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Tackle Reviews by Guys Who Know

Keep Kool...

Silver Horde has one of those things that work really well for guys who fish out of drift boats or small boats, or for that matter, any boats that don’t have a fish box or won’t handle a fish-sized cooler.

    It’s the KatchKooler II, a portable fish bag and cooler that does all the things it should.

    Like most soft coolers, it is insulated with foam. In this case, the foam is closed cell, meaning that things like salmon blood, steelhead slime and other smelly liquids won’t be absorbed. It’s easy to wash out naturally.

    Of course, the bag is made to hold fish, and it does that well. On a recent Bonneville trip, I used mine to keep a pair of chinook iced down. On the return trip home, I added a bag of ice, and that survived the five-hour drive back, even though the air temperature was up there.

    The size, 40 inches by 16, is great for two or three chinook of average size plus ice. It will also hold maybe six winter-run steelhead and ice. It is made of waterproof fabric, has a heavy-duty zipper and a handle that wraps around the bag.

    The wraparound design of the handle supports the bag, and it won’t tear out under a heavy load. The interior is waterproof and has a divider that will keep fish separate from ice and water, a benefit for keeping fish in the best condition.

    The uses are obvious, I think. It can be used to store lunch or anything you want to keep cool on the way out, and it will take care of your catch on the way back.

    You can put ice in one and fish in another and switch back and forth as your luck goes.

    It would be a great addition to a drift boat, as I mentioned, or any boat that doesn’t have a good way for holding the fish you’ve caught. It would be a great addition for those times during the summer when even the best fish boxes don’t hold in the cold because of high temperatures.

    We put the KatchKooler II to the test when we loaded it with a couple of fish and some ice—in the box of a larger sled. It really kept the ‘nooks chillin’.

    For more information, go to: www.silverhorde.com. If you download the pdf catalog, you’ll find it on page 12.

Do the Wave...

WaveSpin reels are a new kind of spinning reel. You don’t have to take my word for it; all you have to do is pick one up and look.

The first thing you will notice is the edge of the spool. It is deeper than most spool lips, and it has a series of wave-like ridges that are part of the spool itself. It won’t take a genius to see where the reel got its name.

The purpose of the waves in the spool lip is to reduce friction and tangles. “What the waves do,” says designer Doug Hannon, “is to keep the moving line just touching the top of the waves on the cast. As line moves around the spool, it hits just the peaks, and this reduces spool friction (the primary source of friction in a spinning reel) and allows for better casting distance, as much as 30 percent greater in some reels.”

The waveform spool lip also reduces tangles, according to Hannon. He says that as the line moves out across the edge of the spool it hits the top of the waves. While a stationary line, such as is formed by a loop in the line, will move to the trough of a wave. The moving line passes over the loop, and a tangle is avoided as the loop is cast off the reel in turn.

What this means to fishermen is that you can fill your reel with line, monofilament or braid, to the edge of the spool and not have the traditional big mess when a cast goes wrong.

Another feature worth noting is that the reel spool has a titanium finish to resist rust and corrosion.

The model I have is the DHxL (extra light) that would be a fairly decent side-drifting reel with a second use with float and jig. It is a touch on the small side for comfort with big fish, but for summer and the winter steelhead run, it would be just right.

There are seven other reels in the WaveSpin family, all of which feature the unique spool and no-tangles guarantee.

The DH series differ in more than size. Each has an aluminum power handle (instead of the “comfort” paddle handle) and another unique feature.

The DH reels also have two-piece spools that allow you to remove old line without stripping it off by hand. You simply remove the spool from the reel, and then you unscrew the bottom of the spool from the top and slip off the old line.

That’s a pretty neat trick and shows the thought and design that went into these reels.

There are other features worthy of note. In the DHxL, there are eight bearings and a gear ration of 5.1 to 1. A DVD is included in the box that shows the features of the reel line, the benefits of the WaveSpin spool design, a coupon for 20 percent off for the next reel, and the most telling thing of all: there is a set of drag and stacking washers included in the box.

To me, this shows a company that is run by fishermen. Rather than a small bottle or tube of oil and a wrench stamped out of sheet metal, WaveSpin Reels has included the item that is most likely to wear out in normal use: drag washers.

Sizes of these reels run up to serious saltwater size and down to trout and panfish sizes, so there is one (or more) for everyone.

For more information and a cool, short video of line coming off a reel spool, go to: www.wavespinreel.com.

Fire in the Hole...

Pautzke’s Fire Brine is the latest addition to the brine/dye solutions that aim to give fishermen a good way to do several things. First, the Fire Brine is a cure that keeps natural baits from spoiling.

    Second, it toughens baits, mostly herring, sardines and anchovies. The third thing it does is dye them (or not) in whatever color you choose.

    Fire Brine does several things besides turn your hands a different color when you’re fishing (seriously, it’s a good idea to wear gloves when using this stuff unless, of course, you really don’t mind walking around with purple hands).

    Of course, besides the dyeing/curing advantage, it will toughen bait dramatically. You are not so dependent upon getting nice, winter-starved herring, sardines or anchovies because you can take softer baits and toughen them.

    You also cure the baits so that you can fish the same batch several days in a row if you keep them on ice without them getting soft, a real economy if the fish aren’t biting.

    Also, you’re not limited to using these just on whole baitfish. You can plug cut whatever bait you’re using and cure/dye that. Or you can cure/dye prawns or shrimp whether they are whole or hulled. You can even treat cooked shrimp to make it a better bait if you’re fishing for kokanee, steelhead or estuary salmon.

    It’s worth taking a troll around Pautzke’s website as there are some pretty good tips and tricks in the Fire Blog. There are some rigging tips for anchovies for landlocked chinook and a cure using Pautzke’s Nectar and Krill (both covered in an earlier Pro Report), plus a good piece on how to cure and dye shrimp.

    Fire Brine comes in 32-ounce bottles in natural (clear), blue, purple, chartreuse, red and orange.

    For more information, go to: www.pautzke.com.

A Dodgy Solution

Mack’s Lure has been making trolling tackle for decades. While most of the company’s emphasis has been on the lures themselves, they have also been working on attractors.

Most of the attractors have been built with the idea of providing the most flash with the lightest weight by using blades of Mylar-coated plastic something Mack’s excels at, given the success of the Smile blade in all its variations.

Mack’s also has a dodger than has been flying under the radar. It’s the Double D, a traditional dodger in shape, but one with an unconventional spin.

The first thing you notice when you pick up the Double D is that the nose of the dodger has four holes drilled into the flat lip. None of the holes are in the center, and that is for good reason.

When you hook the main-line swivel and snap (I like a bead-chain swivel merged with a wire snap) to the line, you’ll choose one of the four holes. If you paid attention to the directions (cleverly) etched on the back of the dodger, you’ll pick a hole that corresponds to the way you want the dodger to run.

You see, each of the four holes dictates not only which way the dodger will run (left or right of dead center) but also how far.

There are two holes for each direction with the outermost hole causing the greatest horizontal movement.

In this way, the dodger acts a lot like a sideplaner as it moves the gear away from the boat’s path. That can be a good thing as it puts your lure or bait into undisturbed water, an area where fish have moved if they’ve been spooked by the boat as well as fish that haven’t been disturbed.

It’s a pretty cool concept. Of course, how far the dodger will move is subject to several things: how much line you have out, how fast your boat is moving and how much current there is.

One advantage of the Double D dodger is that you can use this sideways displacement to move your gear into shallower water than you might run your boat.

The idea is pretty slick.

I also like the etching of directions on the back of the dodger. While it’s pretty intuitive which hole affects the horizontal movement in which way, it’s good to have a reminder.

The Double D comes in two sizes, the 76, which is 7.6 inches long, and the 44, which is, wait for it, 4.4 inches long.

The dodgers come in four colors, chrome with silver holographic insert, the same with purple (blue in the 76) and green inserts and white with a UV silver insert. More colors are on the way, according to a company spokesman.

For more information, go to: www.mackslure.com.

It's Clear to Me...

Shimano’s Clarus line has gone through a major renovation that includes an expanded salmon and steelhead series of rods. No longer will the Clarus rods be relegated as backups, but instead, they’ll be the rods many anglers will pick up first.
   

There are several reasons I say this. First, the rods are built on IM-8 blanks. Second, the reel seats have been reconfigured to provide greater sensitivity and more comfort in both casting and steelhead models.
   

Third, there are models for just about any salmon and steelhead technique you might want to try.
   

Of course, the blanks are the heart of the rod, and the move from heavier graphite to IM-8 is one that makes these rods much lighter than previous versions. The weight of the finished rod also has been reduced by the use of single-foot Fuji guides with aluminum-oxide inserts.
   

I’m a big fan of the redesigned reel seats on both the casting rods and spinning rods, and I think most fishermen will agree that the changes are a good thing.
   

The casting rods have a new Shimano-designed seat that is lighter than most comparable seats. It also lets your fingers rest on the blank, and that gives you better feel.
   

While the casting reel seat is a big step forward, it’s the spinning reel seat that stands out.
   

Part of my fishing career was spent using a spinning rod for walleyes, and when you’re casting jigs all day, you really appreciate a comfortable grip. Unlike most manufacturers who mostly ignore spinning reel seats, Shimano tried to make them comfortable.
   

Robby Gant, head of product development for the company, spearheaded the efforts to improve the seats. “We worked on keeping the fisherman’s hands away from the threads, seat bands and hard surfaces,” said Gant. “We’ve also given the center of the reel seat a spacer of composite cork we call fossil wood. The design and spacer provide comfort and a measure of warmth for cold fingers when fishing during the winter.”
   

There are nine steelhead spinning models in lengths ranging from eight-foot, six-inch, medium-action CSS-86M2B to the 10-foot CSS-100MH2B. Included in the range are two light-action rods, the CSS-90ML2B and CSS-96ML2B, that are ideal for side-drifting and float-and-jig uses.
   

The steelhead casting rods run in length from popular eight-foot, six-inch models in medium and medium-heavy actions (CSC-86M2B and CSC-86MH2B) to a 10-foot medium (CSC-100M2B) that will serve as an excellent float rod on long drifts.
   

While many companies offer steelhead and salmon rods, few really separate the fish and the needs of the rods used for them. Shimano has done just that in its 2012 offerings. That’s why Clarus has a line of salmon rods for every situation.
   

There is a salmon spinning rod, the CSS-90H2B, which is rated for 10- to 20-pound-test line (20-40-pound braid) that is ideal for corks-and-eggs or floats-and-herring at tidewater.
   

The casting series covers a wide range of technique-specific applications, from pulling plugs with the CSC-80MHB magnum-action rod to the 10-foot, heavy-action mooching and float rod, the CSC-100H2B. All casting rods feature cork handles, Shimano’s proprietary reel seat and Fuji aluminum-oxide guides.
   

The Clarus center-pin (or centre-pin for our Canadian friends) rods are new introductions. These rods, the CSS-130ML4B and CSS-113ML4B, offer fishermen the ability to fish light gear on long drifts and still set the hook. With all-cork handles and sliding reel-seat bands, the rods can be configured to meet the needs of most fishermen.
   

Clarus rods come with a limited, lifetime warranty.
   

For more information, go to: www.shimanofishing.com.

Dry and Warm Is Good...

If you live in the Northwest, then you’ve gotta love fleece. Ever since it hit store shelves a couple of decades ago, it’s been a second skin to folks here.
  

The reason, of course, is because it’s warm and stays warm even when wet.
  

But fleece has its shortcomings. Regular polyester fleece is very porous, so it lets the wind cut through. It also has no water repellency. Granted, when it gets wet, you wring the water out, shake it, and put the fleece back on. You won’t be dry, but you will be warm.
  

Then the wind-blocking technology came along, and life was good for us fleece wearers, except for those times when it’s raining—like most of the year except for the two days in July that are the Northwest’s version of summer. But we have raingear, right?
  

Rivers West has done what Northwesterners have been wanting. They are producing a host of fleece garments that are waterproof.
  

I’ve been playing with the Kenai Jacket, and so far, I do like it. Not only does it sport the kind of features I want in any jacket, but also it is waterproof. Fleece and waterproof? It’s difficult to get better than that.
  

As for the features, they make the jacket very functional. So, starting at the top, let’s get into it.
  

The Kenai features an attached hood with drawstring closure. Inside the hood is a “radial” collar. This collar is high and curved inward. What this does is make the thing dual purpose. When the jacket is zipped and the collar is extended (whether the hood is up or down), it acts as a gaiter, trapping body heat.
  

And the collar can be rolled down when you don’t need that little bit of extra.
  

The hood itself is good sized and big enough for a hat.
  

Then we come to the pockets. There are two chest pockets with magnetic closures (really like those), hand-warmer pockets beneath them and a really big pocket across the back if you open both venting zippers and place whatever it is between the fleece and the mesh lining.
  

There are two interior pockets on the chest that are accessed through the two venting zippers underneath the chest pockets.
  

All of the zippers for the venting pockets and the front zip are made with weatherproof zippers.
  

And speaking of gadgets, there is a zinger on the right-side chest flap (the flap that closes and protects the huge cargo chest pockets) and two D-rings as well.
  

I do have problems with jackets in general. Since I’m rather long in the body, most jackets end a couple of inches short of where I want them to be. Not so the Kenai Jacket. Its body length is somewhere between a bomber-style jacket and a parka, making it about right for me. On top of which, there is a “shirttail hem”—meaning the back of the jacket extends down a couple of extra inches so as to hide any showing of plumber’s cleavage that might accidentally occur.
  

And lastly, the cuffs—the cuffs on the Kenai are neoprene and can be snugged down with Velcro tabs for a pretty good water seal, a nice thing when you’re spending a good portion of your day holding a rod upright to follow a float.
  

For more information, go to: www.riverswest.com.

Get the point? Part Deux

Last year, I wrote about the Lazer TroKar hooks that brought a new sharpening technology to the fishing tackle business.
  

If you used the drop-shot hooks (TK150 is the model number) for salmon or steelhead or the other models for bass fishing, then you realize just how sharp these hooks are.
  

For the coming tackle year, we now have Octopus-style hooks in the TroKar family. The hook style is listed as TK400.
  

The name is derived from the medical term “trocar,” which means a “three-sided, sharpening process” that is used on surgical needles for work on veins, arteries and various body parts.
  

What makes these hooks special is the sharpening process; it’s the same as is used on surgical needles, and if you’d had the misfortune to watch yourself receiving stitches at the hands of an ER surgeon, you know how sharp those needles are.
  

Each hook point is ground by a computer-guided machine.
  

The hooks are sharp, and if you’re tempted to test the point on your thumb, have a Band-Aid handy.
  

While the sharpening method is where the name is derived, there are other features of the new Octopus hooks that are worth noting. First, the steel is Q741 wire, a higher-carbon steel that has fewer impurities than the usual run of hook wire.
  

The coating is a new process as well: it’s a catalytic, black-chrome coating that is designed to be much more resistant to corrosion than usual—meaning you can keep using the hooks longer than you might otherwise.
  

And to top it off, the hooks have a 22-degree offset that increases the hook-ups you’ll get when compared to lesser offsets.
  

The downside is the expense. TroKar hooks cost more than most, if not all, other premium hooks. While you probably wouldn’t want to shell out the bucks if you were tying 500 side-drifting rigs, you might find a day’s worth well within your budget.
  

The TK400 Octopus hooks are available in a wide range of sizes, reflecting the popularity of the style. You can find them from a size 6 to a 9/0.
  

For more information, go to: www.lazertrokar.com.

A Herring We Will Go, A Herring We Will Go...

Herring rods are big news this year, or at least, they should be. Several companies are bringing out new models to better fish cut bait in the demanding situations we have where heavy current and heavier lead weights rule.
  

