Recently in Fly Fishing Equipment Category

Orvis has a pretty choice job opening in the fly-fishing industry for someone with solid experience in both fresh- and saltwater fly fishing and a desire to work on category development for fly rods and fly reels for retail, catalog, web, and wholesale. You can read the full details and job description here.

Choosing a bag for your fishing photographic needs can be a difficult one at best. For the average photographer, there are endless models and styles to choose from. But it can get especially confusing once you add in the factors of water and weather.

I've personally taken to customizing my own with dry-bags, high density foam, and fly reel cases -- pretty handy if you have or can get hold of extras. But if customization is not your thing, the New York Times Style section just put up a review of five bags camera bags compiled by nature photographer Joe Decker. It's a small review, but exposes some of the bigger brand names and offers good a launching point to a larger search if need be.

"'Fly-fishing and direct-response retailing, Perkins says, 'are both games of inches. Success or failure is in the details.' In retailing the product has to be great. The pitch must be perfect ('Sometimes it's the difference of just one word in a catalog,' he says). And when you hook a customer, care must be taken to not lose him or her along the way."

Monte Burke profiles Orvis CEO Perk Perkins for Forbes magazine.

We've occasionally expounded on the essential perfection of duct tape (see "In Search Of Better Duct Tape"), but even we were surprised to read that one can reassemble Alaskan bush planes that are partially eaten by grizzly bears with the stuff.

Turns out an Alaskan pilot did a pretty nice job of putting his fuselage and tail section back together via a liberal application of the miracle product. It might be easier to clean out the plane before dropping into bear country though; even duct tape can get mighty expensive in those quantities.

Looking for an inexpensive way to make fly tying more enjoyable this winter? Inventor Keith Barton sent us a pair of his new patent-pending "Sixth Finger" tying scissors a few weeks ago, and although I've tied mostly saltwater flies with them, I can vouch for the concept of spring-loaded scissors that fit (and stay) comfortably in the hand as something of a godsend. I'm beginning to test them with tiny midges too (as many as I can stand) and find that I prefer the precise control that my old dual-finger-loop pair didn't give me.

The secret to the way the Sixth Finger scissors work is the single finger loop welded to one side. It's positioned so that when you release the scissors, they stay resting in palm while you do other tasks: wrapping hackle, gluing, selecting feathers, finishing, stacking... whatever. This design could have been done wrong -- the blade points could slip too low in the hand when you release the scissors, the balance could be off, the shape of the handle could be too wide or too thin, or the workmanship could be shoddy. But Barton -- who by the way has been writing some pretty insightful stuff about fly tying on his blog SingleBarbed.com -- has combined utility and high-end construction in a delightful little tool. What's more, they cost only around $20 (plus shipping).

You can buy Sixth Finger scissors from MidCurrent, or by emailing Barton directly.

It's no secret that I'm a Nikon fan...You kinda have to be when you're years deep in collecting thousands of dollars of lenses. That's why when Nikon recently announced the release of the D3s I thought to myself, this is it: the last camera I will have to buy for a long, long time. All of my fishing adventures, blog posts, assignments can finally be captured on one machine (photo and video) ....

The D3s boasts a full frame sensor, insanely high ISO settings (102,400 to be precise), nine-frames-per-second continuous shooting, and -- much to my chagrin -- 720 HD video. You see, for $5200 dollars I really think this thing should have come equipped with 1080 HD. Its nearest competitor, the Canon 5D MkII, is a full frame sensor camera that shoots 1080 HD and it's almost half the cost.

Matt Buchanan gives us the ins and outs of the D3s over at Gizmodo and raves about the fully redesigned sensor that seems like it could change the way we think about shooting in low light conditions. So wipe that drool off of your keyboard let me know how to win the lottery so I can plunk down hard cash for this bad boy.

On his new Unaccomplished Angler blog, author Kirk Werner suggests "If you don't spey, don't start" (he even offers a link to the bumper sticker). "I was becoming convinced that I didn't enjoy standing in a river in January during a cold, steady rain, fishing in vain for a fish that only existed in the history books. What I didn't realize at the time was that the thing I didn't enjoy was standing in a river in January during a cold, steady rain, repeatedly casting a heavy single-handed rod in vain for a fish that only existed in the history books." A very entertaining read, even if you could care less about fishing in face-numbing weather.

But if you really must, casting instructor Rob Kolakowski offers a good introduction to picking the right spey line for the job in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune."Skagit lines are quite aggressive and used to cast big flies and heavy sink-tips at closer ranges. These lines are available for single or double hand rods. They were first available as shooting heads, but now I also see them as a full lines with running line attached."

Video: Steve Rajeff describes the three main styles of spey casting

One of the biggest challenges in fly fishing photography is something you have the least control over: the weather. Fly fishing will take you to some sweltering locales and some downright frigid ones. No matter what the extremes, all can cause a problem for cameras when transitioning from your tent, cabin, or motel to the outside environment. Typically the temperature and humidity is such that simply taking your camera out from one to the another can cause lens fogging and internal condensation.

As I noted a couple of weeks ago, one solution is simply leaving your camera in the outside environment for a couple of hours before shooting. But another way -- favored by many pro photographers -- is to make a permanent home for silica gel or desiccants within a waterproof pack or bag.

These products can be bought at most high end camera stores and are fairly compact items, easily slipping in a camera bag. They range in price from anywhere from a couple of bucks up to $30 or $40 dollars and work by sucking the moisture off of items and containing it within themselves -- kind of like rice does in salt shakers.

But if you're like me, free is always better. I've found that my local pharmacy has an endless supply of silica gel and desiccants in every shape and size you could conceive of. Apparently almost every drug in the world comes packaged with them and pharmacists just throw them out. Next time you're in need of some camera drying magic simply roll on down to the pharmacy and ask for their extras.

As winter draws nigh, many anglers set the rod by the door and call it a season. But some don't. If you're the kind of fisherman who keeps an "ice line," then you already understand the importance of keeping warm.

Traditional layering wisdom focuses on the importance of using only synthetic fabric: after all, if you put a pair of cotton long johns on under even the most expensive polypropylene shell, you're still going to be wearing a sponge by the end of the day. However, thanks to some new (old) technology, we now need to add an important caveat. Not ALL organic fabrics are verboten for layering. In fact, wool is one of the best baselayer fabrics known to man.

Anyone who's ridden in a skiff much will tell you that usually longer is better when it comes to cutting through chop (witness the resurging popularity of canoe-style craft), but many of the same folks will also admit to fantasies of fishing in the smallest boat possible. Small boats like the 16' 10" Dolphin SuperSkiff have dominated tournaments over the years because they are nimble to pole and drive and burn minimal amounts of fuel.

Now Hell's Bay seems willing to push that envelope by building a 12' 9" Kevlar craft that poles in puddles and needs only a tiny motor to take you where you want to go. "With a 45 inch beam, the Skate, Hell's Bay's smallest craft, is made with tough Kevlar and weighs just 250 lbs. Its draft is a mere 3 ½ inches with engine and six gallons of fuel. Hell's Bay recommends a 9.9 or 15 hp two stroke tiller-steered outboard for power."

And yes, you can throw it in the back of a pickup.

In his latest podcast Tom Rosenbauer explains why you have fewer choices now than ever when it comes to choosing the number of pieces in your fly rod and suggests that while under-lining a fly rod almost never makes sense, there are several situations that make over-lining a sensible choice.

Excerpt: "There are three tips that I'm going to talk about this morning. One is 'Should I buy a two- or a four-piece rod?' The second is 'Should I always match the rod with the correct line size?' And then third -- which is kind of related to number two -- is 'Should I over- or under-line a fly rod?' Should I go one size lighter, one size heavier, and under what conditions would I do that?"

"Let's start with number one. Well, you don't have much choice these days in a lot of rod models. Because if you notice, for instance, all the new Orvis rods such as the Helios rod are all in four-piece. And there's a reason for this: you, as our customers, told us you wanted four-piece rods."

Do you ever feel like innovation in the fishing industry has slowed in the last few years? In the 1980s and 1990s, anglers saw the rise of Gore-Tex, the rapid advancement of graphite rod technology, and the explosion of the softgoods market, all of which revolutionized how we fish and the conditions we can treat as acceptable for fishing. In the 2000s, however, what has changed?

French couple Robert and Martine began driving around the world in 2005 in a 15-year-old Mitsubishi Canter and have since "driven through the northernmost reaches of Finland and sand dunes in the Middle East. They've spent a year and a half criss-crossing Australia. This latest leg of their journey began in June in Vancouver, British Columbia, and has taken them to Inuvik, far above the Arctic Circle, and now down into Montana." Of course Robert has taken every chance to fly fish along the way. Could that make the "wrong-sided" steering of the Mitsubishi somehow tolerable? Take a look at the picture, and somehow you begin to think that this vehicle might be the perfect transport for a fly fisher on the endless trip. The best part though? The travelers are spending about as much money traveling around the world as they would be "sitting at home doing nothing, Martine says, but paying for rent, lights, heat and other necessities." Vince Devlin in Montana's The Missoulian.

Reporter Kent Garber recounts Chouinard's decision to move away from industrial farming to organic products and notes that even the spiritual leader of Patagonia says nothing is truly "sustainable." "He is wearing a black Patagonia jacket, which holds a box of flies and might be mistaken for product placement were it a marquee product of practically any other company. But Chouinard, who is 70 but looks younger, doesn't care much about selling jackets these days."

Fernand Petzl made the first self-contained headlamp in 1973 using the elastic cut from garter belts purchased by his daughter-in-law. More than 35 years later, the family-owned company in the French Alps continues to tweak and improve products that help illuminate everything from tents to caves to fishing boxes for serious outdoors people.

Complete with a red LED to protect night vision while fishing, two new Petzl headlamp models offer 140 (Tikka Plus2, $39.95) and 160 (Tikka XP2, 54.95) hours of burn time. The Tikka XP2 also features a spring-loaded Wide Angle lens for quick transitions between flood and spot beams.

Read the full press release in the extended entry.

RIO Products just announced that they've brought out two new shooting heads for spey casters. Their new pale orange Skagit Flight heads weigh between 425 and 750 grains and increase in size every 25 grains, and the chartreuse green Skagit Short heads -- designed for shorter rods -- range from 275 to 525 grains and increase 50 grains per size.

Read the full press release in the extended entry.

"Fly fishing" isn't as easy to define as it seems at first, but one thing we do universally agree on is the necessity of an artificial lure, preferably made out of natural materials. Going by that definition, the aboriginal inhabitants of Santa Catalina Island (in the Solomons - not off California) may well have developed one of the earliest--and most amazing--methods of fly fishing ever.

I recently spoke to Rio Products's line designer, Simon Gawesworth, who's best known for his spey casting prowess (but who is also partly responsible for Rio's technological surge over the past few years.) I asked Simon about the differences between tippet offered as "IGFA" tippet and the stuff marketed as just plain-old tippet.

He explained that consistent break strength and consistent diameter are really separate things a manufacturer must control. Because tippet is formed from a hot, extrudable liquid, after all, it's not that surprising to learn that low-end tippet may not actually be the rated diameter (say, .006 inches for 5X, a trout standard), at least not consistently. Some of it may droop or extrude too thickly, or it may not cool consistently, etc. Thus, a diameter of .006 inches, Simon explained, would be more of an average the manufacturer would shoot for (this is especially true of lines manufactured for the spinning-reel market). The more expensive the tippet, the tighter the manufacturing controls (and the better the raw materials) and thus the more consistent the result.

"Everyone loves a good map -- particularly one that points the way to success on a favorite fishing river. So when Bill Perry applied his two decades of guiding experience to creating maps bearing a wealth of detail, anglers came running." In this morning's Denver Post, Charlie Meyers talks about Fly Fishing Tec's "River Guides," which combine USGS data, National Geographic software rendering and a veteran guide's experience into a laminted, split-ring resource.

For those of you not lucky enough to live in the sunny South, this is the time of year when things start getting pretty gloomy. Sure, you've still got your bird and deer hunting, and in a few months it'll be ski season, but let's face it; if you're on this site, it's because you're a fly fisherman, and for many of you, it'll be several months before you once again wet a line.

Educators discuss the probability that students regress over summer break, and it may well be that snowbound fly fishermen suffer from the same effect. Luckily, a couple years back the Echo Fly Rod company came out with the Micro Practice Rod ($40), which is basically the top half of a fly rod rigged up with heavy yarn for indoor casting.

Socks. Grandma's favorite Christmas present. The least exciting garment ever invented. Yet, if you talk to long-haul hikers as often as I do, also one of the most important items in your wardrobe.

Everyone knows what a pair of really bad cotton tube socks feels like after a day of tromping around in wet waders; sticky, wrinkled, smelly--like a wet dishrag on your feet. But have you ever treated yourself to a really excellent pair of new socks? If not, you owe it to yourself. SmartWool socks are readily available in almost any climbing store, and I certainly love them, but the pairs which have been the most impressive in my sock drawer come from Woolpower.

The first big article I ever put together was about using stripping baskets on a trout stream. At the time, I was using a stripping basket--basically, a big bucket you wear around your waist--to help manage line on rivers like the Clinch in East Tennessee, where really long drifts of really little nymphs can produce lots of trout in some pretty slow water.

Since then, I've largely abandoned my stripping basket fetish, mostly by teaching myself better line management techniques with my left hand. However, there are still many times when the basket is useful, especially for anglers using shooting heads who don't have boats (like most shore-based saltwater anglers). What should a stripping basket be?

I waffle back and forth on lanyards. On the one hand, they're incredibly handy when you're guiding (or pseudo-guiding, a situation I find myself in all too often). On the other hand, they tend to tangle, they rattle, they get hung in brush or hair, and they have just a whiff of pretension to guide status.

Lanyards are also frequently overkill. Most of us can make do with a couple spools of tippet, a pair of pliers or hemostats, and a nipper. For certain special situations, we might want to throw a wheel of split shot or some dry fly dope into the kit, but we rarely need both on the same day.

I've yet to find the perfect lanyard, but you can't go far wrong with Mayfly's excellent models, which are made of coated wire (so they stay splayed out), and which have a pad for your neck. My Mayfly (a Christmas present), usually has a couple unused hooks, but I put them to good use by catching a tippet spool horizontally above the rest of my gear (they now make a model with this feature built in - pictured). For grab-and-go angling, it's really the simplest method possible, and it's definitely handy when working with people who tend to tangle or lose flies frequently.

Let us know your thoughts on lanyards generally--or special ways you've tricked them out--in the Comments section!

I once dropped a $200 pair of Costa Del Mar sunglasses in a small creek in the Smokies and watched as they were swept away. The culprit was the $5 set of Wal-Mart sunglass retainers I had foolishly trusted to keep my expensive shades safe. Apparently the fine people at Wal-Mart thought it'd be a good idea to use a water-based glue for the rubberized strap end, and when that rubber end gave way, bang! Bye bye, shades.

Since then I've paid a lot more attention to the straps I attach to my shades. I've also watched other anglers, and I've noticed several types.

Ever wonder what would you get if you crossed the awesome brush-clearing power of a machete with the serious tree-hacking force of an axe? Probably not; but fortunately, way back in the 1930s, a Swiss architect named Frederick Ehrsam answered the question for us. His
"Woodman's Pal" tool has been used by everyone from fire-fighting crews on up to Vietnam War-era grunts (where it was part of the standard issue survival kit).

The secret to the Woodman's Palis its incredible, high-carbon steel, and considerable heft. Machetes are often too lightweight to do more than bounce off a tree of any size, while axes are poor brush-clearers and often won't hold much of an edge. The Woodman's Pal, on the other hand, can keep an edge even after heavy use for years (seriously!) and has enough weight to hack through just about any tree under 6" thick. We recently used a friend's Woodman's Pal on a camping trip to cut firewood into burnable sections. It performed essentially as well as a high-quality hand axe, while the bladed hook was useful for trimming branches and hacking our way through rubber-like rhododendron thickets.

You can order the Woodman's Pal from Cabelas, but the manufacturer's website offers much more info on its history as well as some upgraded models.

Have you used a Woodman's Pal to survive in the wilderness -- or shorten branches for trash pickup? Let us know in the Comments section!

You've probably heard about the new Federal Trade Commission rule on blogs by now. Bloggers, the feds say, need to be doing a better job of disclosing their conflicts of interest, primarily by revealing whether they're being paid for reviews, and whether that payment comes in the form of free gear (or, in the piratical industry term, "schwag").

Some enterprising person could take the ideas behind Bob Taylor's classic wading staffs and create a low-cost solution, complete with the proper weighting, cane tip and cord tether. If it's good enough for B.C.'s hardest core, it's probably good enough for us.

"The Taylor made staff was shoulder height, long enough to confer enough leverage upon its owner to enable him to push against heavy currents. On its top it had a black handle grip. For the shaft, Bob used a length of conduit with wood at the core and enough lead at the tip end to ensure that it sank quickly to the bottom." On TerranceStandard.com.

On a recent backpacking trip, a friend brought along one of the smallest camp-stoves I have ever seen. The Snowpeak Giga Stove is so tiny, you could mistake it for a lighter. (It fits in the white case to the side). At $35-50 depending on whether you get the stainless steel or titanium model, this is not an expensive campstove by any means, especially when you consider the weight tradeoff. We used it to prepare coffee in both ThinkSport and Nalgene bottles (with a nifty coffee-making insert). The stove also worked wonders on canned soup (a blessing after a day on the trail) and, being Southerners, instant grits for breakfast.

If you don't have a water source handy, you can always pack in your fluids, but fortunately for us, we're fishermen, so there's always water somewhere. When using river water for coffee or food prep, be sure to bring it to a boil for at least a minute before using it for cooking. That will ensure that even the dreaded giardia parasite is good and dead.

What's your favorite hot end-of-trail food? Know any tips on killing dangerous parasites? Let us know in the comments section!

Wading boots and hiking boots serve surprisingly different functions, considering that, after all, they're both footwear. A good wading boot needs to provide a stable surface underwater, so it often has an extra-wide sole (this is even more true of the new all-rubber models). The wading boot can't afford a lot of padding (which soaks up water and invasive species), and must be a bit large for the various sizes of neoprene booties which it must accomodate. Meanwhile, a hiking boot should fit you snugly, hug the ankle so you don't get blisters, and provide plenty of padding. Hiking boots should be waterproof, while with a wading boot that's irrelevant. Further, hiking boots need deep traction, while wading boots can't afford huge lugs that trap mud. Finally, hiking boots can be made of lots of natural materials like leather, while wading boots are better off sticking to synthetics.

Thus, testing a wading boot out by taking it on a 9-mile, two day hike (about half of it wading upriver), isn't exactly giving it a fair shake. However, I was pleased to find that the L.L. Bean Gray Ghost boots, new for 2010, held up remarkably well in some really exacting conditions.

Personally, I usually hate having to wear a hardshell fishing coat. For the last several years, the market for these jackets has been dominated by Patagonia (with the venerable SST Jacket) and Simms (with the as-venerable Guide Jacket). Those companies set the pattern of a hooded, waist-high jacket with voluminous gusseted front pockets and various places to hang bangles. Because hardshell fishing coats are really meant to be worn in some pretty specific, tough conditions, they oftentimes aren't all that comfortable. They have short waists (for deeper wading), tight cuffs, and they can be pretty bulky.

All of those objections to the general form aside, the Cloudveil 8X Pro Jacket is a worthy addition to the ranks of these special products. Because, my complaints notwithstanding, in order to do their job in the worst possible weather (snow and ice or driving rain, often for months at a time), these coats need to be rough and tumble, and comfort is usually not the most important consideration. For example, the 8X Pro has really tight, heavy neoprene cuffs hidden inside the sleeves, with a backup velcro strap to make them even tighter. Overkill? In Georgia, certainly, but in late September on Moraine Creek in Alaska? I don't think so - in those conditions you cannot afford to have your sleeves fill with water; it could even be a matter of life or death.

John Merwin reports on a biodegradable fishing line manufactured by Bioline (recently purchased by Wright-McGill). Even though the material is larger-diameter than most nylon tippets and may cost twice as much, does the environmental-friendless of the product make it the best choice for fly fishers? "The Bioline tippet does seem workable as a leader material. And unlike discarded or lost nylon--which is a substantial environmental hazard--it will biodegrade fairly quickly. (The makers say, by the way, that full strength is retained for 8 to 10 months.)"

I recently attended a wedding in Arkansas, where I served as one of the sixteen or so groomsmen (the groom tended to be the one hosting the parties in college). When you're buying gifts for that many buddies, you tend to reconsider the $50 money clip. Our groom made a real smart move and bought us all something we'll actually use: the new(ish) Nalgene Flask.

This 12 ounce gem is made of Nalgene's typical high density plastic, and it has some very smart features. The cap removes and becomes a one ounce shot glass (for, you know, "espresso"). There's an insulating sleeve to keep contents warm or cold, depending on your preference. The standard flask shape--apparently perfected by 19th century English prostitutes for sneaking gin onto docked Men o' War--means you can comfortably carry the bottle close to your body on extra-cold days.

Best of all, at only $7, this is one of the cheapest possible ways to bring one of life's comforts with you to the river. Just don't fill it with Hot Damn®. Trust me.

What's your favorite adult beverage to sip on a cold day at the stream? Let us know in the Comments section!

One of the things I like most about having the opportunity to blog here on MidCurrent is the chance to shine a spotlight on some of the smaller companies involved in fly fishing--the ones without marketing budgets, who nonetheless make great products. One such company is CND: "Custom Nobuo Design."

