2010 Hot New Products

                                 By Doug Mcknight

In the fly fishing industry, successful companies have always relied on new products to drive sales. Each year the local reps bring by their latest and greatest, allowing fly shops to get a hands on feel for what these products are all about. Here are some standouts for 2010 that we really like:

Simms Vibram Sole Wading Boots

Introduced last season but in very limited supply, these new vibram soled wading boots have proven to be the real deal and work surprisingly well compared to the felt soled boots we have worn for so many years.   All of us here in the shop that have worn these new vibram soled boots this past summer were impressed with their performance.  Rarely do they slip around any more than felt, and most of the time they are giving you a better grip on the bottom.    They have a huge advantage of allowing you to climb up and down steep and slippery banks as these soles seemingly get a good grip on everything.    The big advantage of wearing rubber soles and getting away from felt is doing our part in the fight to help control aquatic nuisance species that hitch a ride on felt soles.   This “Cleanstream” campaign is growing by leaps and bounds and we feel that you will see felt soles banned in many streams or states in the future.     But with vibram soles that work as well as these, there isn’t any downside to going with them other than the fact that they are slightly more expensive. Simms has also developed very good carbide studs and star cleats that you can screw in and out of these vibram soles as needed to give you extra traction in really nasty conditions.   Simms has a variety of boots in the line up, but our favorite is the Simms Guide Boot at $199.95.   These are very comfortable, easy to get into and give great support.   For a less expensive alternative, their Freestone Boot at $129.95 is the way to go.   

Simms Star Cleats for Vibram Soles $39.95

These new cleats fit in between the lugs on the highly touted Vibram Streamtread sole on Simms wading boots.  Immediately we noticed that they have more surface area than any other stud or cleat that we have seen.  More surface area means more grip in challenging wading situations, and these are the nicest removable, screw-in cleats we have seen. 

Sage XI3 Rods $695-775

Sage’s new XI3 saltwater rod is available in weights 6 thru 16, and is designed for tough saltwater environments.  The first thing that we noticed about these new rods when we picked them up was how light they felt.  After casting a few of them, we were impressed with the power and accuracy of these rods, particularly at medium and long distances.  The new generation 5 technology has allowed Sage to come up with a lighter yet more powerful rod than the older Xi2.   This is going to be a wonderful bonefish rod that you can cast all day without wearing yourself out.  The light feel and accuracy of this rod at longer distances is superb.  The cosmetics and craftsmanship on the XI3 is excellent, they feature a beautiful Pacific Blue as the color of the blank, along with Cobalt and Electric blue wraps.  After seeing one of these for yourself, you’ll agree that this is a great looking rod. All of the rods have oversized Fuji hard chrome plated guides, with the 2 stripping guides featuring Alconite Ceramic inserts that offer extreme durability.  Sage also upgraded the reel seats, which are lighter and more streamlined than those of the XI2.  Overall, these are very powerful and light saltwater fly rods that will satisfy the most demanding of situations on the flats.

Temple Fork Outfitters Clouser Series Rod $224-249

Looking for a great streamer rod but don’t want to spend a lot of money?  Look no further than this new series of rods from Temple Fork Outfitters designed by streamer master Bob Clouser.  These rods to throw sinking lines and heavy flies.  This immediately got our attention, as we do a lot of streamer fishing with heavy flies and sinking lines.  The guys at TFO were nice enough to send us one to try, and after giving them a shot we really think they do a superb job at launching lead eyed flies and heavy lines and are fun to cast.  These rods have a flexible tip allowing the rod to load and cast well at short range, and have a nice stout butt section for handling the extra weight of a heavy fly on a long cast.  No doubt anglers will find this action perfect for tossing streamers for trout and bass, but these are also going to be good, less expensive rods for saltwater fishing.  Especially around the Mangroves for Snook and Baby Tarpon as well as Bonefish and Permit.  This is a great all around heavy-duty rod for a great price.

