Sunday, January 9, 2011

Losing my mind.

So my plans to go up to Chicago changed kind of last minute.  My cousins' parents decided they weren't ready to let him go (can't blame them) so I stayed home with pretty much nothing to do all day except watch playoff football.

Then Clif linked to a blog with amazing flies and my day was done for.  I've spent the rest of the night looking at  warm water fly fishing blogs and regretting my decision to pursue higher education rather than bluegill and bass last fall.  Here's a rundown of the few that I pored over:

Warm Water Journal:  Amazing flies, some of which look like they should be thrown by a baitcaster rather than a flyrod.  Also some awesome fish pics.

Blue Gill on the Fly:  Outrageous amount of panfish/bass flyfishing pictures and stories, with alot of other species mixed in.  This is pretty much what I want 1/3rd of my blog to be.

Pondbass:  Guy who seems to be quite a bit younger than me but is already way more experienced and accomplished as an angler.  Lots of good fish pics.

All this reading of flyfishing blogs got me thinking, perhaps I should upgrade my fly equipment a little before spring.  Not to a $1000 setup or anything, just something that's a little more modern and cheap, rather than cheap when I bought it 10+ years ago.  Plus my rod has a crack in the plastic threading where the reel sits and one of the guides are kinda rough....

So what do you think?  I was thinking of a Eagle Claw Featherlight in the 8 foot 5/6 weight.  Mainly because it's inexpensive but also because the author of The Fiberglass Manifesto uses them from time to time and he's a self-professed "Glass Geek."

I'm very open to suggestion though, please let me know of any other relatively (I'll leave relatively open to interpretation.) inexpensive options.

At least I don't need a new fly reel.  Yet....

4 comments:

Clif said...

Wow that is inexpensive. Sorry I can't offer any insight into that rod. Gander has a few Redingtons on sale currently. They aren't that cheap but you can feel them before you buy.

Jay said...

Hi Mark,
This is my first time to your blog. I saw where you commented on WK & TL to ask Howard about the new Featherlights. I wrote the article he referred you to. I can tell you that the new Featherlight is probably the best value you will find in a fly rod. I was a bit unhappy with the tip top guide (as I wrote in my review), but I soldered mine smooth myself. A little extra effort, but it made me feel better. I have the 8' model, and it has served me well thus far. If you're on a budget, I'd say this is definitely your rod.

Mark said...

Thanks for stopping by Jay and thanks for the input, I'd been looking for a full review since I put up this post.

Looks like I'll be picking one up unless by some miracle Hook and Hackle decides I'm deserving of their building kit.

Even then, at $20 there's no reason NOT to have a 5/6 wt to go along with a self-built 3wt I guess.....

Jay said...

I'm a firm believer that the one who dies with the most fly rods wins... I think I have around 20... I think.