Nobuo Nodera (I believe his surname is reversed in the Japanese fashion) is an extremely well-regarded spey rod designer who once worked for Daiwa UK (where Daiwa's salmon fishing products are considered to be top rods). I got my hands on a 13' 6/7 CND "Expert" series Spey rod back in 2005. It's a black, traditional action (meaning flexible) two hander that I've used to catch several large rainbows and browns in Southern tailwaters like the Cumberland.

CND makes a full lineup of Spey rods, most with European touches like downlocking oversized reel seats and ceramic insert tip-tops. They also make a full lineup of Spey lines. I recently demoed an "E.L.F." (for "extra low friction") running line with a Skagit head in highly unusual circumstances. The Atlanta floods last week meant most streets were effectively streams for several hours. Having been sent home from work, I strung a seven-weight two hander with the E.L.F. line system and proceeded to boom spey casts where the neighborhood kids usually ride their bikes. The line's integrated loops meant it went through the guides like butter, and the slickness could not be beat.

CND makes a great product and has next to no ad budget. You owe it to yourself to get acquainted with their lineup at cndspeyusa.com.

Have you tried a CND rod in your local area? Know of a regional dealer for this little-known company? Let us know in the Comments section.

You ever wonder how much money a manufacturer makes on a $100 product? How much of that goes to the fly shop? Outdoor gear is expensive, after all, so it's a fair question.

Generally speaking, retail markup in the outdoor product industry is between 40% and 60%. That means a product you see on the shelf in a fly shop for sale for $100 probably cost the shop between $40 and $60 to buy themselves. Meanwhile, the manufacturer has to make money, too, and that means that whatever price the fly shop paid has been marked up significantly over the manufacturer's cost to make the product. How significantly? Well...

Moldy Chum posted a couple of videos by the Fish Schtick boys (Brian Bennett and Teeg Stouffer) shot at Denver's Fly Fishing Retailer show two weeks ago. In the first, Loop's Reid Zoller describes the advantages of the company's new saltwater X-Grip over standard full wells shapes. And Hobie's Morgan Promnitz talks about his company's Pro Angler Revolutionary "boat" -- which won "Best In Show" at this year's ICAST -- in the second.

Michael Gracie does a side-by-side comparison of the Simms Headwaters Waist Pack and the Moutainsmith Tour Pack, the first a fanny pack (can we still say that?) specifically designed for fishing, and the second a hiker's favorite that manages to score well as fishing gear. "Due to the scarcity of compartments, the Mountainsmith Tour feels big. Very big. It will comfortably fit four large waterproof C&F boxes in the main compartment (or two boxes and a philly cheese steak sandwich - I've given those up but it doesn't mean you have to) as well as odds and ends in the front pocket."

OK, maybe not "startling." But watch the video and you'll see what looks like a orbital escape device bringing a set of keys back to the surface in the demo for Waterbuoy, a new "Intelligent Miniature Floatation Device" being sold at MarineMart.com. While at first I chuckled at the notion of paying for more than the standard "traffic cone" to be sure my keys wouldn't be swallowed by the ocean, it made me think about what I might be getting for $9.99. This thing can bring an object that weighs one kilogram (2.2 pounds) -- e.g. most point-and-shoot cameras -- back to the surface, not to mention keep it afloat and illuminated for 24 hours. So I'm thinking, "Do I really mind spending $5 more for something that might enable me to rescue my $300 waterproof Optio W80 or VHF handheld from the drink?"

Well, as you have no doubt seen from the newsletter and the main page, our annual roundup of the Fly Fishing Retailer Show, "Four Feet of Anything," is now live and in prime time. If anyone wondered where the Gear Blog went for the last week, you have your answer.

Since the software doesn't allow your questions or comments directly in the article, please use this thread to fire off your new product rants and raves. If you're a manufacturer who is disappointed that we listed your ten-foot six-inch rod at a mere ten-feet even, feel free to send an email to info@midcurrent.com and we'll do our best to make the correction (after all, six inches can be mighty important).

The Gear Blog will be taking a well deserved break for a couple days, but should be right back in the mix by next week, so stay tuned.

You know the drill by now - fire away in the Comments section!

Lots of readers asked us by email how this year's Fly Fishing Retailer Show turned out. Our answer: manufacturers seemed more energized than last year, with products from designers who had clearly favored "smart" over "gimmicky."

A very short list of examples: Simms designed more effective bug-repellent fabric into their new shirts. St. Croix is building impressive rods that cost just over $100. Patagonia's created what may be the most bomb-proof duffel ever. Orvis is building thermoplastic-resin blanks for a new lower-priced rod series. And Scientific Anglers got Kelly Galloup to design some remarkable variable-sink-rate streamer lines. That's just a bit of evidence that fly fishers will have everything they need -- and more --in the way of improved gear for 2010.

We're happy to present the full picture in our annual review of new fly fishing products, "Four Feet of Anything."

In this week's "Fine Lines" segment, Phil Monahan answers the question What's So Hard About Gear Reviews? The role of subjectivity combined with the expense of testing, the long-time magazine editor says, make gear reviews an enormous challenge.

"If you ask the cynical wing of the fly-fishing community, they'll tell you that magazines don't review products because they are afraid of losing advertisers. (Although the cynical wing of the magazine business may respond, 'What advertisers?') The fact is, none of the top four or five magazines operates this way. There's no nefarious quid pro quo, in which editors agree to puff a product just to win advertising revenues."

Field & Stream columnist and MidCurrent editorial board member John Merwin notes the trend toward offering screw-in studs as part of manufacturer's "green sole" offerings, and suggests that despite being very unfriendly to your guide's drift-boat deck (don't try it), they put the 'grip' in grippy. "Most makers either are or soon will be offering hard-metal studs with rubber wading soles. These sharp metal points combine with rubber-sole lugs to give traction substantially better than felt on just about any wet surface. And they are considerably easier to clean."

One of my favorite things about attending the Fly Fishing Retailer Show is the chance to check out all the little accessories that people can come up with. A lot of times, this will be the only chance to see these items, because shop owners often will not restock with $5-10 items unless what they currently have is close to selling out of inventory.

This year's best tiny accessory in my opinion was the Loon Sharktooth Tippet Control System. This was basically an elastic band like those which come on Rio tippet spools; it has a small brass eyelet for the tippet to pass out of. Unlike the Rio system, it also has a small plastic bit attached to the elastic, which contains a (safety-conscious) razorblade. Basically, it's an on-spool tippet cutter: you draw the tippet out, then just pass it through the blade housing to snip it off.

You'd still need to carry regular snips, of course, to cut the tag ends of knots, but the Sharktooth is a simple, pretty inexpensive system which makes life easier without adding bulk. They come in a couple of sizes for different diameters of tippet, and they cost $5 each.

Matt Crawford reports in the Burlington Free Press that while almost every manufacturer has felt the chill of recession, the mood at Denver this week was even a little more upbeat than predicted. "'We're not seeing a huge influx of new products,' said [Angling Trade's Kirk] Deeter, "but the products that are coming out are really well researched, smartly designed and super focused."

Scientific Anglers' Sharkskin technology took the industry by storm when it was first announced, but the number of lines one could get with the treatment was very limited. The first tapers available also had quite a deep emboss, which made the lines extra loud and extra flesh-cutting. SA has now tweaked the design, making the embossing somewhat lighter, and has also spread the Sharkskin treatment almost throughout the whole range of Mastery-series tapers (distance casters in particular are clamoring for the 120' long competition line).

Probably the biggest new model, however, is the new Kelly Galloup-designed series, which builds on the Streamer Express lines. The older Streamer Express lines are best described as integrated shooting heads; they have thin running lines and heavier front sections, and they're great for getting really deep with really heavy flies. The new Galloup lines will have a three-step chemistry, with a floating running line, an intermediate rear taper on the head, and a heavy sinking head-to-tip section. The idea is to keep a fly swimming along just a foot or two below the surface on a level plane, instead of having it constantly trying to swim up to the surface. Better yet, the Sharkskin treatment will be applied to the lines through to the front section, where it will stop (demonstrating what many suspected: SA can control where and how much to Sharkskin on a line). That way, for short bank-bashing casts, all the Sharkskinned sections will be on the reel, reducing noise and potential guide wear when it is not needed.

Galloup's style of fishing by bashing the banks with articulated, large streamers, swimming just sub-surface, is akin to how competition bass anglers work a lake. And it really, really works, especially for big, aggressive brown trout. It's nice to see a guy like Galloup getting his fingers on the levers of design; he is talented and this line should be very useful.

Let us know your thoughts on Sharkskin and/or awesome mustaches in the Comments section!

Every year American Angler magazine hosts the New Product Preview section of the Fly Fishing Retailer Show, in which all the dealers are asked to vote for their favorite new products in each category. In the past they've been known as the 'Ka-Ching!' awards, but the format changed this year, so now they're called the 'Dealer's Choice.' This year's winners are:

Rods: The Scott S4s (Scott's new fast-action saltwater stick. I agree with the dealers: specifically in the 9- and 10-weights, this is the sweetest casting new rod I have thrown at the show).

Reels: The Nautilus NV 11/12 (a new entry in Nautilus' popular high-end line).

Accessories: The Sage Typhoon Boat Bag (a $99 waterproof top-access boat bag which looks particularly nice).

Fly Tying: The Petitjean TT bobbin.

Apparel: The Redington EcoGrip wading boot.

We'll have more information about these and other products from the show in our big round-up article "Four Feet of Anything." Look for it this coming week.

I'm a big fan of Fishpond's bags and packs, but I've commented before that the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach normally used by Fishpond can--at times--be overkill. For instance, my Dragonfly "chest" pack was one of the most stripped-down items I could find, and I can't imagine wearing it as a chestpack--I keep it in lumbar mode.

This year Fishpond is releasing the Havana Lumbar pack, which is just what the doctor ordered: it's stripped of all unnecessary features while retaining Fishpond's robust lumbar strap system (which is important when you start putting cameras or water or many boxes into one of these bags). It comes in two shades, both of them somewhat more understated, and it features a heavy-duty carry strap on top (the one thing my Dragonfly was actually missing.) The price is the same as the Dragonfly (which stays in the lineup): $69.

Do you love Fishpond's patterned jacquard aesthetic? Hate it? Let us know in the comments section.

Every few years, Sage upgrades and replaces their lineup of high-end saltwater rods. The series gets its DNA from the old RPLX, a strong, stiff-butted stick from Sage's early heyday designing some of the first fast-action (brown--always brown) fly rods. The RPLX was followed by the RPLXi, which adopted the blue-for-saltwater color scheme Sage has stuck to ever since. Next was the Xi2, and now we have the Xi3.

Sage bills this rod as being manufactured with "Salt H2O technology," which designer Jerry Siem explains is a shorthand way of stating that everything on the rod was designed exclusively for saltwater use (as opposed to being dual-purpose for, say, salmon or steelhead fisheries). Siem highlighted the component differences between the Xi3 and the older Xi2, such as a much stronger stripping guide with a thinner ceramic insert. The heavy duty Xi3 models (such as the 12 weight) very savvily have a longer reel seat skeleton, pushing the fighting butt (itself longer than the lighter models) further away from the reel foot. This gives room both for bigger reel diameters and also moves the reel away from the angler's belly, making it more comfortable to crank down on a big fish during a hard fight.

The blanks themselves primarily differ from the Xi2 they replace in their stronger mid-sections. Siem explained that the Xi3 should be able to pick up and deliver more line, for longer, without generating as much angler fatigue as the Xi2. Subjectively, I found the Xi3 to be very similar to the Xi2 in how it handled, but I think this is a hallmark of how good the Xi2 was more than any sign of a problem with the Xi3. Sage has always been known for making good saltwater rods; Xi3 is no exception.

Share your thoughts on the Xi3 in the Comments section!

You get the cool, you get the weird, sometimes you get both. We recently visited a super awesome restaurant in Dillon, Montana, about an hour or so from the Simms campus in Bozeman. The Taco Bus doesn't have a website (heck, I'm not sure it has a permanent location!), but it sure does make an awesome chorizo taco.

So I'm not saying the guys at Simms were inspired by the actual Taco Bus to make their interesting (and useful) new Headwaters Taco Bag, but there's a pretty good chance that Dos Equis were being consumed when the product was in the "design stage."

What you see is what you get: the Taco Bag is a wet wader bag which will hold up to two pairs of waders and boots. It's ventilated, and, well, it's shaped like a taco. You open it up on the ground, stand on the circle, de-wader, then zip it up and walk away. Simple; genius; cilantro $.30 extra.

Share your thoughts on Simms' delicious taco bag in the comments section!

Sunglass companies are hard to write about; they almost always have new products, but because they have one foot in the fashion industry and one foot in the gear industry, oftentimes their new products are little more than revisions to existing designs. Thus, I was really excited to hear that Smith Optics has a genuinely new technology to talk about: shades made out of castor beans.

Castor beans are best known for producing castor oil (which your grandma might have administered for certain digestive irregularities). However, the plant--like the soybean--has many uses, including being turned into an organic plastic called "Rilsan Clear." Smith's new "Evolve" series of shades is designed around the principle of being as green as possible. The plastic in the frames (but not the lenses) is based on castor plants, which are non-genetically modified and grown in as environmentally-friendly a fashion as possible. Because the lacquer commonly used to make sunglass frames shiny has some negative environmental consequences, these frames are all offered in matte. Smith has been extra-thorough about this; even the metal bits are polished with a water-based (rather than polyurethane based) finish. Thus, only the lenses themselves are derived from the petrochemical industry, allowing Smith to claim the shades are made of 53% green materials.

The resulting Evolve shades are slightly more expensive (about 20%) than the rest of Smith's lineup, but it's always the groundbreakers like this who eventually turn whole industries. The Evolve frames are offered as an option throughout the line, meaning almost all of Smith's styles are available in the new green treatment.

Let us know your thoughts on fly fishing's environmental push in the Comments section.

Ross Reels has a great new entry in the reel market--the Evolution LT. This redesigned Evolution frame is lighter than its predecessor, but more interestingly, it is built around a drag hub assembled entirely out of metal parts. The absence of dampening plastic in the hub core means the reel 'ratchets' along as you reel in; it is initially a bit unsettling but after a couple minutes to get used to it, you begin to really like it. The ratchet feels solid, like a Swiss watch, and it should aid anglers by providing tactile feedback when reeling. "Haptics" like this are huge in the electronics industry, and it's cool to see fly fishing manufacturers paying attention (even if the benefit might have been accidental).

The Evolution LT comes in six models which will cost $245 to $315. They are available in Ross's "0" through "4" sizes (which translate to a range between a one weight and a nine weight.)

Let us know your thoughts on the new Ross Reels in the Comments section!

I mentioned yesterday that C&F Design has some tricks up its sleeve to try to keep one step ahead of the copycats (who are getting very good). This year's cool new innovation is a clear lid, made out of the same ruggedized plastic material as the other boxes. Available for the present only in the waterproof large and waterproof medium size classes, the lids at the show cover tarpon fly boxes and a dry fly box. They are not exactly 100% clear; rather, they look like a semi-opaque window such as you might have on a front door. However, they are definitely clear enough to make out what flies you have left, and whether that was in fact your last Toad you just left stuck in the jaws of a tarpon when you farmed that last set. (Hypothetically, of course--no Midcurrent reader would ever be guilty of, er, such bad luck.)

C&F's distributors here in the US also acknowledged that design is underway for a waterproof version of the really big fly boxes which became popular two or three years ago. According to the source, the designers have some technical hurdles ahead of them, so we should not expect to see a C&F Design briefcase box until at least 2010, maybe 2011.

Finally, Richard Wheatley company has added some flair to their classic (and classically beautiful) metal boxes, using a new screen printing technology to fuse beautiful fly and fish photography with the box lids. The guys at Wheatley are known for their attention to detail: the screen printing even runs inside the box. My favorite is a closeup of a brown trout skin, which looks simply exquisite. Look for these to be piled up on the fly shop counter by Christmas.

One of the coolest things about the FFR show is that you sometimes get a glimpse of stuff that isn't available this year, and may not be available next year, but is coming *some time*. For instance, one of the major rod manufacturers let slip that they will be exploring some older rod building materials (I'm guessing fiberglass) in an upcoming lineup of mainstream rods. The slowest rods on the market now are really not that slow, meanwhile fiberglass in particular has gotten much lighter and speedier (and as always, it's darn near unbreakable).

Buff Headgear has two sets of prototype Buff sun gloves here at the show; one for bluewater use and one for more conventional use. The prototypes are backed in ordinary Buff material--the UV-resistant kind--and they have palms similar to Foot Joy golf gloves. The bluewater model straps on to your wrist like a baseball hitter's glove, and has padding and non-slip grippy material in the palms for hours-long fights with tunoids or marlin species. Meanwhile, the conventional gloves seem a little overbuilt for the present, again with full hand padding, but Buff acknowledged that their working prototype will probably get lighter before this product comes to market. The gloves are pretty slick; they are fingerless but have little backwards-facing pockets at the tips, so you can quickly take them off by hooking the fingers of your other hand into the pockets and pulling. It works very well.

Have questions about upcoming prototype products you may have heard rumors of? Share them in the comments section and we'll try to get to the bottom of it.

People familiar with how inexpensive it can be to source plastic fly boxes have been commenting for several years that C&F Design's reign at the top could not last forever. Those people were right. This year's show boasts no fewer than two new fly box entries which seem at first glance (and then at second, third and fourth glance) to be C&F Design waterproof boxes. These copies are really good; they are made of the same high-density plastic as the original boxes, come in the same shades of tan and gray (for now), have slit foam, and essentially the same rubber gasket system as the original.

Best of all, they are about half the price of the equivalent C&F Design: $20-28 retail depending on the level of customization your local fly shop puts on them. The first box is offered to shops by Angler's Sport Group (but will probably be re-badged for sale to actual anglers), while the second is offered by TFO parent company Springbrook.

Close examination of the ASG model honestly revealed only one noticeable difference from the equivalent C&F: a valve to allow you to squeeze the air out of the box prior to clasping the locking clip. This unobtrusive little hole was only noticeable because the plug which fits into it (on the clip), is somewhat sharp and gouged my finger the first time I used it.

Honestly, boxes like this make it very hard to justify the cost of an original C&F Design. C&F has some tricks up its sleeve, however, which we'll discuss in a later post.

Fly boxes have always generated tons of angler comment here on Midcurrent. Air your thoughts and questions in the Comments section!

Cloudveil seems to have decided to update and consolidate its existing market positions (translation: everything old is new again, but none of the new things break any radical new ground, as Cloudveil did by introducing its Crystal Creek wader pant back in 2007). They've streamlined a lot of existing models, unquestionably upgrading every product their designers have tackled.

For instance, the revised Hellroaring softshell coat now sports a hood and radio-welded pocket seams (making it even lower profile than before), for the same $200 as last year's model. The 8X Jacket has morphed into a completely new high-end coat, the Snake River Pro Jacket, which is a lighter-weight model using the new Gore-Tex Pro Shell fabric (meaning it won't quite stand up on its own, like a brand new 8X might have).

Probably the coolest new product is the Gros Ventre (pronounced "Grow Vahnt") Wader, a $200 lightweight model made with four-layer "Cloudburst Emergence" (a proprietary fabric) up to the waist, and "Cloudburst 2.5" in the upper. (Cloudburst 2.5 sports a special coating that gives it the extra half-layer kick, according to Cloudveil's reps). Functionally, the upper part of the wader is much lighter weight and a darker green color (giving the whole wader a two-tone effect, which is actually a throwback to their original 2005 designs which never made it to market). This upper rolls down and darn near disappears into a built-in pocket at waist level, making conversion very simple and clean.

Have questions about proprietary fabric versus Gore-tex? Let us know in the Comments Section!

Temple Fork Outfitters took a page out of Echo Fly Rods' book from last year, introducing a new lineup of kids' rods called the "Bug Launcher" series. Available in a seven foot four/five weight and an eight foot five/six weight, these rods retail for only $80 and sport small, composite grips (meant for young hands).

The thing is, these rods really don't need to be classified as just a children's rod. Unlike Echo's Gecko kids' rods, which are great but intentionally child-like in their design, using multi-colored foam grips, yellow blanks, and with a fighting butt (for really small kids to get a second hand grip on the rod), the new TFO Bug Launchers are more appropriately knocked-down adult rods. They are also well-named; the 7' 4/5 weight is capable of eighty foot casts and is a suprisingly fine roll-casting rod.

I could see a parent buying an Echo Gecko for a truly young child, say 5-8 years old. Then, when the kid gets old enough to handle a fly rod with one hand, and maybe progresses past the bluegill pond, he or she could move up to a Bug Launcher (which frankly would serve mom or dad perfectly well as a light traveling backup rod). Either way, it's nice to see two cost-sensitive options for getting kids fishing, which as we all know is more critical than ever.

Have you taken a kid fishing lately? Let us know in the Comments section!

We're live at the Fly Fishing Retailer Show in Denver, Colorado right now (in fact, I am sitting inside an Airstream trailer in the Simms area; this is where many of the fly shops order their yearly inventory supplies. Simms has very generously donated internet for us to blog for you all.) Throughout the next three days, we'll be bringing you live updates on some of the most unique items we can find at the show.

First up, Scott Fly Rods' bizarre, and bizarrely awesome, new "Fiberhammer Two Hand Assist," rod, a 10'6" fiberglass switch rod. The rod is four pieces, with sleeve ferrules on the bottom two joints (for structural support according to Scott's Ian Crabtree), and an internal ferrule (like that on the G2) at the tip junction (to allow for a lighter tip feel).