That’s a good thing; as fishermen we have more choices, and there is more competition among companies—we reap the benefits of better tackle at lower prices.
  

Okuma certainly is going all out to broaden the offerings in their excellent SST line. I’ve reviewed several of the rods before, and I still like ‘em. Now, I have even more to like.
  

There are two new herring rods, both built with enough strength to handle the sinkers needed at the Jaws at Tillamook.
  

The powerhouse of the two is the 10-foot, six-inch 1062H, a heavy-power rod that is designed to handle the heavy weights associated with estuary fishing and big divers. It has a moderate/fast action that maintains its power into the butt—what you need to feel the bite and load the rod on the hook-set. It’s a natural for the Jumbo Jet Divers and K-16s below some of the dams.
  

The second rod is the SST-C-1242M, a 12-foot, four-inch rod that is designed to handle four- to 10-ounce weights most commonly used.     
  

The extra length is perfect for providing more spread for better coverage of a pass and to accommodate 10-foot leaders.
  

The buttery-smooth, moderate action lets a salmon “eat up the leader” without encountering anything but minor resistance as the rod gives and gives.
  

Both rods are built on IM-8 blanks with stainless-steel guide frames and Zirconium inserts. Both have cork handles and carbon-fiber pipe reel seats with triggers.
  

For more information, go to: www.okumafishing.com.

Bank Cannon...

Okuma’s answer to those fishermen who want a long and heavy rod is the SST-C-1202H. This thing has enough oomph to launch a small dog into low-Earth orbit, yet it’s got enough flex to let a salmon give a good account. The tip is soft enough to cushion a sudden surge at bank side or let you detect the soft bite of a sipping sturgeon.

This isn’t a rod for everyone; make no mistake about that. It truly is a cannon, capable of handling just about any fish you’d hook in Northwest waters.

It’s 12 feet long, and it’s heavy. It’s got a butt that’s 30 inches long and wrapped with seine cord instead of the usual cork or EVA foam.

While it’s not a rod for general use, it has a pretty wide range of application, nonetheless.

For instance, it’s a great rod for bank fishing for sturgeon or chinook. I’ve seen guys fishing huge floats off the bank at Tillamook. This rod would be perfect for the task.

It would also work for bank fishing wobblers or plunking with a huge Spin-N-Glo and a bigger glob of eggs behind six ounces of lead.

In other words, if you’re doing any kind of serious bank fishing, whether it’s with a large float or large lead, this is the stick that will handle it.

Like all rods in the SST family, the blank is copper-finished IM-8 graphite and features zirconium-insert guides that reduce friction from braided lines. It’s rated for 20- to 40-pound monofilament and is backed by a one-year warranty.

For more information, go to: www.okumafishing.com.

Soooouieee!

When you’re hawg huntin’, it always pays to take enough gun. Yakima Bait has made that possible with its newest FlatFish.

The Hawg Nose 5.5 FlatFish is definitely a different breed of this popular and effective banana-shaped plug. The difference—can you guess?—is in the nose of the lure. It’s been thickened by the addition of a wedge molded into the upper surface of the lip.

The wedge, or rather “hawg nose”, changes the diving profile of the bait as well as its action when trolled or backtrolled.

For instance, unlike the T-55 FlatFish, which is the forbearer of the 5.5 Hawg Nose, this lure will run 10 to 15 feet with one report of it hitting 20 feet on the troll. The T-55 runs about six to ten, normally.

The Hawg Nose also runs at higher speeds, to five mph. The beauty is that the once-stable lure starts missing beats (above 2.5 mph boat or current speed or a combination). As a result, it begins to “hunt”; that is, it runs through a wider swath of water, moving from side to side of its original straight-line path, and that is a good thing.

“What we wanted,” says Buzz Ramsey, brand manager for Yakima Bait, “was a lure that would work for big salmon. Of course, that means it has to fish in the Kenai, and the requirement there is that the plug must swim in five-miles-per-hour current without blowing out.

“We played with a lot of differences in the body and lip,” Ramsey continues. “Last year, in fact, I was making changes in the Hawg Nose with my cordless Dremel tool while I was heading up to fish the Kenai. What I tried worked, and it caught fish.

“So we refined the plug a bit and worked with the mold maker to get things just right.”

The name came about, Ramsey says, because the Hawg Nose FlatFish is “a little different critter” than the rest of the family. Guide Bob Toman suggested the name, and it stuck.

The wider trolling path caused by the skip-beat effectively increases the exposure of the lure. In other words, it does a better job of showing the lure to fish simply because it covers more water. The old Hot ‘n’ Tot had the same hunting path, and it was a deadly bait at times because of it. I expect no less from the Hawg Nose.

To get even more action from the Hawg Nose, change out the factory 3/0 trebles for a single 5/0 or 6/0 Siwash rigged with a heavy-duty swivel and split ring off the tail. The company says it will “enhance the action,” but that’s something I’ve not played with yet.

The rest of the hardware is heavy duty, also. The stainless-steel eye screws for both the hooks and tie-in are firmly anchored in the body. However, no matter how firmly the tie-in is anchored, you can still tune it by turning the eyelet the opposite way the plug is running to bring it back in position.

Of course, this FlatFish runs well with a bait wrap, and grooves are molded into the side of the body to hold the thread. Cut a fillet 1.75 x 1 inch and wrap heavily.

There are 22 UV finishes, so it’s likely you can find the one you gotta have.

Of course, most STS readers will know how to use the Hawg Nose—run it as you would other FlatFish of this size. This year, I’m going to play with it for kings in the saltwater, running it off a downrigger or with a slider and weight to get it down to where it needs to be. With its big size, UV finish, and hunting, skip-beat action, it could well be a sleeper.

For more information, go to www.yakimabait.com.

Follow the Storm(y)...

Wright & McGill was at one time known as one of the best rod makers in the country, and the bamboo rods, fly rods especially, are sought-after collector’s items.

While the company isn’t back in the bamboo-rod market, it is making inroads on the quality-rod market, focusing on graphite and glass instead of grass as a building material of choice.

Enter the Stormy Skies line of salmon and steelhead rods. The designs are technique specific, meaning that if you want a rod to pull Hot Shots or River Rockers, it’s there. Or, if you want a herring rod for Tillamook, it is in the line-up. Backbouncing? Of course. You name the method, and somewhere in the line of 16 rods, there is one to handle it.

What makes these rods different from the usual run of salmon rods is not the name, but rather the material from which they’re made and the building process as well.

The rod line is split in two: there are 14 graphite rods built using S-Curve technology and Carbon Nano Tube resins for increased strength, sensitivity, light weight and lifting power. The other two are plug rods built using S-Glass.

The S-Curve rod-building technology is a complex one. It involves four separate layers, each of a different fiber, including high-density graphite that forms the core, T-Glass, PBO fibers (a form of Zylon), and more graphite.

The results turn out a blank that is strong, light and sensitive. Other features that make the rods stand out include a new “Stormy Skies” color treatment, stainless-steel guide frames with zirconium inserts to handle the roughest braid, and high-density rubber handles.

The handles increase the sensitivity and are easier to remove from rod holders when you’ve got a big’un on.

The S-Glass rods are part of the MaX series. Currently, only two rods are on offer; however, when more salmon and steelhead fishermen discover the benefits of fishing with the newer generation of fiberglass, there will undoubtedly be more.

Fiberglass feels “softer” but that’s the action and not the power of the rod. Softer rods do a better job of allowing fish to take a lure or bait than do stiffer rods, notably graphite.

When graphite rods first hit the salmon market in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, a lot of the more experienced fishermen dropped them in favor of their old fiberglass sticks. The reason, they said, was that the glass rods let the fish “have it.”

That may be why I like the idea of new-generation glass being used in technique-specific salmon rods.

The two S-Glass rods are both plug or diver rods. One is ten-foot-six-inches, and the other is an even nine-foot. Both are rated as medium power.

The S-Curve graphite composite blanks are available in lengths ranging from the seven-foot-nine-inch backbouncer (and a Hot Shot rod the same length) to ten-foot-six-inch length.

There is a light float rod (spinning) in that length as well as Magnum Plug and Magnum Herring rods.

All Stormy Skies rods are covered by a limited lifetime warranty.

For more information, go to: www.wright-mcgill.com.

Crude Defense...

I don’t know about you, but there are several things I hate about owning boats and tow vehicles. The first thing, once I get beyond the actual purchase price, is maintenance.

I really, really want a squad of maintenance experts doing all the things I should to keep both boats and truck in top condition. Unfortunately, I don’t have such, and can’t afford to hire them. So I have to do it myself.

Next, I really, really don’t like having to take care of repairs and reconditioning after my neglect has caused them. Sigh.

As a result, I am always on the lookout for someone who likes to do maintenance and is willing to work for free.

So far, I haven’t found that person. Instead, I look for things that will do double duty: I try to find products that I can use to prevent future maintenance or at least decrease the frequency of having to do the maintenance.

Enter CorrosionX and RejeX by Corrosion Technologies. These two products, and variations of the same, will cut a lot of the maintenance time I’m having to spend to maintain my fleet, not to mention the truck that tows them.

CorrosionX and its spin-offs (Aviation, Heavy Duty, for Guns, ReelX) do several things. When applied to painted or bare metal surfaces, they bond to the metal and eliminate contact with corrosive elements such as saltwater or any kind of moisture.

When applied to surfaces with rust or some kind of corrosion, the chemical slowly penetrates the rust, and displaces its connection with the metal. It then bonds to the metal and prevents further corrosion.

While the applications are obvious to anyone who’s dipped a trailer in saltwater, it becomes very obvious to those who’ve had lights on that same trailer fail because of rust.

CorrosionX, or its heavy-duty version, once applied to electrical connections will penetrate any corrosion down to the metal and then bond chemically to the metal to prevent further corrosion.

In other words, CorrosionX can solve that pesky, prevalent trailer-light problem when used in time.

I like that.

The neat thing about this family of products is that the same material can be used on reels (hence the ReelX), guns, and just about any other metal item that needs either long-lasting lubrication or protection.

I can’t make big predictions on this yet, as the jury is still out. However, if it works half as well as it is supposed to, it’s going to be great.

Another labor-saver, RejeX, was developed for military use to protect painted surfaces from harsh chemicals and jet exhaust. It bonds (not just covers) to painted surfaces and repels things like dust, dirt, road grime, scum from hard water, outboard exhaust and other things that take a while to clean off.

Good stuff.

Mike Hyneman is distributing the products in our area through his website at: www.konezone.com. You can find more information at: www.corrosionx.com.

Rockin' and a Rollin'

Want a plug that has that wide wobble yet will hold in fast current without blowing out? Want a plug that can be cast a long way and will run shallow enough to work its way through holding water without scrabbling along the bottom?

You really need look no further than Lindy’s new entry into the salmon and steelhead plug arena—the River Rocker. It’s got all those attributes plus a series of finishes that won’t chip off at the first ding.

If you look at the River Rocker, it has a time-proven shape that is a favorite among steelheaders but has long been out of standard production. The River Rocker isn’t your grandpa’s old bait, but a new improved, tougher lure that will stay true at all fishing speeds.

I fished the baby version as soon as I received a care package with samples. And it impressed me. I could get the baby to troll down to four feet or so with about 50 feet of line out. At a mile-and-a-half per hour, the bait had that wobbling, side-to-side action that salmon and steelhead seem to prefer. When I slowed, it kept up the beat, but it was a slower dance. When I increased speed, the tempo increased as well, and it held when I scooted the baby back in at warp speed.

What really impressed me was the fact that it ran true out of the package, and it kept running true as fast as I could crank it in.

I probably shouldn’t be surprised as the same engineers who designed the Lindy Shadling worked on the River Rocker. I’ve seen the Shadling trolled at close to six miles-per-hour, and it ran straight without blowing out through the trolling range.

A thing worth noting—the hanger system for the hooks and the eye are all tied together by a brass plate instead of eye screws in plastic. This method of connection is close to saltwater tough and will keep the largest fish from pulling the hooks out of the plug.

The finishes on the River Rockers also are worthy of note. Once you get one in your hand, you’ll see the difference between that finish and what is normal on most salmon plugs.

With the vast majority of salmon and steelhead plugs on the market, the finish looks like it was painted on—because it was. With the River Rockers, the colors are buried in layers of clear protection. It’s a UV-dip method that provides an extra level of protection and allows the different layers of color to be added.

 On top of that, the colors and paint schemes are different as well. Some of the colors are perfect for bass and walleye. Some of the finishes are crossovers that will work for both warm- and cold-water species, and others, are perfect for salmon and steelhead. Truth be told, probably all the finishes will work for whatever you want to catch.

I’m going to rig some of both sizes (the #5 is 5/16-ounce, and the baby, #3, is 3/16-ounce) with a single Siwash tail hook and see if they won’t light a fire under staging coho off the mouths of a couple of creeks I know. I suspect the baby size might be the ticket for these sometimes-finicky fish. I also expect the Pink Shiner pattern to be just the ticket for both pinks and coho this year, but maybe that’s just me.

As for application, these were made for backtrolling, but they also work flatlined for springers, behind a downrigger, cast for steelhead or salmon, or just about any way you might use any other plug. I’m also going to report back on using the baby size (it’s 2 3/8 inches long) for kokanee and trout.

The River Rockers come equipped with Mustad’s super-sharp EWG hooks, so substitutions need not be made.

For more information, go to: www.lindyfishingtackle.com.

Leakers into Keepers

Have you ever holed a good pair of waders to the point where they couldn’t be fixed? Or maybe you just plain wore ‘em out, and then you’re faced with the obvious question: What do I do with these?

You can’t fix them, but they should have some utility of some kind even though fishing isn’t it. Do you cut the feet off and use them for rain pants? Use them for gardening? Stuff ‘em and add a jacket and hat to get in the HOV lane?

Or do you think that it’s a shame that such good material doesn’t have a use after they start the leaking syndrome?

Well, Patrick Jenkins faced that same quandary on a trip to Alaska. His waders were toast. And while he was wringing out his socks, he came up with an idea for a barebones tackle bag that would hold the flies he really used, extra leader, and bug spray. He wanted a smaller bag rather than carry the fly store he usually took with him.

He had ruined waders in one hand and an idea for a tackle bag in the other.

Thus his company, Recycled Waders, began. It’s one of the neatest startups I’ve seen in a long time.

It takes breathable waders that are no longer fit for fishing and turns them into some pretty cool kits. Think tackle bags, messenger bags, leader or tippet wallets, fly-reel cases (using neoprene booties), koozies, a really cool fanny pack and even a wallet. Virtually everything recyclable on a pair of breathable waders is used, from the booties to the straps to the buckles.

This is definitely a case where form follows function. Each item sold by Recycled Waders is designed with the fisherman in mind as well as the utility of the product. The fact that the results—the bags and other items—also look good is a side benefit. I can see these turning into fisherman status symbols, and that would be a good thing.

The process of converting used waders into hygienically acceptable products isn’t difficult. The waders are laundered, disassembled and then sorted into usable materials.

While the new products are clean, they still show the stains and rub marks that happen to all good waders over time, and that adds to the appeal.

The company gets its waders from major manufacturers like Simms and Patagonia—taking warranty returns and manufacturing mistakes. It also accepts waders from fishermen. All you have to do is send them in.

It should be pointed out that Recycled Waders doesn’t accept neoprene waders nor waders that are more Aquaseal than breathable fabric. Check the website for more information on the recycling program.

In fact, check out the website for more information: www.recycledwaders.com.

Celebrating the Three Ss

You might not think a company in Montgomery, Texas, would know much about fishing for salmon and steelhead, much less how to build rods that fit what we do.

Think again. Castaway Rods has been in the rod business for over 18 years, and the company continues to design and build excellent sticks. I know that the rods last, as two of my old standbys are Castaways that I’ve had just about as long as the company has been in business. The rods are still used and holding up quite well.

