Gear

The place to geek out and tweak out, we all love gear from rods, reels, waders, vests, storage, boats, lines, leaders, vices, tools, hooks and materials as well as all the accessories nets, boots, pumps and so on. 

Here I will share my honest opinions on gear and brands that I trust and recommend based on my experience using them. I want this to serve as a resource to others to help them get the best value and return for their investment. Some anglers get attached to certain things and want them to last while others like to update frequently. 

I will share my views and those of my clients over the years and hopefully offer you some insights on where to get the best return to hook up more. There’s a lot  to consider for new anglers to the sport and where to prioritize your purchases to enable the maximum amount of enjoyment for the least amount of money. Many angles purchase gear in stages over years to build up their gear arsenal.

It all starts with a rod, reel, line and flies so let’s start there. First qualifying question to ask is how often, where and when am I likely going to fish? Four seasons of fishing for multiple species of fish requires more gear and the various types of flies needed to catch them varies significantly requiring different rods, lines, waders and boots. If your fishing on a small creek with lots of obstacles you’ll want to consider something yet again different. Let’s look at three different scenario’s and break it down but let me just say a good starter budget is about $1K-$1.5K to get outfitted and take $400 of for boots and waders in you’re not wading in cold water with slippery rocks what I call wet wadding.

I use and recommend Sage products, it’s what I provide my customers on guided trips when required. Of course if you have your favourite gear and wish to fish with that for familiarity please feel free to use it. For clients that prefer to use our gear we will provide top level rods, reels and lines. 

I started with a Kick Boat and I still prefer the success rate of fishing from these stealthy crafts because of how responsive they are and the small shadow they cast on sunny days. I have experimented with many styles and configurations and owned NRS rafts, Hyde Drift Boats, Prams and vinyl inflatable water wings (just seeing if you’re paying attention). Drifting safely and keeping the boat in the sweet spot as you drift while holding the boat back with as little effort as possible so as not to disturb and alarm the fish is the skill you want to hone to hook up more often. Bigs browns are gone into hiding at even the suggestion of something being out of place where they live.