A Few New Scott Rods in Shop!

We've just picked up a few rods from Scott, currently in the shop!

You'll notice immediately the unfinished graphite look to these rods, part of Scott's overall commitment to quality. Sanding down the finish has the potential to create weak spots in the outside of the taper, weak spots you'll never notice until your rod folds in half during a trip. This unique look takes advantage of the natural luster of graphite, paying homage to the beauty of the materials.

They also feature an internal ferrule which you won't find in other rods of similar quality that creates a continuous flex and enhances the action. There are 12" and on some models, 20 " hash marks on the blank to offers a quick measurement for hero fish. The wraps are eye-pleasing. The action is sweet. Come on in and check 'em out!

Scott expands the core diameter of their rods and thins out the thickness of the walls to make the rods more stable and enhance the feel of the cast. They layer carbon reinforcement in the blanks to counteract the torque that causes casts to go awry. They very the modulus layup to precisely control the flex and recovery of the rods, making each of them load up and cast smoothly.

The Scott Difference, from their site:

At Scott, we’ve spent almost 40 years working to perfect the design, craftsmanship, and performance of fly rods. Along this journey, we’ve developed a way of doing things that we call The Scott Difference.

It’s focused on handcrafting every rod we sell. It’s driven by our love of the sport, the places it takes us, and the people we meet along the way. It’s about striving to make the ultimate fishing tools. Tools perfectly suited to their fishing applications.

We live it every day in the shop, cutting precise patterns from custom made graphite materials, carefully creating cork grips, and lovingly wrapping each guide by hand.

Most of all, the Scott Difference is about the people. The people who handcraft exceptional fly rods, the people who fish them, and the people who believe there’s a better way to do things.

G2 - "Medium Fast" Flex Profile, "Faster" recovery speed

The updated edition of the Scott G-Series, Brita's favorite rod in the history of all fishing ever! This one has a the similar sweet action and even more backbone. Tiny flies, light leaders, long tippets and big trout. A great stick for Rocky Ford, solo missions to Crab Creek, and your finesse stick for tiny BWOs on the Yakima or Callibaetis on Chopaka. Come cast the 9 ft. 5 weight.

A4 - "Medium Fast" Flex Profile, "Faster" recovery speed

Nymphs in the morning, dries in the afternoon, streamers at night - this is your all-around workhourse. Perfect for Lone, Pass, or chasing cutties at Richmond Beach and the Kitsap Peninsual. We've got 4, 5, and 6 weight rods.

F2 - "Full Flex" profiles, "Medium Fast" recovery speed

Fiberglass flex gets you in the right state of mind. Forks of the Snoqualmie, Teanaway, upper S-river tribs.

T3h - "Fast" flex profile, "Fastest" recovery speed

Skagit casts, T-17, nasty intruders and laser loops. This is your go-to stick when Puget Sound is pushing chromers into our local systems in January. We've got the 12' 8" 8 weight ready to swing confidence bugs.

L2h - "Medium-fast" flex profile, "Faster" recovery speed

Perfect entry-level rod, suited to switching out Scandi, Skagit heads for our Northwest waters. Cast the 12' 6" 7 weight and see what you think.

Custom shop: Choose your favorite Scott blanks and customize them with the fit, finish and components of your choice for one-of-a-kind heirloom quality. Choose grip shape, reel seat, guides, wrap colors and inscription and Scott handcrafts the rod to your specifications

Rods in stock!

Model Code	Line Weight	Length	Weight in Oz.	Price
G2 905/4	5	9' 0"	2.9	$745
A4 905/4W	5	9' 0"	3.3	$425
A4 854/4	4	8' 6"	3.1	$395
A4 956/4	6	9' 6"	4.4	$395
F2 703/3	3	7' 0"	1.9	$645
T3h 1288/4	8	12' 8"	8.8	$995
L2h 1257/4	7	12' 6"	8	$645

Casting Technique Spotlight: The White Mouse

Unleashing the two-hander on the upper Skykomish River.

Casting nerd alert!
This post gets a little technical so bear with us.

Spey casts fall into two main families: touch-and-go and water-loaded casts. Touch-and-go (aka splash and go, aka airborne anchor) casts land your anchor on the water like a plane landing on a tarmac, and they demand precise timing to form a D-loop and load the rod. When we're thinking about these casts such as the single spey, reverse single, and snake roll, it's important to note that these are primarily summer and fall techniques with floating lines, light tips and smaller flies.