Granted, neither rod is designed for salmon or steelhead (or sturgeon, the third S in the Triple S series), but I used the one heavy spinning rod for tough duty: Buzz Bombing for salmon and throwing heavy jigs for rockfish. Like a Timex, the rod keeps on ticking.

Having said that, Castaway now is in the business of building salmon, steelhead and sturgeon rods, mining the expertise of Northwest guide Kelly Short, who puts his signature on the rods. From what I’ve seen, they’re great sticks.

I especially like the new microwave guides on the spinning rods. “These guides,” says Scott Luft, vice president of manufacturing for Castaway, “are unique and really function as advertised. They’re not a gimmick; the guides produce longer casts that are more accurate. In fact, all our spinning rods will have the Microwave guides on them from now on.”

The heart of the Microwave guide system is the large stripper guide that has a smaller guide inset just in front of the large ring. The large guide captures the line and funnels it to the smaller. The smaller guide then takes the entire “wave” out of the line and shoots it straight to the next guide in line.

The line then moves smoothly through the remaining guides. When you compare this to what happens with standard spinning guides, there is a big difference. The large stripper in a standard set of guides controls the line, but it doesn’t reduce the wave effect of the line by much. You can see the continued wave along the length of the rod, including the slap of the line against the rod.

I wish I could speak personally about the qualities of this guide system, but the test rods were sent to STS offices, and a certain publisher tried the rod and liked it well enough to keep it. Sigh.

There is a fair video on YouTube that shows the action of the line on the Microwave rod as opposed to a standard rod. Just search for Castaway and Microwave. It’s easy to find.

When I asked Luft about the rest of the rods, he said that the graphite used was a proprietary blend based on the use of the rod and the needs of the design.

Originally, Castaway rods were built on IM-6 blanks designed and built by G. Loomis. However, over time, Castaway discovered that the IM-blanks they were getting tended to break, and by adding higher-modulus fibers with ratings of IM-8 and IM-10, they could get a tougher rod that would resist breakage, even though that is not what you might expect.

There are six models in the series from a 9-foot, 6-inch side drifter (with one a foot longer coming) to an 8-foot, 4-inch model that is really an all-around rod for just about everything from jigging for salmon to running plugs or spinners.

For more information, go to: www.castawayrods.com.

Sharp Is as Sharp Does

You gotta love the Work Sharp Knife and Tool Sharpener. I do, and I’ve only used it a few times, but it was almost love at first sight.

The reason I say this is because it will take a really dull knife and sharpen it until it will shave you. I don’t want to intimate that I actually used a Work Sharp sharpened knife to shave with, but after one quick session on the sharpener, I was able to easily shave a bald patch on my arm.

It was so quick—the sharpening process—that it was scary.

If you’re familiar at all with power tools, then you know what a belt sander is. This is what the Work Sharp sharpener is based upon, but instead of a three-inch wide belt that moves fairly slowly, this sharpener uses a belt about a half-inch wide that moves quite a bit quicker.

If you’re the type who has used a belt sander to sharpen tools, then you know that the difficult part of the process is maintaining the correct angle all through the length of whatever it is you’re sharpening. Doing it freehand takes quite a bit of expertise and a hand and eye steadier than mine.

You can do it—I still use a belt sander to sharpen wood chisels—but it’s difficult for things such as knives because of the thin blade and curve of the blade itself.

To get around this, the Work Sharp sharpener uses guides that keep the blade at a constant angle all through the sharpening stroke. You repeat the stroke for each side of the knife blade alternately.

With 10 strokes (five on each side of the blade), I was able to turn a very dull, hard, stainless blade into a sharp one. Then, after I changed the sanding belt to a finer grit, I took that same blade and in four strokes turned it razor sharp. I think the whole process took all of five minutes from setup to bare arm patch.

 It is an incredibly simple and quick process. If you’re doubtful, check out the sharpening video on www.worksharptools.com.

Another feature of the sharpener is that besides the 20-degree angle guide (20 degrees on each side of the blade), there is a guide that helps you sharpen heavy knives, pocketknives, serrated knives and even scissors. The video shows the how-to for each.

If you like sharp knives, then give this a look. You’ll throw away your whetstones.

For more information, go to www.worksharptools.com.

Kingstick...or Kwikstick...

Lamiglas does one thing really well, and that’s build all kinds of rods. I’ve been a fan of this Northwest company for dog’s years, starting back in the day of fiberglass rods.

I cut my mooching teeth on a Lami yellow blank and put a lot of kings in the boat because of it.

That’s one reason I was glad to see the new Kenai Kwik composite rods introduced this year. The series--there are four of them--use a blend of graphite and fiberglass to marry the best features of both fibers.

With fiberglass, you get great flexibility and strength. With graphite, you get light weight and sensitivity. Combine those two fibers in the right fashion, and you get a rod that works.

Such is the case with the Kenai Kwik rods from Lamiglas.

“We’ve been producing fiberglass rods for salmon fishing for years,” says John Posey of Lamiglas. “They are pretty popular in the Puget Sound region for blackmouth. We wanted to expand that because of the performance of fiberglass.

“So we contacted our pro-staff on the Kenai to see what they wanted in a rod for pulling Wiggle Warts and Kwikfish, and the result is the Kenai Kwik series.

“These rods come in either a 9-foot, 3-inch or a 10-and-a-half-foot model with either cork or tubular graphite handle. They’ve proved extremely popular over the last year to the point that we’re backordered on all models.”

Posey says, “These rods are just perfect for the Columbia River, Puget Sound and the Kenai.”

While guys who’ve only used graphite might wonder what all the huhu is about in regards to fiberglass, those who’ve fished with the rods know why there is such interest. Fiberglass has power while being forgiving--meaning that it is very flexible for its strength. It’s also very durable and resists breaking as a result.

Even though the initial shelf-shake of a fiberglass rod may make it seem too soft, that “softness” is what makes the material so great for rod building. A soft tip on a salmon rod gives the fish time to eat the bait or take the lure without feeling any resistance.

I do know that when graphite rods first came on the market, a number of hardcore moochers in the Port Angeles waters gave up on it and went back to their old fiberglass sticks for that reason: they were losing fish because the rods were too sensitive and stiff.

And certainly, plug- and spinner-fishermen want a softer tip as it telegraphs the movement of the lure, telling you when you’ve picked up trash or seaweed. It also gives the fish a chance to suck in the lure before it feels resistance.

It’s worth noting that other features of the rod--the optional graphite tubular handle or the all-cork version and the Fuji Alconite Concept guide system--are top-notch as well. With the Concept guides, all 14 of them on my 9-3, the line doesn’t touch the rod blank at all.

I think these rods, and the other composite and fiberglass rods Lamiglas is offering, will do a lot to move Northwest fishermen away from the “graphite or nothing” approach to fishing.

For more information, go to: www.lamiglas.com.

Getting the Edge...

Kershaw is well known in the knife-making world, especially in the Northwest. While Kershaw has been supplying the hunting side of the outdoor world, the company hasn’t really focused on fishing.

Sure, there are a number of fillet and other blades that will work, but the company has never really addressed the full-line needs of fishermen.

That’s changed. There is a new Pro-Grade Specialty Fish and Game series of knives that were designed with our needs in mind.

There are 10 knives in the line, everything from a 12-inch cimeter to a 3 -1/2-inch bait knife. Included is a four-knife series of fillet blades, a spoon-handled gutting knife, a curved breaking knife and an eight-inch chef’s knife for the person who runs the kitchen. The 4.75-inch plug-cutting blade is serrated, and should be good for cutting semi-frozen sardines for bait wraps.

I really like the 12-inch cimeter blade because it stands to make filleting larger fish, say a 30-pound chinook, 25-pound lingcod or large halibut, a breeze. Like the rest of the series, the blade is made from 420J2 stainless steel with an injection-molded Zytel handle. It also sports a Granton blade.

The Granton blade is one that has small scallops ground into the surface of both sides. These small, semi-circular scallops decrease the adhesion of whatever you’re cutting to the blade. The short version is that the scallops make cutting easier and keep the flesh from clinging to the blade. For delicate fish, this makes for a cleaner, more precise fillet. It’s a big advantage for larger fish like big chinook and halibut.

While I’ve not tested these on rockfish yet, I’m thinking the longer, wider blades may well be suited for making clean cuts that take the fillet and ribs off in one smooth slice. I may report back in a couple of weeks after I make my first trip of the year to Neah Bay.

Like most professional-grade knives, these have injection-molded handles that are textured to provide a grip when wet and slippery. The handles are blue to keep them separate from the usual run of white-handled professional kitchen and butcher’s knives.

All of the blades, with the exception of the two bait knives, come with a blade protector--not a sheath, but a guard that slides over the blade and keeps the blade sharp and your gear intact.

Also, these knives come with a lifetime sharpening guarantee. Send the dull ones to the Tualatin, Oregon facility, and the company will sharpen it and send it back.

For more information, go to www.kershawknives.com

Getting More Edge...

Edgecraft’s Chef’sChoice line of electric sharpeners has a new model--the 1520. This will prove to be the most useful and probably the most popular of the lot of electric sharpeners.

Considering that I use knives for a host of jobs--everything from cooking the nightly dinner to boning deer and filleting fish, I’m always on the search for a good method of keeping blades sharp.

When I was a kid, the Washington Department of Natural Resources office I worked for had the ultimate--a 30-inch wet sharpening wheel that we used to put the edge on every tool we used from shovels to cruising axes. It was perfect for knives as well. But not everyone has a place to put such a wheel, even if you could find one.

The next best sharpening system I ran across was a 12-inch oilstone set that used three stones of different grits and a strop. It was great for fillet knives if you could keep a constant angle on your knife. But it did take time to put a good edge on a blade, and if you had to repair an edge, it was a slow process.

Enter the 1520. This sharpener is different from most, if not all, electrics. It gives you a choice of two blade angles and provides an electric strop as well to get the final finish.

Most American, European and kitchen knives use a 20-degree blade angle. This provides a compromise between sharpness and sturdiness. However, many fillet knives (at least in my experience) have a lesser angle, similar to the Asian kitchen blades that are becoming very popular. That angle is 15 degrees.

The smaller angle provides a sharper edge and generally cuts easier. Part of it is due to the relative thin cross section of the blade, I realize. But there, too, the 15-degree blade angle works better with thin blades.

The 1520, as you might tell from its model designation, sharpens knives with either a 15- or 20-degree blade angle. The electric strop (a finishing wheel actually) goes one better--it will sharpen serrated edges.

I’ve not had a lot of luck using sharpening systems in the past, electric or not.

Over time, I’ve had to improvise. To repair a blade with major dings, I’d use a belt sander. To sharpen a blade, I worked with a series of stones.

But that has changed. Now, I’m sticking to the Chef’sChoice AngleSelect 1520.

For my first test knife, I sharpened one old, rolled-over and abused fillet knife in just a few seconds to a better-than-factory edge. I became a convert.

It didn’t take long to run through a series of kitchen knives that needed attention, including a couple of Japanese sudoku Granton blades. My fillet knives are now sharper than they were out of the box. On a few blades, it took over a dozen passes to get the edge I wanted, but that was a function of the angle of the blade, the extent of its dullness and the quality of the steel in the blade.

Unlike that 30-inch wet wheel, the 1520 is a compact unit, measuring just 10 inches long and roughly 4x4 inches in cross section.

A spring guide positions the blade accurately in either the 15- or 20-degree angle. The DiamondHone sharpening disks do the work for one side of the blade at a time, and all the user has to do is pull the blade through on one side of the guide, then the other until the desired edge is achieved. Then the finishing wheel is used to strop (or the electronic version) the blade.

For blades that need a lot of work, like several of my fillet knives, you first use the 20-degree wheel before moving to the 15-degree one to get the final edge configuration. The final stage would be the finishing wheel.

All of the Chef’sChoice sharpeners are assembled in Avondale, Penn., another good feature.

For more information, go to www.chefschoice.com.

On the Side...

OK, so you’re fishing somewhere, river, lake, salt, and you really wish you could get your spinner or plug to over that way and stay over there. If you cast to that area, you’ve got to bring your lure back. Then you cast again.

If you’re in a boat, you’re either doing the casting thing or you’re running your boat over the fish trying to get them to bite something that comes from the noisy boat that just passed overhead.

Casting and trolling both work, though, so it’s no big deal, right? Well, it can be at times.

Certainly, when you’re thinking river fishing, casting a plug over to that run against the far bank isn’t as effective as backtrolling one right through the slot.

So what’s a bankie to do? The obvious answer is to buy a boat. A less obvious answer is to buy a Sidewinder side planer.

The Sidewinder does what most other in-line sideplaners do: it acts as a floating plane that pulls your lure over to the side. What makes it stand out from the others is the ease of use. This thing is easier to rig than any other planer I’ve used.

Rigging, like I said, is a snap. You slide your mainline through the bill, into the hole at the front of the Sidewinder and out the hole at the rear. Slide a bead on the line, tie on a swivel, a leader and whatever hope-it-works lure you want. You’re done.

Using it is a piece of cake as well. Let out X-number of feet of line, then pick up the mainline ahead of the bill, pull it back to the release and slide it in. The only adjustment you need to make is to rotate the bill so that the planer pulls to the right or to the left. That decision depends upon which bank of the river you’re on or which side of the boat you’re fishing.

It is just that simple.

When a fish hits, the strike pulls the line out of the rubber release, and the planer slides down until it hits the bead. You don’t have to do anything but bring your finny friend to hand.

Places where you can put this into play is fishing a plug on a river as noted above, and you can also use it trolling in lakes when you want to run a lure in shallow water or against a bank or just away from the boat. You can use it in saltwater when trolling for coho or sockeye or chum.

You really are limited only by your imagination as to where you might put this neat little planer into play. And speaking of imagination--just think of this summer’s return of pinks and coho to Puget Sound. Find yourself a point or stretch of beach with a good rip sailing through, tie on a mooching leader and rig a cut-plug behind the Sidewinder. I can see that working very well for beach-bound salmon anglers.

For more information, go to www.anglers-experience.com.

Compre to Other Rods…

OK, so the pun was bad and very intentional. Having a pair of Shimano Compre trolling rods, I really couldn’t help it.

Here’s the thing: for a long time, Shimano was known mainly as a reel company. They made quality reels, but their rods were only so-so.

That’s changed.

Over the last five years or so, Shimano has brought quality rods at comparatively low prices into play. The only problem, from my viewpoint, was that most of the rods and rod series this company initiated weren’t suitable for the salmon and steelhead market.

If you wanted a traditional salmon or steelhead rod, you were limited to the Clarus and Convergence series. Now, of course, with the incorporation of G. Loomis into the Shimano family, that’s no longer the case.

Having said that, I will add that there are even more salmon and steelhead rods hidden away in the general Shimano catalog.

One such series is the Compre Trolling Casting rods. The rods are designed with, wait for it, walleyes in mind, but the two rods I have, both 7’10” long, are proving to be excellent for salmon, and I have no doubt they would work well for steelhead in particular applications.

The thing that stands out is the action. Although the 7-10” model is rated for a medium-fast, medium-heavy action, the tip is sensitive enough to telegraph the action for big plugs and spinners.

The strength in the butt is sufficient to handle most salmon applications, and this model does very well for vertical jigging Buzz Bombs, Butterfly Jigs, and Pt. Wilson Darts.

It would a good rod for coho, especially when you’re trolling a cut plug in the wake, and it would be a passable mooching rod as well. In other words, it’s a versatile stick.

The Compre series comes in lengths ranging from 6’6” to 8’6”. For the adipose set, I’d stick with the three longer models. There is a drawback to them, however. Only the longest is a two-piece blank. The 7’10” and 8’3” are telescopic, so you need room to store them.

