I’m still loving the Form Game Rod from Redington. Yesterday at work it was raining outside and there was almost no one in the office. I took a little time to go casting in the hallway with the iPhone as my target in the hall.
http://youtu.be/APBXdHcbw5o
Yeah, I know… those are pretty sweet shoes, eh?
I have a practice rod, but this looks like something I kind of want. This Redington game rod takes the yarn practice rod concept and pumps it up a few notches. I’m intrigued.
I saw these at the show in Reno, but I also saw it over at TFM (who is pretty much setting the standard for the blogosphere right now).
Blue is my little girl’s favorite color. Now, just changing the color of some random bit of fly fishing gear does eff-all for how it fishes, but I have to say, I’m kind of intrigued by the Link rod I just got from Redington to demo down in Belize.
At the show I met with Kara who gave me the rundown on all things Redington and she pointed out the Link rods. The Links are a little bit more pricey than Redington gear normally is, and by that I mean it is about half as much as the top rods will run you.
The 9 weight I just got… well… it looks kind of sexy. And, it has some nice blue accents and a really nice look on the blank.
Redington Link
Now, a 9 is a rod with some specific purposes. I’d think baby tarpon, maybe permit and certainly cuda. The bones in Belize are not 9 wt. fish. While in Belize I doubt there will be much/any permit fishing. I have one day with the new wife and a guide and I think that will be spent looking for little bones, little tarpon and cudas. See, this rod could fit in really, really well.
This rod, cosmetically, hits on the high notes.
Paired with the rod will be a new line from Rio, a 9 wt. Bonefish line, to be exact.
Now, how the rod fishes? I don’t know yet. I just got it today and I didn’t have time to get a line on the thing and get it out to cast. I will and I’m looking forward to it.
Now, I didn’t BUY this rod. It is a loaner and I’ll send it back after the trip. That’s the way it goes when I get gear from companies. I don’t get to keep it (although I often wish I could). I feel fortunate to be in a position to demo all this gear and I hope to be a resource for you, the readers, if you have questions about gear or want to know how something fished or how it held up to the elements.
—
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.
—
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.
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 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
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.
What is going to get packed is packed. The rest of the time before I take off is really just moving from one place to another. The trip is more or less set in motion.
The last reels arrived a couple days ago and yesterday was supposed to be the day that I got backing put on all those reels. Then… call from my daughter’s school that she was sick. So, I scavenged. I managed to pull backing off a few of the reels staying home and am now fully set. Here’s the reel list…
For the 8’s (Sage One, Mystery Prototype)
For the 10 (Orvis Helios)
For the 11 (Redington Predator)
The lines are a mix of Orvis, Rio and SA lines and for the tarpon rods (the 10 and 11) I have both floating and either clear int. sink tips or full clear int. sinks as well.
I’m feeling fairly well equipped. In fact, I may be over-equipped and I’ll have to consciously switch reels and rods from time to time to make sure I get some time with different rigs.
Four rods. Six reels. Seven spools/seven lines.
I’ll be carrying on the rods and the reels and I’ll be hoping the rest of my stuff makes it there.
Tomorrow morning I get on a flight for the first leg of the journey. I’ll meet up with the others down in Mexico tomorrow night and from there, the adventure begins.
The days are in single digits and I’m starting to get really annoying on the whole “Guess where I’m going?!” thing. The media tour with Yellow Dog and Avalon is fast approaching and my rods are finally all here.
There they are.
This is what’s on tap.
That’s a pretty sweet line up. The only thing I don’t really have in there is a dedicated permit rod, but that’s because I hope I find more time casting to baby tarpon and not-baby bonefish than searching for permit. I just can’t help it… that’s how I feel. Don’t hate me.
These are not my rods, of course. The sad day when I get back will be returning these rods to their corporate parents. I hope to get a sense of where the new Sage One stacks up to one of my favorite rods, the Helios. The Predator is a good, workman rod that is the low-cost rod of the bunch. The prototype? I’ve never cast a prototype before.
Basically… I’ll keep you posted and I. CAN’T. WAIT.
The race to get ready for Andros turned out to be a bit of a sprint. I was waiting on three packages that ended up all coming on Thursday (I left on Friday). One of those packages had gear from Redington… two rods, a 7 and a 10, and two reels. When they arrived I could finally really get serious about what I was bringing with me. So… here’s my quiver for Andros.
Main Bonefish Rod – Rise Level 9′ 8 wt. ($250)
Fun Bonefish Rod – Redington CPX 9’6″ 7 wt ($330)
Barracuda/Tarpon/Other Rod – Redington RS4 9′ 10 wt. ($220)
So, all told, $800 of rods along.
When I went to Belize in November I had three rods along, but the combined value was closer to $2,200 (two Sage Xi3’s and an Orvis Helios). So, I’m taking a different approach on this trip.
The two Redington rods are loaners and the Rise is a rod I own, but didn’t pay for (to fully disclose all that should be disclosed).
I’ve only cased the Rise rod once on grass and the Redington rods are totally virgin. In fact, I didn’t realize that the 7 wt. was a 9’6″er until a few minutes ago. Longer is usually not encouraged for bones due to windy conditions, but I caught my first bonefish on a 9’6″ St. Croix 7 wt., so, this is like coming home a bit.
I thought about bringing a 9 along, but in the end I figured three rods was probably good and I was pretty close to the recommendations made by Deneki for South Andros fishing.
As you read this, I’ll probably be in the air or waiting for flights on my way to FIBFest. By the time the day ends I will have a Kalik in hand and I’ll be on Androsian soil.
I’m big on value, so I was interested to see the Field & Stream pick for best gear of 2011 being the Pursuit from Redington.
Of the fly rods tested (some pushed $800), nothing could touch the Pursuits for value.
via Field & Stream Picks The Best New Fishing Gear of 2011 | Field & Stream.
The reason nothing could touch them might have something to do with the Pursuit coming in at about $120. They run up to a 9 weight and comes in 2 or 4 pieces. Basically, if you are looking for a back-up, or if you are getting into the sport or if you just like value… well… $120 is kind of hard to beat.
I was going to get a Pursuit loaner for Andros, but it turns out they weren’t going to be able to get it to me in time, so I’m bringing a couple other Redington rods along, in addition to my Rise 8 and maybe one or two other rods… I’m not going for long enough to get all the gear I want out into the field, that’s for sure.
Learn everything about boating safety at BoaterExam.com