St Croix Rio Santos Rods $100-$130

Available in 4-8 weights, in both two and four piece versions, St Croix’s Rio Santo fly rods are setting the bar for performance and value at an extremely low price for a fly rod.  We were amazed at how nicely these rods cast with their medium fast actions and softer tips.  We found they cast especially well at short to medium distances.  The Rio Santo rods are just slightly heavier than the proven $180 series Imperial rods that have been our best inexpensive rod to date.  Most two-piece Rio Santo rods run only $100 while most four-piece rods are $120.   The Rio Santo makes an excellent choice for a beginner, young person, even an experienced angler looking for a very economical backup rod.  We liked these rods so much; Yellowstone Angler’s rod rental program is going to feature 8 of these rods for 2010. Know someone who wants to get started in fly-fishing and spend a minimum amount of money on a rod?    These rods are a great place to start.

Ross Evolution LT Reel $245-315

Needless to say we were very excited to see the new Ross Evolution LT reels, as it’s predecessor, the Evolution was one of our favorite and best selling reels of all time.  Available in six sizes to cover anything from a 1 weight to a 9 weight, this reel is jam packed with upgrades from the older model and is being offered at a significantly lower price!  We have been asking Ross for metal drag knobs and escapement covers for years, and they have delivered on this reel.  Outside of the Delran handle and parts of the drag system, everything else is metal.  The drag adjustment knob is on the side opposite the handle, where it should be, and it will hold the drag setting better than the old Evolution. These new LT reels are very light in weight and prefect for the lightest and finest fly rods on the market.   We anticipate this becoming a very popular choice in our lineup of reels.  In addition to the colors of Black, Copper, and gray, they have now added green, which is sure to be popular.  If you are looking for great looking and great performing reel that is made right here in the USA at a very reasonable price, the Ross Evolution LT is one of the best choices we’ve seen. 

New Abel Super Series 3N & 4N Reels $425-500

Just like the Super 5N introduced last year, these 2 new models which cover 3 to 6 weight, are built from the ground up to be the perfect size large arbor reel for their respective line weight.  They feature a narrow profile, reduced weight and increased arbor for faster pickup and less line memory.  Abel reels have widely considered having the best machining and anodizing in the reel business, and we are excited to add both of these new models to our product offering.  One of the first things that we noticed about these reels compared to the older, discontinued Super 3 & 4 reels is they seemed significantly lighter.  Just like all of the Abel reel models, these new reels are the most bulletproof reels on the market, and no other reel can match an Abel reel’s tolerance of abuse.  These are arguably best reels that money can buy and now with their lighter weight they are a very nice compliment to any fine, light trout fly rod.   The standard color is a high gloss black or Matte Black but Abel offers a huge variety of other solid colors as well as artistic and fish graphics in their anodized finish.   The new fish graphics are really spectacular even though they add $200 to the price of the standard reel.   Some of our favorites are the Brook Trout, Brown Trout, Rainbow, and Steelhead.   You can check out all these exotic finishes on Abel’s web site.   Over half of the Abel reels sold today are these beautiful and colorful anodized finishes.    We stock some of these in the shop and can easily order you the exact finish you want and get it in a minimal amount of time.   

MP Thread through Bobbin $59.95 

This masterfully designed fly tying bobbin by Marc Pettijean, recently won best new product of 2010 at the FFR show in Denver.  This might be the most innovative tying tool ever developed.  Instead of a hollow tube like on most bobbins, this bobbin has a tiny snag proof split ring and an open shaft, which allows you to thread this bobbin with your eyes closed. This solves the often-difficult challenge of threading your bobbin.  In addition to this wonderful feature, the new bobbin has an adjustable spool tensioner that allows you to put more or less tension on the spool of thread merely by sliding a small sleeve up and down.  It also incorporates a dubbing loop tool and is perfectly balanced to spin on its axis.  This new bobbin design from Marc Pettijean, is simply unbelievable.  Sure, this is an expensive bobbin but we feel worth every penny once you see how well it works. If you are an avid tyer, you need to check this out.

Photography On The Fly Gift Cards By James Anderson:
These brand new gift cards are just in time for the Christmas season. James has taken some of his most popular photos and created these new sets of greeting cards. James has worked here in the shop and guided for us for several years and these are just another example of how talented he really is. Any angler would enjoy these cards to collect and display James fine work, let alone send them to your most cherished angling friends during the holidays. These are blank on the inside and can be used for any occasion. They come in a box of 6 and there are 10 different sets to choose from. These sets can be viewed at James web site. Price: $19.95.