Rod Hamilton has put together a pretty sweet list of prizes and he’ll be giving a ton of stuff away.
We are talking Redington Rods, Sage Reels, Costa glasses, dozens and dozens of bonefish flies, buffs, hats and books with a grand prize of a free bonefishing trip to the Long Island Bonefishing Lodge.
It is really, really easy to enter. All you have to do is go HERE and that is just about it.
Looks good, me thinks.
Ya know, I totally missed this. I’m not sure how that happened. I knew Ross and S.A. were sold to Orvis and I thought it made pretty good sense. Orvis has struggled to convince many anglers that they are an every-man company, suffering from a stodgy image (undeservedly, in my opinion). Another way of looking at their problem would be to say that guys aren’t putting Orvis stickers on their Yeti coolers.
Ross, now Ross is an every-man brand and you actually do see Ross stickers on Yetis every now and again. Ross could bring some of that Yetiness to Orvis and that would seem to be a pretty good pickup.
Then, when I wasn’t paying any attention, Orvis turned around and sold Ross (while keeping S.A.) to the Mayfly group (which also owns Abel).
Ross used to be very strong on the Made in the USA theme and Abel is as well. Ross is mid-market price-wise and Abel is way, way, way at the top. The two do compliment one another, so that is nice, but I’m still scratching my head over the Orvis purchase and then sale of Ross. I guess they didn’t have a plan to keep Ross from the start. You can’t say they gave it a shot in just a few months.
I’ll be interested to see what comes of the Ross brand. I hope it continues to make reels in the US and I hope they reclaim their place on your Yeti.
I was not born with a fly rod in my hand. I didn’t first hold one until I was 19 or 20. Up to that time I was a spinning rod angler. Mostly, I threw single eggs and worms and the occasional lure for steelhead and jigs for shad. I fished for the odd trout and pan fish as well, but mostly it was bait and steelhead. I think most of us start out with a spinning rod, if not one of those little snoopy rod/reel combos.
A Klamath River Halfpounder
My first attempt at fly fishing was untutored steelhead fishing with a beast of a fiberglass rod. I caught no fish, but I did bounce a few Silver Hiltons off my head. My second effort, on the McCloud with a guide-who-shall-not-be-named resulted in fish and a spark of interest. I was pretty much hooked and my spinning rods fell into disuse. I have no idea what happened to them or the little Mitchell 308 reels I used to use.
For the next 15 years I didn’t touch a spinning rod. I think I even developed a bit of that fly-only mentality which discounts other methods. I was afflicted with exclusivity.
Then, a funny thing happened. I went to Cuba with a group of anglers/writers. On the trip was Charlie Levine (who works for FishTrack). He was mostly a spinning guy and an occasional fly rodder. I watched him have fun throwing big pencil poppers for big, angry barracuda and I thought “boy, that looks fun.”
Next, there was a camping trip to the coast with my daughter. We stopped by a pier and watched some people fishing. She asked if we could do that, and, of course, I said yes. We went right to a Big 5 and bought a combo outfit and we went fishing. This was the first spinning rig I had bought or owned in 15-17 years.
The following year we moved to Fremont and found a pier very close to the house. We figured out we could catch sharks there (and my daughter loves sharks), so we started making the pier a regular destination. At this point I started routinely fishing with a spinning rod, hanging bait for the little sharks of the South Bay.
This fish brought to you by a spinning rod
Last spring break we had a trip to the Bahamas and I figured a spinning rod might be good to have along for my daughter and wife. I bought one and Charlie, from the Cuba trip, sent me a Penn spinning reel. It turned out to be a great idea and my daughter and wife both caught fish on the spinning rod.
The girl and her Jack.
That same rod/reel made the trip with me to Long Island and provided some good fun casting to Barracuda. It saved the day a few times, really.
A nice cuda from Long Island.
I doubt I’ll ever throw a spinning rod for bonefish or tarpon or trout, but there are some things that just make good sense and I’m likely to add to my spin fishing arsenal, both for my kids and myself.
I am a fly fisherman, but I’m also an angler. I’ve dropped a degree of orthodoxy. In the eyes of some this will sully me. I am no longer pure, but I’m OK with that.
I’ve managed to take the H2 out on a couple of trips and at the end of each, I’ve been very reluctant to send it back.
I got to take it to Cuba back in 2012 and this year I got to take one to Long Island.
I know I’m on record as saying the reel is really the important thing, and I still agree with that. And yet… I really love this rod. It is light and powerful and accurate and, well… ya know… it is a good rod.
We live in a good age, a golden age of fly rods. There are so many out there and overall, they are of a high quality. So, you are not shy of options, and even with all those options, I’m pretty confident in saying, this would be one of the best.
The H2, mollusks not included.
The rod is just plain goodness.
The H2, at rest
So, good folks at Orvis… I’ve got some bad news. The rod got broken/lost/stolen, so, yeah, I can’t send it back. 🙁
Rod/Reel Transport in style.
On the trip to Long Island I brought along the Safe Passage rod case from Orvis. In it, I had 5 rods, 6 reels and flies (and whatever else I could fit in it).