In my admittedly poor attempts at spey casting the rod on the cramped casting pool, I was able to deliver snake rolls and switch casts to 80' easily. Meanwhile, the rod really comes into its own with an overhand delivery (using the left hand to haul on the line). At 10'6", it's still entirely feasible to throw this rod overhand. I hesitate to speculate on the total distance one could reach with this system, but I know it's well over 100'. For steelheaders in the Pacific Northwest and also white bass fishermen in my native Arkansas, this is a spectacular stick.

The Fiberhammer ($625) is black with silver wraps and an unsanded (but glossy) "snakebelly" finished blank.

Have questions you want us to relay to the manufacturers at the show? Share them in the Comments section and we'll do our best to get them answered!

This is a reminder about the big weekend coming up. The annual Fly Fishing Retailer Show starts tomorrow, Thursday, September 10, and will run through Saturday, September 12, in Denver. While the trade show is not open to the general public, Midcurrent will be there and we will be updating the Gear Blog live from the show throughout all three days, leading up to our annual FFR roundup, "Four Feet of Anything."

Don't forget to tune in several times a day to check for updates on new products from manufacturers like Patagonia, Simms, Cloudveil, Sage, Scott, Orvis, St. Croix, Ross Reels, and more!

Simms Fishing Products always releases a spate of new products around the time of the Fly Fishing Retailer Show, and this year is no exception. Word has come through the grapevine that Simms' new wader will be an updated, ruggedized Guide Pant from their G3 series, priced at about $380. Water-resistant pocket zippers and a true waterproof fly make the wader easy-access, while the belt system has been redesigned from last year's Rivertek Wader Pant to be more like a conventional set of drawers.

Better yet, Simms has opted to include the full "Guide" specs, meaning five layer Gore-tex to the knee (dark gray, pictured), with three layer above. Speaking as someone who has worn the last-edition Simms Guides in waist-high mode for the last three years, I couldn't be more thrilled. This is exactly the high-end, heavy-duty wader pant model that guides and hiking anglers have been calling for. While the waterproof zippers may add cost (and the jury is--as always with zippers--still out on their effectiveness), the overall strength of this build makes it exactly the model many of us would have designed for ourselves (effectively, a cut-down 2006-era Guide Wader with pockets and a fly).

All in all, this promises to be a very strong entry from Simms. While not every angler will care (and the price will surely scare off some who might have cared), those of us who use waist highs have finally got the Cadillac model which the market has been missing.

Share your thoughts on the new Simms wader--or waist-highs generally--in the Comments section!

The annual Fly Fishing Retailer show kicks off Thursday in Denver, and MidCurrent will be there for three days asking questions, testing product and getting a first-hand look at all the new fly fishing gear that will go on sale this winter. Personally, I'm looking forward to casting Orvis's new Hydros rods, Scott's 2010 S4 models, and just about anything in the St. Croix Imperial line. (I actually need to find a four-piece one- or two-weight that I can pack into Rocky Mountain National Park, and to take bike-fishing.) I also want to try on Simms's new pant-style waders and throw on one of Cloudveil's new fishing packs. If this year is anything like the last few, we'll end day three with sore feet and a last-minute dash to cover gear that didn't get on the pre-show radar.

We're also looking forward to asking manufacturers and marketers some focused questions from MidCurrent readers, as we do every year. Besides finding out how rod-makers will adjust to the success of mid-priced fly rods, who might win the fully-featured-vs-utilitarian wader wars in 2010, and whether sticky rubber soles are here to stay (with cleats?), we'd like to answer your questions to the product folks. So feel free to send them our way at info@midcurrent.com, or to post your question below.

We'll be blogging throughout the show -- hopefully even from the Convention Center floor -- and of course following up with our annual "Four Feet of Anything" new product review article once the show is over. We'll do our best to address your questions one way or another.

Scott Fly Rods has a fairly predictable schedule: they make a new fast-action stick one year (most recently, the S4), and then they follow up with a saltwater version the next year, to which they add an 's' (most recently, the S3s). (Meanwhile, they also run some weirder rods through their 'Concepts' line; rumor has it this year's rod is very weird indeed). Typically, the saltwater 's' stick will resemble the freshwater rod but be stiffer and faster.

This year Scott seems to have tweaked the formula a little bit. Yes, there is a new S4s; yes, it is a fast-action, high end saltwater version of the S4. But the tapers do not seem to have the radically stiffer nature of some earlier 's' models from Scott.

The S4s has a Type-III anodized seat (akin to Lamson's Hard Alox coating, darn near indestructible), as well as REC Recoil guides, which bounce-back when you flex them. This added flexibility reduces stiff spots on the blank, making the rod very smooth. Unlike some Scotts, these come with conventional sleeve ferrules instead of the internal ferrule on, say, the G2. They are gray like the S4 with teal blue highlight wraps (see picture).

I've test-casted the 7, 8 and 9 weight S4ses, and they are really smooth, with slightly softer tips than I remember from the S3s, but more power. (In fact, after a Friday night with friends--good casters all--we took the party outside and threw the S4s rods in the street. Despite our mild inebriation, the rods were incredibly accurate and surprisingly long, especially paired with Rio's newest Bonefish line.) I feel comfortable saying this is the best saltwater Scott I have ever thrown.

Have a comment on Scott Fly Rods or the new S4s? Share it with us in the Comments section.

According to Thursday's press release, "Andy will manage pre-production design, field testing and product launch of Hardy's new saltwater rods and reels."

Read the full press release in the extended entry.

On our recent trip to Yellowstone, we found ourselves in need of arguably the greatest benefit of modern civilization: hot coffee. It was sub-freezing, barely dawn, and all we had was a tent camp, a hiking stove, and a metal tea ball I'd picked up at a Restoration Hardware. All in all, the tea ball worked pretty well, better than "campfire coffee" (i.e., just throwing the grounds in and grimacing after each swig). But, the coffee got cold almost immediately in our paper cups, and frankly, brewing tea ball after tea ball of coffee was annoying and inefficient.

What I needed was one of the new ThinkSport bottles (my review model missed me by a day as I headed to the Park). These things are genius. Conceived initially as an answer to the discovery that popular water bottles, including those made by Nalgene, contained (until last year) trace amounts of bisphenol A, which has been linked to cancer in some studies, the folks at ThinkSport did us one better. Instead of a single-walled metal bottle, they made a vacuum-sealed double wall model, which most of you would recognize as a "Thermos" (technically, a brand name). They're available in 750ml ($20) and 350ml ($16) sizes (a standard wine bottle is 750ml and--somewhat surprisingly--they hold the same amount, though they look smaller).

Orvis has just pulled the curtain up on their new lineup of rods for 2010: the Hydros (pictured). Perhaps sensing that the economy is not quite what it once was, the boys from Manchester have made a series of very good decisions to essentially bring the popular Helios into reach of the masses. The new rods will cost $495 for all freshwater models and $525 for all saltwater models. They are going to be available in every weight class that Helios comes in, with the exception of the switch rods. According to Orvis' Tom Rosenbauer, they're built on the exact same tapering and scrim technology as the Helios rods, with many of the exact same mandrels used as forms.

Many anglers get away with a net they can strap to their backs; for stocked trout or wild mountain brookies, this is perfectly adequate and sensible. But there's a certain class of anglers who need something more; yes, the big fish catchers are part of it, but also photographers, guides, and hiking anglers. All of these people benefit differently from having a big ass net. Guides need the long handles on "boat nets" to help net fish that inexperienced anglers may not have under solid control. (Further, those long handles help a lot in actual boats). Photographers need larger nets to serve as temporary aquariums while getting cameras set up and ready for photos. Longer handles let assistants comfortably manage the fish while the photographer gets prepared. Hiking anglers can use larger nets as combination walking staffs, eliminating the need to carry two bulky items.

I've been using headlamps for years, going way back to the early '90s when I was briefly into caving in Arkansas. The earliest headlamps were mounted to helmets for miners (and sometimes contained explosive kerosene). By the time I came along, size had been reduced from neck-wrenching to merely cumbersome (my first incandescent model took four AA batteries and required more of a head net than a band).

Headlamps for fishing should do a few things well: (1) they need to throw enough light to see the trail in front of you; (2) they need to be compatible with hats, (3) they need to be light and long-lasting, and (4) they need to not spook fish. The degree to which current headlamps attain this varies greatly.

Few things in fly fishing are routinely as disappointing as your ordinary nippers. This is one of the few product categories that the manufacturers just haven't seemed to ever get completely right. On the one hand, you have your budget snips, like the Dr. Slick nippers I used for years--usually these are built on nail clipper designs, and while they work fine for heavier tippet, gaps in where the teeth meet and cheap metal mean your chances of cutting anything smaller than 5X cleanly soon dwindle to nil.

On the other hand, you have your expensive clippers, like the Fishpond Pitchfork model (the most expensive ones I'm aware of at $22, pictured). Fishpond's Pitchfork is advertised as a long-term solution with stainless steel blades. While Fishpond's products are usually excellent, I haven't gotten any longer-term use out of my Pitchforks than any previous pair of much cheaper nippers (usually, about a year before I start cussing every time I tie on a fly). This is especially frustrating as the Pitchforks have removable blades (which could presumably be sold much cheaper than the machined aluminum body), yet these blades are not available separately.

Blade technology is not expensive: disposable razorblades make it obvious that cheap, sharp cutting solutions are out there. What we have here is a golden opportunity for a savvy product designer to come up with a system of *replaceable* nipper blades, possibly on a system like the Fishpond Pitchfork. Any sharp edge will eventually wear down, and anglers clearly don't mind paying for a quality product: someone needs to provide it.

Do you bite the tag end off your #22 midge knots with a single, razor-sharp tooth, kept carefully filed each night? Know of a pair of nippers that miraculously will not wear out? Let us know in the Comments section!

If you're looking for the winner of the 'Longest Name for Simplest Product' contest, you've come to the right place. Chances are pretty good that Tiemco's "Dry Magic Super Power Fly Floatant" lost a little in translation over at the marketing department (then again, I've been known to eat the 'Super Protein Power Bomb with Crunchy Fry' down at the local sushi joint, so maybe the marketing works).

Whatever you call it, this is some seriously good bug dope. Tiemco represents this as one of the only floatants on the market that will work with cul du canard (French for "duck's ass" - a special feather from the duck's preening gland which usually needs no floatant at all due to its very hydrophobic oils). As any CDC fan knows, after a while even the magic of duck butt can no longer keep the fly going, and that's where this stuff comes in.

I recently used the DMSPFF on Slough Creek in Yellowstone. Its long, pen-shaped tube is excellent for storage, and it improves on standard Gink in having a triple-reinforced lid retainer (eventually, all plastic pop off lids, from contact solution to Gink, will fail, but this should delay the inevitable). Best of all the float is truly "Super Powered." One application to some very absorbent hopper patterns kept them afloat for hours, and the stuff stuck to 6X tippet for greased-leader fishing like I have never seen. While it's about three times more expensive than Gink, you can't really complain all that much about a $9 product, especially when it works this well.

Do you dip your sushi in soy sauce, wasabi, and Dave's Bug Float before consumption? Let us know in the comments section!

Every angler has one thing he'll always need, regardless of how minimalist he may be: he has to have somewhere to store his flies. Frugal types like Altoid tins and Morell foam boxes, while traditionalists prefer Wheatleys and technogeeks like the Japanese C&F Design plastic models (pictured, left). While it's true that ultimately a fly box is just somewhere to put flies, that's like saying a reel just stores line--it's not the whole story.

The number one thing a fly box should do well is protect its contents; around water, that usually means keeping away the rust. Classic boxes like the Richard Wheatley hinged series (some of which are more than 100 years old) look absolutely great (pictured, below right), but they're poor at water protection. Dunk a Wheatley, and you better get everything out to dry, or pretty soon all your hooks will crumble to brown dust (I speak from long experience). Cheapo plastic Planos also have a rust problem, not to mention that if you slip and fall on one, it'll shatter (guilty)! Metal Wheatleys also can crumple like tin cans if you fall or sit on them, but they at least have the advantage of being able to be more or less hammered back into shape. Meanwhile, Morell foam boxes are light, cheap, and have ingenious magnetic closures; unfortunately they also are prone to crushage, even in normal carrying conditions, and they have no water barrier whatsoever.

From time to time it's worthwhile to take a look back at the products we use most often and like best and ask ourselves, "Why is this product working for me when others didn't?" A prime example of that--to me--is the Cloudveil Hellroaring softshell jacket ($200). Cloudveil came into the fly-fishing market in 2005 with a strong background in the ski market. The Jackson, Wyoming based company built its reputation on the creative use of Schoeller Softshell fabrics. Softshell differs from Gore-Tex and other breathable materials in that it is not 100% waterproof. Rather, it is water-resistant, with a very high evaporation rate, meaning the cloth stays dry so long as the rain or snow falling on it doesn't pass your body heat's ability to evaporate the water off of it.

The Hellroaring jacket was announced last year. By my count it was the second softshell jacket to enter the fly-fishing market (after Sage's very successful 2007 Skagit River model, which won a number of awards, including an American Angler Ka-Ching! award in that year).

The big problem, to me, with fly fishing clothing, is that practically every garment screams "fly fisherman!" With huge gusseted pockets for boxes, little hooded retractor holders, and rod-holding loops, the typical fly fishing shell is awesome for on-the-water use and not so good for wearing to a football game. Cloudveil essentially inverted these features with the Hellroaring coat: the pockets are large enough to hold a large CF Designs flybox, but they are on the inside, hidden. There's a net-holding loop but no retractor holders. There is no hood. The cuffs are especially well-thought out. A tight, nylon-gasketed inner wrist cuff keeps wind gusts and water from rushing up sleeves, while a cosmetic outer cuff lets the sleek look of the sleeve run all the way over the wrist. Scallops on the ends of the sleeves take the softshell material over the back of your hand, which is great when wearing gloves to keep everything tucked properly. Also typical for Cloudveil, the main zipper is backwards, teeth-inwards, giving the front of the jacket a sleek look at no extra cost, and obviating the need for any kind of zipper-cover to keep fly line from catching on open teeth.

Finally, the Softshell material itself is warm, comfortable, fashionable, stretchable, and in my experience more or less waterproof unless you're standing in a downpour. It's also machine-washable and has a lengthy DWR treatment coating. My one complaint is that the stretchiness of the fabric allows it to snag grit from tree bark, making long stains that have to be washed out whenever I go climbing through the rhododendron tunnels. All in all, it's one of my favorite coats.

Do you have a favorite fly fishing jacket? What do you like most about it? Let us know in the Comments section.

Not long ago, while attending a bachelor party on the White River in Arkansas, I saw something I haven't seen in quite a while: a fishing vest. Now I know the fishing vest is far from dead; it remains a stalwart of tackle companies' sales. But the vest has definitely reduced its presence from the heady days of the 1990s, when a fisherman's vest defined him as a fisherman.

Remember when you could tell just by looking whether a guy was a gear hound (ex: Orvis Battenkill Pro Guide--enough capacity for a traveling circus), a minimalist (ex: Patagonia Mesh Master Vest--see through/sweat through) or a techie (Simms Guide Vest--a place for every bangle, made of sacrificed Apollo astronaut suits*).

Nowadays, especially with the under-40 crowd, you just don't see that many vests. Hip packs, backpacks, chestpack/backpack combos - these have replaced the vest entirely on some water and are increasingly becoming the norm. I myself have two quality vests hanging in a closet that I never use.

What are the reasons for this transition? Have anglers all become minimalists to some degree? Or is it just that the last aftershocks of The Movie (which defined a fly fisherman's ensemble as nothing else ever has or will) have finally worked themselves out?

* Ok, I can't back that up.

Let us know your thoughts in the Comments section: we'll conduct an informal poll and see how many of us are still vest wearers-and why those who wear them still cling to tradition. In a later post I'll use your feedback to evaluate the best vests on the market.

Some may call it sacrilege, but there are times on the water when I long for music. Fans of the podcast will know I enjoy eclectic acts like Old Crow Medicine Show and Or, The Whale; to me, there is no better place to rock out than in a drift boat on a slow, hot day in the summer. Because let's face it: the fish don't bite all the time.

I've been in boats with two different anglers who had this all figured out. Rather than lug around a car battery or a boombox, they got set up with some of the new portable MP3 players. The best I've heard (for boat use) is the Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere 2 ($149, pictured), which produces a wonderful, sweet sound and is remarkably loud for such a small device. It also has an advertised 10-hour battery life, which is more than enough to get through the slow parts of a day on the water. With a relatively small size, it's easy to stow and keep dry through the hairy bits of the float.

Meanwhile, probably the best sound you'll find on the market (out of a portable device, anyway) comes from the Bose SoundDock Portable ($399). The only problem I see with this bad boy is the fear of getting it wet. As a general rule, you probably shouldn't take anything offered with a financing plan down the river, unless it's a boat.

Would you rather be impaled on a cane pole than pollute the beauteous sounds of nature with rock music? Let us know in the Comments section!

Chances are you've never heard how difficult polyethylene canoes are to fix; this isn't the kind of thing that comes up until long after you've plunked down your $1,000 or so on a boat. Polyethylene--used in canoes like the popular Old Town Discovery series, as well as in kayaks and even newer driftboats--has lots of advantages: it is flexible, relatively cheap, and moldable into more shapes than fiberglass or kevlar. It has become the plastic of choice for most unpowered boats.

Historically, polyethylene boats have had about a 20-25 year lifespan. After that time, they dry out and cracks "spiderweb" across them. Most canoes are of three-layer construction, so typically only the outside layer will begin to actually flake away. Still, this is a major safety hazard should you hit a rock. Meanwhile, out-and-out splits in the hull can be fixed by plastic welding, but it isn't cheap and you have to have a kayak shop handle the repair.

With a fiberglass canoe or drift boat, you can simply patch over any cracks with more fiberglass and epoxy. However, polyurethane-based epoxies (as most are) have a hard time adhering to polyethylene. Until recently, there was no truly reliable glue on the market for bonding a patch to a polyethylene boat.

Truth be told, I am a huge classic Hardy fan. You wave a pre-war lead-finished Perfect with a well-loved patina in front of my face, and I'll start drooling like it was a rack of steaming ribs (and I love ribs). In recent years Hardy has had a bit of a Janus-like personality; on the one hand, they have returned many of their classic models to production, while on the other they have struck out with some truly unusual modernistic designs. Both lines are excellent, but to me the classic reels are truly exceptional.

For those who aren't Hardy aficionados, the appeal here may be non-obvious. Classic Hardys, after all, have classic drags; they also look old-fashioned. The thing is, as anyone who has ever used a Hardy will attest, you really don't need a cork disc drag to subdue a trout (or even a salmon). Few reels have the sonorous qualities of a vibrating Hardy with line going out; they are tuned like an instrument and truly musical.

Hardy's original lead-based finishes are now (justifiably) banned due to environmental concerns; their new finishes make use of creative anodization and are far more durable than the mid-1970s paint Hardy used once the lead was gone. Better still, the new reels are machined with computers out of bar stock aluminum (instead of being die cast) and have tighter tolerances than ever.

This year Hardy is bringing back four classic reels: the Princess (a four-reel series similar to the Lightweight, in 5-7 weights, from $225-295), the St. George (two highly-desirable reels on the classic market, in 3" and 2 9/16", at $795, available in two finishes), the St. George Hotspur (pictured) (a 4 1/4" salmon behemoth based on the original 1921 model, unusual in having two cranks), and finally the Salmon Perfect (4" and 4 1/4" of Spey-rod balancing bliss, and the series that wrote Hardy its original meal ticket).

Both the Salmon Perfect and the St. George Hotspur are available now, while the St. George and Princess series will be released in November 2009 and January 2010, respectively.

If you're anything like me, you have a lot more fly lines than you do reels and spare spools. Consequently, I'm always switching lines around. I've tried just about every cheap fix to help aid me in winding and unwinding spools; from using my fingers (slow, awkward), to a power drill and duct tape (better in theory than in reality). Thus, I am thrilled--just thrilled--to see Rio Products's elegant, cheap new solution. The Cranky is a $10 plastic crank that fits Rio's (and only Rio's!) line spools. It uses the square hole in the center of said spools as a gripping point, and it has a small handle that sticks out the other side so you have something to turn against.

From now on, instead of pulling off line in carefully-stacked piles (and punting the cat if he gets too close), I'll be able to simply drop a reel in a hat (or bowl, or laundry hamper), run the line through a tensioner (a book works nicely), and crank it right back onto the spool.

Rio was fast enough to get out a review model for me and I can say that it absolutely works like a charm. The only thing I would change would be to extend the stationary "grip handle" on the opposite side of the crank so I could really hold on tight; at its present length, it works just fine but you have to sort of grip with the ends of your fingers. I was told by Rio's reps that they agree, but that increasing the size of the handle would have driven up the cost of the product due to the molds used. Keeping a low price is the most important thing with this kind of product: overall, I am thoroughly impressed.

Look for the Cranky in flyshops in the next few weeks.

Have you ever been forced to cut the Gordian knot when trying to swap out fly line spools? Let us know in the Comments section!

Understandably, 2010 is going to see far more companies consolidating what they do well rather than blazing new trails. Tibor Reels announced its biggest new product addition back in the spring (due largely to popular demand, according to company reps). When the Tibor Spey series (pictured) was introduced at the Fly Fishing Retailer Show last year, it was available only in a 11-15 weight model. In March, the 8-10 weight size debuted and has already begun to trickle out to fly shops. Tibor Spey reels are laser-etched (this differs from the painted anodization process used by other companies), and have the huge capacity necessary for spey fishers to hold their bulky lines and balance their long rods.

