The Kalax tester for streamer flies.

THINK YOUR STREAMER PATTERS look the same under water as they do on your fly tying vise? Do they swim the way you imagine? About the only chance any of us get to find out is by looking down on our patterns from above while we're on the water â?? not the best test by any means.

Thanks to Tuomo Petäjä-Suvanto in Finland, who wanted a way to test salmon streamer patterns before trying them on fish, there's a better way. Though the Kalax fly testing device has been around for a few years now, it hasn't been readily available in the U.S. until now. In September Orvis will begin selling the device (price: approximately $150) in their catalogs and in select stores  â?? certainly a vote for its marketability and likely for its utility as well.

We had a chance to test the device recently and, in short, think many production tiers would consider it indispensable for testing salt water and salmon streamer patterns. It might even be something you'd want if you are a serious amateur tier. The Kalax device allows tiers to drop a streamer pattern into a tube of water and watch it while varying the speed of water flow, mimicking variations in current flow and retrieve speed. At the very least it shows how materials behave in the water. But I had a personal interest in knowing how various shock-to-fly knots affected the "attitude" of a fly being pulled through the water â?? not something Kalax advertises their product for, but for a saltwater fly fisher perhaps equally as important in how realistic a pattern appears under water.

The device is very easy to use. You simply fill it with water via the opening in the top, plug it in, drop your fly and about a foot of leader into the slot, and adjust the water speed with a small knob. If you want to see the device in action, you can watch a couple of the videos that Kalax provides on their Web site (short version - 1.02MB or long version - 16.9MB). Sounds simple and it is, as any well-designed product should be. The unit is also very solidly constructed.

Who else might be interested in Kalax's product? Well, photographers will probably find it useful in showing flies in action. And fly "designers" will think they've died and gone to heaven when it comes to testing minor variations in a pattern. One thing we didn't get around to while we had the unit was testing dries in a tube that wasn't entirely filled with water; either the Kalax could be used for that purpose currently or perhaps they'll produce a dry fly version in the near future. Regardless, here's an example of a niche product with potential for many other uses. For more information you can visit the Kalax Web site at http://www.kalax.net.