KIS-Fly fishing

Howdy folks! I got a few interesting stories and reviews lined up for you guys so stay tuned. Will start off with the latest reel in my arsenal - The Merisuola/XO reel by Vision. The beautiful shape and color of the Merisuola reel is a real joy to look at. Some years ago the good folks at Vision fly fishing started to plan and design their new saltwater/heavy duty reels and I was lucky enough to be asked about my visions (no pun intended...) of a perfect SW fly reel. After many emails back and forth with the design team it was a long wait to see the finished product.  The wait was however well worth it... One of the first fish on the new reel was a massive shark.  Full drag and half an hour later the fish was at the boat. The reels come in three different sizes on the Merisuola format ( 7/8 9/10 and 10/12) and two sizes in the heavy duty XO format (9/10 and 10/12). The reels have identical designs and parts. The difference between the two series is 98% cosm...

I'm sure most of you guys that follow me on social media know that I'm a big fly tying geek. Tying flies is a big big part of this whole fly fishing "lifestyle" I try to live. That big passion for tying flies has one drawback, you end up buying and trying a lot of materials you don't actually use all that much. Rooster feathers, basic flash materials, bucktail, ostrich and a few selected synthetics cover most of my fishing and tying needs year after year. However, at times you stumble on something that you actually end up using a lot and fish a lot. One new material like that is Squimpish hair. A decent pike caught with a Squimpish hair bug. Squimpish hair has been found and distributed by master tier David Nelson aka Mr.Squimpish. David has a very unique and absolutely beautiful tying style both in freshwater and saltwater streamers. David is a "naturals first" kinda guy similar to myself, but when he found the Squimpish hair he was instantly s...

The Dream team of Sage rods ready to hit the water at the Harkers Island marina. I've had the pleasure of fishing with Sage fly rods and reels a lot in the last 4-5 years. I currently own 4 Sages, but have the luxury of trying out most of the SW line up every year when I do my pilgrimage to the fabled waters of Cape Lookout, North Carolina. My buddy and mentor Brian Horsley and he's wife Sarah Gardner are Sage ambassadors and they let me play around with their gear. The Boss man Brian with a hefty Albie caught on a Sage rod Sarah with a full grown Albie. Sarah is one of my fly fishing idols. Not only can she fish and cast like a hero, she's also a very good captain that will get you on the fish.   When it comes to top notch rods, Sage is a company that is very hard to beat. The components used are always the best in the market, blanks are light and responsive and they really make an effort to make rods that will give the angler the most they can hope f...