Meanwhile, Tibor will also be adding a new design to its popular series of fish engravings: the Freshwater Bass. Tibor's fish drawings are handcrafted exclusively for their reels and have to be drawn multiple times in order to be custom-matched to the various anodizations they offer.

Have a favorite Tibor reel? Let us know in the Comments section!

Some anglers never have any use for GPS; they fish well-marked rivers in areas with excellent maps. But not everyone's local water fits that profile; in the Appalachians from Georgia to Maine, in the Bighorns or the Wind River Range, and in large swathes of our national parks, it's still extremely possible to get lost. The worst places for losing one's sense of direction are forested mountains; the trees keep you from getting your bearings, while practically every little creek looks the same as every other little creek. In those situations, GPS is very useful.

Deciding on GPS units can be complicated: Do I need a radio? What about a color screen? Will I use the voice navigation? Should I get a trail model only, or a road/trail model that can do double duty? Here's a quick run down, drawn from my experiences with my GPS units, the Garmin Nuvi series ($100-300) and the Garmin Rino 520HCx ($450).

One thing you have to hand to fly fishing manufacturers: they are not afraid to build a whimsical product. Last year at the Fly Fishing Retailer Show, Abel Reels brought a poker table--and handed out custom-engraved aluminum poker chips instead of business cards.

Two of the best known pieces of useful marketing schwag are the Simms Thirsty Trout ($6) and the Hatch Reels Fish Tail ($20) bottle openers. Having the opportunity to use fishing-themed bottle openers on a regular basis is one of the highlights of working for MidCurrent, so I'd say I'm qualified to evaluate these two contenders in a head-to-head matchup.

In the left corner, the Simms Thirsty Trout weighs in at about as much as a pack of Post It notes. Being made of cheaper aluminum helps keep the costs down, while the paint can flake off with heavy use (whether that's a bug or a feature depends on your perspective). The trout's tail is a remarkably usable lever considering how little they had to modify the famous Simms logo. Bonus points for cutting an eyehole/key-ring adapter.

Meanwhile, to my right, the Hatch Fish Tail is actually machined like a reel, and has Hatch's trademark paint-within-etching finish. The whole tail is a lever, providing enough torque to pop the top on the gnarliest Oregon microbrews. The machining is so nice, this product might increase your bar tab: no PBR is fine enough for this beauty.

And the winner is...

The Simms Thirsty Trout! In the bottle-popping world, price beats quality every time. The Thirsty Trout's keychainable profile and logo heritage help it to punch above its weight class, while the Hatch Fish Tail may be just a little too fine for its own good.

Do you gnaw the bottle caps off your brew with the same broken tooth you use to cut tippet? Let us know in the Comments section!

Eric Sharp points out that U.S. automakers seem to pay less and less attention to features that might appeal to those actually participating in outdoors activities like hunting and fishing, and suggests that there's plenty of room for lower-priced, well-thought-out designs. Remembering a recent auto show, he says "Why not build a vehicle that's really designed for outdoors people and instead of tarting it up with leather seats, high-end stereo systems and similar useless bling, give us stuff we can really use while keeping the price down." In the Detroit Free Press.

Sharp's comments reminded us of last spring's terrific article by Kit Kiefer in The New York Times about the 1940s Nash Airflyte and its connection to humorist Ed Zern. "Fly-fishing in the Catskills was the preferred sport of the outdoor writer Ed Zern, and the Au Sable was where Nash's chairman, George Mason, persuaded Zern in 1950 to write the ads that did as much for Nash's reputation as an outdoors vehicle as its comfy convertible beds."

Anyone who has ever worn polarized sunglasses near water knows that eventually--no matter how hard you try--those shades are going to get dirty. Two types of liquids are usually the culprit: water (from the stream) or oil (from sweat, or sunscreen, or bug dope, etc.) While the cotton t-shirt is hard to beat in a pinch, rubbing $250 sunglasses--or $1500 camera lenses--with gritty, dirty cotton is not always the best idea.

For any kind of oil-based residue, 3M's Microfiber Cleaning Cloths (available in gas stations, Wal-Marts, and yes, fly shops, nationwide) are my go-to ticket. The 3M cloth will pull (almost) any kind of residue off the surface of a high-end coated camera or sunglass lens with just a swipe, minimizing the risk that you might grind a grain of sand or piece of gritty lint onto the lens. At about $3 apiece, you can hardly go wrong here.

Unfortunately, the 3M cloths have a big weakness: they are terrible at wiping off ordinary water. For the shades that have been dunked or are just plain nasty, I'll turn to the disposable Zeiss Optics alcohol cleaning cloths, again available almost anywhere. Distributed (like condoms) in single packs that are punched together, these little guys are also perfect for an end-of-day camera lens or sunglass bath.

Do you wipe your $250 shades with an oily shop rag and call it done? Let us know in the Comments section!

What do you get for the guy who has everything? Well, if money is no object, you wouldn't go far wrong picking out one of the new Hatch Reels custom jobs, with engraved-and-painted artwork by Lance Boen. As you can see, the interlocking fish designs are substantially different than the fish artwork offered by other companies, which typically has been painted into the anodization rather than etched onto the surface of the reel.

Of course, craftsmanship like this doesn't come cheap. The reels are available in Big Game Bluewater (12 Plus - $2625), Into the Flats (7 plus and 9 Plus - $1800-2250), Chasing Dorado (9 plus - $2250), Steelhead Lifecycle (7 Plus and 9 Plus - $1800-2250), Waters Bounty (3 Plus - $1200), and Trout Compass (5 Plus - $1500, pictured). Each reel comes with a saddle-leather case and a "wine box" made of wood, for display.

What's your favorite Custom Hatch design? Let us know in the Comments section!

Christopher Percy Collier asked outfitter Alex Bell to test five pair of the newest sticky-rubber wading boot options from Simms, Patagonia, Orvis, Korkers and Cloudveil on North Carolina streams. "'Very light and very comfortable,' Mr. Bell said of the 'Rivershed] boot made by Simms, a manufacturer that has pledged to stop making felt-soled boots altogether for its 2010 line (it does still sell this boot in a felt-sole version)."

Our Zip-Ties post prompted quite a response, both in the Comments section and via email. One in particular really deserves to be given its due. Tim Flagler of Tightline Productions sent in this method of securing tippet onto spools that have lost their tenders (or, as in the case of old fluoro, had their tenders' elastic wear out before the tippet itself went bad).

Here's Tim's explanation:

I wanted to add a zip tie tip and thought this picture would be worth 1000 words. Just don't crank the zip tie down too hard or the leader/tippet won't come off. Tighten as the spool gets low. I've been doing this for a few years now and it works great, actually better than most tenders that come with the spools.

Thanks Tim! Don't miss the Mayfly Tippet Spool post for a great way to organize your tippet spools once you have them secured.

If you have additional tips or ideas for the Gear Blog, don't hesitate to share them via email or in the Comments section!

Well, it's that time of year again. Leaks and prototype drawings are starting to slip out the shipping entrance of the various fly-fishing manufacturers. Fortunately, some companies have decided to dispense with the suspense and just tell the world what they've got coming at the Fly Fishing Retailer Show (September 9-12 in Denver).

Nautilus is an interesting company to say the least. Owned by the European Mustad family (it's hard to say exactly where in Europe they're from, since the owners speak about six languages, but at any rate they're cousins of the Mustads who own the hook company), the company started as Old Florida, which you may remember was famous for its heavy-duty brassbound reels and affordable pricing. Old Florida's introduction of the "Nautilus" lineup of reels was such a runaway success, the company shifted identities and made 'Nautilus' the focus, effectively changing names in the process.

Nautilus has three main lines of reels: the (original) Nautilus CCF, a synthetic-drag, high-end machined big game reel, the Nautilus FW (featherweight), a lighter lineup for freshwater use, and the ultra-high end Nautilus NV, which carry larger synthetic drag surfaces than the CCFs and are noticeably smoother with line going out. In the last two years Nautilus has entered the bluewater market with gusto, first with the "Double D" - a twelve weight monster, then with the 12T and 12S, successively larger versions capable of holding almost a half mile of gelspun backing. All three are built on oversize CCF drag cores.

The new reel is the largest Nautilus has ever built: the "Atlantic", rated for 475 yards of dacron backing (double or even triple that for gel-spun), with a full five inch diameter. In addition to bluewater, Nautilus expects this reel to be very popular with Scandinavian Spey fishermen, who need huge reels both to balance their long rods and to hold the massive sinking Spey line systems popular in Norway and Sweden. The Atlantic will cost $795, with spare spools a comparatively cheaper $295.

Have a method for rigging your bluewater reels as drift boat anchors in the off season? Share it with us in the Comments section!

If there's any niche in fly-fishing that inspires even more obsession and effort than bamboo fly rod building, it would have to be the Microskiff movement. I first heard the term "microskiff" applied to small light craft, often modified to resemble flats boats, in about 2005. Today there are at least two communities dedicated to the movement online. Microskiffs don't have a hard and fast definition, but generally they are around the same length as a normal flats boat (16 to 18 feet), but not as wide. They take motors up to 25 horsepower, and they can float in less than six inches of water.

The most popular microskiff is without question the customized Gheenoe. A Gheenoe is a kind of fiberglass flat-transomed canoe, invented by an aerospace engineer named Harley Gheen (pronounced "Geen", not "Gene"). Gheenoes have a special bottom that makes them very stable - stable enough to stand on, and, indeed, walk around in.

Native Watercraft has just announced their first touring kayak series, the Inuit, which "is unlike anything on the current market with its innovative Tru Track hull, the outlandishly comfortable 5 Star Outfitting system, and ample storage space." They've also added some new comfort and convenience features to their popular Manta Ray sit-on-top series: the "Groove" accessories mounting system, and new side-pads and adjustment options for their DVC seat.

Read the extended entry for the press releases.

The problem with sunglass companies is that they're just so darn excited to tell you about how great their products are. Generally, this is true; shades from high-end companies like Oakley, Smith, Maui Jim or Kaenon really are several cuts above the $12 'Fisherman Special' you probably have bought many times at gas stations. But when it comes to evaluating the relative quality of different pairs of sunglasses within a given company's lineup, you're pretty much left with just price. Price, and good old fashioned guess-and-check.

This product falls into that Best Buy category occupied by items that are just plain better than they need to be at no additional cost. The Mayfly Tippet Post ($9) is a very straightforward object: it's a machined aluminum rod that you run your tippet spools onto, which then keeps them organized and allows them to spin. It's a huge improvement over older versions which were made of string (which sagged) or covered in rubber tubing (which bound the spools), or (worst of all) just having a different pocket for each size of tippet.

Usually, I wind up leaving the little dangly gadgets like this at home, because they're often more complicating than simplifying. But this is one of the few "accessories" I can't live without. A simple clip allows you to move your tippet quickly from bag to bag. Most tippet spools now come with sliding dispenser bands (or you can purchase aftermarket versions). By keeping everything organized, you always know your 6X from your 5X without looking, and you don't have to worry about juggling or dropping one of those little spools in the river. The anodized aluminum rod has been completely corrosion-resistant for several years of fresh and saltwater use. I keep one Tippet Post stocked with 0X-7X for trout fishing, and another with 10 lb. through 35 lb. saltwater spools. I also leave the separator disks at home, so my spools lock together (which keeps them from rattling).

Have a Best Buy nominee? Let us know in the Comments section!

Discarded waders are not exactly filling up landfills; the total volume of breathable fabric thrown away each year is minimal next to the number of, oh, bottle caps, or rubber bands. But that doesn't mean waders should simply be tossed when we're done wearing them. After all, wader material is expensive; it's water-proof, easily cut and sewn, and useful. Plus, nothing says 'fly fisherman' like beige breathable cloth.

These were clearly some of the thoughts running through the heads of the guys who founded Recycled Waders, which sounds like the brainchild of a 23-year old Greenwich Village art student, but actually turns out to be pretty darn awesome.

Here's the deal: Recycled Waders collects old waders, and re-cuts the cloth to make new products. You can send in your own old waders and have products made out of them for a slight discount, or you can buy them off the shelf.

Personally, I have been carrying one of Recycled Waders' Messenger Creels ($60) for the last year. I really, really like it. Aside from being made of breathable material, it's perfectly sized, very well constructed with excellent clips and comfortable straps, and it's more or less still waterproof in the rain. I often tote a full-sized Nikon DSLR with a couple lenses and a notebook around events I am sent to cover (such as Troutfest in the Smokies). I can't say enough good things about my experience with the bag.

Recycled Waders also has a wallet ($20), a "Nook Sack" (a small fishing pouch--not a man purse!) ($30) and a standard fanny pack ($45). Personally I'd like to see a belt, a laptop cover (with sealed seams!), and some kind of cinchable shield for cameras in the rain.

Got any ideas for the guys at Recycled Waders? Let us know in the Comments section!

Pushpoles are most commonly associated with flats fishing--and for good reason. Modern graphite or fiberglass poles are the bread and butter of flats guides in the Florida Keys and the lagoons of Texas. But did you know pushpoles have a history of being used as canoe controls in Maine?

While fishing in the Bahamas and Mexico, I noticed that none of the native guides have access to the high-end carbon or fiberglass pushpoles we are used to here in the States. Instead, they make do with heavy hardwood poles--light tree trunks, really. I recently needed to make myself a pushpole for carp fishing Atlanta's Chattahoochee river out of my canoe. Remembering the guides I saw in Mexico (but not wanting to haul that much weight) I hit on a very acceptable solution: bamboo.

My bamboo pole is about 18' long and around two and a half inches thick at the base. It's seen a couple hundred hours on the water both in my hands and as a redfish pole in a friend's custom Gheenoe (more about that in a later post). Because it is naturally made of hollow sections, it is lightweight but still strong, and it floats (a plus if you drop it). While certainly not a substitute for a Stiffy or even one of TFO's excellent graphite multi-piece poles, it has got the job done for us, and opened up a whole new fishing environment. We've even caught a few carp.

Do you DIY your way through fly-fishing? Share your innovations in the Comments section!

There are lots of great net companies in fly fishing, and some names immediately come to mind: Brodin, Fisknat, etc. This is also an area where there are many sleepers, however; net craftmanship--like bamboo--lends itself to the small shop.

Some years ago I went looking for the best inexpensive wooden net I could find. Some research led me to the Sperrey Net company, which manufactured nets for LL Bean (and may still). I bought my net, a 'float tube' model with an 18" handle, solely on price (under $50) and didn't expect it to be much of an improvement over the Wal-Mart pine specials I had previously owned.

Imagine how thrilled I was to discover that Sperrey's craftsmen take the time to gloss-coat the net in a hard, clear finish, with no low spots or grain texture. My net is made of reel seat-grade burled maple (actually, a higher grade of wood than is normal), has a high-end net bag, and has now lasted me four hard seasons strapped to backpacks. I've used it to land some of my biggest fish. Since buying my net, I've looked closely at others on the market, and I have yet to see a superior fit and finish--even at twice the cost. Sperrey is not the kind of company to have any ad budget at all, but good craftsmanship should be recognized, especially at an affordable price.

Have a favorite fly fishing net? Know of a budget sleeper in another product category? Share with us in the Comments section!

If there's a red-headed stepchild in the waders market, it's waist-highs. Many waist-high waders have come and gone without getting much traction. The reason's obvious: when confronted with a $200-300 price tag, the average angler isn't confident enough (or wealthy enough) to know that he can get by without the chest bibs. He buys the taller wader "just in case," even though he knows he'll wade above his waist infrequently-to-never.

Maybe it would help to identify what waist-high waders are for, and why in many ways they are superior to chest bibs. Waist-highs are best for warmer climates; they allow full breathability above the waist (obviously). They're also easier to put on and take off, being, after all, just pants. Most come with a quick-release waist or zip fly, so they're easier to use for restroom breaks. Not to be callow, but waist-highs look better while being worn--more like real pants--and thus have a particular appeal to ladies who dislike the boxy/baggy overalls look of bib waders. They are more comfortable to wear with backpacks, because they generally lack shoulder straps (or they are removable). They blend in with regular clothes enough to let you wear them into a restaurant without getting broad stares. Finally, they pack smaller for travel.

Ah, the humble zip tie. Originally invented in 1958 as a cable harness on airplanes (according to Wikipedia, anyway), the zip tie is useful for everything from fixing your kid's bike to exploring Mars. Zip ties have applications in fly-fishing, too.

A friend of mine from Arkansas used zip ties clamped around twin pairs of holes in the bottom of a Rubbermaid bucket to make "fingers" for a very passable shooting basket. This same friend suggested using zip ties to fix my broken boot grommets.

Over time, some commercial metal boot eyelets or grommets can weaken and fail, but often the boot has many years of hard work left. Rather than running the laces through the naked cloth eyelet, make a small zip-tie loop instead, then run your laces through that. It'll decrease the stress on the fabric while still giving you enough slipperiness to cinch the boot. In fact, my favorite pair of wading boots has very few eyelets left, and I'd swear they're more reliable with their zip-tie replacements.

Do you know of a creative use for zip ties--or other household goods--in fly fishing? Share it with us in the Comments section!

You've probably seen high-end fly fishing clothing advertised with "100 DWR" or "30 DWR" ratings lately. What is this, some esoteric new 'guy version' of Egyptian cotton thread count? Actually, it's a measure of the number of washes the garment's "durable water repellency" treatment can take. DWR is what makes water bead up on (rather than soaking out) your high-end garments.

Ned Hutchinson of Cloudveil explained DWR to me as being "like a forest." On a molecular level, the DWR coating has a series of tiny, round, water-repellent spheres, which make up a "canopy." The canopy stands above the exterior layer of the breathable fabric on a set of tiny "trunks," just like a forest. When a droplet of liquid water hits the DWR treatment, it gets caught in the "leaves" of the canopy and cannot penetrate to the actual fabric, making water bead up.

In short, this DWR coating is like a layer of Scotchgard (actually itself an early DWR treatment) built into the fabric. In the last few years, DWR coatings have been improved; instead of 12 washes, they can now take 30 or even 100 before they break down. You'll know your DWR coating has begun to fail when you see "wet out" or dark splotches on your breathable fabric. The best way to prevent this is to keep the garments (including waders!) clean. Follow manufacturers' instructions to prevent dirt and grime from breaking down your "forest canopy," thereby making your breathables stay drier longer.

Do you lather up in TurtleWax before fishing in the rain? Know of a better way to prevent wet out? Let us know in the Comments section!

Michael Gracie dons a pair of Ultimate Propex model boots from the Weinbrenner Shoe Company and the RailRiders Extreme Adventure pants and goes wet wading for a few days. The verdict: non-mainstream brands hold up just fine in the performance department. "My initial reaction with the pants was one of being impressed - there are reinforcements everywhere, and the toughness is doubly so in the knee, crotch, and back end. I loved the velcro straps at the ankles, and the large belt loops (I tend to rip belt loops when things get exciting, even on the water)."

Did you know that personal pontoon boats make great platforms for surf fishing? Simply paddle through the breakers with a few quick strokes, and find the calm zone right before the waves begin to crest. Drop a "sand anchor" (which looks like a claw) to slow your drift, and stand up on your boat to fish.

I use an older JW Outfitters Renegade pontoon, which is a nine-foot model. I put one foot on the seat and one foot on the small half-deck in the rear. Larger models would allow drift-boat-style standing, while smaller models might be better for kneeling (also effective: face the other way in the seat and cast over the back of the boat).

With sinking, shooting or intermediate lines and flies like the Clouser Minnow or Henry Cowen's Baitfish, or my own Fly Slama Jama, you'll be in the small jacks and ladyfish til the cows come home anywhere on the Gulf Coast. Atlantic and Pacific anglers might see considerably bigger targets!

Do you know of a way to misuse a pontoon boat to catch fish? Have tips on surfing the waves in a Clacka? Share them in the Comments section!

My wife, Lauren, and I will be traveling to Yellowstone for our third bi-annual trip this August. If there's one thing Yellowstone has more of than bison, it's mosquitoes. Our last trip up to the First Meadow of Slough Creek was a neck-slapping nightmare.

Fortunately, several new bug-avoiding technologies have come on the market in recent years. Traditional bug spray contains an active ingredient called DEET (Diethyl-meta-toluamide), which can be very effective at warding off bugs in high concentrations. Over-the-counter bug sprays like OFF FamilyCare or OFF Active usually contain only 15%-25% DEET. Meanwhile, OFF Deep Woods carries almost 100% DEET and is correspondingly more effective. Unfortunately, DEET is a corrosive when it comes to PVC and other plastics, meaning if a drop of 100% DEET gets on fly line, it's going to eat right through to the core.

Garden vegetable bug sprays contain a chemical called 'pyrethrin,' which is derived from chrysanthemum flowers. Pyrethrin is 'natural,' but the EPA and other organizations recommend against applying it on human skin. However, a synthetic form of it called "permethrin" can be bonded to clothing. ExOfficio, Buff, Orvis and many others offer "Insect Shield" clothes with permethrin-based treatments in the cloth. (Orvis particularly has a good explanation of Insect Shield on its website). In our experience, these clothes work best when supplemented with a lighter-DEET treatment (especially around your neck). This lets you avoid accidentally touching line or other plastics with 100% DEET-saturated hands.

