The New CCFX2 Fly Reel From Nautilus
I’M PRETTY BRAND LOYAL WHEN IT COMES TO FLY REELS. I HAVE LOTS OF DIFFERENT BRANDS OF ROD BUT ONLY A COUPLE OF NAMES SHOW UP ON MY REELS. NAUTILUS IS ONE OF THEM.
Quality is important in any gear you use but when it comes to reels, it’s really important. “A fly reel is just a line holder!” How many times have you heard that BS? Ask the guy who’s fighting the fish of a lifetime how he wants his line held. “Very carefully!” will likely be his answer. Fly reels take a lot of punishment and we expect them to perform flawlessly, every time. It pays to buy quality.
Nautilus reels are known for quality. While they aren’t the most expensive reel on the market, they aren’t cheep. The new CCFX2 reel was designed to bridge the gap between performance and price. It sports many of the features of the high end Nauties at a price that won’t make you grimace.
In this video Kristen Mustad shows off the features of the new CCFX2 fly reel.
Read More »Fishpond Westwater Large Zippered Duffle Review
There’s a lot of fly anglers that look at the price tag of fly fishing travel luggage as say, “Good God, that’s expensive”. I’ll admit that most of the fly luggage isn’t cheap. Most large pieces will set you back at least a couple hundred dollars before tax. But before you go writing fly fishing luggage off for only the rich snobs that have plenty of money to blow, you might take a minute like I did to check out the current pricing on traditional travel luggage. I found that luggage of similar size and quality was actually quite a bit more expensive. On average, it was priced a hundred dollars above most fly fishing luggage. Furthermore, just about all of the traditional travel luggage brands I researched weren’t waterproof.
These days, all the old boxy travel luggage I’ve acquired stays hidden away in my stairwell closet collecting dust. Just about every trip I take now, whether it’s for a fishing trip or a family vacation, I use my fly fishing luggage. Quite frankly, its lighter, just as durable if not more, and like I said before, it’s waterproof (that’s a mandatory feature for me). If you’ve been interested in purchasing some new fly fishing travel luggage but found yourself hesitant, I encourage you to do the reasearch like I have and then go out and talk with some anglers that own some. I’ve been 100% satisfied with all of my fly fishing luggage with the exception of one piece that had some minor defects.
This past year, I was provided the opportunity to try out the new FishPond Westwater Large Zippered Duffel. Timing was perfect because I had been needing one more large piece of travel luggage for my extended fishing trips. I put it to use right away and it has served me very well on my past five trips.
Read More »Falling in Love Again, With My Winston
I DON’T KNOW HOW IT HAPPENED. I HAVE NO EXCUSE, BUT SOME HOW MY WINSTON B2X 6 WEIGHT SPENT THE LAST TWO YEARS IN THE TUBE.
I have a lot of fly rods and I’m always getting new ones to try out, but there is still no excuse for neglecting such a great rod. I got that rod specifically to fish the Green River in Wyoming during hopper season. A trip I used to make every year. I’ve passed on the Green River trip the last couple of years for various reasons and I guess I just forgot about the Winston in the process.
I made it back to the Green this year. Only for a day and not during hopper season but it jarred my memory and I took the old green stick along. Man am I glad I did. It was like falling in love all over again. Not just for me as it turned out. Kent and I fought over that rod the whole trip. Several days, it was the only rod that got fished.
We had a pile of rods. We each brought five and added to that several that we’re sent to us to evaluate for clients. Still, the Winston carried the day and I’ll tell you why. While the B2X has been languishing in the tube, the world of fly rod design has changed. In this case, I’m not sure we can call it progress.
In recent years, rod companies have been beating cheeks to make the
Read More »Sunday Classic / The Double Figure 8 Loop knot
Loop knots give your fly superior action in the water. There are several good options for creating a loop knot but tied in heavy salt water tippet, like you use for tarpon, most get quite bulky. In the first of three videos on better salt water knots, Capt. Joel Dickey shows us how to tie the Double Figure 8 Loop Knot. An excellent choice for strength, size and action.
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Hunt Bones on a Budget
THIS WEEKS SHOUTOUT IS TO CHRIS HUNT VIA MIDCURRENT.
