Review and first impressions of my 2022 gear.

[DFoster 0]

Finally! Yesterday I was able to walk behind my home and fish our stream for about 2 hours.  Didn't catch a thing!  Not unusual for this time of year, the fish are probably still holding in the deeper pools further downstream.  But yesterday was less about trying to catch and more about getting the feel for my new gear- thermals, fleece pants, boots, waders and bamboo 3 weight in actual small stream conditions. Up to this point I've spent my money on my rods, reels and packs.  My wading gear has been very inexpensive or from the bargain bins.  This will be my first season outfitted with some quality stuff.  

Base layer: Under Armor Compression thermals, fleece pants and LL Bean merino wool socks-  No complaints - After 2 hours in knee to thigh deep with water temps in the high 30's to low 40's my feet and legs got cold but not unbearably so.  As water temps rise through the season the comfort will get better.

Boots: I purchased a set of Korkers wraptr's late this past autumn and used them a few times before the winter set in.   The Wraptrs are a extremely well made and rugged, so rugged they really seem like they will never wear out but that also makes them clunky out of the water.  I wouldn't recommend wearing them if you have a substantial hike or need to cross a lot of uneven ground to get to the water.  (I had a 900' walk from my house through a field to the river yesterday).  They are also tall and large when compared to most other wading boots at the calf.  I have a tough time pulling the gravel guards of both my Orvis and LL Bean waders down over them.  I can do it but it's not as easy as what I was used too.  Once your in the water the felt soles are awesome at handling slippery rocks.  I find them much better than the studded soles I was used to.   Felt soles are not great at going up or down leaf covered slopes and they want to slip.  I will probably get a set of studded soles for the early spring and late autumn when leaves are prevalent and use the felt the rest of the year.   

Waders:  Orvis Pros.  The pros are much more rugged feeling than any of my previous waders.  I stayed perfectly dry yesterday which at this point is all I want out of a set of waders.  The only negative was that I'm not crazy about how the internal kneepads feel.  I'm told by others who have them they thought the same thing and then grew to love them - we'll see.  If not they are held in place by Velcro and are removable. Still I don't see myself kneeling on gravel stream beds.  It might be cool stalk wary trout on your knees in remote areas but here in Massachusetts there's a real possibility of kneeling on any number of wader shredders from broken glass to rusting chunks of metal.  I pulled a old and very sharp edged metal "no trespassing" sign out of the river bottom yesterday, placed there by Old Man Winter '21.

The new Bamboo.  This was the rod I assembled from a blank over my December vacation.  The blank is a 3/4 weight 7' 6" with an Orvis Midge taper, two piece.  I fish other bamboo rods and was immediately comfortable with this one, as if I had been fishing it for years- nothing weird to report.  It cast very much like a glass rod does.   I was casting #18 nymphs with split shot and it felt very familiar casting out to 30' and it was even better at closer ranges.  It roll cast beautifully! I bought it specifically to cast small flies on the small streams I mostly fish and I almost never cast beyond 30'.   When faced with larger or deeper water I will bring a different rod.  While I didn't try it I'm pretty sure this rod won't like size 8 or larger streamers or lots of line weight very much.

Chest pack:  I use and love the Umpqua Overlook 500 ZS2 chest pack.  I use it anytime I'm driving any distance or going to be out longer than few hours. Plenty of space for lunch and a rain coat ect.  But a lot of my outings are only for a few hours on weekend mornings or after work and I started to look at my wife's Fishpond micro pack with some envy...  Last Autumn I picked up an LL Bean Rapid River Micro Pack for short, local outings- one small box of flies and just the basics.  No room for a rain coat but if it pours a wet 10 minute car ride home won't kill me.   It's really been a nice addition and the 2 main reasons are: First it's super comfortable because of the over the shoulder straps vs the around your neck strap that most micros have.  2nd there is a small bungee hammock for a LOL "hydro flask" coffee/beer bottle.  I went to Walmart and got a 20oz bottle that fits perfect.  Hot coffee on board for mornings and it holds almost two beers for angling after work and forgetting about the #$%&  job that steals so many beautiful fishing weather days.    LL Bean replaced it for '22 with a new micro pack that I haven't seen yet.

 

All in all I'm feeling pretty good with my fishing equipment for this year.  I've been wade fishing for years with leaking waders, sub standard thermal wear and boots.  For me it's truly a blessing to finally have some good quality stuff.  As our fly fishing skills build through experience each fishing season should be better than our last, at least in theory anyway.  Last year was my personal best fly fishing year ever and I'm hopeful that this year will be as good.  Not dealing with leaking waders, not being wet, not being cold and not having to re stitch and JB Weld the soles of my boots back together will go a long way toward making this a good year for me.  It remains to be seen what the trout have to say about it and if they don't want to play I still got my 2 beers.

 

[Sandan 0]

Great report. Thanks. The part I like the best, "This was the rod I assembled from a blank over my December vacation.  The blank is a 3/4 weight 7' 6" with an Orvis Midge taper, two piece.  I fish other bamboo rods and was immediately comfortable with this one, as if I had been fishing it for years"   Here's to great 2022 season.

[chugbug27 0]

👍👍👍

[partsman 0]

Great report DFoster, I’m totally with you on quaility gear. I think your really going to like the orvis waders, I have a 7 year old pair of silver sonics with some minimal patching that still don’t leak. Although I did a pair of simms g-3 last year and like the fit much better on them. I’m really having a problem with packs, I hate vest, I bought the umpacqa chest pack, it’s okay but at 65 years old I need to see every step I take. So I bought the fishpond waterproof sling pack, nice but really heavy on shoulder. So now I’m thinking a waterproof hip pack, I don’t know I carry way to much stuff, but I drive 140 miles to favorite stream so it’s a all day trip for me. I loved your bamboo rod build and I’m going to buy a blank this summer or early fall, I came across a 6 wt. 2 pcs. Early im6 graphite blank to build this summer. I wanted a softer 6 wt. for the hex and brown drakes here in Michigan hopefully this rod will be it. Anyway enjoy your fishing this year as much as you can as I intend to do the same.