Meanwhile, 3M Ultrathon brand bug creams solve another DEET deficiency: evaporation. When you spray on a DEET treatment, it'll be gone (except for an oily residue) within a few hours. 3M Ultrathon encapsulates DEET in tiny microspheres similar to those used to float fly line. Over the course of the day, these spheres rupture, releasing more and more DEET to keep your protection up (while also lowering the amount of active DEET radiating from your person at any given time).

We plan to bring Insect Shield Buff neckcloths and 3M Ultrathon with us to Slough Creek next time, although various other combinations of OFF, Insect Shield clothes, and even portable mosquito traps might be just as effective.

Do you know of a unique way to lure mosquitoes to their untimely deaths? Share it with us in the comments section!

If there's one fly-fishing product that's the repair equivalent of duct tape, it would have to be Aquaseal. This urethane-based adhesive is similar in many respects to Goop (which many fly tyers use to affix eyes, etc.) Aquaseal's good for all kinds of things, like re-attaching felt soles to old wading boots, but I particularly like it for two purposes: patching waders and patching pontoon or raft tubes.

To patch a pinhole leak in waders with Aquaseal, first turn them inside out and soak them thoroughly in isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol using an ordinary squirt bottle. Look for dark patches; circle these (on the inside!) with a Sharpie. When the waders dry out (it won't take long), daub about a dime-sized patch of Aquaseal over the circled areas and allow to cure overnight. Presto: pinhole leak patched! (For seam leaks, consult your manufacturers' warranty - most wader manufacturers require seam leaks to be patched at the factory).

Pontoon boats and rafts can be patched with much the same process. First, pull your inner-tube out of its heavy casing, and over-inflate it by about 25% (to force air out of pinhole leaks). Then, soak the inner-tube with soapy water using the same squirt bottle. Look for bubbles, and circle those areas with a Sharpie. Rinse the soap off thoroughly and allow to dry, then patch over the circled areas, again with a dime-sized daub of Aquaseal. Let it all dry, then stuff the inner-tubes back in the pontoon or raft casing. Ta da! You've patched the leak.

Know of an additional use for Aquaseal, or a better way to achieve these fixes? Let us know in the Comments section!

Did you know that many of the American fly fishing companies make products specifically for the Japanese market? While they go back and forth on whether the products are also offered here, this goes a long way toward explaining how some products came to be. Insiders at Sage explain that the Japanese market tends to focus on the high-end (at least with American brands). Because Japan has lots of small-stream water, their tackle also tends to be on the light side. Sage's TXL 00 and 000 rods and the corresponding Click 1 and 2 reels--while available here in the States--were primarily created to meet Japanese demand.

Meanwhile, Scott Fly Rods actually makes Japan-only equipment. A thirteen foot eight weight G2 "Spey" rod--the only one offered in the lineup--is only available through Japanese dealers. Scott Rods' bamboo builder Bernard Ramauskas also once told me that if he didn't make a conscious effort to hold some of his rods for the American marketplace, "they'd all just go right into the hands of Japanese collectors." You can see some of Scott's Japan-only rods through their Japanese dealer's site (but you might need to download a special font to load it).

Do you know of a special overseas rod or reel model? Fill us in in the Comments section!

I spend the majority of my fishing time either on wide-open tailwaters or in overgrown mountain streams. As a photographer, I often need to carry a heavy camera, as well as lunch, a rainjacket, etc. As a result, I've learned a few things about backpacks.

Generally, most fly fishing backpacks are quite good. Fishpond's Double Haul system is collapsible, has a built-in water bladder capability (a must on long hikes), and is fairly lightweight. I like the pocket arrangement, which lets me stick my GPS in a separate, easily accessible pouch for quick access. However, I'm not wild about the chestpack (at least *as* a chestpack - it's a great light flats bag slung over a shoulder). To me, chestpacks get in the way of looking at one's feet; a very important factor when hiking boulder-strewn forest trails in the Appalachians. The Double Haul's size is great for day hikes, but it's a bit small if you need to carry anything more elaborate than lunch and a camera.

The Double Haul also lacks external straps strong enough for a tripod, and it isn't waterproof. Fishpond has larger systems (the Shooting Star is very nice), but fly fishing companies have a tendency to engage in what computer programmers call "feature bloat" when they have a bigger canvas. To me, there's a limit to the number of pockets and straps a functional bag should have.

One alternative comes from outside the fly market. Granite Gear's line of snowboard and mountain rescue backpacks (some of them now discontinued, but still available) sport water-resistant finishes and zippers (which are quite effective even in heavy rain), as well as ski patrol-quality rubberized binding straps for nets, hiking poles, and even heavy tripods like a Manfrotto full-metal job. As a general purpose bag, you lose some of the small pockets that make items like split shot and balloons accessible, but you gain simplicity of use.

Patagonia took the water-resistant concept up a notch when they designed their "highly water-resistant" (i.e. waterproof for everyone except lawyers) Stormfront pack; a grey jelly-bean made of similar ruggedized material to the Great Divider series of bags. I love the look of the Stormfront, especially for multi-day rafting excursions with portages, but I'm not sure this level of specialization would be useful on a daily basis. Further, the offset-to-the-side heavy-duty straps would tend to pull sideways with a 10 lb. tripod in them.

Do you have a favorite fly-fishing backpack? Know of a non-fly-fishing bag that does the job better? Let us know in the Comments section!

Although only a juvenile, the great white shark that Jeff Patterson, sales director for Abel Automatics, released on Friday is believed to be the first ever catch of that species on a fly rod and single-action fly reel. "Patterson said the great white's initial run was estimated at 275 yards. The fight lasted some 25 minutes. Patterson used a Scott 15-weight rod and Abel Super 13 reel loaded with Rio Leviathan 550 grain line and 380 yards of 50-pound gel spun backing." Ed Zieralski in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Many of the best fly-fishing products don't come from companies with large marketing budgets. Some of them are too small, and in some cases, the manufacturer may not realize its product is being used for fly fishing.

Amnesia monofilament first entered fly fishing as an early shooting-head running line. With low memory for coils (or strong memory for being straight), it was a logical choice. Later, Amnesia's bright red colored lineup started being used by many fly shops for terminal loop-to-loop knots on the end of fly line. The color made it easier for sports to avoid drawing the leader knots into the tip-top guide (a common cause of rod breakage). I'm never without a spool of 20# red Amnesia for repairing line-to-leader connections in the field, even though most lines now come with factory loops.

Another overlooked item is the simple child's water balloon. Guides in Utah first began using barely-inflated water balloons as indicators--their technique has now trickled out nationwide, even spawning expensive corporate copies. At $1 for dozens of balloons, you can't beat the original. Literally unsinkable, they are perfect for nymphing with a spey system, because the spey cast puts a lot of torque on traditional indicators and can swamp or break them.

Do you have fly-fishing's equivalent of Duck Tape in your gear bag? Let people know your ingenious solutions in the Comments section!

An interesting take on the possible advantages and disadvantages of rubber treads comes from Roger Phillips, who notes that, in his opinion, a slight reduction in traction is offset by durability and convenience. Testing the new Simms boots, he makes an interesting observation about boot stiffness improving traction as well. "My unscientific gauge of traction is the Streamtread rubber soles, which were designed and manufactured by Vibram, provided about 80 percent of the traction of felt. But with the rigid sidewalls on the boots and the excellent ankle support, I was closer to 90 percent of the overall traction I would have had with my felt-soled boots." In the Idaho Statesman.

Fly fishing boots are in the middle of something like a revolution. For two hundred years, the biggest advancement the humble boot made was from a rubber sole to a felt one. Most boots were made of leather or a synthetic substitute, right up to about 1999. All of a sudden, the changes that took hiking by storm in the 1980s (lighter cloth, engineered flex points, a return to certain kinds of rubber soles) hit the wading boot market.

Recently the Korkers company became the first fly-fishing manufacturer to stick the BOA lacing system on a wading boot, specifically the 'Predator' model. The BOA system was designed as a snowboard binding. It consists of a very small metal wire which takes the place of laces. To tighten, you twist a cylindrical hub (kind of like a capstan for you sailing types). Because the wire runs through small tubes instead of grommets or eyelets, tightening the "laces" applies even pressure across the whole binding instead of pinching over your mid-foot.

Having field tested the BOA system, I can say that it certainly works as advertised, but it may not be enough of an improvement to make up for the hassle. The problem is, it takes longer to twist the hub (for me, around 10-12 twists on a size 10 Predator) than it does to tie shoelaces. While the binding is comfortable once it's tightened, I'm not sure it's an improvement over well-fitted laces. On the other hand, the system has one huge advantage: at the end of the day, you push a button and the hub releases; the whole boot opens like a snowboard boot. That means you can avoid the indignity of the one-footed hop trying to yank off a wet wading boot. You can also avoid trying to tie wet, frozen laces in winter-time; in fact, you don't even need to take off your gloves to work the hub and tighten everything up.

Moreover, fitting boots is notoriously difficult. I didn't notice much difference in fit between the Predator and a laced boot, but my wife, Lauren, really preferred the Korkers and swore they were more comfortable.

Have a comment about new-fangled boot design? Share it in the Comments section!

A couple years back at the Fly Fishing Retailer Show, an unusual booth caught my eye. Rather than being packed full of fishing equipment, the Brunton area looked more like a techie Coleman camping outlet--or maybe a place for Dr. Evil to go shopping for gadgets. Brunton makes lots of great camping stuff, but the most interesting is its lineup of solar panel equipment.

Portable solar panels are an idea whose time has aaaaalllmooosttt, but not quite, come. The only real objection these days is cost. Functionality is already incredible. Take the Brunton Solaris 26, a foldable six-panel solar array. It costs over $600; not cheap. But, in my tests, it recharged a Nikon EN-EL3e camera battery in under half an hour in full sunlight; a Motorola cell phone, an iPod, and a four-pack of AAs (for a flash) similarly took under an hour. There's something really freaky about plugging a gadget into...nothing. You can walk around it. Pick it up; it's not attached. And yet the little power light comes on and you're charging. Amazing.

Of course, there's the old objection with solar: it goes away half the time (and on cloudy days, too). Brunton addresses this with a lineup of battery packs like the Solo 7.5, which can run a laptop for around 2.5 hours and charges while you're out hiking or fishing. Simply plug the Solo 7.5 into the Solaris 26, or one of the other Brunton panels, and when you come back you're good to watch a movie or upload the day's photos to the laptop, even in the backcountry of Yellowstone or off the grid in Brazil.

It will be a while until this technology trickles into the everyday price range for most anglers, but considering that solar panels used to weigh as much as a truck and cost thousands of dollars, Brunton has really forged ahead. For dedicated back-country anglers and world travelers, this is already a great buy.

Have a comment on how you'd use solar panels--or what you'd buy with the money instead? Share it in the Comments section!

With a myriad of fishing travel bags on the market, it can be bewildering to decide what you need and why. Working on assignment for fly fishing magazines, I've had the chance to field test a lot of fly fishing travel products.

Waterproof or not?

While waterproof bags like the Simms Dry Creek Duffel series or the Patagonia Guidewater Duffel sound great in theory, there's a problem: rubberized material and airport conveyor belts don't really mix. They can also be very heavy. My Simms Dry Creek Duffel (the extra large size) is very smartly designed, but could benefit from some reinforcement in the bottom; multiple holes patched with duct tape show the mileage I've put on this bag, and maybe the quality of the conveyors once my bags roll out of sight. Meanwhile, Patagonia's Guidewater is made of heavier material, but is also physically heavier (a consideration with airlines tightening weight restrictions), and has a typical waterproof zipper (read: hard to open and close). If you're not going to be hauling your luggage over open water, skip the waterproof bag (or just buy a smaller carry-on size for the boat).

For the inaugural edition of the new Midcurrent Fly Fishing Gear Blog, I thought I'd start us off with a little nostalgia: what is your favorite piece of fly fishing gear that's no longer on the market?

It doesn't take me long to select two pieces of gear that fit the bill: the Simms Guide waders and the Ross San Miguel 2 reel.

Simms Guides are the waders that started it all; the exploded micro-fiber face finish offered softness and eliminated that annoying 'scrape scrape scrape' when you walk, while the five-layer Gore-Tex from the knees down meant you could literally walk the booties off the wader before the fabric failed (I've done it). I've got two pairs; one circa-2000 (re-bootied in 2003) and one from about 2005. While the absence of pockets, wool-liners, or a zipper might mark them as dated, I like simplicity and I've never been more comfortable in a pair of waders.

Meanwhile, the Ross San Miguel 2 might be the best trout reel ever made. Over-engineered almost to a fault, with four ball bearings, a sealed drag, and a midnight black Knight Rider-era finish, this little reel (and it is far littler than modern large arbor reels) is one of the smoothest, slickest pieces of hardware ever made for fly fishing. You usually see this kind of engineering only in high-end custom automotive or industrial kitchens. At $425 in 2000, the San Miguel wasn't for everyone, but you'll still see many of these reels hiding out in their old-school royal blue bags among many guides' private equipment.

What's that special item lurking in the back of your gear bag, never to be sold or given away? Answer in the Comments section!

In many years of guiding and fishing, I've seen knots fail and not fail often enough to develop some prejudices. If anything, our opinions about knots are a lot like our notions about flies. We have reasons to trust knots -- even if they are not scientific -- and we tend to use the knots that we used the last time we caught a fish. In a fly fisher's leader the knot that draws the most scrutiny -- and therefore the most opinionating -- is the tippet-to-fly knot. The reason is obvious: it's the "weakest link," being tied in the thinnest part of the line or the section most exposed to abrasion. We're inclined to doubt the terminal knot more than any other, and any time our guide or resident micrometer-and-tensile-strength expert discovers a "better way," we rank it as brilliant science.

This week Phil Monahan offers his brief take on how to evaluate fly-to-tippet knots. He goes on to explain something that's never made it into most knot books: it's often the tier that makes a knot good or bad.

Every once in a while we stumble across little gems like Dave Sartwell's description of how to restore a canvas-over-wood canoe. Somehow it just doesn't belong on eHOw.com, but it does make us want to grab a paddle and a cane rod. "The ribs that came out of the steam were so flexible you could have tied them in a knot. It is hard to believe that this once-stiff wood could be so malleable. We put them inside the canoe and flexed them in place." In the Gloucester Daily Times.

Temple Fork Outfitters announced Friday that Gary Loomis, founder of G.Loomis, will be designing a new line of affordable spinning and casting rods for them. Loomis won't be designing fly rods (yet), but TFO seems to now have a natural entry into much larger sector of the fishing market: "We've started production of 28 one and two piece rods in both spinning and casting configurations in 6', 6 ½' and 7' lengths. They will feature single foot guides with gold SIC inserts, skeletonized lower grips and fast/progressive actions. Retail pricing will be $99.95 and availability is expected in early September."

Read the extended entry for the full press release.

Fly fishers could jump to all kinds of conclusions about what knot theory tells us about keeping our fly lines and leaders from becoming a tangled mess. So why not?

On Live Science, Jeanna Bryner talks about the extensive experiments conducted by two physicists using string-tumbling experiments to determine what caused the "knottiest knots." "From the model, they created a simplified 'lifecycle' of a knot from tidy beginning to titanic tangle. Once dropped, the string formed concentric coils. Next, the string's free end weaved through the coils, with a 50 percent likelihood of crossing under or over the coil and following a path to the left or right." They concluded that longer (to a point), more flexible string in larger containers created the most "Gordian" result.

The takeaway: stiffer fly lines and leaders are less likely to tangle, especially if kept short. And forget about those oversized stripping baskets.

We had to look to western Australia for one of the better new articles on how green businesses like Patagonia are influencing mainstream retail. Self-described "doom bat" Yvon Chouinard says he is "totally out of testosterone" when it comes to death-defying sports. But he's more committed than ever to seeing recycled and low-environmental-impact product become the norm, not the exception. In fact, Patagonia and Wal-Mart are combining resources to help educate soft-goods manufacturers. "The two companies are co-writing a manual on how to make sustainable clothing, a relationship he describes as "David and Goliath. Wal-Mart, according to Chouinard, is now leading the way on sustainability. He says the company has made it plain to suppliers that it will not do business with those unwilling to embrace best environmental practice." Michael Gordon on WAToday.com.au.

Best fishing hat story ever? Ralph Bartholdt tells of an unlikely jet boat sighting, Sandra Day O'Connor's fish-ID skills, and backtracking to find an old favorite. "The Boulder is a rocky stream with silver water pounding large, washed stones and the boat's gunwales could have notched the trees on both sides. On her bow was a bikini blond in Farah sunglasses and the man behind the wheel had a serious, oh-oh look, like maybe he had taken a wrong turn in his quest for the Yellowstone Club."

"Bonime, a long-time fly fishing and outdoor industry veteran, comes to Patagonia from his post as Vice-President of Vast International, USA, based in Portland, OR. He also served as a Vice-President at Redington LLC, an apparel leader in the fly fishing market, and is founder and former President of Go Fish Corporation, one of the country's largest outdoor T-shirt and accessories distributors. Bart spent close to ten years at Columbia Sportswear leading their hunting and fishing merchandising efforts, as well as heading up their advertising and promotions efforts."

Read the full press release in the extended entry.

In this week's MidCurrent ask-the-expert column, Phil Monahan suggests eight simple ways to protect your fly rods from accidental breakage. "Some of these rules might seem obvious," he says,"but you'd be amazed by how often otherwise savvy anglers break them...and their rods."

Dragonfly Boatworks' new Elec-Trek kayaks have placed a high-tech wrapper on a ancient design. The company's owner, Mark Castlow, has been around the skiff business for a long time (he was once co-owner of Maverick), but the direction he's taken with the new vessel seems aimed at simplicity. Good video here of what the Elec-Trek is all about.

Robert Morselli takes a quick look at three companies that have gone beyond just "making do" by producing some notable "wallet-stretchers" in recent months.

Trying to decide on the perfect-sized fly reel for your fly rod? With rods getting ever lighter, many reel manufacturers have become hyper-conscious of reel weight. But as Phil Monahan points on in this week's installment of "Fine Lines," lightest is not always best. In fact, the "finger test" still works quite well, thank you very much.

Excerpt: "HOLD THE ROD as if you were going to cast it to see where the 'pivot' point is for your particular grip. This point is one inch below the top of the cork handle. Put the reel on the rod and then try to balance the outfit on your finger at that pivot point. If the outfit is properly balanced, it should pretty much balance perfectly, with the weight of the reel offsetting the weight of the rod out to the tip."

RIO Products' new Surf Leader ($4.75) is a five-foot clear nylon leader made with a stiffer material than standard leaders and is designed to throw large flies easily into unfriendly winds. They also have two new fluorocarbon leaders out: a nine-foot Bonefish/Saltwater ($10.95) and the ten-foot Steelhead/Salmon ($10.95), both of which come with a perfection loop in the butt end.

Read the extended entry for the full press release.

Photographer Tim Romano (you can see examples of Tim's work here) served up 21 photography tips for novices on the Field & Stream Web site this past weekend. Our favorites include "Be aware of condensation," "Make the fish 'pop'" with your zoom, and "Centered images are boring." Oh, and you can also read my advice on how long to keep a fish out of water.

Bruce Holt, who has been in charge of most of G. Loomis operations for the past several years, will move to the position of communications director on July 1.

See the extended entry for the full press release.

Are warranties leading to unnecessarily high prices for fly fishers and making it difficult for rodmakers to deliver the best product and service possible? Yesterday we received an open letter to fly rod makers from fly fishing writer and insurance attorney Zach Matthews, who believes that warranties on fly rods do little more than burden manufacturers and raise fly rod prices. His suggestion? Look to classic property insurance.

As Matthews says, "Insurance against loss instead of just breakage is nothing to shake a stick at; most people would immediately see why this is a good thing to have."

When you ponder the private fly fishing collections that lie stashed away, only occasionally revealed by a death or via the curiosity of smart people, you begin to sense that those most valuable to the sport don't belong to celebrities, politicians, or society's notables. A perfect example: the memorabilia of Chauncy Lively and George Aiken, one a writer and fly tier, the other the founder of the Family Tyes fly fishing clubs. They fished together for 50 years and collected 20-some Paul Young rods, among other things. "'These men left quite a legacy and I wanted to be sure it is honored,' said [artist Nick] Kratofil, who will deliver the displays to the museum association's repository near Boiling Springs tomorrow, adding to an impressive collection of books, photographs and tackle from the estates of Vince Marinaro, Charlie Fox and other Pennsylvania-bred legends." Deborah Weisberg in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Robert Morselli reviews five chest/hip packs that offer great lightweight alternatives to the classic vest. Morselli looks at offerings from Simms, Patagonia, Fishpond and Orvis and discovers that going minimalist has gotten a lot easier in recent years.

Excerpt: "The benefit of less weight hanging around your neck or shoulder? Greater comfort, and because this gear is smaller and designed to fit more securely, there's less chance of snagging. Also, the gear's all right there, generally in one or two compartments that are easily repositioned around your waist or chest -- so no more awkward reaching into eight different pockets when you fail to locate that split-shot."

Fly line guru, master casting instructor and MidCurrent board member Bruce Richards turned a big page this week when he retired from Scientific Anglers after 33 years. While he will continue consulting for SA, he plans to move to Montana in the near future.

Richards has been behind many of the most important advances in fly line design using computer-aided technology and advanced materials, but he counts among of his major successes simply thinking differently about how fly lines should work. "An example of the latter, he said, was the long-standing belief that lines to be used on small streams should not only be delicate, but have a long taper. But on a small stream a cast often doesn't even include all of the taper, meaning the caster isn't using the weight built into the line to deliver the fly. The solution was a compound taper." Steve Griffin writes about Richards in this morning's Midland Daily News.

