Articles

Scott's New Radian Fly Rod Winning Fans Early

by Colin K. Breck - Wednesday, Jul 10th, 2013

Scott's new Radian fly rod.

Scott's new flagship one-handed fly rod, the Radian, is making its formal debut at this year's IFTD trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada. Even before it makes it into the hands of the masses, Scott's new rod series is winning over a number of anglers. Scott describes the Radian as a fly rod where "fast meets feel", and it seems like those who have cast it are in agreement.

Scott's new Radian fly rod.

According to Scott, "until now, you’ve had to choose between a rod with power and line speed, or a rod with touch and feel. But thanks to Scott, those days are over." The answer to this dilemma, says Scott, is their new ReAct technology. ReAct technology "dramatically increased recovery speed ... by minimizing energy - sapping vibrations - ReAct creates fast action, high line speed rods with all the nuance and feel of a presentation rod."

Given that few, if any rods, have truly been able to provide fast action power while allowing for short presentations of size 24 flies -- let alone providing finesse and feel during such presentations -- the fact that Scott is claiming the Radian can do so is no small matter. Still, initial feedback on the Radian has been overwhelmingly positive.

Redington Intros New 2014 Super Dry Wader Series

by Chad Shmukler - Tuesday, Jul 9th, 2013

Redington's Super Dry Fly (zip front) waders.

Redington announced yesterday its 2014 additions to its already successful lineup of waders. Building on the success of its Sonic Pro series of waders, which included the first zip-front waders that didn't come with a $700+ price tag, Redington is aiming to continue its innovative strides with its new Super Dry series of waders. As unabashed fans of the Sonic Pro series (you can read our review here), it will be exciting to see how Redington's latest effort performs in the field.

Redington Super Dry Fly (zip front) waders

The new Super Dry series comes with a significant list of improvements and added features. Leading the list is the addition of Cocona treated interior fabric. Cocona is synthetic fabric that, according to Redington, "uses natural micro-particles permanently embedded in polyester fibers to enhance performance by actively removing moisture, increasing the rate of evaporation and breathability, drying faster and maintaining better odor control." There's little doubt this will sound like music to the ears of anyone who's worn their waders on a day where the air temperature is over 70 degrees and has later found themselves checking to make sure they don't have a leak, only to realize they've soaked the inside of their waders with sweat.

Hardy & Greys Limited Bought By Pure Fishing Inc.

by Ben Kryzinski - Monday, Jul 8th, 2013

Hardy Fly Fishing Logo

Hardy & Greys Limited, the company behind the Hardy Brothers, Hardy and Grey's brands of fly fishing rods, reels and related tackle, has been acquired by U.S.-based Pure Fishing Inc. Pure Fishing, in turn, is a subsidiary of Jarden Inc, a large corporation that is behind brands that which span the gamut from outdoor brands such K2, Volkl and Coleman to household brands such as Mr. Coffee, Sunbeam and Crock-Pot.

Pure Fishing is one of the largest companies in the fishing and tackle industry and, prior to the recent acquisition, had only limited involvement the fly fishing industry, with most of its brands in the conventional fishing arena. Pure Fishing is behind brands such as Abu Garcia, All Star, Berkley, Fenwick, Hodgman, Johnson, JRC, Mitchell, Penn, Pflueger, SevenStrand, Shakespeare, SpiderWire and Stren.

Loud and Clear: 77% Think Pebble Mine is a Bad Idea

by Colin K. Breck - Saturday, Jul 6th, 2013

A Bristol Bay rainbow trout (photo: Alaska Rainbow Adventures www.akrainbow.com).

On June 30, the EPA closed its second public comment period regarding the latest draft of its risk assessment of large-scale open-pit mining in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska. Specifically addressed in the assessment are the likely scenarios that would result from the realization of the yet-to-be formally proposed but heavily researched and planned Pebble Mine at the headwaters of the Nushagak and Kvichak Rivers, the two most prolific wild salmon rivers in the world. The assessment was unequivocal in its determination that a mine such as Pebble would have very significant negative impacts on the salmon populations of the Bristol Bay region -- given that mining operations are accident free -- and would have disastrous consequences were an accident to occur. Given that no large-scale open-pit mine has ever operated accident free, rather spills and pipeline failures and other accidents are common with such operations, opponents of mining in Bristol Bay see little ambiguity regarding the outcome for Bristol Bay salmon and the economy that depends on them if mining ever came to the region.

According to a press release by the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development association, 77% of all comments received by the EPA regarding the feasibility of mining in the Bristol Bay region were anti-mine. That figure represents the total percentage of comments received during both this latest and the EPA's previous public comment period (70% of respondents in the latest period were anti-Pebble). In total, 762,979 comments had been received as of June 28, 587,145 of which were in favor of protecting Bristol Bay.

The Angler as a Predator Shipping Soon

by Chad Shmukler - Friday, Jul 5th, 2013

The Angler as a Predator

The latest installment in Gary Borger's "Fly Fishing: The Book Series," The Angler as a Predator should be off the presses and shipping as soon as next week. This latest book is the fourth in a planned series of 21 books. The first three books, entitled Fishing the Film, Reading Waters and Long Flies offer an entertaining, well written and incredibly insightful look into their respective topics. Compiled into each book are lessons learned from Gary Borger's long and highly respected career as a fly fisherman. The books are illustrated by Gary's son and long time fishing partner, Jason Borger.

According to the book's publisher, "In the newest book, Gary Borger explores the angler as predator, discussing the how-to and why-to of the tactics of “pretending,” of hunting and stalking fish, of predatory casting techniques such as the sidearm roll cast, the elliptical stroke, the “C” pickup and many others. There are thorough discussions of the fish’s environment and the way they detect predators with their vision and hearing. Fishing after dark is an excellent predatory tactic, and Gary covers this topic in detail. In addition, understanding the many ways of setting the hook allows the fly fisher to take the fight to the fish in a positive way. There are also discussions of using the tip, the mid-section, and butt of the rod during the fight, using side pressure and vertical pressure, fighting the fish without using the rod, and other highly effective tactics. Throughout the book, the 'how to' is animated with stories that stretch back for more than five decades of Gary’s fly-fishing life."