Well, Reilly and I have been at sports shows pretty much all month and, while wandering the hallowed halls, we ran across some interesting…and totally random…cool fishing stuff out there.
In no particular order, here are a few things that tickled our collective fancies…
I’m not a huge trout troller but Arctic Fox’s tube trolling flies, which, when paired up with a Wiggle Fin Action Disc, “Flutter like a stop sign in a hurricane,” looked pretty sweet. Apparently, the fox fur is superior in its action to stuff like marabou and bucktail. They were tied up in all sorts of cool baitfishy patterns, including local favorites like pond smelt, tui chub and Lahontan redside, but what really impressed us was all the innovate ways owner Dennis Pierce had to rig these things.
The next one falls under the “why didn’t somebody think of that one sooner” category…Pavati Marine which is a new aluminum boat company headed by Chuck Gros, had a pretty slick new driftboat on display, which sported all sorts of innovative features, including this easy-access side door. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had older clients have trouble getting in out of my diftboat and this is such a great idea:
The drifter they had at the show had plenty of other features that showed Gros is an out-of-the box type of thinker including a new wave-cutter bow design, a rear-opening dry box that lets the rower access the contents without having to make the passengers get up, a no-chine bottom and lots more. I can’t say how the thing rows, but she was definitely a looker!
A company with a conscience? Yep, you bet — that’s what you get with Simms which will be doing away with all of their felt soled wading boots by next year. Because felt soles take so long to dry, lots of stuff can live in them. If whatever is hiding out in your felt just happens to be an invasive species (like zebra mussels) or a fish-killing disease, you can easily transport them from one water to the next by simply wearing your boots. A bad scene!
No felt!
But the company has recently hooked up with Vibram to make new sticky rubber soles that will replace the felt. The G4 Guide Boots looked pretty bad ass and we’re verrry interested to see how they grip on slippery bottoms.
And yet another one of those really simple yet brilliant ideas: How about Scotty’s fighting butt end caps.
No more bruises!
The cap is a durable, slightly soft chunk of molded rubber that slips over just about any rod butt and..PRESTO…instant fighting butt! With one of these bad boys, there will be no more tender groins or bruised guts the next time we got sturgeon fishing or hook one of those damned 120-pound bat rays in the Bay!
