17
Jul 12

Trust Me, It’s the Rod – Guest Post by Flatswalker

This is a guest post by Davin over at Flatswalker.  When I spouted off about “It’s the reel” he replied. I thought you all might like a little more light shed on his views (as I did). Tomorrow, I’ll reply with my own thoughts (here is that post).  But for today…

TRUST ME, IT’S THE ROD

I’m a tackle snob. I try not to be, but there it is. I might not own the best gear, but I think I do. I have a penchant for ultra-light, yet sturdy tackle, and generally believe in “Final Decisions”—that is, spending time and (often good) money to buy something once, and own it pretty much for life.†

However, in my line of work I do get to cast a lot of rods in a lot of price ranges. I also get to watch folks compare their rods and mine. My conclusion: Rods matter. I’ll go farther and say it’s about the most important decision you can make before embarking on a bonefishing trip.

We tend to fall back on habit when our brains shut off at the sight of a tailing bonefish (or when the guide starts yelling cast now, cast now, 40 feet!) Then we revert to our default cast—the cast we’ve practiced most and is the most natural for us, regardless of the rod in hand. If you’ve chosen your rod correctly then you’re in great shape when you have to rely on instinct.

When you don’t have a lot of time, you need to feel the rod.

Here’s The Problem: most of us don’t chose our rods correctly, especially for salt water. Our choices are usually based on arbitrary criteria like affordability, or “Orvis is for posers” or “my buddy/the fly-shop guy/Andy Mills says these rods are awesome and he knows way more than me” or (worst of all) how far we can cast the rod.

The critical factor in choosing a rod is how you cast. Is your casting stroke short, long, relaxed, fast? Can you double haul? Do you have great timing instead? These are actually the first questions you need to ask when selecting a rod. How far you can cast it will have next-to-nothing to do with how it actually fishes. Trust me.

In fact, I’d say that needing to distance cast is a relatively narrow niche in saltwater fishing—especially sight fishing. Generally  you’re called upon to reach that redfish at 40 feet, or that bonefish at 50. Maybe you need a longer string for spooky permit, but you’ll likely be using a 10-weight at that point so 60 feet shouldn’t be too much trouble. Any farther than that and—for sight fishing—you’re into the realms of fantasy. Even if you can bomb it out there to 80 feet—unlikely—you probably won’t be accurate enough to put the fly where it needs to be to feed the fish.

Ok, there are some aspects of bonefishing that might be obvious but I should have listed at the outset.

  1. First, you need to see the fish. This will usually happen between 25 and 80 feet. Any farther and you probably won’t be able to see it—bonefish being relatively small, excellently camouflaged fish in a giant ocean. Any closer and you’ve probably already spooked it.
  2. The fish has to see your fly. Hail-Mary cast in the general direction won’t get it done. You’ve got to place the fly deliberately where the fish can see it without spooking it so that you can…
  3. Feed the fish. This is the bottom line. If you can’t reach the fish before it gets too close, or put the fly where the fish can see it, then you won’t feed it.

That is what this is all about and my experience with rods is that most have holes in their performance. This is particularly true with the new generation of fast-action sticks, the true rocket launchers that make us feel like we can reach any fish on the horizon.

Here’s the straight skinny: ultra-fast rods are the worst rods for bonefishing. I say this for both the expensive and inexpensive sticks. If you can’t feel a rod with less than 30 feet of line out the tip, you’ll miss most bonefish. Bonefishing happens between 30-50 feet. That’s pretty close, and they’re usually moving toward you. You have very little time to get the fly out and feed the fish. If you’ve got to make half-dozen false casts just to load the rod, that fish will be inside 30 feet by then and you’re done. Game over. Redo from start. What you really need is a rod that allows you to cast to that sweet spot in 1-2 false casts. You should not be struggling to feel the rod, and you should be able to accurately present the fly inside 30 feet.

Before you protest, think this through. Your rod is roughly ten feet long, so is your leader. That means with only five feet of fly line out the rod you’ve got close to 25 feet. How many rods do you think allow you to feel five feet of fly line? ‡

See what I mean? Too far is rarely a problem. What is a problem is accuracy, and that means casting the right rod for you, first of all, and then considering the conditions you’ll be fishing in. We’re talking bonefishing here, and that means breeze—8-18 knots all the time—and the varying distances depending on if you’re wading or being poled. For wading practice 30-50 foot casts, with a few shots inside or outside. If you’re on a skiff then 40-60 feet. Flies will be relatively small and light—generally #6-#2 hooks with medium bead-chain to medium lead eyes for weight. The perfect bonefish rod will allow you to easily load the rod in close and still reach the medium distances of 50-60 feet in these conditions. It is a lot to ask of a rod, so take your time and choose wisely.

 

The rod, the reel AND the beer. Perfect.

†Obviously, not every purchase falls into this category. Beer, bread, and boxer shorts, for instance, seem like ongoing investments… at least for the foreseeable future.
‡ Plenty; they’re called 3-weights.


09
Jul 12

Budget Bonefishing Rods

I figured I’d update a post from a while ago about budget rods for bonefishing.

In truth, the rod is way less importance for bonefishing than the reel. If you have cash-eesh to spend, spend it on the reel.  What you have over, spend on the rod.  Here are some options that I’m pretty comfortable recommending.