However, when prepping for upcoming winter and spring steelhead trips, you can bet we're practicing our water-loaded casts! They use the pull of the line on the water to load up your rod and launch your fly, a technique very well suited to the cooler months of the year. Skagit-style shooting heads are designed to excel at this type of casting, and they’re the main family of techniques that you’ll use to present flies to sea-run fish in the high, cold flows of winter and spring.

The best tip we give when our clients and customers are running into trouble with their spey casts is common prescription: “SLOW DOWN”.  Skagit-style casts, when properly executed, are very slow compared to your single-handed stroke and even the touch-and-go casts of summertime. But how fast are you supposed to go when you “slow down”?

Instructor and guide Ben Waldschmidt demonstrates the White Mouse.

With Skagit style casting. one of the best indicators you’re executing a proper sweep and set-up of your D-loop is the aforementioned White Mouse. It’s the little rooster-tail of spray that appears at the point where your line is peeling off the water. Once you have the basics down, it’s a good thing to start paying attention to because it makes you conscious of how fast you are executing the rod-loading stages of a circle spey, snap-T or double spey. Sweep too fast and the line blasts off the water and no “Mouse” is formed. Too slowly and the little spray of water doesn’t form. What you’re looking for is what’s in the picture, just a little spray that follows the point where your line peels off the water.

For more information on the “White Mouse”, water-loaded casts (aka sustained anchor aka waterborne anchors) and getting the most out of your spey casting technique, come hang with us on the Skykomish river for our monthly free spey casting clinics. More info on how to sign up, here. Spey on!

Articulated Shanks for Steelhead and Salmon Flies

Just in time for chasing winter steel, we have a full assortment of Senyo Articulated Shanks for Steelhead and Salmon Flies in multiple colors and multiple sizes. What makes them so great? For starters, they fit easily into your vice. Gone are the days of putting on a Waddington shank and turning your vise sideways to orient the fly upright. The Waddingtons are also getting harder and harder to find! 

Two sizes, 25 mm and 40 mm, are available at the shop.

The rear portion of the Senyo shanks fit into jaws vertically and the eye is properly oriented to tie the entire fly. Secondly, they come in a variety of colors, from traditional black to a very fishy Western Washington green to steelhead candy pink, blue, and copper orange. They come in 25mm and 40mm, and they're stainless so you can tie some up for the salt as well. We also have an assortment of Senyo's Intruder Wire.  The wire comes in a few colors and in two sizes.

Custom tied intruder by our guide, Joel Oerter, on the Senyo shank.

One of the cooler features is that they fit the Fish-Skulls and Streamer Helmets, as they were developed by the same company.  If you haven't had a chance to tie with the helmets, they create some really fun patterns that jig and dive and create a perfect sculpin silhouette. There will definitely be some Sculpin Helmets on 25mm shanks for spring Yakima streamers in our future ...

What are you going to tie up with these vice friendly new shanks?

Tips On Fishing Washington Rivers

Summer in Washington state means a few things.  First, we have light until late in the evening, which means we can escape the drudgery of work at a reasonable hour and fish till we can't see the fly line. Temperatures are warming, the air is sweet, and if part of your brain is dominated by fish and the pursuit thereof (a common affliction), it's gonna be a tough wait for your next day on the water. Here are a couple tips on how to do it safely and productively.

1. Wade Safely

You can't catch any fish if you're floating downstream with them! Whenever the water goes up over your knees (sometimes even at the calf depending on the river bottom), you must be very careful. Place one foot at a time. Wear a wading belt. Use a wading staff. Consider getting a low-volume Personal Floatation Device that inflates instantly with a CO2 cartridge. If you're unstable on your feet, or if you don't know the river you're fishing, consider using wading boots with studs or cleats.

Take it slowly, very slowly. And if you do slip and find yourself in the drink floating downstream like a helpless stonefly, point your feet downstream to push off obstacles as they come at you. Be very, very careful in our waters! It's melted snow, people!

 2. Pick Your Spots

When the river flows are above average, spots that you may have fished at lower levels in previous fishing sessions become inaccessible and possibly dangerous. However, that high bank that you scrambled up last September to get back to the trail? The one with the tree 5 feet above waterline that would break current if the river rises? That might be a good place to check out.