The blank construction is Shimano’s TC4, which means that it’s a composite of a “horizontal layer of advanced dynamic fibers” laid down between an inner and outer spiral of high-modulus graphite.” The result is a rod with a crisp action and strength, as well as durability.

What I like about these rods is the attention to detail inherent in the design. The blank, as noted above, is of advanced design. So are the guides; they’re Fuji (and so is the trigger reel seat) New Concept guides that enhance overall performance.

However, rather than building the rear grip of very expensive cork, Shimano has used its non-slip, black-diamond rear grips. For those who use rod holders, this is a good choice as the black-diamond grips are more durable than cork.

The best news for those looking for a new rod is that Shimano has a rebate program on Compre rods, as well as Clarus and Convergence series, that runs through the end of May. The latter two series have a wide range of salmon, steelhead and trout rods.

For more information, go to: www.fish. shimamo.com.

A Long Line Comin’…

Angler Innovations introduced the Long Liner last year, and it is one of those pieces of gear you really need to try out, particularly when you’re fishing for pressured, spooky fish.

The Long Liner is a device that lets you fish a leader as long as you like, separating the weight and the lure. While there is little reason to do so, you can give yourself a leader of 200 feet, or perhaps even more. Don’t know why you might want to do that, but you could with the Long Liner.

To use it, you insert your main line into the plastic keel, run it through the cam and line guide collar. Then you add some beads, a swivel and a leader with whatever lure or bait you think will be the hot ticket.

To use it, you release line, letting it slide through the Long Liner until you have the length out you want. Then you push in the cam, and it locks the device at that point. You then attach a dropper with a sinker on it and begin fishing. (Or you can just clip a weight onto the Long Liner directly if you’re fishing in snag-free water.)

The concept is fairly simple. Once a fish hits, it trips the cam arm, and the Long Liner then slides down the line to the swivel. If you’re bringing your gear in without a fish attached, then when the Long Liner gets about five feet from your rod tip, you swing it inboard and grasp the line on either side and pull. The cam trips, and the Long Liner slides down to the swivel as you reel it in.

Adjusting the tension on the cam is also fairly simple, but if you don’t do it right—as I didn’t the first time I used it— you’ll end up scratching your head.

The key to adjusting the cam so that it will release for a kokanee one trip and a chinook the next is in the tension screw. This screw is big, plastic and located at the top of the device.

You set the release tension by screwing in the plastic brake-tension screw. The more you screw it in, the more you reduce the tension. Back it off completely, and the release tension is at its maximum unless you tighten the clip-tension screw—the little silver screw at the bottom of the Long Liner.

This last adjustment is factory-set, but you can adjust it by using the diminutive screwdriver that comes with the Long Liner to tighten or loosen the screw.

I don’t think you’d need to tighten this screw unless you were using a large bait or plug in fast current, but that is something the fisherman needs to decide at the time.

Without doubt, you can use the Long Liner for light biters such as kokanee or small stocked trout, and it will work with K16 Kwikies in heavy water.

This tensioning system is so good I’d like to see it adapted to downrigger releases for kokanee, but that’s just me.

For more information, go to www. anglerinnovations.com.

Three Reels by Any Other Name…

Okuma’s Trio spinning reel, the best-selling reel in the company’s line last year has been changed.

Why would any company take something that is working well and change it? That’s easy—they’ve made it faster.

The high-speed Trio supplements last year’s introduction, and the change is a slam-dunk for side-drifting, bobber-fishing steelhead fanatics. Why? Because the 20-percent higher retrieve speed means more time fishing and less time dragging your gear back to cast; that’s less down time and more fishing time.

In my mind, that’s a good thing. But that’s not the only reason the Trio is a slam-dunk. It’s because of the way the reel was built.

In a steelhead spinning reel, you want one that will stand up to the crazy antics of a steelhead, as well as the pressure put on by a big king or outsize April native.

That means the reel must have a great drag, and it must have the internal structure to withstand the torque that goes along with fighting a heavy, strong fish.

The Trios, both the original and the new high-speed series, do.

The drag system is probably the most important feature for a steelhead fisherman because you need a smooth-running drag, especially when you’re using light line as you might for summer-runs.

The drag on the Trio is different from that on other spinning reels. As in most front drag reels, there are drag washers on the front of the spool. However, there are also more washers on the inside face of the spool, and those extra washers are larger and provide even more drag surface.

As a rule of thumb, the more drag surface you have, the less heat builds up during a fish’s run, and the smoother the drag will run.

The Trio reels also have a different internal structure, a skeleton, than do other reels. The key is a stamped aluminum frame that runs from the replaceable reel foot into the body of the reel. It’s a very rigid structure—much more so than graphite—and thus holds the gears in precise alignment when under stress.

Stamped aluminum is stronger than cast aluminum, as well.

The side plates of the Trio reels are made of graphite for reduced weight. There are 10 bearings, cut brass pinion gears, and a host of acronyms that point out that this is a superb reel at any price.

There are three Trio high-speed reels and four in the original series that has a 5.0 to 1 (plus one heavy duty 4.5 to 1) as compared to the high-speed reels at 6.2 to 1.

For more information, go to www.okumafishingteam. com.

A Sight to See…

Get it? Vision hooks? A sight? Oh, well. So Vision Hooks has a new entry in the ready-to-fish category that I think is pretty cool—right up there with the rolls of sidedrifting leaders that are on offer nearly everywhere.

Vision’s vision, if you will pardon the pun, was to tie leaders using quality hooks and monofilament but do it differently than other companies offering salmon leaders.

In that, Vision succeeded, and their success has a leg up on the competition. Rather than tie leaders that keyed just on hook size or pound test, Vision asked a host of guides and pro-staff people to tie leaders they would use for every given size of herring; in other words, for red-label herring, green label herring, and so on.

The company took the information they received and came up with a sizing program that matches hooks, leader test and the distance between hooks with each of the label colors.

And in each color—red, green, purple, blue and the Kodiak Special—Vision then offers fishermen a choice of leader tests.

Two other things make the Vision pre-tied leaders stand out. This is the first time I’ve seen leaders tied with a double length of material between the two hooks. In other words, the tail hook is snelled on and left with a long tail, and that is incorporated into the snelled knot of the lead hook.

Randy Prengel, president of Vision Hooks and Tackle, feels that the extra length helps with abrasion and adds some shock absorption. It’s also a buffer for those times when a big king has the leader sawing away across his gum line.

The other thing I like about these pre-tied leaders is their short length. Most factory ties I’ve seen were usually in the five- or six-foot lengths. That’s fine, but when I’m mooching, I use a short middle leader out of stiff mono to keep the tangles down.

A shorter leader—the ones I have are roughly 30 inches long—is much easier to untangle in a fast bite, and it eliminates the step of having to cut a leader. Not only that, but it’s cheaper overall and it is more environmentally sound.

These pre-tied leaders come in packs of five with each leader in its own package. They are available in both barbed and barbless styles in 25 different variations.

For more information, go to www.visionhooksandtackle.com.

How Low Can You Go

Okuma’s Citrix bait-cast reel is another entry into the realm of really, really nice low-profile bait-casters that are tournament quality. Granted steelhead and salmon fishermen aren’t fishing in any tournaments, but they will benefit from them.

Reels that stand up to tournament conditions are going to perform more reliably longer than comparable reels not built to that standard. Tournament fishermen cast thousands of times a day as a rule, much more than a steelhead fisherman does. Tournament fishermen are also pretty rough on their gear during an event, and that abuse leads to equipment that can take it.

Such is the case with the Citrix low-profile bait-caster. It’s tough, with a cast and machined aluminum frame, spool and handle (the handle is stamped). It has oversize gears in a drop-down box for better ergonomics. And the high-speed version offers something few other reels have: a very high retrieve speed.

At 7.3: 1, the Citrix takes in 32 inches of line with each turn of the handle with a full spool. That is something competitive reels do as well—but at twice and three times the price.

What this high speed does for steelhead fishermen is reduce the downtime when you’re bringing the spoon, spinner or bobber and jig back for another cast. Reduce the downtime, and you get more fishing time, and during the course of the day that adds up says Portland-area fisherman Carmen Macdonald.

“You don’t realize how much time is lost—forever—bringing the float back upstream. I’ll let a float run a long way on a cast, maybe 50 yards, and bringing it back does take more time with a standard reel. With the Citrix, I don’t spend as much time on the retrieve, and the time I gain adds up.”

Macdonald says that the Citrix is a comfortable reel to fish as well. “The in-swept handles reduce the wobble that occurs when you’re reeling. On top of that, the handle arms are longer, making for easier reeling, and the knobs are larger. It’s just a more comfortable reel to fish.”

The Citrix comes in two models, the high-speed version that is available in both right- and left-hand retrieves (an important point for steelheaders!), and a low-speed model that is only available in right-hand at a 5.4:1 retrieve speed.

The reels have 7 ball-bearings and one roller-bearing to keep things running smoothly. When you pick one up, you’ll notice just how smooth that is. Spin the spool, and it revolves forever, whether it’s upright, on its side or upside down. That’s a result of perfect balance and fine tolerances.

And lastly, perhaps the most innovative feature is the patented, externally adjustable, centrifugal braking system.

Most casting reels have an internal centrifugal brake, and that system requires you to take off a side plate and pop little pins or widgets in or out to get the right amount of control. And still others add a magnetic brake on the outside of the reel (plus the internal centrifugal brake) to fine-tune what couldn’t be addressed inside.

The Citrix does all of that in the external brake.

Line capacity on the Citrix is 130 yards of 12-pound mono, which is enough for steelheading. If you want to use it to chase chinook or are after really big fish, then opt to load the reel with braid. Considering that the line guide has a zirconium line guide insert you should have no problem at all using braid.

For more information, go to www.okumafishing.com.

A Net for Natives...

Beckman nets are fishing icons. You can see one in every guide boat, or nearly so, because the nets are pretty much indestructible. They have a strong frame, good yoke and a handle that takes abuse.

One of the best things that Beckman has out is a real benefit for native fish. It’s the Pen Fin Saver net.

The Pen nets are built in a somewhat unusual design. The sides drop straight down from the rim, and the bottom of the bag is flat and round rather than simply gathered in as with most nets.

Not only is the shape different, but the net material has a tangle-free coating that sheds teeth, fins, gill plates and most hooks.

The Pen Fin Saver nets go one better. The construction is the same as the Pen nets, but the side walls are of a much smaller mesh that does a great job of keeping fins out. This means you have a better chance of getting a fish back into the water (or a native back into the stream) quickly after it’s netted.

The Fin Saver nets come in three sizes and offer four different handle configurations up to nine feet long.

Given the construction, Beckman nets are built for a lifetime use and have a guaranteed yoke.

For more information, go to: www.lindyfishingtackle.com.

Color Me Purple...

OK, purple isn’t one color you’ll find in the list of Atlas-Mike’s Bright & Tight herring formula cure-dye-scent, but you could make it by combining red and blue in the right concentrations, not that the red doesn’t get close on its own.

Bright & Tight is a one-bottle-does-it-all that combines a super herring dye with a preservative and bite enhancers (amino acids and bite stimulants).

“I really can’t say enough about how easy it is to use,” says Portland angler Randy Woolsey. “With dyes, you almost have to have a clean room to use them because they’ll fly all over. But Bright & Tight is a liquid, and all you have to do is pour one third of a bottle onto a dozen herring in some kind of container or plastic bag.

“Do that 24 hours before you’re going to fish, and you’re set to go. You’ll have a cured bait that is tough, brightly colored and has added amino acids and bite enhancers. It works with sardine fillets for wraps, cut plugs, whole herring—you name it.

“The ease of use is a big thing; it doesn’t fly all over like powdered dyes, and you don’t need to combine it with anything extra. I’m not sure,” Woolsey says, “but I think Bright & Tight is the only product out there that combines all three aspects of bait preparation.”

Since this is so new, there isn’t a lot of history using Bright & Tight. However, it has been tested on small shrimp, sardine fillets and herring, both whole and cut-plug. It’s being tested on prawns as I write.

That the stuff will dye and cure (not to mention add scent) is not in question. What is somewhat tentative is how long the Bright & Tight must be in contact with the bait, and how long you can leave the bait, whatever it is, in the brine.

Certainly, it makes sense that cocktail shrimp, a super trout and kokanee bait in a lot of lakes, will take less time to cure and color than a whole herring.

The question arises, though, as to when you need to pull the bait out of the brine. Herring will cure in 24 hours, but if you leave it in for 48 hours, it becomes leathery. Shrimp will probably toughen in much less time and become hard, little nuggets if left in too long.

Until Atlas-Mike’s issues guidelines, you’ll have to play it by ear. So if you use Bright & Tight on baits other than herring, you’ll still have to judge for yourself how long it will take to get the consistency you want.

Bright & Tight comes in five colors: natural (no color but curing and added bite enhancers), yellow chartreuse, red, green chartreuse and blue.

For more information, go to: www.atlasmikes.com.

It's a Wrap!

And speaking of purple, if you like that color or have a need to color-code your rods, it’s easy to do, and the benefits are greater than just styling.

RodWrap offers a, well, wrap that you apply to the handle of a rod. There are benefits to doing this. First, you get a different feel and better gripping texture than if your rod has a sanded cork handle.

Another benefit is that you can take a worn handle and dress it up, covering all those fishing scars and the ground-in dirt that comes with heavy use.

Also, it can be used to cover up a handle that has been repaired, after a certain Golden Retriever has chewed on it when she was bored because you were paying too much attention to fishing instead of her. But I digress.

 Two other advantages to RodWrap come to mind. First, by wrapping over the reel seat, you can vastly improve comfort, especially of those seats that have threads exposed below a spinning reel. Cover the reel seat with RodWrap, and you also have a warmer reel seat.

The second advantage comes if you want to sell a rod. When you buy a new rod, simply overwrap it with RodWrap, and it will stay in nearly pristine condition until it comes time to sell.

Using this material does take some practice, especially with casting rods that have trigger grips. However, follow the directions on the package, wrap tightly, and it will come out all right in the end.

Also, since the material doesn’t stick to the rod as if it had an adhesive on the back (instead of being just slightly tacky), you can unwrap it and start over until you get the effect you want.

RodWrap comes in five sizes that depend upon rod handle length: small for fly rods, ultralight spinning rods and such, medium for spinning rods and appropriately sized casting rods (think bass sticks here), large for rods with handles to 19 inches or so, extra large for most steelhead and salmon sticks, and 2XL for sturgeon rods, surfcasting sticks and similar long-handled rods.

The wrap material comes in 13 colors, but only the medium and large wraps have all 13. The other three sizes have their own selections. Colors range from black through the spectrum to white.

For more information, go to: www.rodwrap.com.

Button, Button, Who's Got the Button?

KoneZone has done it again—brought to market a piece of gear that will help folks catch more fish. This time, it’s a pretty simple little object, called the Bait Button.
    What the Button does is slide up your hook to help keep things like single eggs, soft-plastic eggs or prawn chunks in place above or below it.
    The Button itself is small, only a scant four millimeters (a shade over 1/8 inch) in diameter. It’s made from a fairly soft plastic, similar to that used on a rubber band but more tear resistant.
    The idea of the Button may not be earth-shakingly original; I’ve seen similar gadgets in play over the years. However, what makes the Bait Button so slick is the holder/dispenser.
    The dispenser comes loaded with a bunch of the Buttons. To get one, you shake the dispenser, and a Button will slide down to the point of the dispenser. Then you simply run a hook through the slot in the dispenser, and the Button is in place.
    While you could do the same thing without the dispenser, all I can say is good luck. The Buttons are small enough and thin enough that you can’t hold them in your fingers, and getting them in place on a hook would be difficult as well.
    Bait Buttons will find a place wherever a fisherman has the need to keep something in place on a hook. The idea is that the Button will keep whatever is on the hook shank (or leader) above it from sliding.
    Bait, which readily slips down to the bend of the hook, will ride high because the Button will keep it from sliding. This may not work well with eggs, but it will be a Godsend for shrimp and prawns, crawdad tails, single eggs, soft plastic baits and those little foam pills or puffballs. I think it also may well have application with those who fish pink worms (or grubs).
    The Buttons likely will be a good hit with trout and kokanee fishermen who use minitubes behind flashers or on jigs.
    For more information, go to: www.konezone.com

A Bear of a Boat...