For all those who question if you can bring rods and reels and flies along on your flight, I can tell you that from the US to the Bahamas and back, you certainly can. If your airline is playing by TSA rules, you should have no problems, so long as you don’t have really, really massive hooks in your bag.
I liked the Safe Passage case and I had no issues about the length of the bag as I put it in the overhead storage on every flight that offered that (Pineapple Air does not offer overhead storage so it sat on my lap).
It is a solid piece of luggage/gear. It is well made and purpose built and way better than my soccer sock + cam strap rod carrying contraption I used previously.
Thanks Orvis.
I can say I saw some of the tarpon of Long Island. I cannot say I caught one.
There is basically one, deep cut which holds the tarpon. There used to be a lot more of them around, but the last big hurricane cut through some of the canals and the baby tarpon vanished. The deep cut holds what few adults are still found there.
They come up and roll and then head back down deep. The bend where they are found is a confusion of currents and boils and deep water. I saw a spinner shark glide beneath the skiff, but I only saw the tarpon roll at a distance of 50′ or more.
Dutifully, I pounded out some casts to the general vicinity of the rolls, but the fish were probably 10 feet below the fly and I doubt they ever saw it.
I did get to cast the new Sage Motive rod in an 11 weight lent to me just for this trip. The rod cast very well and even the guide was impressed with the line I was able to lay out with this purpose built tool. The rod is fast, as you’d expect. If you’ve cast other big, fast action saltwater rods, you know the experience. I liked the rod and felt comfortable with it. I’m sure it would have handled a big tarpon well. Alas, I’ll have to make that speculation and not report from experience.
I never got a boil on the fly. I never saw a 5 foot shape loom up behind the fly. I can’t say I got close to catching one.
Still, I enjoy just seeing them. My knees got weak at the sight of them. My pulse sped up, my hands began to shake. I felt fortunate just to have a shot.
I did get to fish the Motive a little bit more, casting for sharks, cudas and trolling for jacks. I did get a fish on it, which was a nice bonus.
I might not bring an 11 on my next Long Island trip. Instead, I might revert back to my Redington Predator 10 wt., which I had along as well and which dealt with the jacks and cudas just fine, even throwing a big popper into the wind.
I sure would have liked to hook into one of those nice Long Island tarpon, but they are so few it might be better just to let them hang out and play with the locals.
I have another couple loaners along on the Long Island trip. I got my hands on the new Sage Evoke Reel and the new Sage Motive Rod. The rod is an 11 wt., just in case we manage to track down some tarpon in the cuts, as I hope we do. Could be a cuda rod as well.
The Evoke Reel is a break with the current fascination with lighter gear. It is built like a tank. I think I could drop this thing from 10,000 feet and keep fishing with it. Everything about this reel screams “SOLID!” Yes… in all caps.
The Evoke
When I got backing put on it the guy at the counter put it well. “Whoa.”
I’m really, really hoping this reel gets a work out on the trip.
The Rod is the Motive. It is a beautiful blue color, winning some style points right out of the case. I got to cast the 11 wt. at the Fly Fishing Show West in Pleasanton and found it very cannon-like. You need to pound a cast out there, this is certainly poundable.
The Sage Motive Saltwater Stick
So, two new Sage bits of fantasy equipment to ply Bahamian waters with. Should be fun.
I got a package in the mail today (three actually). I was excited to get a peek inside.
This was one of the items…
I haven’t had really nice pair of pliers before. These are really nice. They fit well in my hand. They feel very well made. They have a weight to them, a gravitas.
No barb shall stand in my way. No wire or heavy mono shall remain uncut.
It feels very serious, like I should be serious with them in my hand. My daughter asked if she could have them… I laughed at her outlandish request.
Up to this point I’ve bought the cheap pliers off Amazon. Just whatever looked serviceable and was under $20. The Hydro pliers from Orvis are about $140-170, so a different ballgame altogether. They feel like a different ball game too. They feel so much better made, so solid.
Very much looking forward to getting these out in Long Island in the Bahamas come March.
This is the freshwater version, which is just a little bit smaller than the saltwater version, but is equally suited for a salty life.
Saw this review over at Fly Talk for the DeLorme inReach SE 2-Way Satellite Communicator with GPS. Kirk Deeter gave it glowing reviews and seems to have put it through its paces.
It’s an interesting idea… a little piece of mind for those really remote destinations. I think I might be a little more adventurous if I didn’t have to actually risk my life.
For this next trip I got the medical evac insurance and made sure my dad had it too. It’s great to have that, but what if you are stuck out there somewhere on some long run when things go down. What then? I do think about that. That DeLorme might help.
Cameron over at The Fiberglass Manifesto is pretty much the King of Fly Fishing Bloggers at this point (I am a minor Duke or Earl from an obscure and hard to pronounce region of the blogosphere).
With Christmas comes TFM’s 12 Days of Christmas. Gear to give away. Who could argue with that? Go there, participate, and maybe get some good stuff from the fine sponsors he’s got lined up.
Well done TFM.
