Cut the crap

What is this about? I will try to explain.... For 12 years I have been making my living with trading (wholesale) fishing tackle, mainly fly fishing tackle from fly rods to hooks. During those years I have been puzzled (but also annoyed) by the bullshit, wrong information and plain lies fed to us by the manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers. I almost (I said "almost") forgot some of the "famous" fly tiers and fly fishermen which do the same thing. Well, those days are over and I will use this simple page to kick some of those "masters in making bullshit".......!

"Welcome to the era of crap fishing tackle"

Let's face it, most of the tackle we buy today is utter crap. I buy a jacket, it leaks the same year and the zipper is stuck for ever. I buy some waders, they leak from the start. I buy a fishing rod and it breaks on the first trip. What the hell is going on?

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I wished I was talking about cheap tackle....but no, I'm talking about stuff for which I paid a lot of money, thinking like Oscar Wilde; "I am a man of simple taste, only the best will do". I wished it was me, not looking after my stuff, but no, I do really care for it.
Well, "the best" just seems to get worse. Let me describe my latest disaster.... For my trip to Patagonia I buy myself a nice pair of new Reddington wading shoes. I think I paid about $ 90 .= USD for them and I don't think that that is cheap. They looked kind of "ok" to me and yes, I did enjoy them in Patagonia. Right, I get back to Europe where I start to fish my local rivers, using the same shoes. What happens? To my horror one shoe is completely split open at one side! What the.. %$#@)#% is going on?

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How is this possible? I have used those shoes for about 12 fishing days in total...! (The last pair of Orvis shoes lasted me about 10 years) By coincidence I meet the Dutch wholesaler, Mr. Jaap Muda at a tackle show and I tell him about my experience. His reaction: "Oh, well, you must have been to rough with them". Thank you very much.

So my friends, this is what we get today; crap tackle and lousy after sales service. However, I am glad that not all manufacturers are like this but it is getting damn difficult to find good quality stuff nowadays, I'm telling you. By-the-way; I just heard that Sage bought Reddington, well, I wish them good luck!

"Fast" Fly rods for a #3 or #4.......can you please pass me the bucket ?

Let's be honest; "fast" fly rods for those #2, #3 and #4 lines are just made for 1 line class heavier. (#3, #4 and #5) There, I have said it! They make it a soft tip which will help you with casting the first couple of yards. ("A rod on a stick" is what one of our most respected sport fishing journalists, Mr. Kees Ketting, calls them.) And everybody is casting like a true champion during those tackle shows; "look daddy, 30 yards !" (Unfortunately most fish will lie right in front of your feet...) Those sensitive tips also brake a lot, like when a goldbead nymph hits it, very nice when you're out there in the middle of nowhere, trying to enjoy your precious day off, huh ? (It should also teach you to leave those damn goldbeads alone, that's not FLY-fishing, is it ?)

No thank you; I'd like a rod I can punish....

And what about those code's they're using; IMX, RPL PLUS, HMG, GL3....ha, ha, even at NASA they never heard of it. In a while the shortest rods available will be 8 feet otherwise they won't be able to put the code's on. What a delicious (but annoying and confusing) nonsense.

Last-but-not-least, let's mention the ridiculous prices we have to pay nowadays for a "top of the bill" model....USD $ 800 or more...pardon me, but I think that's crazy. No wonder they can afford to give us "live-long guarantee"....

Breathing waders and jackets

Right at the moment when I thought that the fishing tackle industry was running out of brilliant idea's to get more money out of our pockets, some smart-ass had an other trick up his sleeve. Get your credit card out ! Now, we have waders that can breathe...really, it's true. Some guys (sorry girls) have invented a fabric which stops water going in but, at the same time, does let water (stinky sweat) go out...wow, that's smart !

At first we could only buy coats -and hats, see photo- made out of this fantastic fabric, terrible expensive but revolutionary. (At least, if you would believe the commercials) So I HAD to have one, you guessed.... First a nice short wading jacket, over-sized hood and with lovely big pockets for all the junk I carry around. If I remember it well did I pay about $ 250.= US for a tiny coat. (We're talking at least about 10 years ago)

Well, to be frank, I discovered rather quickly that the term "water-proof" is a bit "stretchable" because if I stayed out in the pouring rain all day (guess those guys didn't count on idiots doing such a thing in real life :-) I did get some water in, all in all, it was OK, I guess. But "BREATHING" ?? Forget it ! To give it some proper testing I wore it during an endurance bicycle trip, you know, with lots and lots of sweating involved. According the instructions on the label, my sweat should have disappeared to the outside, like a miracle. As you know, miracles don't exist and breathing coats don't either. You see, those coats are very comfortable to wear but please, do not talk about "breathing" it makes me sick.

A bit later "breathing" waders appeared, we could have waited for that. Again, terribly expensive but it looked very good indeed. After 4 years fishing and a lot of walking along riverbanks in "breathing" waders of various brands I came to the conclusion that, again, they have pulled our legs (so to speak) and stretched our credit limits.... Sweat remains on the inside and, with a bit of luck, water on the outside. Still I think those waders are worth their money because they are very, very comfortable to wear, just as if you're wearing an extra pair of jeans. And, to get more comfortable while fishing I don't mind spending a couple of bucks (Euro's) more. But if a sales guy has the guts to start talking about "breathing waders" I'd like to pull a pair over his head and close it real tight around his waist, see if he still thinks they can "breathe" after a couple of minutes...:-)

Fake photo's in catalogues and brochures

Again, a subject which has me laughing out loud for years.... so called "action photo's" which you can find in brochures and

fishing magazines. Photo's of which every "real" fly fisherman knows that they are FAKE. Fishes are jumping too high, rods are bending too deep and the used tackle is just a little bit too new. (Not to mention the ridiculous slogans which are sometimes used, even the manufacturers of washing powder can learn something of those guys.) The makers of those commercials must think we are completely stupid. There are too many examples to mention but I think I found a real good one. (In my humble opinion...)

The photo on the left is used in an advertisment and I named it; "Oops...and where did my fly line go ?"
Even if you don't like reading advertisments, I can advise you to do so, because sometimes you can have a real good laugh spotting the "fake ones" and all contributions to the "hall of shame" are welcome !