I’ve fished in all kinds of inflatable craft from the very crude to the very good. My all-time favorite was a two-man raft for a lot of reasons.
    Comfort, convenience and ease of use are hallmarks of a small raft. Most rafts are light enough to strap on your back and carry in to remote lakes or the upper end of your favorite steelhead river. You can also do a float, pack up your gear and boat, and use a mountain bike to get back to your rig.
    That’s why the new generation of rafts are gaining popularity, and leading the way is Water Master’s two boats—the Kodiak and Grizzly.
    Water Master’s Kodiak raft is larger than its brother, the Grizzly, yet it only weighs a bit (four pounds) more. The Kodiak is a foot longer, five inches wider, has a one-inch larger tube diameter and as a result, a 250-pound greater load capacity. That’s not saying that the Grizzly is a slouch in that department, as its capacity is rated at 500 pounds (opposed to the Kodiak’s 750-pound capacity).
    That doesn’t mean that the larger boat is more cumbersome. Flyfisher April Vokey uses the Kodiak and says, “I love, love, love this boat. It’s perfect for what I do.”
    April, cover subject and contributor in previous STS issues, also runs the Flygal website, www.flygal.ca.
    “I feel safer in these boats than any other I’ve used. I’m closer to the water. I really hate to park a boat on the beach and then fish, and I don’t have to do that with this. I can stand up and leave the boat hanging around my ankles. Or I can stop at a submerged mid-river gravel bar and stand up to fish.”
    Both Water Masters have tubes that run around the perimeter of the boat, just as you would see in any raft. However, the “floor” of the raft is missing under the feet of the fisherman. This allows the use of fins for positioning the boat and lets you stand, as Vokey does, without stepping out of the boat.
    You can order an accessory floor that will fit under your feet should you be so inclined. There is a floor in the boat under the seat and rearward, creating a good storage area for extra gear, lunches or a dog.
    “Not having to park this boat is a huge advantage,” adds Vokey. “I can fish through a run and keep the boat with me; that way I don’t have to walk back up to the head to pick up my boat to float down to the next spot.”
    Vokey says that she uses the Water Master Kodiak mainly on rivers, preferring a pram for lakes when she’s double anchoring. “But for trolling or for moving and casting, the Kodiak is a perfect boat.”
    For more information on the Water Master boats, go to: www.bigskyinflatables.com.

X marks the... rod?

X Rodz is trying a new retail model: the company sells top-quality rods with top-quality components but does so directly, eliminating the upcharges from distributors and retailers.
    The result is lower cost for the fisherman. The kicker is that the buyer must pick up the rod on-line from the website. That’s not a bad thing, especially if you know the rod designer.
    Head of XRodz is Jim Mercier, founder and former owner of Fetha Styx. Mercier is an avid fisherman and rod craftsman who does a good job of getting the most out of graphite.
    The XRodz rod I have is the XR Pro 964 2C, a two-piece, 9’6” downrigger rod that doubles as a mooching rod.
    The length of this rod is perfect: it is long enough to maneuver around the outboard or lower unit of an I/O, and it’s short enough that it isn’t a problem in a smaller boat.
    One thing that surprised me about this rod is the number of guides. There are 15 guides, and that doesn’t include the tip top. That is close to double what you’ll find on comparable downrigger rods. The reason for this many guides is pretty simple.
    “I can’t stand the thought of line touching the blank,” says designer Mercier. “When you look at any other downrigger or mooching rod under strain, you’ll see it have some of what I call “pigtail” distortion where the blank actually twists to carry the load the line places on the guides when it’s under pressure.
    “When I first saw a blank pigtail like that, I knew that it wasn’t good for the blank, and it isn’t. It doesn’t matter whether the rod is fiberglass or graphite; that kind of twist shouldn’t happen.
    “I get around that,” Mercier says, “by having enough guides to keep the line under control. This way, the line stays with the guides at the top of the rod.”
    The guides aren’t the only thing that make this rod stand out from the rest of those in the rack.
    First, there is the Alps aluminum trigger reel seat. The Alps seats are about as heavy duty as you can get next to an offshore rod. Because they’re made of aluminum, though, they aren’t heavy. What this seat does is lock up rock hard, eliminating any reel wobble that is present on some rods.
    The rod butt and foregrip need mentioning as well. The butt is made from a woven graphite tube. A slick butt like this is a natural for a downrigger rod as you need a rod that will pull out of the holder quickly and cleanly when you’ve got a fish on.
    The foregrip is a dense foam with a crisscross gripping strips built in. The idea here is to provide a good grip that isn’t cork. With premium cork prices skyrocketing—you will find cork rings selling for $2 or more a piece (that’s over $4 an inch!), it makes sense to find a good substitute. Besides, the hard foam grips are more durable than cork and won’t chip or break.
    The foregrip is longer than what you’ll find on most mooching rods, and again, that is a designed feature.
    You’ll find there are times, especially when hooked to a big, hot fish, that you’ll need two hands to pull the rod out of the holder and keep it in control. The longer foregrip gives you that.
    But XRodz doesn’t make downrigger/mooching rods alone. There are drift rods, bobber rods, centerpin rods, fly rods, Spey rods, switch rods, and rods for the bass and walleye guys.
     For more information, go to: http://www.wix.com/x_rodz/x-rodz.

The Jig Is Up...

Worden’s new Maxi Jig hits all the talking points for a steelhead jig. It has movement, lots of color impact and beads.
    It’s a pretty good bet that fishermen who use it will find themselves using the Maxi Jig more and more. It’s just that good.
    Maybe it’s not so surprising, but the Maxi Jig is pretty much on the money for what fishermen want in a jig—figure that out: a tackle company is building a lure that has the features that fishermen want.
    The movement in the jig comes from the marabou tail and the few strands of flash added. The good thing about the tail is that it’s tied so that the tendency of the marabou to wrap itself around the hook is minimized. If you have a jig where the marabou is tied just behind the head, it will wrap itself around the hook at some point and lose its fish appeal.
    The movement of the marabou is accentuated by the addition of a few strands of flash material, and given that the flash is longer than the marabou, it will add even more movement as well as sparkle.
    The color impact of the Maxi Jig comes from all three body parts: the bi-color marabou tail, the bead body, and the head.
    The head of the Maxi Jig is painted in Lil’ Corky color patterns. (It should be pointed out now that the eyelets have been cleaned so that you can thread your leader through them—this can save hours of cold-fingered frustration over the course of a season).
    The bead body is worth noting as well. In clear water, it’s obvious that fish can see better than when the water is dirty. The translucent orange beads used as a body on the shank of the hook bear a strong resemblance to a pair of salmon eggs.
    The jigs are cast on 1/0 or 2/0 Owner hooks—like I said, the jigs have features fishermen want.
    The Maxi Jig comes in either 1/8- or 1/4-ounce weights in 20 colors.
    For more information, go to: www.yakimabait.com.

Not Just for Appetizers...

With the hordes of squid-ly lures out there, it’s hard to imagine that there is anything new in the line. We have big hoochies and small hoochies, and we have really big hoochies as well.
    Then there are some of the solid, soft-plastic squid lures. Some are scented, and some are unscented.
    And some are big while some are even bigger.
    It’s a response to the fact that squid form a significant and readily recognizable part of the diet of ocean-going salmonids.
    Most of the squid lures, though, are targeted toward salmon or bottomfish, which is a natural response to the idea of squid plus saltwater equals saltwater fish.
    However, we know that small hoochies work very well for walleyes, a species that has never seen the real thing. And they also work very well for kokanee and, again, there is no connection between this little landlocked salmon and ocean-grown calamari.
    Okay, so what’s missing here, folks? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
    That should be an easy answer, and here it is: steelhead. There have been no squid lures designed specifically for steelhead, at least until now.
    Enter Mad River Manufacturing’s Steelhead Squid.
    While some might argue that some of the bass/crappie tube lures have been catching steelhead in the past, no company has focused on the idea that squid and steelhead go together like, well, salmon and squid. However, no one can argue that this sea-run rainbow eats its own version of calamari in its run in the ocean.
    Some folks in the Puget Sound region have been using squid parts, notably the tentacles, from their night-time catches to lure steelhead in the region’s rivers. Then, too, in kind of a “Huh?” moment, fishermen in the Great Lakes have been using squid strips in various “sandwich-style” bait combinations for steelhead.
    So the appeal of the natural cephalopod is there; squid is a bait worth noting. Enter Mad River again, with an elongated tube lure that should do the business on steelhead. I’d offer proof that these lures work, but they’re so new on the market, that no one has used them yet.
    “I’ve not had any time with these yet,” says Olympic Peninsula guide Bob Kratzer of Forks (www.anglersguideservice.com; 800-577-8781) “But I’m really excited to try them out. They are a whole different look for steelhead, and the way they look, with their slender shape and long legs, makes me think they’ll be great.
    “You can see by their profile and legs that the Steelhead Squid will have more action than a worm, and with that profile…I’m going to rig them on a jig head, and put a little shrimp or squid oil into the body for scent,” says Kratzer.
    “But then I think they will be good drift fished with maybe a Corkie inside or ahead of them. I also think they’ll work well side-drifted. I just think they’ll work. I can’t wait.”
    Mad River’s Steelhead Squid come in three sizes (2-inch, 3-inch and 4-inch) and six colors, three of which are glow. For more information, go to: www.madrivermanufacturing.com.

The Legend Lives...

St. Croix rods are making a splash in the Northwest for one good reason: they’re good sticks.
    It wasn’t too long ago that the only way you could buy one here was from a catalog. While a few stores carried these Wisconsin rods, the distribution here just wasn’t there.
    That’s changing. Now, you’ll see more guides using the rods, and you’ll find them in more stores. That’s a good thing, based on my limited experience. I’ve owned two St. Croix rods: an 11-foot spinning rod I used for beach casting spinners to salmon and a little 3-weight fly rod. Both performed very well.
    Listen to Tillamook guide John Krauthoefer (Firefighter’s Guide Service; 503-812-1414; e-mail: johnguides@earthlink.net), and you’ll be anxious to give one of the new St. Croix rods a spin.
    “I’ve been using the Elite and Avid series St. Croix rods for a couple of years, and I’ve got one thing to say: They’re fantastic rods!
    “Most of the rods I use for guiding are the Avid series, and I’m really sold on ‘em. They’re the best value for the money on the market. And the strength to weight ratio is phenomenal. I mean I haven’t broken one yet, and you know how tough clients can be on gear.”
    A lot of the fishing that Krauthoefer does is bobber and jig for steelhead, and he’s come to rely on the 9 ½-foot, medium-light Avid spinning rod (AVS96MLF2) the most. “Guys fishing from the bank like longer rods, but I’ve found that the 9 ½-footer is perfect for fishing from a boat. It’s not clumsy in the boat, and it has the reach to mend line.”
    Krauthoefer spools his Shimano reels with 14-pound Fireline.
    He says that he hasn’t seen the new rods with the 3M Matrix Resin yet, but he’s anxiously awaiting his order. “St. Croix has such good workmanship and reliability in their rods that I can’t imagine it getting better. But with the 30 percent improvement in strength and reduced weight, they’ll be great.”
    You’ll find the new technology in the Legend Elite salmon and steelhead rods.
    For more information, go to: www.stcroixrods.com.

Where the Buffalo Roam...

Two things I really hate about winter: cold hands and cold feet. Add in a dose of wetness, and it’s pretty much game over.
    So I’m a sissy; sue me. What that does mean is that I spend my time and dollars looking for things that prevent me from getting cold and wet at the same time.
    One such thing recently came to my attention, and it (or rather, they) are going to be part of my “dress for success” package for steelheading, blackmouth fishing and duck hunting.
    I’m now the happy owner of a pair of One World Fingerless Gloves from Buffalo Gold.
    What makes these gloves stand out from the, excuse me, herd is that they are knitted of buffalo underfur, which the company calls “buffalo down”.
    Since buffalo don’t fly, thank heavens, I kinda wondered about the “down” thing until a pair of these gloves crossed my desk.
    Then it was apparent; the gloves were down soft. The gloves also appear to be as tough or tougher than rag wool half-fingers. The buffalo-down gloves also have more stretch than ones made of wool, and they are snug.
     Come a little colder weather, and once teamed with a pair of surgical gloves worn under them, I’ll find my fingers to be pretty toasty.
    The yarn from which the gloves are knitted is 10-percent nylon, giving them stretch and allowing the gloves to be machine-washed and tumble-dried on low. That means you can clean the things once they’re covered in egg goo, and they won’t shrink. They also provide warmth when wet as the buffalo down retains water rather than passing it on to your pinkies.
    Yep, it looks to be a warm year on the river. Now if only I could find someone to knit some buffalo-down socks.
    Speaking of knitting, Buffalo Gold’s website offers a number of different buffalo type products, including a wide selection of yarns, other gloves, a beanie and real buffalo robes (skins with the hair and fur on).
    For more info, go to www.buffalogold.net.

Book 'em, Dano...

One thing I’ve noticed about fishing bait: it’s messy. It doesn’t matter if it’s herring, sand shrimp, eggs, prawn chunks or squid legs. It’s going to drain and drip and generally leave telltale dribbles behind in your boat.
    And if you have it in anything less than a bombproof container, it will leak. If you juice the bait with dye or scent, it becomes even more of a sticky problem.
    You can lock up the drips, dribbles and drabs with the Liqua-Bait Locker from Plano Molding.
    I’m a big fan of Plano products, finding them very functional and good solutions to tackle and gear storage challenges. The Liqua-Bait Locker is just another in a long line of Plano’s utility boxes that handle everything from trolling spoons and plugs to swivels and beads.
    This series of boxes are built on the popular 3700-size footprint. There are two large boxes, the 4642 Extra Deep and the 4641 Deep. Both feature an O-ring gasket and four clamping latches on the lid to keep things inside in.
    The hinge is solid, rust-free and pinned, providing the good closure necessary to provide a seal.
    The 4642 that I have comes with a “wallet”, actually another O-ringed, waterproof box, and a bottle. Both of these mini-boxes are good for holding prepared egg clusters, sand shrimp, herring strips or what-have-you that might be on the messy-drippy side.
    Or you can simply load the mother box up with enough baits to last on a long trip and pop the whole thing in the cooler on top of your lunch with no worries. There will be no spillage.
    Since the Liqua-Bait Lockers were designed to contain smells from some of the new, soft-plastic-type baits, you don’t have to worry about your PBJ smelling like old herring.
    You can also buy the LBL Wallet and Bottle separately so that you can mix and match containers or even use them in your vest or backpack.
    And, surprisingly enough, these are made in the USA.
    For more information, go to: www.planomolding.com.

Calamari, Anyone?

