Articles

YETI Introduces the Hopper, New Soft-Sided Cooler

by Ben Kryzinski - Friday, Jul 11th, 2014

Until YETI introduced its original cooler almost a decade ago, there weren't very many people out there that could get excited about a cooler. After all, we had all been toting around different versions of what amounted to the same clumsy cooler for years. These cheap plastic doppelgängers required lots of ice refills to keep things cold and ended up being fairly disposable, since their flimsy construction didn't offer up much durability. But they got the job done, we were satisfied. That is, until YETI came along and showed us we were setting our expecations way too low.

YETI's flagship Tundra series holds ice for over a week in some cases, offers up bomb-proof (read: bear proof) construction, is dry ice safe and is packed with other should-have-thought-of-it features that for many years now have made an ice box into a conversation piece, something to covet, and a very serious piece of gear. YETI unquestionably revolutionized how we think about coolers, and now they're back to try to do it again.

On Wednesday, YETI introduced what it is confidently referring to as product that is just as game-changing as its hard sided cooler. The new YETI Hopper is a soft-sided cooler, designed from the ground up to provide much of what its hard-sided coolers provide -- long-term ice retention, robust durability and thoughtful features and construction that address the shortcomings in the industry standard of design -- only in a vastly more portable package.

Sweltering

by Steve Zakur - Thursday, Jul 10th, 2014

As summer air temperatures in New England veer sharply from their northern roots most water courses warm beyond the tolerance of trout. With trout hunkered in thermal refuges the sulking trout angler has some options. There's opportunity on stillwater for largemouth, crappie and bluegills but that requires tactics and tackle that is foreign to many. In several renowned trout rivers smallmouth share the same neighborhood with their sleeker kin. With yin to trout's yang, smallmouth come alive when water temps suppress trout. While both are a fine distraction, truly tormented trout anglers seek the succor of a tailwater in the days after the mid-year solstice.

Last week I had smallmouth on the brain and was prepared to make the hour drive for a few hours fishing. The previous evening a summer storm rolled up the valley and created a muddy torrent while sparing neighboring, smallmouth-free watersheds. I could have scrapped the whole notion but my buddy Steve had planted a few seeds with solid tailwater intel.

Steve is one of those quiet anglers who goes about his business without calling attention to himself. Not knowing Steve you might dismiss the counsel of this unassuming gentleman. But he's committed to his craft, puts his hours in, and when Steve says that a #26 Olive will work until 6 p.m. and a #16 Sulphur spinner until dark, you stock your fly box, pack your car, and drive north.

Dr. Slick Unveils Typhoon Pliers

by Ben Kryzinski - Tuesday, Jul 8th, 2014

Dr. Slick's new Typhoon pliers.

Continuing the trend of new product announcements in advance of the IFTD/ICAST show in Orlando, Dr. Slick has unveiled their lineup of new tools and gadgets for the coming year. Included in their new product offerings are their Typhoon pliers, a pair of premium pliers that are targeted at fly and conventional anglers alike.

Dr. Slick's new Typhoon pliers are made of 6061-T6 aircraft quality anodized, salt-water resistant aluminum that is fully machined, not die cast. Also featured are non-slip rubber grips and a self-opening
spring. The Typhoon's cutters are HR (Rockwell Hardness) 70+, which Dr. Slick describes as "lethal on all monofilament, new age braid and synthetic lines plus coated wire up to 60-pound." The pliers' jaws offer a half smooth and half striated design.

Dorothy Was Wrong. And Right.

by Mike Sepelak - Monday, Jul 7th, 2014

Photo: Mike Sepelak

I traveled three thousand miles to the Mexican Baja and the baitfish disappeared. So, too, did the roosters who feed on them. Flew fifteen hundred to chase South Padre reds, only to be blown off the Gulf by thirty-knot winds and freak thunderstorms. Twice. Verified emphatically that rain in the far-flung Bahamas is tough on the bonefishing. There’s something about traveling thousands of miles and getting utterly skunked that puts a man to thinking. Was it worth it? Why didn’t I just stay on my home waters where I know I can catch fish? Why go to the trouble?

They’re dumb questions, all, to my way of thinking, because if the sole purpose of your fly-fishing destination trips is to catch fish, you’re missing the point. There’s so much more to be gained by stretching your limits.

Headwater Trout Streams: True Trickle-Down Economics

by Chris Hunt - Friday, Jul 4th, 2014

A lot of us learned to fly fish on small waters. We cut our angling teeth on brook trout-laden creeks of Appalachia or maybe a high-mountain trickle somewhere in the Rockies. My first fly rod trout came from a tiny beaver pond in the headwaters of Colorado’s Taylor River, somewhere on the shoulders of Tin Cup Pass.

This little trickle likely wouldn’t have been fishable at all if not for the beavers that dammed its course and created the habitat suitable for trout. The fish was a stout little non-native brookie that, along with its brethren, had long ago pushed the native Colorado River cutthroats out of the stream. But to a kid more interested in the fish than the flavor, it didn’t matter. What mattered was the opportunity.

That little trickle — and thousands of others like them all across America—was protected by the Clean Water Act until the 2000s, when the U.S. Supreme Court issued a pair of rulings that left these sensitive waters vulnerable to development. According to the court, these small headwater streams — some of which run dry at certain times of the year—had no proven nexus with the “navigable” waters of the country, and therefore, they were not specifically protected under the Clean Water Act.