The Long and the Short of it

NEW TOYS for Fall have arrived.

You may not know it by the slow leak in my boat, but I am always trying to keep things fresh and new. Understand clearly that I am not a product pitcher. I like Pepsi but will drink a Coke. Could care less about the car your driving, Ford-Chevy, V6-V8 blah, blah, blah. Tippet, fly line, leaders just need to be affordable, I could care less what name is on them. I also pledge allegiance to no one rod manufacturer but trust me I know what I like and lately I like em long.

Just injected my new Sage One 10' 5wt and a Reddington Hydrogen 10' 4wt into the program and wow what a difference a foot makes.

"Teaching Euro nymphing now too?"
Nope, just a bigger lever

One of the biggest hurdles for most guides who teach is getting the rod tip up in critical situations like say mending, roll casting or most importantly the hook set. It is a daily struggle that the rod manufactures have tried for a few decades to solve with lighter rods. Don't matter, they are still to heavy for most humans to lift so I just bought a foot.



The One is going to cost you, but during the brief time we have spent together I can say this is the finest stick I have held in a long long time. I own a few 9' 5 wt Ones also but they just became dry fly rods, The 10' is definitely heavier in hand but so are most of the rigs it's shoving around, big deal, man up and be an athlete.



The Hydrogen is lighter in hand and on the wallet. This is a great rod for the price point and will let people dabble without going broke. The 4wt has a much slower action than the One but I really have grown to like that in a nymph stick. The skeleton reel seat is kind of a cool feature if you are into bling and I like the mat finish a lot.

the boy's eyes were cross eyed after I made him pose for this picture


I have also been working on the short game. I broke down and bought my first pair of cheaters after 3 years of being blind on the close side. I gave in after spending an evening with Ed Nicholson, the founder of  Project Healing Waters, who I guess got sick of watching me fumble.

Very high honor floating around with this great man. Humbled


"Give in already and join the club" says Ed as he hands me a pair of cheaters just before dark.

I'm in. Best investment I have made in years.

Carry On.