KoneZone’s SquidderDun Kokanee spinners are pretty much the perfect kokanee lure, or at least it seems so. They feature a TakeDownz UV soft spike bead (16 colors available), a UV squid skirt, two #4 Gamakatsu hooks and a nickel spinner blade (your choice of Indiana, Colorado or willow leaf styles). Tied on Maxima Ultragreen leader material they are effective—hooking and holding kokanee and trout with few problems.
     I’m not going to say that the SquidderDuns are the only kokanee lure you need, nor am I going to say that they are the only squid-style kokanee lure worth taking to the lake. What I will say, though, is that the SquidderDuns hit all the key points that make a kokanee lure really effective.
     The first, and possibly the most important, feature is the fact that both the transparent squid skirt and TakeDownz bead reflect ultraviolet light.
     As you’ve heard, if you’ve been awake at all, trout and salmon have the optical receptors to see UV light, something that is invisible to humans. Because of the nature of ultraviolet light rays, they are able to penetrate further in water, and as a result, fish—at least trout, salmon and steelhead—are better able to see or recognize lures that reflect in the ultraviolet spectrum.
     So, when you’re running a lure 50 feet down in a relatively clear lake, it’s a safe bet that one that is UV reflective is the one that fish can see better.
     Such was the case on a recent trip of mine to an Olympic Peninsula kokanee lake where I gave the SquidderDuns a test drive. The mix of kokanee and trout apparently not only could see the SquidderDun better than other lures I tried, but the fish liked the whole package better as well.
     I was impressed because I hadn’t trolled more than 50 yards before I hooked up with a feisty 14-inch kokanee on the first pass of the day. Like you, I’ve been on trips where you catch a fish on the first cast and then blank for the rest of the day, so I wasn’t prepared to fall down and genuflect before the SquidderDun.
     I’m still not ready; however, after catching another half dozen kokanee and trout and losing about the same in the next few hours, I will say that these are very productive in the right situations.
     In fact, I think it’s safe to say that I’ll always have at least a few in my kokanee tackle box.
     For more information, go to www.konezone.com.

Extreme Rigging...

Lindy’s Rigger X-treme is similar to many other leader rolls in the obvious: it’s round, and you wind leaders around it. The hooks are sunk into the foam covering, but that’s where the similarity ends.
     The Rigger X-treme offers more, and that’s the important difference. Otherwise, you might as well just use a piece of foam pipe insulation.
     The "more" I’m talking about is several things. First, this leader roll is super-sized; it’s a full three inches wide and a tad over eight inches long.
     Unlike other leader rolls, the foam retainer surrounds a section of plastic piping, and inside of this pipe is one of those stacks of plastic containers that can hold things like swivels, hooks, more beads, blades, clevises, split shot—just about any kind of terminal gear you might want to add to a snelled spinner.
     What this organizer does is give you the flexibility to store a lot of those little things that tend to get lost in the shuffle, so as an organizer, it’s a pretty trick item.
     I use mine for holding kokanee and trout snelled spinners, but I can see application for side drifting, mooching or the old standby drift fishing. The internal containers could hold slinkies, shot, swivels and all the Li’l Corkies you might need while a day’s worth of leaders could be wrapped around the outside.
     Another thing that makes the Rigger X-treme different from the average bear is that the spaces for leaders/spinners are separated by a ridge of foam about a quarter-inch high, and that keeps things separated and tangles down.
     There is a micro-slit to hold the end of the leader, and here Lindy has included a short piece of yellow thread that shows you both ends of the slit.
     I didn’t think the thread was much use until I started to use the Rigger. Now I know that it is a great idea. It really helps you find the slit in a hurry.
     When I first started messing with leader rolls way back when, I always placed the hooks in first, wound the leader around the roll and then placed the end of the leader in the slit.
     However, the ideal way is insert the leader or loop into the slit, wrap the leader around the roll, and then place the hooks into the foam. That keeps things snug and traps the end of the leader under the successive wraps of leader.
     There are eight divisions on the Rigger X-treme, which seems too few to me. That means you’re limited to eight snelled spinners and maybe double that single-hook leaders.
     The smaller Lindy Rigger has 12 divisions while being shorter. I use the larger Rigger because of its internal storage and several smaller Riggers for their capacity. It’s a nice team.
     Lindy also offers a Lindy Rigger Kit: Three junior-size Riggers in a Plano utility box.
     For more information, go to www.lindyfishingtackle.com.

Legendary Drifting...

If you haven’t heard of it yet, you will soon. There is a new twist in rod-building technology that improves durability in graphite rod blanks while making them stronger and more sensitive.
      In a surprising lack of compromise, not only are the blanks tougher, stronger and more sensitive, but also the actions aren’t changed, and the weight isn’t increased.
      Huh?
      It’s a rule in the world of fishing that if you want to get something, you have to give up something. That’s not the case here.
      Proof of the lack of compromise is as near as your closest St. Croix rod dealer. This Wisconsin company is now using the new 3M Matrix Resin in select lines of rods, and it’s this new resin that does wonders for graphite rods.
      What makes this new wonder resin so wonderful? It uses nano-sized (ultra-microscopic) silica particles that provide a homogeneous, non-abrasive filler between the carbon fibers in a rod blank. These particles then coat and buffer the fibers to prevent “micro-buckling,” the compression of fibers on the inside of the curve when the rod is flexed.
      It’s this buckling that causes graphite to break when it’s over-flexed.
      The nano-silica particles reinforce the individual graphite fibers, especially during compression, and also improve the hoop and flex strength of the blank—the part that we fishermen feel.
      Whatever juju it is, it really does make for a light, strong, relatively stiff rod.
      The Legend Elite spinning rod I have is one with St. Croix’s ART (Advanced Reinforcing Technology) feature—a nice way of saying that the blank contains the new 3M Matrix Resin.
      This particular rod, the LES96ML2, is a medium-light action, but it feels like it’s much stouter than that. Flex it though, and it is a medium-light action.
      I can’t say that the rod is good at landing outsize steelhead because I haven’t hooked up yet. However, it feels right and it likely will become my side-drifting (and probably float rod) of choice. I’m looking forward to using it on the beach as well, and will probably see how it fares against Hood Canal chum at some point.
      St. Croix is offering the ART technology in the Legend Elite spinning, casting and fly rods, as well as the LegendXtreme spinning and casting rods, the Bank Robber series of fly rods and the Legend Salt offshore rods.
      For more information, go to www.stcroixrods.com.

Feeling A Little Bit Damp?

In the decades I’ve fished, I have had a hard time finding a tackle bag or box that keeps gear dry. There are dry boxes that work, but many of them were built for camera gear, and they are, let’s say, a tad expensive.
      If you fish from an open boat, you know what I mean about the trouble of keeping everything from your hooks to your toilet paper dry. If it is raining, gear will get wet from the rain itself or seepage around, under, over and sometimes through the “water-resistant” covers. The only sure way to keep tackle really dry was to leave it home or stop fishing in an open boat.
      That’s not necessary now.
      Plano has been making pretty good strides in the direction of dry tackle storage, and I can truthfully say that this company’s waterproof utility boxes and dry boxes do a good job. On top of that they don’t cost a week’s salary.
      The last few years, I’ve been using those waterproof utility boxes and been happy with the results.
      But still, Plano lacked the truly waterproof tackle bag. That is, it did until just lately. Enter the FTO series, a line of bags and boxes that are designed to shed the worst of the weather. The bag I have, the Big Water Bag is designed to keep dry stuff that way, even expensive stuff.
      To see why, you need to start at the bottom, the place where most gear bags fail. The Big Water Bag has a molded plastic bottom that really is a shallow tray rather than a bottom. The edges of the bottom extend for 1.75 inches up the side. Considering that it’s a non-slip design, it’s perfect for on-deck storage.
      The vinyl sides are welded to the bottom with a leak-proof seal. Entry to the bag is from the top, and that is a double layer of protection.
      First, there is a water-resistant zipper that closes the bag. A soft, vinyl (I’m guessing here) lid overlaps the zipper by nearly three inches.
      The vinyl top fits the tapered sides of the bag closely enough that it will shed water like a Filson hat.
      Inside the bag, you’ll find four 3700 Stowaway utility boxes and three “takeaway” bags. The takeaway bags are attached with Velcro patches so that you can grab one easily.
      This box has found a place in my boat, storing a wealth of metal salmon jigs and those expensive assist hooks. It also holds rolls of mooching leaders and a box of terminal gear.
      With the FTO Big Water Bag in operation, I won’t have to sweat where I put it; it can stay out on the deck in a drenching blackmouth rain or when the spray is blowing over the side.
      I can also see it in play in a drift or jet boat where winter rains do more to screw up a day than rust does.
      One caveat: this bag isn’t meant to protect gear underwater. In other words, don’t come whining to me if you take it on a dive trip and it doesn’t keep the TP safe. It only sheds water, but it does a good job of that.
      There are other FTO bags that you’ll see popping up over the next year or so because the design work done by Plano’s engineers is a good fit for our water-soaked fishing seasons.
      For more info, go to: www.planomolding.com.

You Light Up My Life...

“I really, really wish that we’d had jigs when I started steelhead fishing,” says All-Sports tackle rep Tim Deaver of Toutle, WA.

“The neighbor kid is in his first year of steelheading, and he’s already caught 12 so far this year.”

Deaver is speaking about his success with Aero Jigs’ new FireFlies Marabou Series jigs.

What makes these jigs stand out is the fact that each one has its own light. The source of the light is a micro-sized chemical stick that, once broken and shaken, will give off light for 8 to 24 hours.

“Because of the high water this spring and summer,” adds Deaver, “the steelhead haven’t been congregating in holes where you can fish for them at night. What we’re seeing is that the fish are scattered, but the FireFlies have been kicking tail in the first hour of light.”.

That first, sweet hour of light is when the luminescence really draws fish.

“They have made a big difference in all the rivers we’ve fished; in fact, I’m on my second punch card, and those are just the fish I’ve kept.”

Deaver talks about days in the double digits, a tribute both to the large return of summer-run steelhead this year as well as the jig used to catch them.

“After that first hour, the effectiveness of the light stick wears off, I think, and the jig becomes just as effective as any other Aero Jig.”

Deaver says that he generally tips the jigs with 18-count sand shrimp or he might use a bead of Pro-Cure gel in either Shrimp and Krill or Sweet Craw. Keep the gel off the marabou, he warns, because it will kill the swimming movement of the natural material.

His favorite color this year is Number 7, nicknamed “The Vomit” because it’s a hash of colors. The runner-up color is cerise over white.

Deaver is a proponent of using jigs for beginning steelhead fishermen, noting how easy it makes everything. For summer-runs, he uses a 10-foot, 6-inch spinning rod, medium reel, and eight-pound-test Maxima Ultragreen.

He dispenses with a leader and ties straight to the jig, arranging a slip float up the line and balancing the float with a weight about a foot above the jig—“To get the jig down quick in the holes,” he adds.

For those who don’t know, it’s necessary to balance a float or bobber with enough weight from the jig, tipping bait, and the split shot or in-line weight to get the float to sit up—that is to rise on its vertical axis. Having the float upright makes it a slam-dunk to tell when a steelhead hits the jig.

The FireFlies Marabou series comes in 16 colors in both 1/8” and 1/4-ounce sizes. Each jig comes with a light stick of the appropriate color (they’re available in green chartreuse, red and yellow chartreuse). Extra light sticks are available as well.

For more information, go to www.hawkenindustries.com.

You Light Up My Life, Part Deux...

OK, so you’ve got the lighted jig, and you’re on the Cowlitz trying to pick up a midnight special. But if you’re fishing with a float, it’s pretty much a wait for the tug unless that float is lighted.

Fortunately, there are a number of lighted and luminescent floats on the market. The ones that are coated with luminescent paint work all right, but they are hard to see at a distance and need re-charging.

Lighted floats are best. However, if you’ve got one that uses chemical light sticks, you will be replacing them after each trip, as the chemical lights don’t have an on-and-off switch. Once you start them, they glow until the reaction is finished. Then they’re done.

Battery-operated lights are better, no doubt. Unfortunately, there are fewer of them available, and often they come in only one size.

Enter Lindy Fishing Tackle with the Thill Splash Brite series of slip floats. The Thill Splash Brite is not new, having been introduced last year, but the two smaller sizes are, and that’s a good thing.

With smaller floats, you can more easily balance light jigs, and the smaller floats also have their place on smaller streams.

The bonus of the Splash Brite floats is  that they are self-contained; all you have to do is add water, and they light up. Pull them out of the water and they turn off. No light sticks, no batteries, no switches. It’s pretty cool.

The downside is that eventually the batteries do run down (and the length of service really depends upon a lot of differing conditions), making the Splash Brites less useful for night fishing. However, their construction makes them an excellent float for use during the day.

The Splash Brite is a premium Thill float that is sealed and sports a center slider system that lets your line flow freely through it. The best feature, beyond the light, is the brass grommet in the upper end of the stem. It keeps line from wearing a groove as well as protecting the stem.

It should be pointed out that Thill also makes the Nite Brite series of slip (they can also be fished in a fixed position) floats that get their light from either a chemical light stick or a battery light that can be turned on and off and replaced.

For more information, go to www.lindyfishingtackle.com.

One Man's Trash...

Let’s see a show of hands for everyone who has been running down the river, across the bay or from one side of the lake to the other and had a piece of trash blow out.

Yeah, that’s what I thought. Pretty much every boater reading this has had it happen. It’s happened to me more times than I could count. It’s always a pain to turn the boat around and pick up the debris, but that’s what we do, right? Unfortunately, there are times when it’s not possible to do it.

Like most boaters, I’ve tried a bunch of different ways to keep garbage in the boat. Some of them work part of the time; many of them work most of the time, and only a few work all the time.

To be really effective, a trash receptacle has to keep junk in your boat all the time. And it’s got to be slam-dunk easy to use so that you do use it all the time. That’s the only sure way to keep stuff in the boat and out of the water.

“This is one piece of gear I use every single time I’m in my boat,” says Salmon Trout Steelheader’s Dave Eng. “No matter what I’m fishing for, I always use it.”

He’s speaking of Promotion Fishing Products’ Trash Can with Clamp. Having fished with Eng and availed myself of the trash can in his boat over and over again, I’ll say that he’s right on the money.

This trashcan is about as useful an accessory as they come.

There are two reasons I say this: First, it’s a can that clamps to a rod tray or other edge. So it stays in place. Second, the can has a heavy lid that won’t blow open when you’re running anywhere in your boat.

In fact, says Dave, the lid stays in place at highway speeds when you’re trailering your boat from one hotspot to the next. That is a feature worth noting for those of us who might forget to empty the can at the launch ramp when we head home for the day.

Mark Oldenstadt, owner of Promotion Fishing Products, says that the can came about as he was looking at new ways for using some of the scrap generated by his boat-building and rigging business.

“A fisherman came in and said that one thing that would really be a hit is a garbage can with a lid that stays in place.”

Since the can itself also will stay in place with Promotion’s clamp system, this is double-bonus day.

Oldenstadt also points out that the trashcan has morphed into a bait bucket, using the lid as a cutting board. Promotion also sells the bait-bucket version with a cutting guide on top of the lid.

For more of Promotion’s trick accessories, stay tuned. You can also check them out at: www.promotionfishingproducts.com. You’ll find the trashcan under the Miscellaneous tab.

Taking A Pinch...

Another useful item in a boat, or on the bank of your favorite steelhead river, is a pair of pliers. There are times when twisting the hook out of a fish’s mouth ain’t gonna happen if you only can use your fingers.

Then there is your dentist. I know mine has threatened me on several occasions if I didn’t stop crimping split shot with my teeth. And he’s got a point. I can no longer chew-cut 30-pound mono.

So it makes sense to carry a good set of pliers: one that will do the things fishermen need.

The Adaro pliers from P-Line handles just about any chore that you might set pliers to do, and a few that you might not.

On the latter, these pliers have tungsten carbide cutters set into the backside of the jaws, and these will readily snip braid, mono—even up to 500-pound–test mono. The cutters made short work of braid, even when it was unsupported. I can’t testify to its ability to cut 500-pound monofilament as my leader spools just ran out. I’ll take P-Line’s word on that one.

