by Kirk Deeter

I've never had the spare money (or the burning desire) to own a bamboo fly rod.  I'd be too afraid to break it and I like to fish my rods. Besides, I have some very special graphite rods that mean the world to me for different reasons, but more on that another day.

I'm pretty tough on most of my gear, as anyone who has fished with me can tell you. I'm also no slave to fashion. I wear a ratty old vest; my waders are grease-smeared and tattered; my hats are all sweat-stained and riddled with snags and pinholes from flies being stuck in them. River rattiness is almost a badge of honor for me.

But if there's one thing I really care about, it's my net.  Think about it. The net is what you use to close almost every deal on the river. It is the tool that turns the hunter into the healer.

by Kirk Deeter

Let's cut right to brass tacks.  Sure, we can talk about fancy graphite technologies and all the other stuff that makes a $750 fly rod a $750 fly rod... but in truth, 99 percent of fly casters cannot honestly feel the difference. (It's like me and a $10 bottle of red wine vs. a $30 bottle... I sniff, I swirl, I roll my tongue, and then I go get a PBR from the cooler.) 

And in fairness, there are a lot of cheap rods that are exactly that--cheap. Not just inexpensive. Cheap. As in, "Why did I pay $100 for this piece of junk that casts like a curtain rod, and is already falling apart?"

The holy grail for fly rod marketers, therefore, is finding that sweet spot of maximum functionality, at a minimum price.  And based on the fishing I have done this summer with over two dozen different rods--and more importantly, having put different options in the hands of other casters, from total beginners to guides--the Cabela's LSi lives in that sweet spot. I've fished 4-weight and a 5-weight versions of LSi, both 8'-6" long.  They cost $180.

by Kirk Deeter

There's a special category in the fly fishing retail world labeled "accessories," which, in my mind, includes just about anything a fly angler buys that doesn't actually help them catch fish in any way, shape, or form whatsoever. This might be the most important product category for friends and relatives of fly fishers who want to buy gifts with sentimental value, but alas, have no idea (whatsoever) how to actually catch fish on the fly.

That's why a lot of us have drawers full of Green-Butt Skunk printed socks, sterling flasks with dry fly etchings, toilet seats with a Royal Coachman motif, and wall clocks with classic fly patterns that mark every hour of the day. I will admit that I might be the most "poorly-accessorized" angler on the planet, having little use for neckties (if you see me choked by a silky fly print around my neck, that usually means someone either died or got married, which in certain angling circles is almost one in the same), fly-themed wallets, and the rest of the niff-naff that says, "I'm a fly fisher."

by Tim Romano

Last week's caption contest was certainly one of the stranger photos we've used for a caption contest and it prompted some even stranger captions.

After a bit of deliberation we've decided to award the Columbia Tidewater Watch to Joe Geurts for his caption: "This is how you Tie One On." Please contact me at tim@anglingtrade.com and I'll get your watch sent out immediately.