Kirk Deeter is walking around in Chuck Taylor All-Star high tops, greasing his flies with home-brew fly floatant, and touting 99-cent mini fingernail clippers. Plenty of good ideas pop up in response to Deeter's post on Fly Talk, including uses for circuit testers, silicone brake fluid, ShamWows, and, last but not least, a wife's old purses. Before you know it, folks are going to be packing oversized plastic garbage bags in their vests for emergency rain protection. (Hmm....)

Grasshopper Products' monoMASTER isn't going to rid the world of discarded fishing line, but it can help the average angler minimize stream pollution. This morning Morgan Lyle talks about the product, which has been on the market for almost a year, and the inventor who turned him from a careless line-clipper into a gadget fan. "His name is Ian White and these days, he's a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Georgia, researching the regeneration of heart stems cells, but when he designed the monoMaster last year, he was still a medical student in New York City, bumming around trout streams when he had a little free time and moonlighting as a fishing gadget inventor." In the Schenectady, New York Daily Gazette.

A news release from Maine's Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IF&W) is asking anglers to stop using soft plastic lures, because trout and salmon are swallowing the lures and failing to regurgitate them, leading to weight loss and other health problems. "'We strongly encourage anglers to voluntarily purchase biodegradable and food-based lures rather than soft plastic ones,' [IF&W Pathologist Dr. Russ] Danner said. 'Also, we are asking anglers not to discard plastic lures into any waters, and also to attempt to retrieve any soft plastic lures that have become unhooked."

What is a viable alternative?, you may wonder. Companies like FoodSource Lures are already making lures made of protein (Field & Stream has called their FoodSource Minnow among its "50 Best Lures of All Time").

Meanwhile, L.L. Bean, who this year already began testing new angling boundaries with their Helix Waders, says that their retail stores will begin offering only biodegradable alternatives to plastic lures beginning in August, with the Web and catalog soon to follow. According to Bean's Mac McKeever, "We began making plans to do this back in Fall 2008, but the study really reiterated the importance of doing it as quickly as possible."

Michael Gracie gives his Simms Guide waders a rest in favor of testing Cloudveil's 8X Pros, and while he wonders why it takes a company more than two months to deliver an ordered product, he still succumbs to the luxuries of style and comfort: "If the Cloudveil 8X Pros were made of recycled sandwich bags and held together with Elmer's Glue, you'd still think they were designed by Donatella Versace. These suckers look goooooood. The color is called vetiver, which is another way of saying gray, green, beige and none of the above, simultaneously."

After laying off almost a third of its workforce this past winter, Cortland Line Company is seeing momentum again, according to an interview by Dave Figura with company president Brian Ward. A new clear-coating floating line and their diversified product line have helped. "'With our (braiding machines) we've expanded into industrial products, defense-related products, the arts and crafts industry, guitar strings, camping tent cords with reflective thread so when a flashlight hits it 'it'll jump right out at you.'"

George Thwaites recounts a recent fly shop interview with Crosby Beane of Hardy North America and includes this humorous quote from the recently released movie "The Lost World of Mr. Hardy:" "Zane Grey came to Hardy and asked if we could make the most expensive and the best tackle in the world for all of his record breaking adventures. We said we'd have a jolly good try making it the best and we could certainly make it the most expensive." (From TimesNews.net.) While the tongue-in-cheek approach to marketing suites Hardy well, it should be noted that Hardy makes several popular fly rods -- like those in the G series and their Streamflex models -- that easily qualify as "affordable."

You can watch several clips from "The Lost World of Mr. Hardy" on MidCurrent.

Besides offering what are no doubt the first pictures of fly fishing doyenne Joan Wulff casting a tenkara rod, a new post on the Tenkara USA blog includes some intriguing thoughts from tenkara authority Dr. Hisao Ishigaki on how simple trout flies can be: "It should be noted that Dr. Ishigaki is a leading specialist in the field of 'Visual Training," which is used regularly by different groups of individuals, including professional athletes, and he used that to study the vision of fish, particularly mountain trout. Ever since then, he's been tying one fly pattern, which takes seconds to tie, and many times is tied using only black thread from a $1 store, and some rooster hackle."

Morgan Lyle also talks about the talk Dr. Ishigaki gave at the talk at the Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum Saturday, noting that even Ed Van Put is enamored of the technique: "About 10 years ago, Van Put was given a tenkara rod by a Japanese ambassador and 'just went ballistic with it,' he said. 'I started fishing with it every day, and I've used it every year since.'" (From DailyGazette.com.)

A free MidCurrent t-shirt goes to the first person who shows us an image of someone using (successfully) tenkara in saltwater.

New on MidCurrent this week, author, instructor and editorial board member Chico Fernandez discusses all the factors that go into an intelligent choice of tippets for saltwater fly leaders.

Excerpt: "The tippet is the weakest, thinnest, and last section of your leader. One side attaches to the leader and, barring the need for a bite or shock tippet, the other end attaches to the fly. The tippet has to be supple enough to let the fly swim naturally, thin enough to be inconspicuous, but at the same time, strong enough to be able to land the fish in reasonable time."

"The leader-butt diameter should be two-thirds of the diameter of the end of your fly line for best performance. The 5-weight fly line you may use for fishing small dry flies has a tip diameter of about .030 inch. The 9-foot, 6X leader you attach to it should then have a butt diameter of about .020 inch." MidCurrent editorial board member John Merwin writes for Field & Stream on how to make the basics choices for leaders and tippets.

In this week's "Fine Lines" column, Phil Monahan discusses how to construct the right types of largemouth bass leaders.

Excerpt: "'Lefty Kreh and I have been going round and round on this question for years,' says John Likakis, former editor of Warmwater Fly Fishing magazine and proprietor of Bass Bug Central (bassbugcentral.com). 'Lefty always prefers a level leader, while I want some taper to help turn over big bugs.'"

I've long been a believer in softer leader materials, not only for knot strength but for superior abrasion resistance (sounds counterintuitive, I know). But you don't often see a company focus on one of the more important advantages of softer materials, which is that a more supple leaders make drag-free presentations easier and enhance the appeal of flies that depend on soft fibers to attract fish.

RIO Products just announced a new tippet material designed specifically with natural presentations in mind. Suppleflex is soft enough that flies are less effected by "micro currents," according to their press release. "Suppleflex is available on 30 yd (27.5 meter) spools in sizes 4X (6.1 lbs) to 7X (2 lbs). The manufacturer's suggested retail price is $5.95."

Read the press release in the extended entry.

In this morning's Wall Street Journal, former Intel CEO and chairman Craig Barrett reflects on 35 years at the giant company and offers several bits of business advice, including :"Don't mess with Moore's law." Barrett, an avid fly fisher, apparently had no say in the reporter's description of his gear. "He pulls out a photograph, saying, 'Hey, look at this.' It shows a grinning Barrett cradling a gigantic trout he has just caught while fly fishing in South America, 'Lemme tell ya,' he says, gesturing like he's working the fly pole, 'That guy was so close I had to let him swim away before I could set the fly down in front of him.'"

Got a prized Abel reel that has lost its luster? Or just want a brand new artistic paint-over for that plain black finish? Yesterday Abel announced that they can now strip and refinish any Abel reel -- re-anodizing and polishing black reels, changing colors or even adding painted or fish graphic finishes. The process takes 4-6 weeks and costs from $100 to $250, depending on the desired result.

Read the full press release in the extended entry.

This week on MidCurrent, reviewer Robert Morselli discovers that modern versions of the classic furled leader -- as exemplified by BlueSky's latest products -- provide significant advantages for those hoping to achieve the utmost in delicate presentation. "Handling a furled leader for the first time is a little strange. They're completely and uniformly limp, from the tippet all the way to the end of the butt section. This overall limpness allows for a smoother and more complete energy transfer during a cast. To be fair, many mono leaders allow for smooth power transfer, but furled leaders unfurl more evenly, increasing an angler's ability to deliver flies more delicately."

To celebrate their 35th anniversary, Ross Reels will distribute 175 tie-dye-finish Vexsis fly reels to retailers for a June 1 sale date. The #2 reels will all be engraved with their limited edition number.

Read Robert Morselli's review of the Vexsis reel on MidCurrent.

We've had so many questions about fly lines submitted to Ask@MidCurrent.com that Phil Monahan decided to combine three of the answers in this week's "Fine Lines" column. With the help of Bruce Richards, he responds to a question about techniques for spooling the line on the reel without tangles. Richards also answers a question about the "best" loop-to-loop knot for connecting leaders to fly lines, and lastly explains why manufacturers haven't traditionally put fused loops on both ends of a fly line. Read about un-spooling fly lines, loop-to-loop knots and fused loops on MidCurrent.

Yesterday Bloomberg News reported that the Eddie Bauer brand may be the next major outdoors brand to slide into oblivion. The company's stock has lost 80 percent of its market capitalization in the past year. "The two companies in talks to buy Eddie Bauer, Gordon Brothers Group and Hilco Consumer Capital LLC, are based in Boston and Toronto, respectively. Both are vulture capital firms that buy distressed brands like The Sharper Image." Brian Miller in the Seattle Weekly.

Beginning June 1, Ross will offer the largest size of Essence fly rods yet, adding a 4-piece12-weight in all three Essence series. The very affordable FS ("medium-fast" action) will be priced at $129, the FC (faster) at $179, and the FW (faster still) at $229 MSRP.

Read the extended entry for the full press release.

Singlebarbed's Keith Barton says mohair -- Angoran goat fur -- provides a soft but durable base for just about any natural blend of dubbing colors. His instructions on how to use a $15 coffee blender to turn a $1.50 skein of mohair yarn into bags of useful material, and then how to mix it with animal fur, are worth printing and saving. "The weave of the yarn dictates how small you'll have to chop the it to reduce it in your coffee grinder. Sometimes twisted, others are woven - just make sure it's 100% Mohair without the weave being a different material."

Thursday's Wall Street Journal contained an interesting article about a new Maryland law that prohibits manufacturers from requiring retailers to charge minimum prices for their goods. As a tag-along to yesterday's comments on the relative "priciness" of fly reels, the story tells how the new Maryland law could reach far beyond state boundaries, because it would apply to all online sales as well. So in theory someone buying a fly rod or reel from a fly shop in Michigan could not be forced to pay a manufacturer's minimum price. Minimum pricing is popular in many industries, including fly fishing, because it protects margins. "By creating a new law that explicitly bans all minimum-pricing agreements between manufacturers and retailers, state legal experts say, Maryland is now able to pre-empt the high-court ruling. Legal experts say more than 30 other states that filed briefs with the Supreme Court could join Maryland in enacting such a law." Article by Joseph Pereira.

"Close to perfection," is what the Detroit Free Press's Eric Sharp calls the NRS Chinook life jacket, which sells for $79.95 on their Web site. "That seems pricey compared with the PFDs sold for general marine use in box stores, but it's well under the $100-$150 that most of the other kayak-fishing PFDs seem to run."

In the Field & Stream blogs John Merwin wrote about the misconception that fly reels need to be expensive to get the job done, touting the $29-39 L.L. Bean Quest II fly reels for bass fishing. Then Chad Love took issue with the prices demanded for high-end fly reels -- as compared to popular baitcasting reels -- noting that "in terms of pure functionality there isn't a helluva lot of difference between a $69 Ambassadeur C3, a $200 Calcutta or a $450 Conquest. But from a manufacturing, materials and machining standpoint I can at least see where the price increases come from."

The fact is that there is a market for the very best and expensive fly reels because: 1. The simplicity of a high-performing fly reel doesn't mean its manufacturing costs are low (it's not cheap to acquire and run a CNC machining shop that puts out only a few hundred products a month, or to buy materials in low volumes, or to tweak an anodization process so that it is almost faultless); and 2. a large percentage of fly fishers want gear that will last a lifetime and perform flawlessly, because its often less about numbers and more about the experience of a particular fish (which we don't want to risk losing), place (which may not be half a mile from a Bass Pro Shop), or technique (which requires landing big fish on light line, often with the odds stacked against us). On top of that, there are more and more high-performing reels in the mid- and lower price range. You only had to be fishing saltwater in the 1970s or even 80s to understand how difficult it was to find any reel at all that would perform as well as $200 reels do now, and then you often had to wait months or years to acquire one.

There's some latent irony in the debate about expensive vs. non-expensive gear, and it's this: oftentimes an expert angler can get by with the cheap stuff, whereas novices stand to gain the most from smooth drags, indestructible parts, lighter weights and careful design. I fish with reels today that I probably wouldn't have trusted 25 years ago -- I knew I needed every advantage I could get. I didn't know what pull a tippet could stand or what would happen if I cranked down just a little more on the drag or what the appearance of the bare spool under my backing was telling me to do. And it's a good thing I didn't have to think about it, because I was doing almost everything else wrong.

Of course that doesn't answer the question of why fly gear is more expensive than traditional fishing gear and whether that's a serious impediment to folks who want to get into the sport. It only suggests that fly fishing gear buying -- and pricing -- has a lot to do with confidence, and with the desire to improve the odds in a game that's inherently self-limiting in its options. Try presenting a size 22 dry fly to a fished-over brown trout using a 10-pound tippet. Once we figure out how to do that we can really bring prices down.

Author John Gierach acquires a new custom cane rod and decides on a less-than-perfect test: fishing the slush of Colorado's South Platte. "I've repeatedly promised myself that I won't fish if it's so windy I can't keep my hat on or so cold the line freezes, but most years I end up doing both a few times anyway, sometimes by accident and occasionally on purpose, because, as Annie Dillard said, 'Tomorrow is another day only up to a point.'" In Gray's Sporting Journal.

Dragonfly Boatworks, who makes custom technical skiffs for saltwater anglers, sent us a link to an interesting new product video yesterday. The "Elek-trek" fishing kayak is a battery-powered craft with a sharp-entry bow that transitions into a rolled bottom and is extremely quiet. As you can see in the video, this vessel scoots right along and uses a "tunnel" to feed water to the prop so that the craft can go very shallow. The vessel weighs approximately ninety pounds with battery and trolling motor.

We'll leave it to you to decide whether Tenkara -- which means "from heaven" or "from the sky" in Japanese -- has a chance of revolutionizing U.S. fly fishing the way two-handed techniques did thirty years ago, but there's no question that it provides an interesting, simpler alternative to fly fishing formulas that seem only to get more complex. The gear and methods are quite basic -- not counting anyone brave enough to construct their own furled lines and leaders. An 11- to 13-foot rod is used to deliver a fly on the end of a furled line/leader that is attached directly to the rod tip.

Tenkara has been practiced for hundreds of year in Japan, and started with bamboo rods, according to Tenkara USA, a new company started by Daniel W. Galhardo, a Golden Gate Angling and Casting Club director. As their Web site says: "The few elements between you and the fish, along with the sensitive rod, will transmit even the smallest vibrations directly to your hands. The tenkara techniques are very well suited for: fishing a dry-fly (virtually drag-free due to the supple line and little line in the water), dapping a fly on a pool or holding it on an eddy for a long time, Czech-nymphing, playing a soft-hackle wet fly, and playing the traditional reverse hackle flies." Tenkara USA is selling telescoping graphite rods (they collapse to 20 inches) that it hopes will appeal to small-stream and backpacking fly fishers. (Thanks to reader Andrew Steketee for this link.)

Read the full press release in the extended entry.

On Friday The New York Times published a slide show review of several high-end saltwater fly reels. A collaboration between writer Sarah Toland, photographer Natasha Calzatti, and The Drake magazine's Tom Bie, the review covers the Hatch 7+ Monsoon ($600), the Abel Super Series 13 Large Arbor ($1,185), the Nautilus N/V 8/9 ($600), the Sage 6080 ($675), and the Tibor Everglades ($640).

Bruce Holt, G.Loomis's executive director, says the decision to stop making custom rod blanks -- the product that gave Loomis its start in the 1980s -- was a difficult one, but that it will leave the company in a better position to grow once the economy rebounds. "Making this announcement now allows our current rod blank customers plenty of lead-time to adjust inventories and make plans for their 2010 business in terms of yearly catalog and web site changes, Holt notes."

Read the extended entry for the full press release.

Despite having doubts about the all-around utility of clear floating fly lines, Shallow Water Angler editor Mike Connor gave them a second chance -- and learned that "invisible lines" definitely have their place.

For more on the challenges and advantages of fishing clear floaters, read Paul Bruun's MidCurrent article on the subject, or hear David Dalu's take on some of the new harder-finish lines just coming onto the market.

Gear reviewer Robert Morselli recently asked himself why 3-weight fly rods don't get more attention. Is it because manufacturers tend to neglect the "in-between" sizes when it comes to features? Or is it because 3-weights are considered neither ultra-lights nor mid-range rods? Morselli's takes on the St. Croix Legend Elite, Winston Boron IIt and Orvis Trout Bum remind us that at least some neglected 3s deserve more attention.

In the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, John Hayes raises some now old but still-interesting questions about the future of personal service in fly fishing gear sales. Are the eight percent of U.S. anglers who fish with flies spending their $805 million in fly shops, or are they buying online -- where despite what Hayes reports an unofficial discounting system seems firmly established? American Fly Fishing Trade Association (AFFTA) president Gary Berlin is confident that the need for localized information will continue to drive buyers smaller fly shops. "'Fifty-five point six percent of total fly-fishing sales are made in single-location shops, and another 36.7 percent are at multiple-location shops, excluding national chains,' he said. 'It's loyalty to their favorite specialty retailers who know the current water temperatures, what the hatch is and what to use on local streams.'"

Sooner or later most of us will find ourselves stepping into the water to begin a long day of fishing only to find that our fly line was damaged -- perhaps from getting it snagged on sharp rock or coral, from wrapping it around a sharp branch, or even from pinching it between a reel spool and frame. This week on MidCurrent's "Fine Lines" Phil Monahan shares a couple of excellent tips on how to repair lines that have been nicked or had their coatings slightly shredded.

If you have time, also be sure to read Joseph Kissane's response to Phil's column from last week on hard vs. soft mono in leader construction. Kissane quotes George Harvey, who said to him about leader construction: "I don't want to reduce this sport to an equation, son, I just want people to be smart about it."

Michael Gracie split his long review of the G.Loomis EastFork 5-weight into two pages (Part I and Part II) -- all the better to include mention of his rod choice being influenced by "dealer-tude" and his effort to balance this stiffer rod with the right reel. "The first thing I said when the rod was handed to me was 'it feels way heavy in the tip.' I didn't mean too heavy in general - the rod just felt slightly unbalanced. It reminded me of the Sage SP 6-weight I own (still don't know why) - despite being rated at 3 oz. (not bad for aging forest green) that rod always felt like there was lead in the tip, and this rod felt the same."

A new $69.95 fly line from RIO Products features a medium-length front taper, multifilament core, and dirt-repelling, XS Technology coating -- all designed to please the growing number of fly fishers who chase finicky carp. The line is available in a subtle camo olive color for stealthy presentations and comes in WF5F to WF8F sizes.

Read the extended entry for the full press release.

If you haven't heard of or seen the Moffit Angling System by now, you've missed one of the year's more controversial innovations. The Moffit System uses hookless flies that can be looped on and off the leader above a barbless circle hook, with the intended result of hooking fish in the outer jaw instead of inside the mouth or in the gills. The inventor, Pat Moffit, came up with the idea while searching for a system that would help reduce fish mortality. Moffit is a retired environmental scientist and lifetime fly angler and fly tier and designed his system specifically to reduce damage and disfigurement to trout. Why is it controversial? Because at first glance it is similar to rigs that are sometimes used to snag fish, and because some state laws that define what is "acceptable" terminal tackle may prohibit its use. There are also fly fishers who feel the system is too great a departure from the classic idea of the sport. (Of course there are also anlgers who, a century after a raging debate between icons of the sport, question whether fishing with a nymph is "real" fly fishing.) On the other hand the system has received endorsements from fly fishing experts like John Randolph and John Merwin, who've both fished the system extensively. Probably the easiest way to judge whether the Moffit System might be worth a close look is to watch their video on how it works.

Behind the scenes Moffit has been completing their product catalog and is about to update their Web site with new steelhead and trout flies.

In the good old days (otherwise known as the days before anyone had a clue how to make the perfect flats skiff), saltwater anglers who were skilled at working fiberglass could "pop a mold" off of their favorite boat or abandoned hull and use it as a framework to build the ultimate fishing craft. If you were around in the seventies or eighties, you may even have fished out of one of custom one-offs, and thanks to the miracle of fiberglass some of them are still catching fish today. Once skiff-building became a business that entailed taking orders and managing profit margins, of course, molds -- which can cost tens of thousands of dollars to produce from scratch -- became the intellectual property that made full-scale production possible. Just as a fly line company can patent a coating, or a fly reel company will seek patents on improvements to a drag mechanism, boat builders now seek patent protection for the subtle hull configurations that make a boat pole more quietly or shallower, or ride drier or easier.

It is not surprising that a company like Hell's Bay would get serious about protecting their hull designs, especially after owner Chris Peterson bought the company out of bankruptcy a couple of years back and turned it into a serious business. Hell's Bay had filed a patent infringement suit in November against Fisher Beavertail Manufacturing (www.beavertailskiffs.com), and yesterday we learned that the suit had been settled, but very obviously in favor of Hell's Bay. Indeed, in addition to monetary compensation, Beavertail will discontinue their Osprey, B2 and BTX models and destroy the molds.

Read more details in the extended entry.