There are many features that I like in the Adaro pliers. First, they are made of aluminum, so they don’t weigh much. Second, the cutters and jaws are both replaceable. One of the first things to go in any pair of pliers owned by me is the cutters, so finding out that they can be changed out is a big plus.

The pliers are long-nose for those hooks that are stuck way down in the roof of a fish’s mouth.

The pliers are also spring open—that means they pop open when you pull them out of the holster. That’s a handy feature as it puts them ready to use right away.

The pliers come with a heavy-duty holster which has a belt loop (duh!) and a Velcro closure to keep the pliers in the holster. There is also a coiled lanyard that clips to both the holster and pliers. These are so handy that you don’t want to take a chance on losing them.

The anodized Adaros come in blue, gold and silver.

For more information, go to www.P-Line.com.

Size Does Matter...

No matter what you might hear, there are times when a longer rod is definitely better.

For instance, when you’re fishing a herring, a longer rod has advantages that may not be readily apparent.

One advantage is your ability to fish a longer leader, and with spooky fish that can be a bonus. Another is the ability to steer fish around the lower unit of your outboard—or even worse, the leg of an inboard/outboard. You also have greater hook-setting power because of the sweep of a longer rod and the increased speed you can generate with the longer wand.

Apparently, Fetha Styx is aware of the longer-is-better idea because it now has a great herring rod in its Pacific Northwest Premier Guide series of rods. The series has three casting rods: 9’, 9-6” and 10-6” rods, with lure ratings up to six ounces.

I got to play with the longest rod and it does what is advertised. A big plus is that it’s tough as nails, a real benefit if you fish your gear hard, as I do.

The rod blanks are built of a composite design that blends an inner layer of E-Glass with HM42 graphite. What this combination gives you is a tougher rod than you would get with an all-graphite blank.

There are other benefits of a composite blank.

One of the best, in my mind, is that the rods built on composite blanks aren’t as stiff, or fast, as all-graphite rods. A slightly softer rod is a bonus when fishing baits and plugs as well.

With more give in the rod, a fish is less likely to feel the rod (and the fisherman) and drop the bait than it would with a stiff rod.

You would think that being able to detect a strike more quickly and respond to it, as when using a stiffer rod, would give you more hookups. But when bait-fishing, that’s not always the case. A slightly softer rod will give a salmon a bit more time to mouth the herring before it feels any resistance, and that factor does mean more hooked fish.

Other design features worthy of note include composite cork edging on the fore and aft rings of the fore grip and butt. Composite cork wears better than traditional cork and won’t chip or split so easily.

Components on the rest of the rod are top-notch. For more information, go to www.fethastyx.com.

In The Bag...

KoneZone’s KoldZone (try saying that three times fast) kill bags are the best alternative to an ice chest that I’ve seen in quite some time.

These bags are heavy-duty, insulated coolers that roll up and stash away just about anywhere on a boat. Unlike an ice chest that needs its own space, a kill bag, or at least, the KoneZone kill bags, can fit in odd places or hang from the rail or gunnel or fit under something.

In my old C-Dory, the only place I had for an ice chest was on the floor by the vee-berths in the bow. Talk about unhandy! I had the choice of bringing the ice chest out every time I bonked and bled a fish or dragging the bleeding fish back through the cabin.

However, a kill bag would fit handily on top of the fuel tanks in the aft utility space. They’re also good when you’re on a trip and need to be able to store fish or anything else that must remain cold.

There are four KoldZone bags. The smallest, the SteelHead, measures 15 inches by 48 inches. The largest, Magnum Tuna, is 30 inches by 60 inches.

Construction and design of these bags, or at least on the one I have in my possession, is superb. The heavy nylon webbing supports the middle of the bag at the bottom while providing handles at each corner.

The webbing also reinforces the upper corner of the bag and incorporates a heavy D ring. The ring can be used to tie the bag to a railing or whatever comes to hand.

The bags themselves were made with a 14-ounce PVC-coated nylon. The insulation is 3/8-inch thick, 4.2-pound closed-cell ethafoam. The bag is closed with a #10 coil zipper that can be replaced if it breaks.

One of the other features worthy of note is the white finish on the outside of the bag. This will reflect sun and reduce heating. Of course, the fact that the bag lies flat means that you aren’t cooling air unnecessarily as you would in an ice chest, making the kill bag more thermally efficient.

The PVC interior lining washes clean and won’t retain odor. Combine that with a drain in the bottom of the bag, and you have a pretty slick cooler. Fill it with fish and ice, drain off excess water as it melts, wash it out when you’re finished, and let it drain.

One thing you’ve got to note: because the side seams are not welded shut (welding is too weak to support a big load of fish and ice), the seams are not waterproof. They will leak. If you’re going to stow the bag with fish and ice in the back of your SUV, you really need to put a tarp under it or put the ice and fish in separate plastic bags in the cooler.

Mike Hyneman, KoneZone’s head honcho, says that the man who designed and builds the bags suggests using RV silicone sealant worked into the side seams (use a tube on each side) as a way to waterproof the seams.

There have been a number of occasions when I could have used this kill bag, and there will be more in the future. It’s a pretty trick piece of gear, and one that will see a lot of use.

For more information, go to www.konezone.com.

Nose to Nose...

Anchorwizard makes a line of systems for, um, anchoring—no better way to put that. The line includes a number of different winches that recover and store anchor line. Designed for small boats, the winches make it easy to control anchor line.

While the intent is to help folks in boats who aren’t using hundreds of feet of line, that isn’t to say that the entire line isn’t built bull strong. In fact, you’re not likely to find a stronger anchoring system until you head to the ocean.

A good example of the strength and durability you’ll find in the Anchorwizard line is evident in the nosepiece offered alone or as part of a system.

The nosepiece is a bracket and pulley system that is machined out of 319 cast and anodized aluminum. It features two vertical rollers at the aft end to keep your anchor line from jumping out of the nosepiece and a 1.75-inch roller on the bow end. All three rollers are anodized and run on sealed bearings. They handle lines up to 5/8-inch.

The nosepiece comes complete with mounting hardware and pulleys to complement one of the Anchorwizard winches. The nosepiece itself is pre-drilled with mounting hardware supplied.

All rollers run like a well-oiled reel, and the design is such that the nosepiece will fit just about any flat deck. It’s definitely going on my next boat.

If you use the nosepiece alone, instead of opting to buy one of the winches, you’ll need to have a way to tie the anchor rope down—either on a cleat or by mounting a clam cleat or jam cleat near the nosepiece.

For more information, go to www.anchorwizard.com.

Pack It In, Pack em (fish) Out...

Cabela’s has long been known as a source of innovative outdoor gear. And, of course, quality is right there with innovation and customer service.

But when I started looking around for a fishing backpack, Cabela’s wasn’t my first choice for some reason. I was thinking more of the backpacking companies and looked through the various and sundry sources. But most of what I found would be a tough sell to a fisherman, unless he wanted a hydration pack that only held half a banana and a bottle of water and cost more than a decent fly rod.

So I gravitated to Cabela’s, and it was a good move that should have come first.

The XPG (X-Treme Performance Gear) series of packs and waist packs can tote the load for a day’s fishing if you’re heading up the Deschutes for steelhead or into a mountain lake for trout.

In fact, the smaller of the two backpacks, the one I have, would carry enough tackle for several days of fishing—if not more.

Load the four 3600-size boxes with spinners, floats, jigs, pink worms or hooks, add some bait (where appropriate) and you’ll still have room for a set of light raingear, lunch, water and a couple of Snickers for the hike out.

There is nothing to fault for the capacity of this bag. Unlike backpacks built for general use, this pack has features oriented to fishermen.

For example, the bag comes with the utility boxes mentioned above. They fit in the bottom of the bag and are readily accessed through a front-load pocket. Then there is a molded sheath for pliers that clips onto the front of the bag where it will be handy.

There’s also a molded case for sunglasses attached to the front of the pack. Add in a removable rod-holder that will secure most rods. But don’t forget the storm-proof pocket that will hold your wallet, watch, cell phone and GPS. And there are more straps, pockets and features that are fishing centered.

It measures 17 inches by 10 inches by 7.

The articulated shoulder straps are padded, as is the part of the pack that rests against your back. In all, this is a well-designed pack at a very good price.

For more information, go to www.cabelas.com.

It’s a bird; it’s a plane; it’s a Turtle (Blade)…

OK, Big Moby Tackle Company has a new spinner blade. So do several other companies, and many fishermen are building their own spinners using a variety of blades that they’ve tweaked and tortured.

To get the right action, some fishermen are even stamping their own blades.

The reason for all the effort and concern to get just the right blade for certain conditions is that in spinners everything that makes this type of lure successful involves the blade. Cup it, bend it, drill holes in it, a blade can be altered in a variety of ways to fish differently, and salmon, steelhead and, yes, even trout and kokanee can tell the difference.

The reason for the concern over spinner blades is that they work differently. The long, slender willow-leaf style is better in fast current or faster boat speed, but it doesn’t have as much lift or flash.

Colorado blades, normally, are for slower current and lure speed. The Colorado blade provides the most lift, and it has the most thump.

Indiana blades are the compromise. They work sort of okay when fished fast and slow, but they are really better in between.

Enter Big Moby. The company took the Colorado blade, gave it a bigger cup and tweaked that several times to get a big, wide blade that would run in both fast and slow currents equally.

But don’t take my word for it. Ian Premo (www.premofishing.com; 503-752-3753) is an Oregon guide who has tested Big Moby’s Turtle in his fishing efforts in Oregon and on the Columbia system.

“I really like the finish on the blades,” says Premo. “It’s good, and the various blade colors are great! But the best part is that I can fish these Turtle blades for just about anything and anywhere.

“I’ve used them in ripping current below Bonneville off anchor, and I’ve used them in downtown Portland. They work at Buoy 10 at the mouth of the Columbia. They catch salmon all season, both chinook and coho, and they work well for steelhead.

“Really, they work. That’s all you need to say. Use them on a shaft or on a prawn or herring rig. It’s all good.”

Currently, the Turtle blade comes in a size-5 blade, but color choice is unlimited. Big Moby does custom painting, so you can get just about anything you want.

The Turtle blade is available as a blade, as a wire-shaft spinner, as a hoochie spinner (six colors of skirt) or on a prawn or herring rig.

It all looks good to me.

For more information, go to www.bigmobytackle.com.

Snip, snip…

Mustad’s Multi-Purpose Braid Cutter is one of those tools that will probably fly under the radar for most fishermen. I mean it looks like one of those ubiquitous price-point split-ring pliers made out of stamped metal that do an okay job of managing split rings but don’t do other chores well.

That’s why I was surprised when I saw a pair demoed at the Puyallup Sportsmen’s Show this past spring. The sales guy had a pair, and he was cutting braided line like it was wet spaghetti.

I don’t know about your experiences cutting braid with anything but a really sharp knife, but the scissors, pliers and “braid cutters” I’ve tried before almost always require that the braid be under tension to get a clean, one-stroke cut.

The sales guy made a point of holding the braid by one end only and then cutting off a piece. And he did it again and again and again. Then he offered the cutters to folks who were watching.

Since I fish a lot with braid in both fresh and salt water, I got a pair to see if the show cutters’ promise would hold in real life.

Man! Are they good! I’ve used them to cut heavy braid and extremely light braid. I’ve used them to cut three-pound Fireline, which is pretty thin stuff.

 With every line, they’ve been faultless in performance. Hold up a piece of braid, and they cut it. You don’t need to apply tension or saw the line back and forth.

Of course, these cutters are more than just a one-trick tool. The cutters also have an effective split-ring nose and can be used for pinching down barbs as well as for light crimping duties.

The cutters’ frame is of polished stainless steel with high-impact plastic handles. The cutters themselves are micro-serrated with very small tolerances between the two blades, and that is why they do such a great job of cutting braid.

For more information, go to www.mustad.no.

Calamari? Sounds kind of fishy…

So if you’re familiar with kokanee fishing at all, you are aware of two things: ultraviolet lures are the new, hot thing, and small hoochies or squid bodies are deadly.

Combine those two and you get the Reaction Squid from P-Line. But these are more than just calamari. They are rigged with two red, chemically sharpened hooks and a 12-inch-long fluorocarbon leader with a swivel where you need it for connecting the Reaction Squid to a trout dodger or blade string.

Ideally, whichever attractor you use will provide some action because hoochies are not stand-alone lures. But that’s OK; you don’t need a lot of action, just some.

While it’s arguable that fluorocarbon is more effective than regular monofilament in leaders, it is tougher and offers more abrasion resistance. That’s especially needful when you’re changing leaders frequently.

The red hooks are a definite home run. I was once told by a guy who spent his summers fishing Idaho’s Lake Pend Oreille for kokanee that if he could select any hook color—he said this before red hooks became popular—that red would be his all-time top choice, followed by green. Considering that he spent nearly every day on the lake and had the fish dialed in, that is saying a lot. I do know that when I changed over to red hooks, my kokanee catches went up.

The Reaction Squid are too new to have a lot of guide feedback. However, when I first hit the lake with them, I’ll try them behind a small trout dodger. Another thing I’ll try is a big-bladed, willow-leaf Hildebrandt spinner, as that was a staple on a lot of my eastern Washington koke lakes. Two other riggings are worth mentioning: one is to slide a Mac’s Lure Smile blade on the leader ahead of the Squid (along with a bead), and the second is to do the same with a small, UV-enhanced Spin-N-Glo. You can run those without a dodger or other attractor, if you like.

The Reaction Squid comes in one size and eight colors, all of which have some pink, the killer kokanee color.

For more information, go to www.p-line.com.

Roll on, roll off…

By now, every side-drifter worth his egg cure has seen the leader trees and leader rolls that do a dandy job of storing the two-hook, side-drifting rigs.

There’s nothing wrong with the paper-towel-like brackets that hold the completed rolls in place in the boat. However, all of the ones I’ve seen in place are pretty much one-trick ponies. They hold side-drifting rigs and that’s it, besides the occasional fishy towel, loosely draped over the roll.

Enter the Bait Buoy, billed as “The Ultimate Tackle Organizer.” It’s a heavy-duty holder that will do a good job of holding a leader roll, bottles of scent, pliers, knife and even handle the clip from that hand towel.

The leader roll is several steps above the standard pipe-insulation-and-PVC-pipe rolls that are the common form. This roll is surrounded by corrugated, open-cell foam. The corrugations keep the leaders from mixing. The slit in the valley between the corrugations keeps the tail end of the leader in place, and that makes the leader roll itself worth the money, simply because there will be no more early-morning, frozen-finger efforts to untangle crossed leaders.

The frame that holds the leader roll is made from a dense, heavy-duty plastic that looks to be stout enough to put the hurt on a halibut, not that I’m recommending you use it that way. It has cutouts for three scent bottles, pliers, knife and clip-on towel.

Mounting the Bait Buoy is relatively simple. You can use the included mount and bolt through a rod tray, gunnel, seat box or what-have-you or you can ditch the base of the mount and bolt the unit to a 7/8-inch pipe rail.

Another worthy feature is that the leader rollers can be purchased separately so that you can replace an empty one with a full one and keep fishing. The replacement is about as easy as can be. A plastic rod pulls out of the frame, releasing the roll. Place a new roll in the frame and skewer it with the rod, snapping it into place.

Check it out: www.hookumgood.com.

A New Spin on Things Deep...

