by Kirk Deeter

G.Loomis recently announced that it would be offering its NRX rod series in a slick new green finish, which I find interesting, because that tells me that aesthetics might be more important in marketing fly rods than I had assumed. After all, the original NRX with its robin-egg-blue wraps is hands down, without question, one of the hottest-handling, best-casting, and all-around fishable fly rods ever made. It's just that a lot of folks think it's ugly. Yeah, I'll concede that the blue on the rod is a funky color, but I don't think they're ugly rods. Instead, I'd call them "aesthetically awkward," in more of a white socks and black shoes, or striped shirt and plaid necktie kind of way.

To be honest, when it comes to looks, different is often good. For example, when an angler is holding that big world record fish, and the rod with the odd blue wraps is in the photograph, everybody knows the fish was caught on an NRX. Now, green, we'll wonder, "Is it a Sage TCX or an NRX? Or is it a Winston?"

by Kirk Deeter

John Merwin's blog post the other day referenced a book by Pat Dorsey (Tying and Fishing Tailwater Flies). So I thought I'd follow up with an "On The Spot" interview I did with Pat at the recent International Sportsmen's Expo in Denver.

Pat and I are old friends. In fact, back when we were in our early thirties, I was co-authoring a book on fishing guides, and Pat was one of our first "volunteer" subjects. He showed me Cheesman Canyon, the Williams Fork, and Dream Stream section of the South Platte in South Park. And he did it for gas money, despite the fact that we didn't have a publisher committed or anything (it was an excuse to go fishing). The book turned out to be Castwork, which boosted my outdoor writing career. It's out of print now, but you can read excepts at MidCurrent.

by Kirk Deeter

The other day I watched a television news report on "rudest cities" in America. According to Travel + Leisure, New York City supplanted Los Angeles for the top spot on the list. Miami was second. For the record, I love New York, and not just because my bosses work there. I'm energized when I visit New York. I even respect the Yankees. Granted, I live where I do (Pine, Colorado) for a reason, but the Big Apple has always been a great place to visit.

I find it hard to set a "rude standard" based on people. I mean, in a city of 18 million, sure you might bump into a jerk now and then, but one bad egg in a place like Bozeman or Little Rock could skew the data too, couldn't it?

by Kirk Deeter

Lefty Kreh, who may just be the most recognized authority on fly fishing ever, told Tenkara USA founder Daniel Galhardo that, “Tenkara is a fad and it won’t last long." Talk about candor. What's more interesting is that Daniel posted a recap of the conversation on his blog.

Another twist to all of this is that there have been rumors and rumblings for some time that Temple Fork Outfitters (and Lefty is the leading spokesperson for TFO) has been planning to manufacture and market its own line of tenkara rods in the not too distant future.