Posts Tagged ‘Fly Fishing Gear’

Years ago, when I first saw and was able to touch and feel a pair of Simms Guide waders, I salivated. At the time, due to having expenses such as child support and other things that I needed to pay, I was unable to afford the hefty retail price and couldn’t justify spending the money.

The other night, when I was able to touch and feel the most recent version of Simms waders including the G4Z model, I salivated. At this time, I still have child support and other expenses and can’t justify spending the SRP of over $800.00 Canadian on a pair. The top of the line Simms waders may well be the best on the market with their five layers of gortex in the leg area and three layers in the chest – but for now, I’ll stick with my William Joseph’s that have done me well for the past four years or so.

Ray Collesso and Brian Primeau of Hook, Line & Sinker/The First Cast in Guelph, Ontario, did a fantastic job of hosting their “Third Annual New Product Presentation” featuring Canadian Rep for Simms, Sage, Reddington, Rio and others, Bob McKenzie, at their shop on Friday night. Ray and Brian provided a cheese and meat tray with refreshments to the guests that were present, and the guests got to listen to Bob McKenzie talk about the product line-ups, including new for 2010, of Simms, Sage, Reddington, Lamson, and Rio.

Simms does offer up an impressive lineup of waders, clothing and footwear for not just the angler, but for anyone who enjoys the outdoors. One of the nice things about many of Simms’ shirts is their attention to detail in styling. Available in great colours, one can wear some of the Simms shirts when casual wear is expected and not be identified necessarily as a “fisherman.” At the same time, the materials and designs have anglers in mind. Bob said something to the effect, “When a company makes great waders that will last for years, we need to come up with other great products to sell.”

A few of the items I’m interested from Simms include the “Taco bag” – a nicely designed wader storage bag that can also be used as a mat when putting on or removing waders; the G3 Wading “pant” which I think might actually be more useful to me in the majority of the conditions I wade in (but again, the $440.00 price tag is a bit hefty for me); the “Guide Windstopper” jacket which could do double duty as a cross country ski jacket on those cold days when I’m out on the trails in the winter months; and finally, the Guide Shirt. I liked the blue one.

One of the things Bob stressed was the importance of getting a good fit with your waders. For this reason, it’s really important to go to your local fly shop where experienced people can assure the waders you are purchasing fit you correctly.

Although my cold weather fly fishing is not as frequent as others, I still wouldn’t mind an extra few base layer tops – the Waderwick™ crew tops. In the winter months, I do enjoy cross country skiing and other outdoor activities and I’ve learned just how comfortable base layers that wick away moisture and perspiration can be when it gets cold but I’m sweating.

(By the way, I wanted to provide my readers with some images of the Simms’ products, but their website has a little javascript thing going on that makes it inconvenient but not impossible to download and save images. Kind of dumb because such “security” measures are very easy to circumvent – but obviously Simms wants me to email them, wait for a reply from someone, just to help promote their stuff. Don’t see too many businesses trying to be that protective of their images – So you can just go visit their website to see what I’m talking about, I guess).

After the discussion about Simms, Bob McKenzie showed us all the Sage, Reddington and Lamson lineups. Sage of course has been one of the leaders in graphite fly rod development for about 30 years. I have a few rods that I built for myself on Sage blanks back in the late 80′s and early 90′s and still enjoy them very much. A couple of rods that I don’t use anymore will likely be handed down to one of my sons. It was interesting to learn about the new fly rod lineups from both Sage and Reddington, and to be able to hold and feel their reels. The top of the line reels are impressive, but again, come with a hefty price tag beyond most people’s pocketbook capabilities. But for those who can, they’ll own some great stuff that will likely be able to be passed down to sons and daughters perhaps as heirlooms.

One of the really interesting reel designs was the Lamson Vanquish with its “Waterworks conical drag” and “v-shaped” large arbor. It was hard to believe that the 4.1 inch diameter reel can hold 220 yards of 20# backing and a fly line. But due to the design, it can – but apparently it could take some getting used to due its width when retrieving line back onto the reel.

Anyhow, my concerns with the high end price tag of some of the stuff we saw aside, it was a very enjoyable evening all round. Bob McKenzie is a great guy that does a great job of promoting the lines he represents, and Ray and Brian do a fantastic job of keeping their customers in the loop and coming up with ways to keep things as affordable as possible for their customers. I ended up spending a few bucks in the shop on some fly tying supplies I needed as well as picking up last year’s version of Simms Waterwick undershirts at a great price.

I’m wondering if it is possible.  Am I there yet? Except, I wouldn’t part with any of it except to my sons or my best friend (if she decides to seriously take up fishing, she can have and use whatever I’ve got! It’s a deal, Colleen ).  I’d lend some of it to others – as long as I were present while it was being used.  But maybe I have too much.

I’m planning a trip out west with my “wee man,” who will be 7 in August.  I haven’t had time to do much research on what exactly the fly fishing opportunities are in the area I’ll be fishing. I know there is a lake with ‘bows in it, a couple of rivers with who knows what, and a small pond with some stocked trout – but I am not sure what will be best suited and time is drawing near. So I’ve been going through my stuff, and realizing I’ve got stuff here that I love, but haven’t used in a long time, and need to enjoy the pleasure of again.  I’ve also got fly lines coming out of my ying yang – stuff I purchased two and three years ago with a plan in my head, but since then, my head lost those particular plans.  And being ADD apparently, naturally I forget to put the little labels that tell me what line and wt. are on the various fly reel spools I have.

