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About a year ago I decided it was time to upgrade my 22 year old
Thompson A vise. The vise had been good to me over the years, but to tell you the
truth, it had not seen a whole lot of flies in that time. I recently got into
fly fishing for trout and the mega number of fly patterns that go with it. Needless
to say, with the amount of tying I was doing I just was not happy with the A vise
anymore.
I started my search for a new vise using the multitude of
catalogs that are out there. I was really shocked at the number of vises and
at the prices they were selling them. Now what should I do? Most of the vises looked
great in the catalog pictures, but some that appeared identical to me have prices
that are far apart. Why is that? Is it the materials used, the craftsmanship, or are
they just selling a name? I had no clue what I was looking at or even what I
wanted.
So I turned to the information super highway to find out more
about what the best vise really is. Well, let me tell you, most people honestly
believed that the vise they own is the best one (or value) for the money they paid
for it. Some of the people had owned more than one vise but the current one was
always the favorite and did not have anything good to say about the ones they had
sold or given away. Good, so do not buy any of the vises that they did not like,
right? Wrong, soon enough I would chat with someone who just loved the same vise the
other guy would have tossed in the junk.
Now what to do? I still could not figure out what vise to get.
Well, about that time I came across Fly Anglers OnLine and read an article about fly reels by J. Castwell. When I
finished reading I knew which vise I would buy. This article said to make your
purchase with your heart, for you will only truly be satisfied with what you really
want, or something to that effect (that's the way I took it anyway).
So with my spouse thinking that vises ran in price up to $780.00
(where she got that figure I do not know) she said go ahead and get one. Well, I got
the vise that I really wanted and after tying several dozen flies I can say I am
truly happy with it, and nothing else would do.
Now I suppose you would like to know which one I bought? To that
I will quote my wife "Oh, you chose that one! Goody, now I can up the caret weight
on that diamond anniversary band I want." ~ Rick Floyd
Publishers note: I had to literally drag this out of Rick. He bought the Renzetti
Masters with pedestal base.
Rick Floyd is our reader/contributor for this installment of
Reader's Casts. Rick is an avid fly fisherman whose home waters are
in Wisconsin. Visitors to our Chat Room may recognize Rick as Host
Flytier.
Rick is always happy to
help fellow tiers and fishermen, and is especially interested in getting
young people involved in fly fishing. We thank him for his article.
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