 
In general, be prepared to look for fishable water. Keep in mind, fishable water may not be the same water you fished last month, or last fall, or even last year at the same time. It's water where the fish can find shelter.

3. Fish The Sides

Fish gotta eat no matter what the water level is. When the river rises, the common tip we is that the fish get pushed to the sides of the river. 

Why fight the current? They'll be behind objects that break the current, on sweeping inside bends with slow water, tucked into corners where the main channel of the river has carved out shelter. Focus your energy on the sides.

4. Swing Streamers

If the big trout and steelhead are seeking shelter where the current is broken, how do you think all the little guys are doing? Overwhelmed. Exhausted. Just trying to find one piece of water that isn't moving like a jet. A salmon smolt, sculpin, or baby trout is no match for runoff flows, and the big guys are keyed into them. High water is a perfect time to throw something big.

5. Have Confidence

The fish are there. They have to eat too. You may have to search over more water, hike a little farther, but if you put some time in, high water can be tamed. Just wait until fall when all your efforts pay off because you monitored the river conditions all summer, and are catching chrome steelhead every trip.  One can only hope!

A Handful of Favorite Trout Streamers

Here are few patterns we love that get the job done:

Sheila Sculpin

Deadly looking in the water.

We hope this fly isn't named after the tyer's significant other. Because if that's the case, Sheila is one rude specimen! Fall in love with the clouser-style eyes, the variegated rabbit strip body and the sparse hackling, and hope this one doesn't break your heart after you hook up.

Dolly Llama

Great smolt imitation.

Known simply as the "llama", this pattern is indispensable. It takes Yakima cutthroat, Lone Lake rainbows and Skagit bull trout with cruel indifference. Articulated with a conehead, it doesn't get much better than the Llama. Try it in black and white, olive and white or pink and tan.

Sculpzilla

A more natural-looking variant on the Llama, this fly is workhorse on the Yakima. Maybe it's the little red eyes that scream,"Eat me!" Try it small (8) and olive; we've also got big (4) and black.

Zoo Cougar

Kelly Galloup's little yellow fly has put a lot of fish on the bank over the years. Spun yellow deer hair offers a bit of floatation and creates a diving motion when stripped with a sinking line.

Fish them methodically, go for the grab and stick a fish!

Our lake and streamer selection is always changing.  

Stop by or call us to order our northwest favorites. 

(206) 362-4030, info@avidangler.com

Technique Spotlight: Improve Your Casting By Keeping the Elbow Under Control

John Paine demonstrating proper elbow position and a nice loop!

One of the great things about fly casting is that it relies on finesse and form instead of brute strength. If you are tired or sore at the end of the day, you may be expending too much energy.

After you learn to fly cast and master keeping a stiff wrist, the next step is power generation. You’re stopping the fly rod in the correct spot above your head on the forward and back-cast, but those loops are still wide and sloppy! A possible solution? Look at your elbow during the cast and take a tip for Joan Wulff, fly fishing luminary and wife of legendary angler Lee Wulff.

Fact: Joan Wulff cast 161 ft. in a 1960s casting tournament

We might be a little hazy on 1960s fly rod tech, but we’re pretty sure she wasn’t casting a Sage One rod with Generation 5 technology and a polymer-enhanced shooting taper with texturing to help it sail along. Nope, Joan probably actually knew how to cast, without brute strength, and without technology that we take for granted.

There is no better teacher when it comes to finessing your cast than Joan, and she hinges from the shoulder and keeps her elbow under control during short casts.

Joan Wulff's DVD is still one of the best. Call the shop to order.

Want to improve your casting?

Check out our weekly spring casting clinics. 

We also offer private hourly instruction and in-depth intermediate class.

During relatively short casts, such as casting a dry fly on the Yakima, the elbow should finish bent and near the ribcage.  If you finish the cast with your arm extended out in front of you, elbow straight, you’re working too hard to throw that fly line 30 ft.! Take a break and let the rod do the work by hinging from the shoulder and finishing with your arm bent and nestled comfortably by your side. The motion is similar to pulling a string to gather up window blinds, or chopping wood with a hatchet. There are a lot of muscles to use to bring that arm down to a positive stop, and it takes a lot of casts to make them tired!