As I type this, within four feet of me in either direction are:

3 Talon Fly Rods.

1. One I built myself about 14 years ago, and I love that thing, but the ferrule was crushed, and I still need to try to get it off to Ralph O’Quinn who believes he can fix just about any graphite rod damage so it is like new.  Ralph for those who don’t know is the brains behind the U-40 products, and a fantastic guy.  The one I built was a 9′ 5 wt. IM6 Plus that has been used more times than I can remember.  I loved – and still love – that rod.

2. Another is a 9’0″ 8 wt IM6 Plus, built in the Talon factory.   A lovely rod for large size bass, steelhead and salmon.  Admittedly, I have not used it as much as I would have liked.

3. Then there is the 3 piece Talon Elite 9″0″ 9 Wt. “Big Game” rod. Beautiful cork grips on this! Again, a rod I have not used often, but have enjoyed when I have.

1 Grey’s Greyflex M2

I picked up this 10 1/2′ 7/8 wt when I was in Belfast, Northern Ireland in June of 2007.  I was looking for a three piece rod that I could travel with and that would perform well while lake or loch style fishing in the Canadian Fly Fishing Championships held September 2007 in Grande Prairie.  I really enjoy this rod, but when conditions are warranted, I do prefer the Meiser Switch Rod (more on that later).

3 Sage

How many Sage rods do I have?? I think there are three, but only  one is a fly rod. Back when I built rods, Sage made some nice spin blanks, and I’ve got a couple of them. The fly rod is an older “Graphite II” 7’9″ 2 wt.  I haven’t used it much, but when I’ve been out on some small creeks, I’ve enjoyed it.  I think it’s been ten years though.

At Least 2 Loomis

I’m looking at the rod tube and know it’s a 2 piece, one I built about 18 years ago – an IM6. I disliked very much their IMX stuff back then – seemed too many of them broke. This one is a bit on the heavy side, I think it’s a 9′ 8 wt.  But I can’t remember. I’ll have to give it a few casts this summer.

1 Tony Spezio

Never heard of a Tony Spezio? Pitty! I have a lovely two tip cane rod he built and it’s lovely to cast! I don’t know why I don’t use it more; perhaps because it is one of those rods I think will be an heirloom to one of my children and their children.

1 Admira

A 10’0″ 4 wt. that I purchased last spring at the behest of Ernie Kalwa, Captain of the fly fishing team I was on.  Apparently a good rod for Czech nymphing, but I’ve never used it.   Turned out that I resigned from the team due to health concerns (don’t ask how I managed to severely sprain my right hand – I’m still trying to figure it out) so I never did compete and didn’t get a chance to try this rod.

2 Temple Fork Outfitters

I’ve got two of these – a 5 wt three piece and a 10′ 0″ 7 wt. 4 piece that was my backup rod to the Grey’s in Grande Prairie. I didn’t use it much, but I did like it – but preferred the Grey’s when fishing from the boats.  I liked this one for fishing from the shore of the pond that was one of the venues though.

The 5 wt is what I’ve been using on the Grand River and other such places after the ferrule was busted on my Talon, above.

For the money, TFO rods are hard to beat!

1 Fisher

About 8 or 9 years ago, I was looking for a 9 1/2′ 5/6 wt rod, and they were hard to come by at 9 1/2′.  I can’t recall now why I wanted a 9’6″ 5 wt, but I did, and this one was relatively inexpensive.  I think I traded a year’s worth of website hosting for it.  I remember when it arrived – I was quite excited to try it out, but when I did, I was disappointed.  I’ve never used it since. But I will.  I think the action was just too slow for me at the time.  I recall I did not like it as much as the Talon that I had owned and been using for so long. But maybe it’s time to revisit this one and give it another chance.  If nothing else, it’s a spare and one that I can lend to someone else if they don’t have one or their’s breaks.

1 R. B. Meiser

A disclaimer: R. B. Meiser (actually, I shoud have noted that Talon is too) is a client of mine.  So I realize that giving such positive reviews of both R. B. Meiser and Talon rods could be construed as a conflict of interest for me.  In Meiser’s case, I think Bob has done well by me and I’ve done well by him long before I ever tried out one of his rods though.  In the case of Talon, I loved Dwight’s rods and blanks long before he ever became a client of mine, and used to build a lot of custom rods on Talon blanks when I had my own custom rod building business.

Anyhow, prior to the Canadian Fly Fishing Championships in Grande Prairie, I was talking with Bob Meiser about some work to his website and I mentioned I the competition and that it would be fly fishing from boats for all but one venue.  I told him I had picked up the Grey’s and the TCO, and he said, “Ian! You should have told me! I’ve already supplied another competitor with a rod that will be perfect I think, and I could work something out with you too.”

I kind of felt ashamed that I hadn’t even thought of talking to Bob before selecting some gear for Grande Prairie. Anyhow, he agreed to build me a rod on his System 2 blank – a “switch rod,” and shipped it out to me. Sadly, the rod did not arrive in time.  It arrived here in Ontario the day after I arrived in Alberta.  When I got back, I was eager to try it out, and it seems ideal with the Sixth Sense series of lines.   Although this rod is built with the two handed style of fly fishing in mind, I can easily lay out 70+ feet with one hand. That is why it is called a “Switch” rod – you can switch from one to two hands and cast comfortably either way.

I’ve never much got into spey or two handed casting but I’m hoping I can get out with Neil Houlding at some point this summer and we’ll see if we can teach me some two handed techniques and put that Meiser rod through it’s paces.  But as it is, I’m very pleased with it!

So those are my fly rods in my office here. I’ve got more in the porch, and at least one more in the trunk of my vehicle.  Do you think I have too many?

Perhaps I’ll write about my reels and spare spools the next time!  Colleen – forgive me if I’m a bit disorganized here with all this stuff, but we’ll get you set up with something, for sure! Looking forward to fishing with you next week!