have no idea what that is there for.


18
Jul 12

I’m going to say it’s the reel

OK, yesterday we heard from Davin (Flatswalker) with his post “Trust me, it’s the rod.” Today, I’ll take a little time to expand on my belief that it is reel you should focus on.

I won’t say that rods aren’t important. Heck, it is pretty hard to fly fish without one. However, when it comes to fly fishing in the salt, I’d focus more on the attributes of the reel than I would on the attributes of the rod.  Here’s why.

Me, casting, before I even did it very well.

Casting Abilities Trump Rod Abilities

Casting is at the core of fly fishing and learning to cast well is one of those things that pays real dividends. You may be a decent caster, but you can be better and it makes sense to put energy toward that end.  I’ve cast a fair number of rods from the Gold Standard to the Tin Standard and I’ve come to the conclusion that the importance of the abilities of the rod decrease as the abilities of the caster increase.

If you have a slower rod, you modify your casting stroke accordingly and you again modify your casting stroke when handed a faster rod. If you are capable of processing the feedback the rod is giving you, you can put that information into your cast and that gets you where you need to go. If you can’t adapt you are going to be limited to the one rod conforming to your static and unchanging casting style.

A good rod helps, but how many more feet is the rod going to get you?  How many more inches of accuracy?  I’d say the ROI you get from a bonefishing rod starts to drop off dramatically after about $300 (and maybe even $250). If you can pick up an Orvis Helios (a fine rod, by the way) and pound out an 80 foot cast (which I freely admit is almost as useful as pounding out an 80 foot cast while fishing for 5″ trout), I don’t think you suddenly lose your ability to cast when you pick up the Redington Pursuit at 1/6th the price. You certainly would be able to cast more than 1/6th the distance (13 feet). Would you really not be able to cast 70 feet with that rod?

See, I’m betting you would.

That’s really a foundational concept for me.  The casting ability of the angler is paramount. Good rods help, but lesser rods do not prevent the same end from being achieved. If the average shot is 50′ in a 12 mph wind, I’m betting rod selection (if we are talking 8 wt.’s from $120 – $800) would only be responsible for fractional differences in overall accuracy.

Let me just be clear… I LIKE GOOD RODS.  I really do. If I had $1,000 I could get a good rod and a good reel.  If resources were more constrained, however, I might put more emphasis on the reel because my (really very modest) casting abilities can compensate for a more modestly priced rod, in most cases.

Loading at close distances

Some rod issues can really get in the way of your fishing.  When wade fishing you tend to see fish much closer than when fishing from a boat. When you are casting to a fish 25 feet away it can be harder to get the uber-fast rods to load with minimal line out.  This can cost you fish.  However, if you are wading, you can up-line and you’ll find it much easier to load the rod at a shorter distance.  Even using a redfish line (which can be .25 to .5 weights heavier than bonefishing lines) instead of a bonefishing line can help. Now, who wants to carry around two rods? Not me, really, but if you know you are going to be mostly on the boat, or mostly on foot, you can line your rod accordingly. Problem mostly solved.

What is prone to break?

When I think about all the things that can go wrong out there on the flats, I tend to think about the many, many ways reels can fail.  The cast has been made, the fish has eaten and is streaking off across the flat and your reel is hesitant, halting, protesting with odd sounds… it isn’t good. Your drag if failing.  Tenkara bonefishing is not very practical, so you are going to need your reel to be functioning, and functioning well. A bonefish can swim upwards of 25 mph, which requires some machined goodness on the other end.  That reel you caught that big trout on just isn’t going to do the job, most likely.  If it does work once, it might not work twice and almost certainly won’t at the end of your trip to Andros.

The salt and the sand and the shear power of the bonefish can combine in many gear-destroying ways. Having a reel capable of putting up with the harsh conditions is critical.  I’ve been out on the flats with reels not up to the job and it is a horrible position to be in.  When the reel fails, that is it. You are done fishing.

Well, that isn’t going to work well.

How often does the rod fail?  Beyond stepping on it or chopping off the top 1/4 in the ceiling fan back at the lodge, it is very unlikely the rod itself will actually stop working. Beyond something falling off, snapping in two or coming apart I don’t even know really how a rod could stop working.

Reels, on the other hand DO stop working. I have had four reels bite the dust on me on trips, and one bite the dust in testing (which may be why it has become difficult to actually get more reels to do testing on). The most memorable was an Cabela’s large arbor that I got as a gift. I was down in Mexico and managed to hook into a 12 pound Jack. That reel was so toast. Ever turn of the handle there was a scraping and the drag became uneven and clunky. I landed the fish, but that reel never fished again. It was not up to the task.  It would have landed 20″ trout until the end of time, but you put a 12 pound Jack on the other end and the pretender gear gets sorted out rather quickly and objectively.

Sealed drag or unsealed drag?

Actually, I don’t care so much.  For me, a sealed drag is better because I’m crap with gear maintenance.  Unsealed drags, like those iconic cork drag reels, have been put to hard and continuous service for a long time, so they obviously work. I tend to need my reels to be less needy of my attention.  That said, if I had a Tibor, I’d likely sleep with it on the pillow right next to my head (as I would with a Nautilus or that F1 from Ross).

To sum it all up

I look at the rod vs. reel debate through an ROI lens. I know that I can pay to avoid reel failure, but I’m not convinced I can buy another 10 feet to my cast. I, like Davin, love gear. I’d have it all if I could. All of it.  All the good stuff anyway.  Of course, to have that much money I’d likely have to go into investment banking and destroy countless lives.  Would it be worth it? Probably, but I’m no good with numbers, alas. So, in my current resource-constrained state, I need to put the money where it is going to do the most good.  I’m pretty sure I’d rather avoid reel failure over having a lighter/stronger rod.  I’d like them both, of course, but when push comes to shove, I’d grab the cheap rod and the badass reel.