|
Two weekends ago while I was fishing with my newly acquired six and half foot bamboo rod,
I was thinking about all the hype that goes into equipment. Why? Because new equipment
and their sales keeps the entire industry moving forward. New ideas are coming out all the
time. Like the new large arbor reels and better graphite rods with more flex to fight larger
fish. New types of floating or sinking lines. New fluorocarbon leaders and tippet. This is
all great equipment that I have used and will continue to promote to better our industry.
Now picture the decked out Dude or Dudette with all their fancy clothes, zingers, and
gadgets, float tubes, rod and reel. If you were to go by the photos in some magazines a
beginner would say, "Wow that looks like $5000 worth of gear just to get started in fly fishing?"
No wonder so many people think that fly fishing is an elitist sport. I got this feeling on Opening
Day two weeks ago. Only I thought it in reverse - of a bait fisherman. One guy throws
his worm in the water of a very nice run. Being polite I did not want to disturb his fishing hole.
So I went around him. I thought what an elitist, he takes up this entire run because he is to
lazy to walk into the water. Also his gear looked top-of-the-line for a spinning reel and small rod.
He had his large tackle box in tow. He was so lazy he had wheels on his tackle box with a
built-in chair to boot. I wonder how much trouble he had walking from his car?
The whole time I could not help but think this guy thinks I am an elitist. Just for the record;
my bamboo rod cost $40, my skeleton reel $10, and my silk fly line $2, I won't count
the tippet since I only used 4 feet. My entire set up was a grand total of $52. Yes, I did put a
little work into the equipment and yes, I caught fish right in front of this guy. Who would of thought!
Always base the buying of your equipment not by the price but by the feel.
I will always remember that first day that I took trout all day long with
my old bamboo rod.
No Chuck, you can not have this rod for $75 - it is priceless to me. ~ Rich Lobrovich
|
