Gear

Gear — 8 Comments
10
Dec 14

Thinking about lens color

When I was down in the Keys we had a pretty cool thing happen when some dolphin started riding our wake. It was memorable, but I was surprised when Dan showed me video and I could see the dolphin right next to the boat. I hadn’t seen them clearly in the glare of the water when they were just 4 feet away. Got me thinking my polarized lenses might not be so awesome (I was wearing Revos, not COSTAs, as my COSTAs are both broken at the moment).

Revo shades on our handsome model.

I also was thinking the lens color I have, kind of gray, might not be the best. I mentioned this to my wife, especially that I might want a lighter color for what I hope is my next trip, to Water Cay, in February.

My wife is a good listener and I will not say I didn’t notice a small-ish box get delivered to the house from COSTA. Yes… she listens very well.

I found this lens color selector on the COSTA site.

It seems not everyone is on board with the multiple lens theory.

What say you? Get different lenses/glasses for different conditions, or get something that works, more or less, everywhere?

—

I still need, and need is really the key word here, 5 intrepid souls who want to go look for big bones Feb. 7-14 on Water Cay. If you are interested, email me at “bonefishonthebrain @ gmail.com.”

Gear — 2 Comments
04
Dec 14

Nothing left to get

At a certain point, you get all the gear you really are going to need. I’m approaching 100% geared up status. Trying to give my wife gift idea for Christmas is getting harder. I’m starting to fill out on the stuff that is on the margins… the boat bag, the line scale, the pants and shirts and sun protection. I’m squared away on rods and reels and lines. I’m fairly set and could go out to the garage and grab the right gear to head 8/10 places in the world to go fishing.

The quiver for Spring Break 2013

It can only mean one thing.

I’m damn lucky.

What’s on your wishlist for Christmas?

(PS – I do think there might be a new pair of Costas under the tree though, as soon as we get the tree)

(PPS – Feb. 7-14, Water Cay Hosted Trip, with MOI as your host. Sounds good, no?)

Nautilus Reels and BTT

The Bonefish & Tarpon Trust got a great ally recently in Nautilus Reels. Sounds like they’ll donate 5% to BTT for their award-winning NV-Monster reel and will sign the purchaser up for a year of BTT membership.

Sweet.

I interviewed Kristen Mustad a few years back and got a chance to fish a Nautilus reel back in 2010 on a trip to Belize. Loved it.

Great to see Nautilus partnering up with BTT.

Gear — No Comments
19
Aug 14

My first trip to a Bass Pro Shop

I understand for some places in the country the BPS where the action is. I’ve just never had one close and I haven’t gone out of my way to visit one, so I’ve never visited one, until today.

My first time

I had a business trip to Fresno today and on the way, my boss and I stopped by my first Bass Pro Shop.

Good God Man. That place was HUGE. The size of the place was just amazing and the interior was as impressive as the exterior.

I got by boss (he is my boss, but he’s also my friend) set up with a rig so he can go catch sharks with his son in the SF Bay like I do with my daughter. Then I got some hopper flies I can throw at little trout in Montana next week. There were boats and guns and bows and atv’s and more and more and more and more. There was a fly shop inside the BPS, small but serviceable. They had the hoppers I needed.

So much goodness

It was Man/Redneck Disneyland.

It was fun.

So, now I’ve been to a Bass Pro Shop.

I’ll go back, but I’ll also still try to support smaller, local shops when I can. I value the little shops too much.

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08
Aug 14

The winners from the big show

I didn’t go to the IFTD show this year. Hard to break away when the day job is kicking like it is. I made it to one of the shows a few years back and it was a good time.

Some other bloggers did go and they posted some write-ups you can check out.

Gink and Gasoline had a write up. Written by Johnny Spillane, no less.

Hatch Magazine has a write up as well.

Sage’s SALT rod won best in show. That’s a rod I haven’t cast, but might like to.

Nautilus picked up honors for their reels for both salt and fresh water. The Silver King Black is the saltwater reel.

Nautilus Silver King Reel

RIO got the nod for top saltwater fly line with a line for Permit. If permit weren’t such jerks, I might be interested in this line.

Another year, another lineup of good stuff. Of course, the old stuff wasn’t so bad either.

Gear — 1 Comment
26
Jun 14

Choosing your RIO Bonefish Line

I have fished a lot of the RIO lines for bonefishing. I’ve done that for two reasons… 1. They are a quality company making quality lines, and 2. They tend to send them to me.