Mike.

[Poopdeck 0]

You earned all the wiz bang you can get. I find myself in a place where I can spend more but I’m still resistant. Habits are hard to break I guess but maybe it’s high time I do the same. Nice report. 

[DFoster 0]

 

17 hours ago, Sandan said:

Great report. Thanks. The part I like the best, "This was the rod I assembled from a blank over my December vacation.  The blank is a 3/4 weight 7' 6" with an Orvis Midge taper, two piece.  I fish other bamboo rods and was immediately comfortable with this one, as if I had been fishing it for years"   Here's to great 2022 season.

And a great '22 season to you as well!  I'm certainly relived that I like the rod.  I spent less than $400 for the blank and parts which is inexpensive as far as bamboo goes BUT $400 will get you a really nice graphite rod.  Plus I had the better part of a weeks worth of time into it.  I would have been a lot more comfortable if I could have tried one like it first.  In the end though it turned out good.

15 hours ago, partsman said:

Great report DFoster, I’m totally with you on quaility gear. I think your really going to like the orvis waders, I have a 7 year old pair of silver sonics with some minimal patching that still don’t leak. Although I did a pair of simms g-3 last year and like the fit much better on them. I’m really having a problem with packs, I hate vest, I bought the umpacqa chest pack, it’s okay but at 65 years old I need to see every step I take. So I bought the fishpond waterproof sling pack, nice but really heavy on shoulder. So now I’m thinking a waterproof hip pack, I don’t know I carry way to much stuff, but I drive 140 miles to favorite stream so it’s a all day trip for me. I loved your bamboo rod build and I’m going to buy a blank this summer or early fall, I came across a 6 wt. 2 pcs. Early im6 graphite blank to build this summer. I wanted a softer 6 wt. for the hex and brown drakes here in Michigan hopefully this rod will be it. Anyway enjoy your fishing this year as much as you can as I intend to do the same.

Mike.

Thanks Mike, please post photos of your rod build!

 

[DFoster 0]

4 hours ago, Poopdeck said:

You earned all the wiz bang you can get. I find myself in a place where I can spend more but I’m still resistant. Habits are hard to break I guess but maybe it’s high time I do the same. Nice report. 

As a rule I believe you get what you pay for BUT- not always and to me there's nothing worse than spending all the money with minimal improvement.  When it comes to fishing I try to buy the best that I can afford, translated -talk my wife into letting me spend.  For the most part I find spending extra is worth it when it comes to fishing gear.  A few notable exceptions have been waders and fly line.  I may change my opinion about waders depending on how the new ones hold up.  All of my reels are spooled with $60 - $90 line and I really can't tell why I spent the extra?  Maybe it's because I'm a short range fisher and the extra money spent shows when your casting out 50'?   2 of my expensive lines have strong memory that doesn't seem to go away and with the other two no coils at all after a cast or two.  Why is that? The coils get annoying out on the water.  

[skeet3t 0]

Great story and report on equipment. Sometimes spending lots of $$$ doesn't always guarantee top quality.

My bamboo rod cost $10 about 1965. Probably about $50 for the rebuild 20 years ago.

[niveker 0]

Great report, DF, makes me jealous.  Sounds like you're well prepped for the season and that rod sounds sweee-eeet. 

Water was prolly a bit high too, which doesn't help this early.  

[DFoster 0]

On 3/18/2022 at 1:19 PM, skeet3t said:

Great story and report on equipment. Sometimes spending lots of $$$ doesn't always guarantee top quality.

My bamboo rod cost $10 about 1965. Probably about $50 for the rebuild 20 years ago.

I agree-My other 2 Bamboo rods are left for dead rebuilds.  The first was given to me by my father in law and is a south Bend 9' 7 weight?  Not sure about the weight but I can tell you it's heavy, way to heavy for the fishing I do.  I think it was probably meant to throw bass, larger salmon or pike flies.   I spent $20 in a Maine antique store for the second one which had no markings of any kind on it.  It's a 7'6" and seems to like a 5 weight line.  Some internet research told me the South Bend was 1945- 1955 and the unmarked one was from the early 60's based on the style of the components it had on it.   I spent a little of $100 for the rebuild components for each and I use the 5 weight fairly often.

On 3/18/2022 at 3:54 PM, niveker said:

Great report, DF, makes me jealous.  Sounds like you're well prepped for the season and that rod sounds sweee-eeet. 

Water was prolly a bit high too, which doesn't help this early.  

Thanks- I've been out behind my house twice and so far the new gear is working really well.  I have confidence in the boots lasting a really long time.  Hopefully the waders will as well.  

[skeet3t 0]

DF, it was a "D" weight which I found was about a 7 weight. I still fish it for funsies. Yes, it is heavy. BTW, 8 ft., three piece so it's eay to transport.

[DFoster 0]

16 hours ago, skeet3t said:

DF, it was a "D" weight which I found was about a 7 weight. I still fish it for funsies. Yes, it is heavy. BTW, 8 ft., three piece so it's eay to transport.

Nice-  I've done research on understanding what line to put on old bamboo, because a lot of them are not marked.  Lacking information from the maker it really comes down to dead reckoning- trying different weight lines and seeing what the rod likes.

[helenjmoore 0]

Great report DFoster..Waders & boots are very essential.

[DFoster 0]

11 hours ago, helenjmoore said:

Great report DFoster..Waders & boots are very essential.

I've been out 4 times so far and I'm still dry.