Caring For Zip-front Waders

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MODERN WATERPROOF ZIPPERS HAVE REVOLUTIONIZED THE DESIGN OF WADERS.

The ease and convenience of zip-front waders is easy to get used to. There was a time when I scoffed at the idea, but now I can’t see fishing in anything else. Especially with the durability and dependability found in the new waterproof zippers. My Simms G4Z waders are bombproof and require virtually no maintenance. Still, waders are expensive and it pays to take care of them.

Here are a few tips to keep your zip-fronts going strong.
Never pack your waders zipped

This is the most important thing I can tell you about waterproof zippers. I once spent a very cold week steelheading in open waders. Throwing a pair of waders with the zipper zipped into your duffle and driving to the river may not be the end of them, but fold those waders and put them in a bag and hand them over to an airline and you’re screwed. When your bag ends up at the bottom of a pile of luggage a lot of weight is on the fold in that zipper. As that fold is flattened, the teeth pop apart below the pull. The zipper pull will not re-mesh them and the separation will grow until the entire zipper is open. Your waders are done. Always pack your waders unzipped to avoid this problem.

Wash your zipper

It’s a good idea to wash your waders once in a while anyway. This will greatly increase the longevity of your fishing buddies. It will also keep mildew from growing. Mildew, in addition to smelling awful, will degrade the seams and cause waders to leek. While you’re at it, wash the zipper thoroughly with running water and dry your waders wrong-side-out. This will clear grit from the zipper that can jam the pull and damage the teeth.

Lubricate your zipper

Lubricating your zipper will keep it moving freely and

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Sunday’s Classic / Drop-Offs Are Trout Hot-Spots

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Definition of “Adjacent” – just before, after, lying near; neighboring

Drop-offs located adjacent to shallow water are trout magnets. The slower moving water and cover found downstream of drop-offs are the two main reasons trout are drawn here. If you’re looking for super consistent water where you can almost always find trout, you should be searching out dropoffs or buckets on your streams and rivers where shallow water transitions into deeper water. The more significant (larger the area) the stretch of shallow water is, the more appealing the adjacent drop-offs will be to trout, especially when the shallow water upstream or downstream holds very little cover.

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Saturday Shoutout / 1of750.com – Help Save the Greenback Cutthroat

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SAVE THE GREENBACKS

Today’s Saturday Shoutout goes to 1of750.com, a website recently created by the Greenback Trout Unlimited Chapter to raise awareness and fuel a grassroots campaign (on Indiegogo) to raise $10,000 or more for critical conservation work on Bear Creek. It’s the sole home for the last remaining documented population of Greenback Cutthroats alive today (only about 750 of them left).

Please watch the video and read the information below about this very important conservation project and please donate to this wonderful cause if you can. In the very least, please share this initiative on your social media outlets.

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The Airflo Super Dri Fly Line

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Watch The Video

THE AIRFLO SUPER DRI FLY LINE IS ONE OF THE COOLEST AND MOST INNOVATIVE FLY LINES I’VE EVER SEEN.

We got the chance to check them out at IFTD this year and Kent and I were both very impressed. I wish I could put one in your hand because the only way you can believe the slickness of this line is to feel it. The expression on Kent’s face in the video says it all.

Not only is the Super Dri the slickest fly line ever made, it also features Airflo’s exclusive ridge texture, a low stretch core and the new Zone Technology. Airflo is really on their game with this one. Watch the video and get the full story from Tim “The Man” Rajeff.

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Best Fly Fishing Xmas Gifts – Gink & Gasoline Top Picks

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ARE YOU SCRAMBLING TO FIND THAT PERFECT FLY FISHING GIFT FOR THE PASSIONATE FLY FISHER IN YOUR FAMILY?

Maybe you’re the kind of person that likes to provide an organized holiday wish list to help out your family and friends. Either way, we’ve got you covered in Gink & Gasoline’s 2013 Fly Fishing Gift Guide. We’ve categorized the list by price range to make your browsing easy, and we’ve also provided links to where each product can be purchased. We’d be proud to receive any of these products as gifts during the holidays.

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3 Tips For Targeting Fall Browns

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AUTUMN IS A GREAT TIME TO TARGET BIG BROWN TROUT.

This time of year brown trout are in pre-spawn mode and are moving from their year-round holding water to the spawning grounds upstream. This offers anglers the chance to tie into a nice mature fish that might be too reclusive to be caught the rest of the year. I had the chance to do just that while showing a buddy from Wyoming some of my favorite water in North Carolina. Here are 3 tips that helped make it a successful day.