A couple of years ago Kirk Deeter and Tim Romano stumbled across what I thought was a brilliant way to test fly reels: crank down the drag, tie the fly line to a motorcycle, and lay some rubber on a barren stretch of Colorado pavement. Apparently not content with pavement (not enough bumps), they've decided to add a four-wheeler test for trout reels. In a new video they test the Bauer Rogue, which Deeter names a "Best of the Best" piece of fly gear in the March issue of Field & Stream.

It might seem a little like asking the staff at Martha Stewart Living to come up with recommendations on riding lawnmowers, but the PM crew did a fine job of picking fly fishing gear in their April 2009 issue. The only thing we're not sure about is the notion that some fly lines begin to sink after only a day or two of use. Here's their choice for waders: "Simms Freestone | $200 -- While you don't need to buy the most expensive waders on the shelf, be wary of the cheapest -- we've seen waders leak after a single outing. This pair is made from a lightweight and durable synthetic and costs hundreds less than models with the same level of performance."

This week Phil Monahan, former long-time editor of American Angler magazine, will begin responding to reader-submitted questions in a new section of our site and homepage called "Fine Lines." He starts with something very simple: how to unravel prepackaged leaders without creating a bird's nest.

But Phil intends to cover all aspects of fly-fishing -- from knots and rigging to angling tactics to fish biology. As he notes, "Over many years as a guide and editor, I have come in contact with a lot of experts -- people who know a heck of a lot more about these subjects than I do -- and I'll use these sources to formulate the best possible answers to your queries."

We're hoping visitors will flood us with questions, with this caveat: If you submit a question, try to make it as specific as possible. If you ask "How do I fish a nymph?" the subject is too large -- enough to fill a couple of books --and we'd end up just scratching the surface. The most useful questions will be extremely specific, allowing us to cover the topic completely. A question such as "What's the best way to fish a nymph behind a midstream boulder?" will let us really dig into the nitty-gritty details of rigging, positioning, and presentation -- stuff that you can immediately put to use on the water. To submit your question, simply email it to Phil at ask@midcurrent.com.

This week on MidCurrent, David Dalu field tests the new clear floating FST fly lines from Monic. Dalu -- who by the way was the first person in history to win all three major Florida Keys tarpon tournaments in one season when he did so last year -- took the Bonefish and Permit versions of the lines south and spent several days pursuing finicky fish. The verdict: the FSTs' new hard finishes and tapers are a significant improvement.

Excerpt: "With the introduction of the FST series, Monic also improved the stiffness of the lines to prevent them from wilting in the heat, yet the line is easily stretched with just minimal pressure and does not coil excessively coming off the reel. The harder, slicker finish helps eliminate the tackiness caused by very hot, still conditions -- a problem some complained about with earlier lines."

Abel is creating a custom anodized Abel Super 5N reel to benefit Project Healing Waters, a national non-profit group that helps rehabilitate wounded veterans through fly fishing programs. The reel has a deep blue finish, gold drag knob, and red aluminum handle -- matching the Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing logo. In addition to making the reel available through retailers, Abel will sell the reels direct from their Web site for $700 and donate $400 from the each sale to PHW.

Read the full press release in the extended entry.

Antique Tackle Observer (www.antiquetackleobserver.com) is a new blog dedicated to the history of fishing tackle, and it contains a trove of information on antique fly fishing reels. I spent a solid half hour perusing the photos and descriptions of a variety of reels from the Edward Vom Hofe "Celebrated" Trout and Black Bass Fly Reels with Adjustable Automatic Silent Tension Drag to the 1928 Ed Zern Hardy Tobique River Reel to the new Baby Bougle reels Hardy is having made in Japan. Even if you have little interest in collectibles, it is fun to compare the inner workings of famous old reels with their modern counterparts.

Chester Allen forgets to bring a sinking line and spends the time that he should have been catching fish unhooking his buddy's sea-runs cutts. "Sinking feeling" indeed. "Sea-run cutts often hang out in shallow water near shore, but on this day, they were camped out in deeper water. Most of the trout weren't willing to swim up 5 or 6 feet of water to whack my Knudsen Spider. But they were happy to hit Cloud's fly, which was swinging right in front of their noses." In the Washington state Olympian.

For more on the importance of having sinking lines in your arsenal, read "Deep Thinking" and "Deep Thoughts," both on MidCurrent.

New on MidCurrent, reviewer Robert Morselli looks closely at the new Redington RISE fly reel. Morselli says the reel has one of the smoothest drags of any reel in its price range, but that it also raises the question of whether modern reels are keeping pace with fly rods when it comes to "getting light."

We're still waiting to see the full list of "Best of the Best" awards that Field & Stream gave to fly fishing products in its March issue, but we've already heard about the kudos given to Simms's Women's Gore-Tex Stockingfoot Waders, Bauer's Rogue fly reel, and the G.Loomis Shorestalker Series fly rods.

Simms noted in a press release yesterday that the company has been awarded five "Best of the Best" top honors from Field & Stream: in 1998, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008 for products that have included waders, jackets and travel bags. About the Women's Gore-Tex Stockingfoot waders, F&S reviewer Ted Leeson wrote: "Wader manufacturers have finally grasped the architectural differences between men and women. This is all gear, no gimmick -- tough Gore-Tex shell fabric, reinforced legs, and high-performance features."

As a follow-up to our recent article on selecting the right fly line (see "How to Choose a Fly Line" by Bruce Richards), this week on MidCurrent we publish Zach Matthews's thorough look at how fly lines are made. "Cooking Up Some Lines" goes into great detail on what materials are actually used in fly line construction and why they are important in line care and performance.

Excerpt: "A FLY LINE seems like a pretty simple product - little more than some plastic material gooped around a thin piece of string. The whole thing can be made to float or sink by adding microballoons or heavy metal dust in the coating. However, this apparent simplicity can lull us into overlooking just how much we ask a fly line to do. It has to help us cast by remaining slick; it must withstand the rigors of constant casting, being dragged over rocks, and being stepped on; and it must help us keep our flies in the strike zone, whether it's on the surface or 10 feet down."

Blogger Michael Gracie came up with an interesting array of mid- and low-priced fly rod recommendations by adding some of his own ideas to that of other fly fishing bloggers and friends. Starting at $90 for an Orvis Streamline 865-2 Mid Flex fly rod, Gracie lists 8 products that may turn out to be good choices for those in the market for an under-$300 rod. "Much as we'd all like to be casting $1,800 varnished masterpieces, there are a whole lot of rods people can get a hold of without taking out a third mortgage loan. Some are perfectly suitable for delicate trout fishing, while others would feel more comfortable in an urban industrial park, or in the deep blue sea."

Yesterday 3M Scientific Anglers announced that 10-year SA veteran Jeff Wierenga had been promoted to sales and marketing manager for the fly fishing product manufacturer. "Following his stint as business development manager for Scientific Anglers and nine years prior to that in the 3M lab working on new product development, Wieringa will now oversee all sales, marketing and product mix for Scientific Anglers business worldwide. He'll be the key contact for all international distributors and sales channels outside the U.S. and Canada."

Peter Frederixon, formerly national key account sales manager, was promoted to sales supervisor.

Read the extended entry for the full press release.

MidCurrent reviewer Robert Morselli looks at a new Ross reel that caught our eye at last fall's Fly Fishing Retailer Show. The Vexsis reel attempts to combine some innovative new features into a lightweight, modern design. Does it succeed? Yes, Morselli says, with one caveat.

Excerpt: "If you're thinking 'ideal mid-priced bonefish reel,' you wouldn't be wrong. In this price range, the last reel I tested that offered this level of tow-truck-stopping power as well as smoothness was the Gunnison."

My very left-brainy brother once told me that you can fix anything with Bondo, string, and duct tape. I've learned to trust his instincts on matters of this sort, even if I have a hard time imagining a role for Bondo in any elegant mechanical solution. I do make absolutely sure to have a roll of duct tape (duck tape, if you prefer) handy in my utility closet, skiff, travel bag, and rig. It just makes me feel better. I've taped broken tarpon rods together during a fish fight, repaired rod cases dragged along the Belizean airport tarmac for hundred yards, wrapped it around fingers turned raw from stripping fly lines, and even staunched a few serious bleeds.

You can imagine, then, why finding 3M's "Nuclear-Grade" Duct Tape on Amazon for less than $14
got my attention. What makes it worth notice: 6-month clean removal from most opaque surfaces; and sunlight and UV resistance for up to one year without the backing deteriorating or delaminating. Sure it's made for shipbuilding and nuclear power plants. But fly fishers have never been shy about borrowing high-tech solutions for simple problems. Why start now?

Moments ago we spoke with Cathi Comar, the executive director of the American Museum of Fly Fishing, and learned that the Museum has gone ahead with their invitation to former Vice President Dick Cheney to attend their annual fundraiser dinner in the fall. The decision was reached late last week but not made public until now. Cheney has accepted and will attend. Comar explained that the Museum board discussed the decision at length over the past several weeks and ultimately decided that since the Museum's role was historical, their primary duty is to record and preserve artifacts of fly fishing history. When asked about Cheney's obviously negative impact on fisheries conservation, Ms. Comar replied that the Museum chooses not to take sides on political or environmental issues. "Although we work with conservation organizations," she said, "conservation itself is outside of our role."

In a board-approved letter to the many fly fishers who have complained about the Museum's decision, Comar notes that the Museum has never allowed political reputations to influence its decisions about whether to include and display the fishing equipment of the various presidents or vice presidents. "Our premier traveling exhibition, Anglers All: Humanity in Midstream, highlights the fly fishing paraphernalia of former presidents Carter, Coolidge, Hoover, Eisenhower, F. D. Roosevelt, and George H.W. Bush. Controversy attended the administrations of each of these men. We did not vet any of these contributions using a standard of political popularity nor could we serve the Museum's overarching purpose had we done so. The Museum's commitment to the total history of fly fishing is inclusive."

I'll never forget the first time I wrapped thread around a bunch of deer hair and spun it around a hook shank. I can still see the hair as it flared into a tightly packed ball that just begged to be trimmed into shape. Of course hair is useful for much more than just bass bugs and water-moving saltwater flies. It's used by expert tiers of caddisflies, stimulators, hoppers, and even comparaduns and small mayfly patterns.

This week on MidCurrent, Charlie Craven lends his experience as a professional fly tier of thirty years to the smart selection of hair. As Craven says, "All hair is good for something, but it may or may not be just right for what you have in mind."

Rob Hart, whose simple folding chair added enjoyment to camping, paddling and fishing for many thousands of outdoors people, died of blunt force trauma to the chest in a skiing accident near his home in Red Lodge Montana last Friday. "Crazy Creek Products was launched in 1988, and one could argue that Crazy Creek and Hart are responsible for introducing comfort into the backpacking and mountaineering equation. A pad of closed cell foam was no longer good enough. Though there have been many imitators, it is significant that the original Crazy Creek Chair is still produced today." Michael Hodgson on SNewsNet.com.

Flip Pallot, Stu Apte, Joan Wulff, Mark Sosin and Tim Rajeff are just a few of the names lined up to appear and offer advice at L.L.Bean's Spring Fishing Expo, March 21-22 in Freeport Maine. "Featured celebrity fly tyers include David Klausmeyer, Bob Popovics, Mike Martinek and Ted Rogowski. Other weekend highlights include free fly-casting lessons, kids' activities, and a variety of demonstrations, clinics and seminars including presentations by Harry Vanderweide, as well as several L.L.Bean experts."

The company is also offering 20% off on all of its rods, reels, outfits and waders. If you're thinking about trying out their new Helix waders, it might be worth a trip.

On the Field & Stream FlyTalk blog, Kirk Deeter rates the new Simms StreamTread soles as just as good as felt when it comes to grippiness. "I'd rate the grip factor at 90 percent the performance of felt, or better. Granted, I'll want to see how they behave when the rivers get weedy in the summer, but for stability and lateral grab on the river bottom, they seemed to hold their own (and, thankfully, me)."

Chester Allen says that all one really needs to do in this whacked out economy is go fish. But that didn't keep him from adding Turbo Popper Foam and vintage camping trailers to his list of new desires. "A famous fly angler named Enrico Puglisi was hawking a new kind of popping bug -- one made with cupped foam sheets that gurgle through the water and would surely seduce summer bass on the little lake near my house. Suddenly, buying sheets of Turbo Popper Foam in every color available -- and every model of Turbo Popper Fly, well, except for the giants designed for sailfish and marlin -- seemed like the thing to do." In the Washington State Olympian.

While exchanging anecdotes with Ray Zink of Hardy USA yesterday (by the way, it seems everyone, on both sides of the Atlantic, overestimates the amount of backing needed for any given fish), we heard Ray talk about how much the Hardy & Greys folks look forward to fly fishing shows. Why is that? I wondered. "You would be amazed at the number of people with old Hardy tackle that show up at these shows who want to talk about the relationship that they have with their tackle," he said. Here's a post from Charles Jardine's Wordpress blog that will give you a sense of what he means.

Hardy USA is doing its best to build on the romance in its first year of direct U.S. marketing by attending all of the big shows, and that includes stops at Pasadena and Pleasanton in the next 10 days. The Fly Fishing Show in Padadena, California begins tomorrow, and next weekend the Show appears at the Alameda County Fairgrounds. On hand will be Hardy USA's John Shaner, who will evaluate, clean and lubricate Hardy reels for free. Just bring your Hardy reel to their booth and John will be able to tell you when it was built and all about its features and benefits.

Unfortunately, plans to forestall the GFC (Global Financial Crisis) don't include TARP money for fly fishers. Sure, there are fly fishers who invested in gold and have the luxury of picking up the lastest fly rods, reels and waders for full retail. The rest of us, meanwhile, mutter things like "You know, that two-piece 8-weight I have was a real cannon when I had the right line and used a 6-foot leader."

Well along comes Leland Fly Fishing Outfitters in San Francisco with a pork-free plan to stimulate new gear sales while helping anglers clean out their closets. The Leland Upgrade program is very simple: you send them your old gear, then they sell it on eBay and turn the proceeds into a retail credit (they sell both online and from their San Francisco store). The only fees taken from the sale are those for eBay and Paypal -- which essentially means they are providing a selling service for free. And since Leland covers shipping to the shop for anyone within the U.S., it couldn't be more hassle-free. The Leland crew has two professional photo studios in the shop and plenty of resources to turn an old rod or reel into an appealing sale item. The turnaround from the time they receive the gear to the time store credit is available is around two weeks. In addition to selling rods and reels, they'll consider other gear (waders, boots, packs) on a case-by-case basis.

Ian McNemar, Leland's Upgrade manager, told MidCurrent: "Our team spends our days perfecting the sale of used and unused fly fishing gear. We clean it, we research it, we photograph it and we sell it. There is no reason the average fly fisher should sell his or her gear themselves, because this program doesn't cost them any money, time or energy."

Selling customers' gear in local shops is nothing new. Several fly shops around the country are now developing similar ideas to resell their customers' old gear. But Leland won American Angler's Fly Shop of the Year award for 2008 and auctioning used gear is a full-time job for their staff. For more information, contact the Leland Upgrade department at www.LelandUpgrade.com (ebay@flyfishingoutfitters.com, 415.781.3474).

Think about this: the number one cause of drowning for whitewater rafters is foot entrapment. And while fly fishers are more likely to drown from simply doing something wrong -- usually by exhausting themselves in the effort to reach a riverbank -- there's plenty to be learned from the folks who end up "bandersnatched" by big water. Backpacking Light just published a good short video on the various valuable techniques for extricating yourself -- and others -- from a river safely.

For many fly fishers, tying a backing knot is like programming a car radio clock -- it's simple enough when you follow the manual, but just about impossible to remember a few months later. But if you fly fish for species that make big runs -- "sawing" your connections in and out of a rod tip, or if you regularly change fly lines on a reel, being able to rig effective backing connections offers serious advantages.

This week George Anderson demonstrates how to tie one of the most elegant of connecting knots, the Blind Splice Loop, which adds a thin-profile loop to the end of your backing. The Blind Splice Loop intimidates most anglers because it looks quite complicated. But as George shows, a tool that costs only a couple of bucks, along with a little patience and dexterity, will have you tying them like a pro.

New on MidCurrent, Robert Morselli reviews the Scientific Anglers Sharkskin fly line. Morselli notes that despite a few quirks, the Sharkskin delivers as promised (or even better).

Excerpt: "I got over the noticeable buzz that the line generates while sailing through the guides and even began to appreciate the sound: despite other anglers telling me they have found it annoying, I actually appreciated an audible clue to line speed. After just two hours on the water, I learned to 'listen' to my line. This alone makes the line a standout. Fishing is a full-on sensory experience, and creating a new way of detecting line performance is benefit, in my book."

The persistent cold weather that has gripped the U.S. this year has some of us dreaming of a warm spring, and others wondering if next year we won't need a bit more armor for fall and winter fishing. Thinking that plenty of fans of their popular tube-shaped fabric headwear want warmth in addition to sun protection, Buff will introduce a wool version in August '09. Gear reviewer extraordinaire Steven Regenold tested one recently and notes: "The product is about 6 inches longer than the Original Buff, making it extra cozy when bunched up on your head or neck. The fabric is not silky smooth. Indeed, the wool had a noticeable texture when I first pulled the piece on. But on an eight-mile run on a 10-degree night -- my Wool Buff's maiden voyage -- I never noticed an itch."

Dave Souza drops a toolbox on his rod tip and ends up with an "eight-eight" instead of the nine-foot length Temple Fork Outfitters intended for their 8-weight. Surprise! It became his new weapon of choice for throwing big flies. "I couldn't believe how good my casting was with this big popper. Anywhere I aimed, the fly hit. I was in the zone and casting with a lot of power. After a few bass, I decided to put on a new fly. At that point, I realized I was casting with the rod with the formerly broken tip." In the Fall River, Massachusetts Herald News.

Meanwhile, California fly fisher Bruce Ajari discovers a possible disadvantage to longer rods when he tries out a 9-foot, 9-inch rod for lake fishing: joint stress.

While many retail-dependent rod builders wonder when the wind will return to their sails, Montana's Sweetgrass Rod Company has seen a small downturn in orders but is still about a year behind on their waiting list. We spoke with Jerry Kustich and Dave Delisi of Sweetgrass yesterday afternoon, and not only is the crew building new digs in Twin Bridges (Jeff Walker, who owns their current workshop, is leaving the business), but Glenn Brackett and Delisi just got back from China after sorting through 18,000 cane poles and returning with, as Delisi said, "enough for about 10 years of rod building, as long as we don't get too many orders." Sweetgrass goes through about 300 poles per year, not counting throwaways.

According to Kustich, the legendary team of bamboo rod craftsmen has seen its share of tribulations this year. Master craftsmen Glenn Brackett and Kustich wanted to see the workshop build more rods and make headway in satisfying growing customer demand, and not all of the original "Boo Boys" liked the idea of having less time to go fishing. Kustich says it was a difficult decision, but one designed to create a legacy. "We are still trying to redefine bamboo rods, do something that hasn't been done successfully in 40 years, which is consistently supply a market for bamboo rods. Eventually we'd like to reduce the wait time to three months and even have some rods in stock. But it doesn't seem overly ambitious. I think we're really at the cusp of making that happen. No one has ever been able to offer the range of rods we have, from 4- to 5- to 6-strip, or the variety of tapers -- we're even going to get in to spey rods. You name it, we'll build it. The whole idea is to turn this over to a next generation some day. We're trying to make a difference in the right sorts of ways."

Author and digital photography expert Jay Kinghorn offers some excellent tips for those who would venture out into frigid temps with a camera. Considering stuffing a camera inside your woolly to keep the batteries warm? Think again. "The warmth of the jacket combined with the humidity inside will fog your lenses and viewfinder as soon as they are again exposed to the cold. The same holds true for entering a ski lodge, warm tent or toasty car. If you keep your camera cold, the lens will stay fog-free and ready to use."

Whether or not you fish with bamboo or ever care to, there's no denying that split cane rods touch the heart of fly fishing. Aficionados declare that hand-crafted bamboo has "soul," that each rod's uniqueness can be felt. To hear an expert angler who occasionally fishes bamboo for its unique qualities tell why is even more interesting, especially if that person is Thomas McGuane.

This week we're happy to show Tom fishing and talking about bamboo rods and their role in the sport. It's a long excerpt from the DVD "Trout Grass," which also is one of the few films that captures legendary rod builder Glenn Brackett at work. "Trout Grass," which is narrated by David James Duncan, is one of our favorites.

You might have thought that choosing a fly line is about as simple as changing a light bulb -- you check the rating, look on the package, and screw it in. But imagine if light bulbs came in 2,000 different shapes, and if they gave off different light for different users depending on their reading abilities. That's pretty much the challenge that choosing a fly line presents.

In MidCurrent's brand new Quick Guide, internationally recognized fly line expert and fly casting instructor Bruce Richards offers his list of the top four considerations in fly line choice. It's a good bet that whether you're an expert caster or brand new to the sport that "Choosing a Fly Line" will make you more confident of your next purchase.

Yesterday Tony Bishop of New Zealand's Bish On Fish blog gave his personal take on Simms's new Rivershed wading boots. Bishop, who bought the boots and wore them for a full week of fishing, says the boots are "85% good." "On 'clean boulders and rocks' the grip was solid. On slime covered rocks not quite as good, you have to be ready for the occasional boot slip. I had cheated a bit - I placed 9 studs around the edges of the sole. (Don't put studs in the centre of the sole, it stops the sole from 'sticking'.)"

