the Adventure Lifestyle magazine

ART SUPPLIEs FLY FISHING GEAR TEXT: TIM PARR RODS That's rods. Not poles. Call that stick in your hand a pole, and you might as well call "the hardest working man in the soul business" Jim Brown. It's James Brown and these are fly rods. The first thing you realize when buying your first fly rod, is that you actually need six of them. That's the hardest hurdle to get over. But once you come back to financial reality and figure out where you'll be stalking fish, you can narrow your lust down to a single rod. Fly rods are classified by the type of fly line they throw. They are defined by a weight classification that goes from microlines, at a zero weight, all the way up to the heavy-duty offshore 13 weight. General rule of thumb: Trout rivers of small to medium size will handle a 4 or 5 weight. Larger coastal rivers require at least a 7 to 10 weight to handle big water and the possibility of an 18-pound steel head or salmon looking your way. Lakes or bass ponds will beckon with a 6 or 7 weight and saltwater big-league fish will put you into the 9 to 15 weight rod category. When buying a rod, I suggest Scott Fly Rods {970-249-3180, www.scottflyrod.com!. Based in Telluride, Colorado they offer the best balance of handmade craftsmanship and high performance. They're also the best damn people in the business. Jim Bartschi, head rod designer, explained their intemal ferrule system and flex rating to me, and my head still hurts. < WADERS These days breathable waders are the latest rush to the market. They are an altemative to the hot and heavy neoprene waders of yester-year. If you want the best, buy Simms {406-585-3557, www.simmsfishing.com!. They use a technology by GORE-TEX called Immersion, keeping you bone dry all day long. A word of caution: Pick up a wading belt {a belt that keeps your waders from filling up like a couple of hefty bags after you take a header into the river!. The thought of floating down-river while taking on water sucks. Buy one (or make one out of an old beltl before you get to the river. < < REElS AND LINES Another area where lines are drawn in the sand and everyone has their own opinion. I think that a good trout reel just needs to hold line without anything fancy. Reels under a 6-weight line do not need any particular drag system. (Drag systems add resistance to a line and are designed to keep fighting fish at bay.) It's just not going to get used enough to rationalize the extra cash. Of course, if you're after some sea going creatures, drag is the name of the game. And in that arena, you either spend as much as you can afford, or spend close to nothing and replace the thing when it blows up (which it will). Something else to keep in mind when putting together your fly fishing kit: fly line is what makes this whole exercise what it is. Line weights match weight of the rod and are designed for certain species and location. One company that gives Q lot of bang for the buck is the Ross Reel Company {970-249-1212, www.ross-reels.com!. I find they're the reel ,1 always go back to after dollar-for-dollar comparisons.

• Cover