Target Resting Water
The fish you are looking for are on the move upstream. Fish prefer to do their traveling at night, in the safety of darkness. That means that they are resting during the day. You will frequently find them in runs below water falls or long stretches of fast water. They will rest there during the day and take on the challenging water when they are fresh. Focus your efforts on the resting water. It worked well for us.

Use Your Eyes
Fish in pre-spawn mode will often hold where you least expect them. While fishing with my buddy Jackson the other day I stopped to take a leak on the bank and

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Thomas & Thomas Fly Rod History & Q&A with Tom Dorsey & Mark Richens

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A few months ago, I had the pleasure of touring the Thomas & Thomas factory. During the walk through, I found myself getting emotional and I regularly had to fight back the tears welling up in my eyes. At first, I didn’t understand why I was feeling these sad emotions, and then it hit me squarely in the chest, and it became crystal clear. The sadness I was feeling was coming from all the past memories of my peers badmouthing and writing off the Thomas & Thomas brand. It made me think about all the great fly fishermen out there not fishing T&T rods anymore, and it wasn’t because the T&T rods lacked performance or quality, it was rather that T&T no longer carried that “popular appeal” in the eyes of the everyday angler. Walking around with watery eyes, I heard the negative voices saying comments like, “Who is T&T, haven’t they closed the doors?” or “The T&T craftsmanship isn’t what it used to be, and I’ve been burned one too many times by their customer service.” What bothered me most, is all of those negative comments that I’d heard over the years, clearly didn’t match up with what I was seeing in person at the T&T factory. There was an overwhelming pride that was genuinely displayed on the eyes of every single T&T employee. And I thought to myself, “If only the naysayers could be walking in my footsteps right now, they’d understand the real truth about this fly rod company’s journey, and the beauty and uniqueness of its products.”

There’s no question that Thomas & Thomas has lived through some tough years in the past, and many of its loyal customers have suffered from the turmoil created by the company changing hands. That being said, the company and staff deeply regret the tarnish that’s been attached to the T&T name in recent years. Every day that goes by, the T&T staff is working hard to make things right moving forward, and they’re doing it by winning back one fly angler at a time. One thing everybody in the fly fishing industry needs to understand about T&T, is they’ve never changed the quality of their craftsmanship or the philosophy of how they design and manufacture fly rods. And I think it’s equally important that the T&T history and story be told, that way each and every fly fisherman can be educated on the company’s roots, what caused the troubled years at T&T, and where the company stands today. I’m honored to be associated with Thomas & Thomas, and I’m proud of the solid group of employees (all passionate fly fishermen) that are bringing T&T back to the glory days.

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Sunday Classic / Tie The Freak

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When your looking for that little something extra to motivate that big Bonefish, you may be looking for The Freak. Bruce Chard shows you how to tie this crazy looking but very effective fly.

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Saturday Shoutout / The Long Shot For Carp

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Watch This Cool Video!

THIS WEEKS SHOUTOUT OFFERS SOLACE FOR THE CARP JUNKY.

“Long Shot” a film by The Fly Collective features two of my favorite Colorado anglers, Erin Block and Jay Zimmerman. Erin and Jay do more than philosophize on the nature of carp fishing in this film, they lay a healthy smack down on some nice Colorado carp. If you are a carp junkie, this film will get you through some cold winter nights.

If you are not familiar with Erin and Jay you should check out there work. The each have their own fly fishing site. Erin’s “Mysteries Internal” is quite possibly the best written fishing site on the web and Jay’s “Colorado Fishing Reports” is a must read for anyone fishing the square state.

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2014 G&G Calendars Arrive and 40% OFF T-Shirt Coupon

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It’s been quite a while since Louis and I added anything fresh to the Gink & Gasoline online store. This past year, many of you took the time to contact us about putting together a 2014 fly fishing calendar. We’d like you to know that your requests have been answered, and we’re excited to announce that our 2014 Gink & Gasoline Fly Fishing Calendar is available for purchase. Louis designed and hand picked each of the 13 fly fishing photos used in the calendar, and he also upgraded the print medium so you’ve got top quality from cover to cover. We hope that many of you will pick one of these great calendar’s up for either your personal enjoyment or provide it as a holiday gift for that special fly fisherman in your life.

We’re also currently offering our Gink & Gasoline Inferno Tie-Dye T-shirts at 40% OFF for a limited-time. If you’ve been wanting to tout your support for G&G, here’s your opportunity to do so at a very nice savings. Just enter the Coupon Code: 40TIEDYE

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