Recently, they sent this video clip with Simon from RIO talking about how to select your Rio bonefishing line. This is a question I get asked from time to time and I agree with everything said here. I have not fished the general purpose cold water saltwater line, but I have fished the standard and quick shooter bonefishing lines.

The only other thing I’d add is that the quick shooter is not an ideal line for fishing from a boat. The shorter head means more running line and that running line has a way of not behaving really well when the wind comes up and it is laying there on the deck. So, if you are going to wade a lot, like, primarily wade, the quick shooter is a good option. You see those fish in closer and need to load your rod more quickly. Today’s rods tend to be very fast and it can sometimes be hard to load a rod with only 10 feet of line out. The quickshooter makes that a bit easier.

The standard line doesn’t tangle on the deck so easy, making it better for boat fishing, but it also can be harder to load a rod with if you see the fish in tight.

So, here’s the video. Hope it helps.

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11
Jun 14

Skinny Water Father’s Day

Did you know the good folks over at Skinny Water Culture are having a Father’s Day Sale?

Well… they are.

I love these guys. They really are the real deal, folks who love to fish and love their bit of skinny water. They are Florida, the good part, and while I am not Florida, I can look at what they’ve done and how they’ve done it and give them loads of respect.

My favorite SWC design.

Gear — 1 Comment
23
May 14

Sage Motive Saltwater Fly Rod – a review

A good place to be.

Yesterday, I talked about the Evoke reel I brought to Long Island. That reel was attached to another loaner, the Sage Motive 11 weight fly rod.

The rod… what to say about the rod? There are no real moving pieces. The mechanics are those of the caster, more so than the inner gears of a piece of machinery. The rod is exactly what you’d think it would be. It is a fast action big stick. The 11 weight is not a dainty thing, but it isn’t for dainty fishing. It’s for big fish. Mean fish. Fish who fight like wrecking ball on bath salts.

I did more casting than I did fighting fish with this rod and I never found my drugged up beast of destruction (again… found them, but not happy and in the mood).

The rod, in my opinion, casts well, but you need to not try and pick up too much line. One of the guides tried to pick up too much line and show off a bit and it didn’t go well. However, if you are patient, take in a bit of line and really load the rod, you can shoot line with this like like a potato launcher.

Sage Motive 11

I cast an 11 weight textured line on the 11 weight. Some may argue the need to over line. I didn’t do that.

I was happy with the rod. I did get to catch a few jacks and barracuda on the rod and it felt great. It’s nice color blue, which I like, although I doubt the color matters a whole lot when it comes to performance.

I good, solid, saltwater rod. The 11 is a rod I would turn to again for a Belize or Keys tarpon hunt. I wish I got to hold on to it for a few years, but alas… it is now back with the good folks at Sage.

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22
May 14

Evoke 10 – A review

I got to take the Sage Evoke 10 reel along with me to Long Island and I did so in the hopes of finding one of the few tarpon still there. I found the tarpon. They weren’t interested.

A good place to be.

I did get to try the reel out on a few fish, however. I found some cuda and trolled up jacks to pull some line. Here are my thoughts on the reel. First… it is massive. I’d take it as a weapon in a fight. Everything about this reel screams “SOLID!” It is not going to warp on a big fish. You can drop it without denting anything (I’d watch your toes though).

Beefy

It is the opposite direction from the “go lighter” movement. It is not a reel for blind casting 7 hours a day. It is a big game reel and purpose built. You don’t blind cast for big game for hours on end. You hunt the thing, stalk it, track it down and then make your shot. This is the elephant gun (but really, don’t shoot elephants) of reels. The reel itself has a clicking drag so you can be precise about your drag setting. It isn’t going to slip on you. I believe this reel is also not capable of switching from one hand to the other. You buy the one that works for you. Pretty rare for someone to change which hand they reel with. I have zero problems with that. I can say I think it was a beast of a reel, in a good way. I just wish I had convinced one of those tarpon to play.

Gear — 7 Comments
20
May 14

Cross-winding

So… how does one avoid this?

I brought this Sage Evoke 10 to a fly shop to get the 30# backing I needed to go throw in the general direction of some decent sized tarpon. The trip came and went. The tarpon were no so interested, but I did catch some cuda and jacks on the Evoke.

As I was stripping off the line in preparation to send it back to Sage I found the unhappy surprise of some serious cross-winding in the backing.

What does one need to do to keep this from happening? I can only imagine how bad this would have been had I managed to stick one of those 60-80 pound poons. I’d like to not bring such a potential gear malfunction with me next time.

See… that’s not good.

Bonefish on the Brain Bonefish and all that relates (maybe a bit about tarpon too).