So most attractors used by downrigger fishermen are meant to attach to the ball and fit in between the ball and the release clip in line with the bait or lure.
The problem with those attractors is that they can be prone to tangling—and untangling them can be a real chore if you’re hanging over the side of the boat trying to do it. Jerry Bechhold of Bechhold & Son has come up with a better mousetrap: the Downrigger Cable Attachment Bait Ball, an attractor that is mounted between the downrigger ball and cable. The flasher blades are shaped like fish, chrome finished in several colors: red, chartreuse, silver and gold. These small flashers are hooked by their noses, and are free floating on the cable blade, separated only by stops that limit travel to roughly six inches vertically. So while the flashers each rotate, they can also slide up and down the cable. This vertical travel adds a lot of flash, and, I would think, a greater appearance of living fish. Whatever these bait-ball attractors do, they do catch fish. Monte Smith (www.goldcountrysportfishing.com) is a guide who fishes for landlocked salmon and trout (including kokanee) in California reservoirs. He’s had pretty good success with the Bechhold attractors. “In fact, I was out with this guy from the local paper,” says Smith, “and we were testing the attractors. The downrigger rod on one side of the boat was rigged the way I normally fish, and the other had the attractor on the cable. We caught all of our fish on the rod with the attractor.” Since that trip, he’s come to rely on the Bechold attractor more and more.
Smith runs either a plain shad or anchovy behind the downrigger ball, relying upon the flash of the attractor to bring fish to the bait. He drops the bait back about 30 feet, as the water in the reservoirs he fishes is clear. He also prefers the chartreuse attractor in low-light conditions and will change to silver during the middle of the day. For more information, go to www.fishcatcher.com.

Jumpin' Jack (Back) flash

GDF (aka Good Day Fishing) recently introduced the Backflash spinner. Unlike in-line spinners, the Backflash is designed to work in conjunction with bait. As its name suggests, the Backflash blade flashes behind the bait because the spinner blade is mounted on a piece of monofilament that trails behind the hook, whether it’s a single hook used for eggs or shrimp or a double-hook mooching rig. For instance, if you’re running a cut-plug herring, the Backflash will provide color, flash and movement slightly behind the tail of the herring. If you think about it, this is the ideal spot for additional flash as it’s the tail of the herring, sardine or anchovy that has the most movement, yet the tail of a cut-plug or whole bait doesn’t move. Add some flash, and the odds are pretty good that it will add appeal. This is a pretty simple add-on. The Backflash comes in two versions: the kit form that includes blades, leaders and clevises; and as finished rigs in both single and double-hook leaders for those who don’t tie their own. For those who roll their own, there is nothing difficult about adding a Backflash spinner to any rig. The key point is that it needs to be done before you tie the leader. The Backflash kit comes with short leaders, made of Maxima Ultragreen in either 30- or 40-pound test in either 9- or 60- inch lengths. On the end of the leader is a brass, bearing bead that has been crimped in place. This bead provides the bearing surface upon which the clevis spins. To incorporate the Backflash into your leader all you need to do is slide a blade on a clevis, and then thread the leader through the holes on the clevis with the cupped face of the blade facing the bead. When the blade is in place properly, you take the other end of the leader, slide it through the eye of the hook from behind and bend the leader back along the shank of the hook, forming kind of a thin, elongated U. Then tie the leader as you normally would. Wayne Parker, GDF founder, says that the original, short leader was designed for use on a two-hook mooching leader where the herring (or sardine or whatever) is rigged with the back hook loose. However, further testing with longer leaders than the nine-inch originals showed that those who feel the need to bury the tail hook in the bait can do so by using longer leaders. Personally, I’ve always hooked more salmon when the tail hook was flying.
For more information, go to www.gooddayfishing.com.

It's the Wiz, Junior...

One of the annoyances in fishing from a small boat is the tangle of the anchor line. Sure, you can do a lot of cute things to keep the line from getting tangled, and there are a lot of “systems” that keep the inevitable from happening, but the reality is that effective anchoring systems were the province of larger boats. At least, that was the case until now. Enter the Anchor Wizard, Junior. The Anchor Wizard line of products is made by Hicks Lake Grinding out of Michigan. The company has a line of anchoring products that cover a range of fishing applications, including both drift and jet boats in the Great Lakes steelhead and salmon fisheries. The company even makes a setup for the Columbia River fishery. But the Junior is what struck me as a slam-dunk for trout and kokanee fishermen because dealing with the anchor rope is kind of a constant pain. The beauty of the Anchor Wizard systems is that they are built very, very well. Cast from heavy aluminum, the bearing surfaces are machined smooth, even though the casting is excellent in itself. The Junior is unique in the line, as it doesn’t have to be permanently mounted to the boat. It features a mount that can be clamped to the gunwale, seat top, splash well or any edge, making it a portable unit that can be transferred from boat to boat to pontoon boat. While the take-up reel is not large enough to hold hundreds of yards of heavy anchor rope, it is large enough to handle, say, 100 yards or more of quarter-inch nylon. The system is strong enough to handle as heavy an anchor as you’re likely to use in a small boat of any kind as well. Because it’s meant to be portable and temporary, there are no pulleys or nose pieces that you would see in a permanent system. These parts are available from Anchor Wizard, should you want to make this a permanent mount. There also are a number of other different anchoring systems available to handle just about any situation, including, as mentioned before, a system for the Columbia River style anchors. The operation of the Junior is single-handed simple. To release the anchor, you back the handle off just a little until it slowly starts to release line. The more you back the handle off, the quicker the release. To slow down or stop, you simply reverse the direction of the wind. To bring the anchor back in, you simply wind it up. It should be noted that the Anchor Wizard Junior isn’t meant to support the anchor outside the boat while the boat is underway. For more information, go to www.anchorwizard.com.

Here's A Flash...

CS Coatings has been in the business of providing fishermen with the appropriate paints to use with leadhead jigs for a long time, but that's only natural since it's part of Do-It Corporation, premier manufacturer of molds for casting jigs and all sorts of tackle.
The company has expanded into the growing field of UV finishes, and that is a good thing. Not only is CS Coatings offering UV finishes, but its offerings include a seal coat to be used over other painted (or unpainted) lures, a Pro-Tec powder in UV Blast formula as well as a dip for soft plastics that both colors lures but also gives them the ability to reflect UV light.
Ultraviolet (UV) light is one part of the spectrum that members of the salmon family can see at various points of their life cycles, notably when they are in a stream environment after birth and when returning to spawn. While not enough research has been done to say for certain that UV lures can be seen by all species at specific times in their lives, practical experience shows us that blackmouth and adult chinook respond well, as do kokanee, trout and steelhead.
When a company that makes lures for the commercial salmon trollers says that UV lures are its most popular, it's worth noting.
Undoubtedly, you'll see claims about UV lures attracting fish of all species at all times and working better than anything else.
However, the reality is that an ultraviolet finish only makes a lure more visible to fish in certain conditions. Since UV waves travel further in water than visible light does, it stands to reason that when fishing deep, clear water, UV-treated lures will be seen better than lures that only reflect the visible spectrum.
Unlike phosphorescent or luminescent baits, UV lures reflect light; they don't store it up. So as long as there are ultraviolet rays making it down to the depth you're fishing, the lure will reflect it, showing up more plainly than lures that reflect only visible light. Luminescent and fluorescent lures lose their charge after a while, and unless they reflect UV, will be less visible to fish.
The products offered by CS Coatings include Quick-Coat Worm Dip with UV Blast. This pigmenting agent works best over white or light-colored soft plastics. However, it will color darker plastics, but the dark colors of the lure will show through, giving a more natural appearance to the lure. It comes in nine colors in a dip formula and a clear coat in a spray applicator.
Both Seal-Coat (the clear finish you apply to a jighead after you paint) and Pro-Tec powder paint are available in UV Blast versions, giving steelheaders a wide range of finishes for everything from worms to jigheads to plugs.
There's no reason now to fish invisible lures. For more information, go to: www.do-itfishing.com.

Nice Bit O' Kit...

For center-pin aficionados, the reel is the thing. You can take a sturgeon rod and get the bobber and terminal gear floating and fishing down the river with the right reel.
It might not be pleasant fishing, but it will work. Add the best reel to nearly any rod, and you'll have a good combo that will let you trot your float with the best of them.
For those not familiar with the process, center-pinning is the latest version of indicator fishing (for fly guys) or bobber- or float-fishing for the gear guys. The added advantage is that with a center-pin reel, you can feed line to the float immediately and extend the drift dramatically.
And since so many center-pin rods are long—some to 15 feet—you can also control the drift, mend line and take up slack to get the best drift possible. It's a dramatic improvement over using a gear rod—even the longer ones—because of the added control.
But like I said, the reel is the heart of the system.
The center-pin reel, as you can see, resembles a fly reel in a lot of ways. It's a single-action reel, meaning that when you make one revolution of the handle as you're reeling line, you bring in only that much line.
But that is the end of the resemblance. These reels depend upon the quality of the center-pin and the spool and the bearings. Because you feed line with the reel, you want it to spin freely. The same reason holds for casting. The key feature is the free spin.
The Kingpin reels are extremely well balanced. When I first handled the demo model, I turned it on its side, handles up, and blew lightly on the face of it. That light, sideways pressure was enough to get the spool spinning, and that with the 4.5-inch model and a full spool of mono. That is a sign of a well-balanced reel.
"I've owned and used four or five center-pin reels," says Todd Ostenson of Trophy Waters Flyfishing Shop (541-734-CAST or www.trophywaters.net) in Medford, Ore., "and the best one by far is the Kingpin. The beauty of any center-pin is how well balanced it is, and this reel is about as good as they come.
"On top of that, it's really well thought out in design. For instance, the clicker is on the rim where you can turn it on or off without taking your hand from the rod. Also, the arbor is a nice size: you don't have to add a bunch of backing, and it holds around 200 or 300 yards of mono."
The Kingpin reel series is relatively new to the U.S. market, but it's a staple in the U.K. There are five series in the Kingpin lineup; four are "gold", and there's one "silver".
The differences between the models, generally, are size. The largest reel is 4 7/8 in diameter, and the smallest, the trout-sized model is 3 7/8 inches. Colors range from gold to silver with black and red-and-black an option as well.
Ostenson says that for Rogue steelhead, both winter and summer fish, he'll run 10- or 12-pound-test floating monofilament (he uses either Raven or Siglon) and either blood knots the fluorocarbon leader or ties it to a micro swivel. He adds six or seven feet of fluorocarbon leader, a float, followed by a weighted fly and a dropper.
It's interesting that he also uses a center-pin when fishing for trout.
"I like the smallest Kingpin reel for this, and I think it may also be the smallest centerpin reel made," he says. "I'll use 4X or 5X leader and a mainline to suit, followed by a pair of flies."
The rod he uses is one he built himself. "I'm building 10-footers that match a four-weight (fly-line weights) and 11-footers that would match a five-weight. They're great little rods."
For more information, call Ostenson's shop or go to www.kingpinreels.com to see the line of reels.

Put Your Phasers On Stun...

How they'll chase the dot of light around. We've all seen or at least heard about the Fish will chase a laser dot also, and they'll effectiveness of lighted lures. It doesn't attack the source of the light.
Seem to matter what kind of light source it Good thing that the source, in this is, necessarily. In certain conditions lures case, is the nose of the lure. I know it that do a better job of showing up in the intrigued the heck out of my cat when I teased her with it. (Note to folks at home: Mustad Triple Grip trebles do NOT mix with cats.) What the designers at Laserlure did was take some popular lures and incorporated their mini-laser in them. Granted, much of the line is biased toward bass fishing, but two lures in particular—the  dark and murky generally do a better job of catching fish. That's one reason fluorescent colors are so popular with salmon and steelhead fishermen. But paint finishes, including glow and UV, are limited by the amount of light in the water.
Laserlures takes this one step further by building lures that bring their own light—a small laser is mounted in the clear nose of the lures, kind of like something you might see on Star Trek. This laser then shoots red light that not only is visible from the front of the lure but also is reflected back into the lure itself.
Intriguingly enough, the laser beam isn't emitted as a steady light but in rapid bursts.
"The laser cycles rapidly," says Laserlure's national sales manager, Mike Lopez, "because the laser needs to cool down. This extends the life of the laser, saves battery power, and I think, adds some attraction because the light is like a heartbeat."
Lopez also says that the quality of light emitted from a laser differs from that of an LED and is more attractive to animals.
"If you've ever played with a laser point and a cat or dog," he says, "you know MD6-8 and DD7-9— are on the mark for salmon and steelhead use. The DD-20 will also have applications for chinook in big water.
There are some caveats that go along with these baits. First, the battery (a Sony lithium-ion) life is 80 hours. That is use time. Since the electrical circuits are water-activated, the laser runs only when under water, so that is 80 hours of fishing use.
While the system is water-activated, you can start the laser pulsing by completing the circuit. Put the lure away wet, or put it in a compartment with other lures, and the chances are that the circuit will be completed. You can also get the laser to fire by bridging the gap between the hook-attachment eyelets. I did this with a pair or wet fingers to torment my cat.
Since the whole system is sealed and waterproof, the batteries can't be replaced. That doesn't mean, however, that the lure stops working; it just stops shooting at Klingons with its laser. And as with anything, there is the health warning. Don't shoot the laser at your eyes because you could damage them.
Lopez notes that two finishes are selling well in steelhead country in the MD6-8: clear iridescent and clear red. No cats were harmed for this evaluation. For more information, go to www.laserlure.com.

Compre to Other Rods…

OK, so the pun was bad and very intentional. Having a pair of Shimano Compre trolling rods, I really couldn’t help it.

Here’s the thing: for a long time, Shimano was known mainly as a reel company. They made quality reels, but their rods were only so-so.

That’s changed.

Over the last five years or so, Shimano has brought quality rods at comparatively low prices into play. The only problem, from my viewpoint, was that most of the rods and rod series this company initiated weren’t suitable for the salmon and steelhead market.

If you wanted a traditional salmon or steelhead rod, you were limited to the Clarus and Convergence series. Now, of course, with the incorporation of G. Loomis into the Shimano family, that’s no longer the case.

Having said that, I will add that there are even more salmon and steelhead rods hidden away in the general Shimano catalog.

One such series is the Compre Trolling Casting rods. The rods are designed with, wait for it, walleyes in mind, but the two rods I have, both 7’10” long, are proving to be excellent for salmon, and I have no doubt they would work well for steelhead in particular applications.

The thing that stands out is the action. Although the 7-10” model is rated for a medium-fast, medium-heavy action, the tip is sensitive enough to telegraph the action for big plugs and spinners.

The strength in the butt is sufficient to handle most salmon applications, and this model does very well for vertical jigging Buzz Bombs, Butterfly Jigs, and Pt. Wilson Darts.

It would a good rod for coho, especially when you’re trolling a cut plug in the wake, and it would be a passable mooching rod as well. In other words, it’s a versatile stick.

The Compre series comes in lengths ranging from 6’6” to 8’6”. For the adipose set, I’d stick with the three longer models. There is a drawback to them, however. Only the longest is a two-piece blank. The 7’10” and 8’3” are telescopic, so you need room to store them.

The blank construction is Shimano’s TC4, which means that it’s a composite of a “horizontal layer of advanced dynamic fibers” laid down between an inner and outer spiral of high-modulus graphite.” The result is a rod with a crisp action and strength, as well as durability.

What I like about these rods is the attention to detail inherent in the design. The blank, as noted above, is of advanced design. So are the guides; they’re Fuji (and so is the trigger reel seat) New Concept guides that enhance overall performance.

However, rather than building the rear grip of very expensive cork, Shimano has used its non-slip, black-diamond rear grips. For those who use rod holders, this is a good choice as the black-diamond grips are more durable than cork.

The best news for those looking for a new rod is that Shimano has a rebate program on Compre rods, as well as Clarus and Convergence series, that runs through the end of May. The latter two series have a wide range of salmon, steelhead and trout rods.

For more information, go to: www.fish. shimamo.com.