You might recognize Chris’s name from his awesome blog “Eat More Brook Trout” which is well worth your time.
Writing for Midcurrent, Chris gives you his 5 best tips for
“BONEFISH ON A BUDGET”
Thanks Chris, we needed that!
You can check out my DIY bonefish post (HERE)
Read More »Adipose Boatworks Review
Every year at the IFTD show Louis and I check out all the boats on the floor and pick one to showcase for all of our readers. This year’s featured boat manufacturer was Adipose Boatworks. We chose to showcase them because the craftsmanship and functionality in their boats are top notch and their eye on design is also very unique in many ways. It also didn’t hurt that we hit it off with the owners, Tracy Allen and Mike Ward right off the bat, which both happen to be veteran fly fishing guides. Listening to the owners talk about their Flow Skiff, we quickly realized it was our kind of boat.
For those of you that guide or simply just own your own drift boat, raft or skiff, there’s always those little design flaws here and there in our boats that give us grief on the water. They don’t keep us from catching fish, they’re just a constant annoyance. We all deal with them of course but if we were given the opportunity to fix them with the snap of our fingers, all of us would do it in a heart beat. That’s bascially what Tracy Allen did at Adipose Boatworks when he designed his Flow Skiff from the bottom up, and that’s why I think this boat is unique and worthy for all to take a closer look at.
Read More »Take the Time to Reconnect and Fish With Your Childhood Friends
A while back, I watched the movie Grown Ups, which tells a story about a group of childhood buddies reuniting after several years of losing touch with one another.
Watching the movie, I found myself reminiscing about my own childhood friends, and how much I missed hanging out with them. When the movie finished and the credits started rolling, I decided it was time for me to try reuniting with some of my own childhood friends. So the following day, I contacted my best friend growing up, Ryan Evans, and invited him to meet up with me for a day of fly fishing for trout. I had wanted to make this happen ever since I first became a fly fishing guide but for whatever reason the ball always got dropped and it never happened. We both agreed over the phone it had been far too long since we’d hung out and we agreed to set a firm date. I’d guide and Ryan would fish.
Read More »G&G South Andros Bonefish Trip Expands To Second Week
MORE OF A GOOD THING!
The Response to the 2014 G&G Bonefish Trip to South Andros has been overwhelming. In an effort to accommodate everyone who wants to come bonefishing with us we are expanding the trip to a second week.
April 19th – 26th
If, for some reason you couldn’t make the March trip here’s your chance to get in on the fun. Our amazingly generous sponsors have stepped up with more great gear giveaways so, again, everyone gets 2014 Simms flats gear and one lucky angler takes home a brand new Thomas and Thomas Saltwater rod!
Here’s the full story.
April 19th – 26th is your chance
Sunday’s Classic / Why Aren’t We Talking More About Angler Positioning
Countless fly fishing articles have been written about matching the hatch, setting up your rig correctly for the water you’re fishing, and how to cast tight loops. It’s true you should always have these areas covered in your fly fishing game but what about angler positioning? Why aren’t we talking more about how important angler positioning is for fly fishing success? Have you ever wondered why there’s trout fishermen out there that can’t cast forty feet, yet when they’re on the water fishing, they literally mop up every fish like a vacuum. There’s a simple reason for this folks. Great fisherman, that aren’t the best at fly casting, tend to figure out real quick that angler positioning is critical for ensuring they get presentations that produce hookups.
Listen up all you competition casters out there. I’m happy you can reach the far end of the casting pond with your fly. It’s not easy shooting fifteen feet of backing out the end of your fly rod with a five weight fly rod. That’s impressive, but if that’s how you choose to spend your time trout fishing, you’re probably going to catch few fish. Oh, and remember that guy that you just laughed off the casting pond with his pathetic forty foot cast? He’s probably going to out fish you if you meet up with him on the water, because he’s figured out that presentation trumps distance casting.
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Central Overland
This weeks Saturday Shoutout doesn’t have a fly fishing theme but the publisher does happen to be a passionate fly fisherman and he’s also a big fan of Gink & Gasoline. Wes Craiglow runs the website Central Overland, for those on the road less traveled.
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