The Redington Pursuit – $120

Redington has really emerged as of late as a price leader.  Their gear is serviceable and workman-like. You won’t impress the pants off your buddies at the fly shop with your Redington, but then, the fish are less label conscious.

That will get the job done.

Echo Ion – $190

Echo continues to be one of the least promoted rod companies out there. I seem to never hear about them, but what I’ve seen of them, I’ve liked.

The Echo Ion

Rise Balance – $125

I’ve been a fan of the Rise Company for a while. They are the little guys, the newcomers and it is hard not to root for the underdog.

 

Others…

There are rods that sell for almost $800 and those are fine, fine sticks. I’ve fished some of those and I can attest to how magnificent they cast. If my payday ever arrives, I may own several such rods.  For now, when I’m looking for a rod to buy, I don’t look for the rods in the $750 area, I’m more interested in what value might be found in the lower ranges.  Luckily, we anglers live in a good age.  There are a lot of options at a variety of price points.  There are even rods to be had south of $200. These rods will catch bonefish.  They may not be the equal of the $750 rod, but, in a pinch (and when you are pinching pennies) they will do the job.

 


20
Jun 12

Learn something new day… the Panga

Fishing Jones had a story about the ubiquitous Panga style boat.  It is worth a read.

The only place I’ve been on a Panga was Belize and in about 80-some days I’ll be there again, down at El Pescador. Kind of very much looking forward to it.

Everywhere else I’ve fished I’ve been on more modern flats boats, so the Panga was a change of pace.  I was surprised by the size of those boats. They really are pretty large.  For being so large I was also surprised how shallow the draft was.  We got into some pretty skinny water in those things.  I have some great memories on pangas and I look forward to making more.

On the deck of a Belizian Panga.


11
Jun 12

What not to bring

There are lots of things that you SHOULD consider bringing with you on your bonefishing trip (I love Desitin, for example).  Flatswalker had some thoughts about what you SHOULD NOT bring with you. See the full list here.

Some of Flats Walker’s no-no’s:

  • Sandals. I don’t care what you call them or what brand they are, you’ll regret it.
  • Grey polarized sunglasses (unless you’re legitimately color blind, then maybe).
  • Rod tubes… I mean, why?

What are some of the things you urge people to not to bring?

One thing I’d add to the list…

Chardonnay.

Yeah... not bonefishing...

Oh… and Bananas. Of course.

 


31
May 12

A conversation with the Albright President

I have sounded off on Albright a few times.  Their marketing drives me kind of crazy with a constant “70% off sale” that isn’t so much a sale as it is pretty much what their every day prices are.

Instead of just continuing to gripe about it, I decided to write a note through their customer service email form.

Funny thing.  The President of the company wrote back. After a couple exchanged emails my phone rang and I got to talk to the Prez. himself.

I expressed how much I disliked their constant “sale” approach and the silliness of the $1,000 MSRP on the EXT fly rod.  He admitted that the $1,000 MSRP was sloppy and they fixed that a while back. He also revealed something that I found pretty surprising.  Their strategy works.  They have something like 10K or 15K names on their email list and they get something like a 20% open rate.  Now, knowing something about email marketing I have to say… Whoa.  That’s actually phenomenal.

They feel pretty strongly about the quality of their gear. The sticks are made in Korea but all the components are made in the US and they don’t pull punches with the components. See… wouldn’t that be nice to hear about?

One thing you have to give Albright… they were way ahead of most of the market on selling direct.  Now everyone is doing it.  More and more companies are doing it.  Not everyone does… not yet, but that the trend.  Of course, the shops are slowly going away, but that is probably a trend well beyond just fly fishing.

The 70% off sale does something else too… it plays into the Grouponization of the consumer.  People don’t pay retail anymore.  They wait, they look for deals.

I’ve been looking for someone who owns one of the EXT rods. I want to know what the consumer has to say.  It could be that I even take one to Belize when I go in September. I really want to see how it stacks up.  If you have one, give a shout. I’d love to get your feedback.

One way or another, it was nice to talk directly to the source.

By the way… I actually own an Albright GP.

 


05
May 12

Bonefish Shirt Week – Skinny Water Culture

They guys over at Skinny Water Culture continue to do strong, strong work.  I’m a fan and have been since I first found them a few years back.  I’ve seen more and more folks in their gear.  I even saw a guy in a hotel in Cuba wearing a SWC shirt. Nice to see good things happening to good people.

You can find this bonefish microfiber shirt here.

Yup, I have this one too.


04
May 12

Bonefishing Shirt Week – Simms

Not a bad looking shirt here with the twin bones.  I haven’t seen this anywhere, but I like it.

Oh Bones. I could never be mad at you.

You can find this one at the Simms website.


03
May 12

Bonefish Shirt Week – A Perfect Fish

I got this… I had to.  It is interesting though that people who don’t understand what a bonefish is think this is somehow dirty/smutty.

See the “A Perfect Fish” site here.


02
May 12

Bonefish Shirt Week – 411#3

Matt over at the blog 411#3 has a series of shirts soon to be available based on his 4 tenants of saltwater fly fishing. These certainly do ring true for me and I’ll be getting one of these in the not too distant future.

Here’s the store.

Indeed.


01
May 12

Bonefish Shirt Week – Black Fly Outfitters

OK… bonefish AND Kalik?  Yeah… a winner from Black Fly Outfitter and Vaughn Cochran.

You can find this shirt here.

Well done Vaughn... I own this one, FYI.