There were plenty of fly fishers who were outraged by the arrival of spinning gear on trout streams in the middle of the twentieth century. Spinning gear made it possible for unskilled anglers to catch fish -- lots of them. So the irony of Skip Halterman's Original Spinfly Fishing Line, which was created to enable anglers to throw a fly with a spinning rod, is pretty apparent. But Brian Hendricks says they really work: "It was impervious to the wind, and it allowed me to throw effortlessly every size fly I had in my two boxes. It curls and unfurls just like a real fly line, too." In the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. Halterman, by the way, was also the person who patented the twist-on strike indicators long marketed by Orvis. Which perhaps reminds us that real inventors won't ever be bound by the rules.

I'm not quite finished reading Kathy Scott's new Changing Planes (Alder Creek Publishing, 2008, 225 pages), probably because I'm hoping it won't end. After a series of previous reads that can best be described as "fish stories," I've been entranced by Scott's prose. In fact her writing isn't perfect in a classic sense: fragments and quirky punctuation interrupt the flow fairly often. But after only a few pages I found myself wanting to slow down and take it all in, especially her brief meditations on simple things.

Here she is talking about gathering kindling: "I pined for wild skating while I picked up boughs for kindling, and Kodiak nosed about. The branches cracked and snapped with little effort in the cold. The pond had been singing with cold all week, long whomps in the night as loons sing songs of summer. Maybe there were pressure cracks, anyway. I was lost in dreams of ice and the raven-like joy of soaring across great distances effortlessly, the closest thing to flying I can do."

Changing Planes tells the story of crafting a bamboo rod in a family workshop in Maine. But as in most good fishing writing the object is simply a glue for larger ideas. Scott manages to convince us that her daily observation of the Maine woods and its animals is a necessary part of crafting beautiful fishing rod. She feels herself to be a part of long traditions. And almost everything she does benefits from the good friendship of the people around her.

If you want a "feel good" book for a winter day, this is one that won't disappoint, whether or not you can appreciate the enormous detail it provides in describing cane rod building.

You can order Changing Planes, as well as Scott's earlier books, from the Alder Creek Publishing Web site.

R. L. Winston just announced a new 9' 5-weight Boron IIx rod that it will sell along with a James Prosek signed and numbered 11"x14" Rainbow Trout Limited Edition print. Each numbered rod will featured a hand-painted trout on the blank. In partnership with World Trout, the company will donate $360 (or 20%) of each sale to conservation projects of the purchaser's choice. Winston will also donate two rods to Trout Unlimited in honor of their 50th Anniversary.

Read the extended entry for the full press release.

Big waters demand powerful line control and greater reach -- things two-handed rods have delivered in spades for steelheaders. So perhaps it was inevitable that trout anglers would end up adding a further twist to the tradition by figuring out how to make two-handed rods a fixture of trout fishing. Fact is, longer rods offer an immediate distance boost and enable longer drifts -- ideal for folks hunting up big trout in tailwaters or large Western rivers. This week, in his article "Long Shots," Zach Matthews offers highly specific instructions for how to turn a two-handed rod into a magic wand for big trout.

Excerpt: "Imagine yourself in a very common position. The fish you had been targeting close to the bank have wised up. They've left the safe holding water you are standing in, and they've moved to midchannel -- too far to reach and still get a drift with a standard cast. You know the trout are still feeding, if only you can drift a nymph to them. Here's where a two-hander shines."

After December reports that Sage had laid off several employees in its rod manufacturing center, we heard this morning that on Thursday Orvis let go 39 employees between its home office in Sunderland and its "rod shop" in Manchester. "James Hathaway, a spokesman for Orvis, said the people laid off on Thursday were full-time salaried employees from almost every department. Orvis' corporate headquarters, which they refer to as the home office, is in Sunderland. Hathaway said officials at the company had to make 'difficult, painful' decisions because of slow sales in the most recent fiscal year quarter and continued challenges projected for the future." Patrick McArdle in the Rutland Herald.

Derek DeYoung, whose remarkable paintings first caught our eye three years ago (he was one of our first Featured Artists), will decorate the next limited edition run of Abel Reels, according to Abel president Don Swanson. "Abel has chosen two paintings to replicate on their reels from DeYoung's series, 'The Abstract Trout Faces.' One reel finish is based on DeYoung's 'Abstract Rainbow - Serendipity,' a representation of a rainbow trout with a small serendipity fly in its mouth. The other is based on 'Abstract Brown - Copper John,' a painting of a butter-colored brown trout with a shiny copper john in its jaw." You can see many more examples of DeYoung's art at www.canvasfish.com.

Read the extended entry for the full press release.

RIO's new MainStream® Indicator line is a slightly-heavier-than-standard nymphing line designed to make it easier for beginning fly fishers to load their rods and turn over large indicators and heavy fly combinations. Offered in sizes WF4F to WF8F, the green-colored line retails for $34.95.

Read the extended entry for the full press release.

"A shorter rod excels in small-water situations where short casts are the order of the day. If an 8- to 8 1/2-footer is stiff enough, I find that I can create tighter loops with less line outside the rodtip than with a 9-footer. I did cast a friend's 8-foot custom rod a while back, but it was built from a moderate-action blank, and just did not create the line speed needed to shoot a tight loop. Tight loops greatly aid in general accuracy and tucking a fly under overhanging structure." Shallow Water Angler editor Mike Connor offers a deft summary of the advantages of under-nine-foot rods for saltwater fly fishing. He mentions the most recent offerings from Redington, G.Loomis, and TFO.

What do you get for $179 and a promise that "some assembly is required?" Lee Murdock tells us -- and posts photos -- on his FlyFishMagazine.com blog. "In the case of the desk that I received, the tolerances were tight and the pieces went together without difficulty. With dimensions of 40.5" H x 25" W x 14" D this desk is not well suited for the production fly tyer nor for the angler wishing to store large amounts of material away from the prying eyes of his or her spouse."

While only eight hook-ups were reported and three fish were caught during a lull in what has otherwise been a red hot sailfish season, participants in the Islamorada Invitational Sailfly Tournament, which ended Friday, feel their sport provides a thrill like no other. "'I've been sailfishing like this for 10-11 years, four of five days a year, and I realized I've been hooked up for about an hour,' [tournament organizer Sandy] Moret chuckled. 'You have to have a hot fish -- the right fish in the right circumstances. It makes it very challenging and therefore very exciting. If you could bottle that excitement, you could give the Viagra company a run for its money.''' Sue Cocking in the Miami Herald.

By the way, Moret's store in Islamorada -- now in posh new headquarters next to the Green Turtle Inn -- employs some of the most knowledgeable people in the saltwater fly fishing business. If you want to know why (or why not) to put Gel Spun backing on your fly reel, or just want to buy the latest hot fly, you owe it to yourself to give these folks a call. They also have what I think is the best saltwater fly fishing school in the world, staffed by notable experts Steve Huff, Chico Fernandez, Flip Pallot, Diana Rudolph and others.

"'Everybody's looking for value for the dollar,' says Chuck Furimsky, owner of The Fly Fishing Show, which still appears in eight cities across the country. 'Instead of a $700 rod, they're buying two $150 rods. ... There's still a light at the end of the tunnel for us; it's just not as bright as it once was.'" In the Baltimore Sun, Candus Thomson notes that the venerable Washington Boat Show won't even attempt an event this year, joining big and small events that have been stung by the sharp downturn in product sales.

"Getting on and off an SOT is simple, and while they can be a lot wetter in a chop than a sit-inside, that problem is easily solved by wearing waders or a wetsuit. My Phoenix is also about as fast as many touring kayaks, and while that makes it a bit less stable than some flatter-bottomed SOTs, it takes only a half-hour or so to get used to it. But some people don't like that feeling of tipping and would be happier with a boat that's a little slower but more stable." In the Detroit Free Press, Eric Sharp talks with kayak pro Lucian Gizel and gives some good advice: there is no perfect kayak for every fishing situation.

I first met Tom Morgan in 1998, when he asked for some help with the Tom Morgan Rodsmiths Web site (www.troutrods.com). I was lucky enough to meet Tom and his wife Gerri at his elegant but modest home near Bozeman, Montana, and to hear Tom describe his operation first-hand. I had little knowledge of Tom's role in the moving of R.L. Winston Twin Bridges, and only heard later of his prowess at rod design. (Now I am fortunate to fish with a custom rod made from an original Morgan blank; it is, simply, the sweetest trout rod I own.)

In December, Monte Burke wrote a bright and detailed story on Morgan and his success at continuing to build great rods despite a devastating battle with MS, which Burke compares to Beethoven's loss of his hearing. "Facing a raft of medical bills and uncertainty about the future, Morgan petitioned David Ondaatje, the owner of Winston, to release him from the noncompete clause. Ondaatje gave his assent. That allowed Morgan to start Tom Morgan Rodsmiths in 1996. At that point, Morgan was unable to cast a rod from his wheelchair and needed 24-hour care. 'We didn't plan it like this,' says Carlson. 'It just turned out this way.' They were married in 1996." On Forbes.com.

(Back in June 2007, MidCurrent noted another extended profile of Morgan in the Billings Gazette. Worth reading if only to explore the concept of being willing to "throw away one's work.")

"On a fall day in the mid-1930s, the warrior god of modern fly-fishing, Lee Wulff, met a photographer and a couple of sports writers on a bridge on the Batten Kill in the Catskills. Wearing unbelted chest waders and clutching a fly rod, Wulff proceeded to dive headfirst into the chilly water 15 feet below; when he surfaced, he rolled on his back, slowly backstroked to shore and crawled out, fly rod in hand."

OK, here's an end-of-2008 challenge: Is it more politically/environmentally incorrect to screw outdoor carpet onto your favorite shoes, or to throw away a pair of Tevas? It's the great Carbon Footprint versus the Aquatic Nuisance Species debate. (Most of know the best answer is probably to stick some Aquastealth treds on instead of carpet, but would that even work with Tevas?)

Jeff Aston covers a lot of ground this morning in the Mountain Express -- including the importance of learning how to swim in waders. But the beginning of the piece includes the kernel of what I think is a great idea. Want to get kids involved in fly fishing? Do what Ashton's dad did: forget about the fly rod and buy a kid a pair of waders. Get them in the water (midcurrent as it were) and the fish will come.

Buried in this article about the impact of flooding and recession on fly shops and gear manufacturers is a comment by Wapsi Fly Company owner Tom Schmuecker, who sees no slowdown in the purchase of low-end merchandise. He notes steady growth in fly tying materials since 1979. "'You can buy a package of our chenille (a shiny element in many fly baits) for less than a dollar,' said Schmuecker. 'We've had a good year.' Schmuecker said the more affordable products are reportedly selling well, according to reports from his customers. He said the industry may trend toward the more affordable products for awhile." Frank Wallis in the Baxter Bulletin.

Jewelry-maker Kathy Stout of Wheeling, West Virginia raises caddisflies in her basement, encouraging them to construct their cases not with gravel but with bits of precious stones. "It took several years for Ben Stout to perfect the in-home stream, which involves a series of trays containing various types of precious and semi-precious case-building materials, PVC pipe, spray nozzles and drains. Water is filtered, de-chlorinated, and cooled to keep it between 55 and 60 degrees. 'Each case takes a year to build,' said Kathy Stout. 'We raised abut 2,000 caddis here last year, but we have the capacity for a lot more.'" Rick Steelhammer in the Sunday Gazette-Mail.

The best part? When the year-long process is complete, Stout opens the windows and lets the adult caddis fly out.

"It was slow, as we all know, by today's standards, but I could bush-whack, fall down and torture the heck out of it on big fish and it never faltered. Eleven months later I took the Fenwick to Western Australia, then to Borneo, where I even used the Fenwick, in it's original brown tube, as a weapon and fended off an angry group of lepers who wanted to steal my stuff." On Cameron Mortenson's interesting new blog "The Fiberglass Manifesto," Brian O'Keefe recounts the virtues of traveling the world with fiberglass fly rods, which served as both practical tools and talismans.

An extremity-warming system developed for snipers and helicopter pilots may provide just what the cold-weather angler needs most: warm fingers. The system relies on a high-tech ring which transmits data to a vest that responds by raising the body's core temperature. "'When the trunk gets cold, it draws the heat from the extremities into the core. So what this thing is doing is the very opposite,' Mr. Rodgers said. 'When it notices that the hands are getting cold, it extends the heat into the core, which allows more to go back to the extremities. That's kind of neat, actually.'" And it might actually remove the idea of threading size 22 flies in the snow from the realm of fantasy. Chris Lambie in the Halifax, Nova Scotia Chronicle Herald.

This week on MidCurrent, Robert Morselli reviews the re-launched line of Imperial fly rods from St. Croix. Morselli grabs a 5-weight and takes it on a mad dash of fishing for bass, trout, walleye, perch, pike and pompano.

Excerpt: "St. Croix has taken the cosmetic appeal and component design of the new Imperials very seriously. Notable upgrades include custom-designed reel seats, premium grade cork grips, and reel seats that fit intended use -- rosewood and aluminum for freshwater, and anodized aluminum for salt. Again, these are probably features you're accustomed to seeing on $500 rods but not often on rods under $200."

John Pitarresi comes up with a pretty good list of items that most of us, if we really think about what we need, might prefer as holiday gifts. Beyond tippet material that is so strong he "could pull the Orient Express from Istanbul all the way to Paris without a break," Pitarresi suggests waders and hip boots that really fit: "If your inseam is, say, 29 or 30 inches, you are carrying about 25 extra pounds and have a size 11 foot, you -- and I -- have a problem. I finally found Orvis stockingfoot waders that work, but hip boots remain a problem. If you have big feet, you'd better be 6-feet-2 or better. I'm thinking of just buying the 11s, hacking off the top two inches with a box cutter, and then duct taping them to my jeans." On UticaOD.com.

We have an answer to his request for an all-purpose trout fly. It's called an Adams.

Read about the history of the Adams on MidCurrent.

One of the advantages of the Web is that we can publish our thoughts on gear only hours after the stuff is announced. The big disadvantage is that we publish our perspective only hours after the stuff is announced. Sometimes manufacturers don't even have their own story straight on what the best features of their new products are, and we have to draw hasty conclusions about whether, for example, a sonic-sealed wader seam is more "revolutionary" than a spiral-cut pant leg. Zach Matthews's "Gear of the Year" in American Angler's January/February '09 issue is well worth reading if only because they guy has a nose for innovation and sees the whole collection of new gear through a wider lens. I've heard that AA was the only fly fishing magazine whose circulation actually grew in 2008, and if you peruse current issues of the top fly fishing mags (of which AA is the thickest) you may see why: editor Phil Monahan has a unique touch when it comes to blending original how-to and where-to content without over-reaching. It's just good, meaningful information.

By the way, the new issue, which just appeared in subscribers' mailboxes, also includes a profile of MidCurrent and its publisher (me). Pretty remarkable that a magazine these days will make an effort to talk about new media -- another sign of times, perhaps, but we appreciate the recognition.

Perk Perkins talks on-stream to Business Week's Charles DuBow and says that while you can hear the thud of sales hitting a low point, products like the company's new Helios rods are a reason to celebrate. Who doesn't find it interesting that a company like Orvis -- by all accounts a "lifestyle" retailer -- is finding success in a niche market where single-channel manufacturers are seeing orders drop dramatically. Maybe it says something about Orvis's forward-looking marketing techniques (they've been among the most aggressive at acquiring new customers online), or maybe it re-states an important point: good product design matters.

"Standing thigh-deep in Vermont's Battenkill River, tying a nymph onto the leader of his fishing rod and wearing a beat-up green cap with a feather sticking out of it, Leigh 'Perk' Perkins Jr. doesn't look much like a CEO. The tanned, sinewy, 56-year-old looks more like a fly-fishing bum, and the grace and accuracy with which he casts his line indicates the many years he has spent on the water."

If you haven't tapped into the phenomenal redfishing on the central Gulf coast of the U.S., you might not understand the desire for a fly line specifically suited to these great gamefish. RIO saw the growing interest in the last several years and has made a line designed for the kind of casts typically made to redfish: short, fast-loaded presentations with bulky flies. The new "Redfish" line ($74.95) is available in sizes WF6F to WF10F.

Read the extended entry for the full press release.

Costa Del Mar is kicking off 2009 before it even starts with two new sunglasses from next year's line available in late December. The new Caballito and Howler styles ($129 and $219, depending on lens choice) both use Costa's no-slip Hydrolite™ nose pads and feature "the full array of 'Costa clear' 100 percent polarized CR-39 or glass mirror or non-mirror 400 lenses, including gray, amber, sunrise, vermillion, blue mirror or green mirror."

Read the extended entry for the full press release.

According to Nick Gevock in the Montana Standard, fly rod maker R. L. Winston has laid off a portion of its production staff to cope with slowing sales. "'The uncertainty is so great that people just aren't going into fly shops,' [Winston CEO Woody] Woodard said. 'That's all the indications we're getting and we have to reduce personnel accordingly.' The layoffs took effect last week."

In recent years many expert saltwater fly fishers have made sure to have a clear fly line at the ready. Semi-clear lines with nylon monofilament cores first appeared in the 1970s, but as coating technology has advanced, so have lines become clearer, more durable, and easier to cast. They excel in blind casting situations and, according to many tournament anglers, are indispensable aids to catching wary fish.

This week Cortland, who introduced the first PVC-coated fly line in 1953, announced a series of saltwater lines with a new polyethylene-copolymer coating that they claim has many advantages over PVC-coated lines, among them durability and a lower coefficient of friction (read "easier to cast"), as well as the . "Built on a nylon monofilament core, the PE+ Crystal's patent-pending crystal-clear jacket is naturally lighter than water, eliminating the need for micro-balloons or other agents to make it float. This results in a smaller diameter floating line with less wind resistance when casting, and less disturbance when the line hits the water."

Read the extended entry for the full press release.

Throwing traditional center-spindle reel design out the window, Swedish fly fishing manufacturer Psaros just announced a new reel that uses an "open gantry" snap-close frame design. According to Psaros, this allows a very large arbor but at drastically reduced weight.

Read the extended entry for the full press release.

Back in September we noted that L.L. Bean was working on an innovative way to construct fly fishing waders (see "L.L. Bean Waders Getting Radical Redesign"). Well they've just released some details, along with images, of the new seam pattern, and now we're really curious about how these new waders -- called Helix -- will perform.

The basic concept of the Helix design depends on fabric cuts that allow fewer seams and greater "articulation" in the legs. As anyone who has worn waders to the point of no return will tell you, seams are a focal point for wear and leaks. Bean says the new design has eliminated the number of seams needed by 50%, by spiraling the seam up the leg. The "darts" that popularly used for knee articulation are not necessary with the new design.

Here's what a Bean spokesperson told us about the reasons for moving in this direction: "The premise behind any wader is to develop a pair that does not leak. One of the highest leak rate points is in the seams. To become waterproof, seams are sewn and taped. The waterproof tape is added to cover any gaps and the stitch holes made by sewing. Seams are often the culprit due to the angles and difficulty in taping around corners. A standard tape size used on a wader is 22mm and when the tape is glued over the sewn seams, many times the curves are too tight for the tape's width causing wrinkles on the inside edge and stretching on the outside. The Helix design only has 6 seams that are much more subtle around the corners to make the taping easier -- and by default, more effective. In addition to sharp corners, every time the machine stops the tape needs to be cut and new tape needs to be started, making the intersection a high risk for leaks. Another seam saving area is in the articulation around the knees. In typical waders, there are 'darts' cut in to the knee area to allow a more ergonomic shape to the leg. The Helix shape has eliminated that and all the additional stop and go taping that used to occur."

Now we just need a few anglers to go out and buy the new Helixes -- they will be available to customers around early/mid February for $399 -- and let us know how they perform in the field.

Swedish fly reel maker Danielsson just announced three new reel models to replace their FW, LW and HD series. Featuring a configurable drag system that allows anglers to fine-tune drag pressure at each setting, the new reel designs -- the F3W, L5W and H5D -- will be ready for delivery early this month.

Read the extended entry for the full press release.

Ryan Krogh of Outside magazine offers his opinions on three vests, all designed for somewhat different purposes: the Simms G3 Guide Vest, the Patagonia Riverwalker, and the Fishpond Double Haul Chest/Backpack System. Of the $170 Riverwalker, Krogh says: "The Spartan of the group. It's made nearly completely out of mesh, which proved perfect for a long day of fishing in 90+ degree temperatures in Colorado."

When we set about deciding what products to include in our annual MidCurrent Holiday Gift Guide, the sour economy made suggesting items that cost over $100 seem silly. But then we remembered an old New Yorker cartoon caption that remains a favorite: "Lord, give us only a few things, but make them of very high quality." The good news is that quality doesn't always come with a high price tag. Check out our seasonal picks for both the frugal and the self-indulgent.

Ed Engle is yet another devoted fan of "Why Fly Fishing," a film by Miracle Productions and Jeffrey M. Pill. Engle notes that while you can always watch a stack of DVDs on how-to, where-to and what-to, this video succeeds where others have not -- in communicating the sport's appeal to a wide variety of audiences. "I picked up 'Why Fly Fishing' on the recommendation of a friend. It's just 31 minutes long, and I'll admit to thinking that maybe it was directed more toward people just getting into the sport than old fly-fishing grouches like myself, but I was wrong. What makes this DVD different from the others is that everyone you see on the screen is honestly passionate about fly-fishing." Engle also recommends Charlie Craven's Basic Fly Tying (Headwater Books, 264 pages).

"Why Fly Fishing" is available from The Book Mailer. Charlie Craven's Basic Fly Tying can be purchased on Amazon.