It’s only on the longer casts that the elbow comes off the ribcage at the end of the power stroke, when you truly have to reach to deeply load the rod.  But unless you’re hauling to a distant rise on Pass Lake or you really have to ply that far Skagit seam with an intergalactic laser beam, try keeping that elbow down and in.  You might be surprised how easy it really is to load that fly rod.

5 Tips on Fishing the Beach for Sea-Run Cutthroat

I live within city limits!

1. Strip Fast

Sea Run Cutthroat, or SRC’s as they are frequently abbreviated, are super aggressive. That’s part of the reason that we love them. They’re designed to chase fast-moving baitfish such as sandlance, herring and salmon smolt. If your strip is slow and short, you’re probably missing fish. A sign you might be moving too slow: A bullhead eats your fly. Speed it up, and think about lengthening the strip to the approximate length of the lunge of a fleeing baitfish.

If you see these horns, it's time to speed up and get your fly off the bottom

2. Use an intermediate sinking line

An intermediate sinking line offers a huge advantage on the beach. We all know the beach can be a very windy place, and that wind often kicks up waves that will wreak havoc on an full floating line. If you do get a strike on a full floater and the waves have created slack, you might just miss the fish. An intermediate line tends to cut through the surface chop and create a direct connection to your quarry. Our favorite "I" lines are the Scientific Angler Streamer Express line in 150gr or 200gr (that’s a 5 or 6 weight for $69.95), the Rio Outbound in 210gr or 240gr (that's a 5 or 6 weight for $79.95) or the Airflo Ridge Clear Delta Intermediate in a 5 or a 6 ($79.99).

New Stripping Basket (includes belt) - In Stock!  $50.00

3. Use a stripping basket

If you follow tip #2, you’re going to roll right into tip #3. Intermediate lines (and even floating lines sometimes) pick up the smallest piece of seaweed floating nearby and create instant tangles. Using a stripping basket keeps your line out of the salad that accumulates in the Sound during incoming tides or constant, on-shore winds, and it also helps you manage line to cover water consistently. We carry several soft stripping baskets that will do the trick, but if you can find a hard-bottomed basket with cones (such as the Linecurv stripping basket in this photo, in stock now), those are the best.

4. Choose flies carefully, and fish them confidently

One of the charms about fishing for SRC’s is that they’re not horribly picky. Certainly, there are situations where a color change and especially a profile change will result in a fish. But day in, day out, the best characteristic of a fly, by far, is confidence. If you don’t choose your flies carefully, it’s hard to feel really good about fishing them. The best advice – tie your own patterns. If time is a factor, see our previous post on flies for SRC’s for a few suggestions. And if you like to tie, check out some upcoming classes on saltwater patterns and Puget Sound Flatwings.

5. Dial in your casting and learn more about the beach

Chasing SRC’s off the beach doesn’t mean you have to be Lefty Kreh. Mostly they’re pretty tucked in, eating food itms in the short section of beach that is exposed at low tide and covered at high tide. However, you have to be prepared to cover this section of beach consistently, in the wind, sometimes with very little backcast room. Work on shooting line, not carrying it. It’s going to make a difference. We offer hourly casting instruction and classes based on FFF instruction. And if you're interested in learning more about fishing the beach for local species, check out our upcoming Puget Sound Fly Fishing class.

Airflo Compact Intermediate Spey Lines

Airflo Skagit Compact Intermediate Head:  $54.99, 450-720 grains

After fishing the Airflo Skagit Compact Intermediate Head this spring, all we can say is “Whoa!”  At first fishing the head in steady, even currents it was tough to notice a big difference how this line presented the fly, compared to its floating cousins.  Yes, it turned over big winter steelhead bugs with ease and grace, but so do the floating heads.  Then we saw it…the intermediate head really helped to slow the fly down as it swung across the run.

The next test was to fish the head through runs that had uneven, mixed currents (You know, those runs you know hold fish, but are a pain to get a nice even swing through).  As advertised, this head pulled the fly through the run at the perfect speed, just leaving us on edge waiting for a steelhead to pounce on our fly.  Loop it on and let ‘er rip!!

We've got 'em at the shop, stop in and get an edge for fishing the Peninsula in April through the high-water runoff that will likely last through June at a minimum.

Sculpin Helmets

from FishSkull 

$6.95/package 

Sculpin Helmets

Small, Large, Olive and Brown

    What to do when the river levels spike and there's nothing but rain, sleet and eastside snow in the forecast?  Dust off the vice, of course. Or maybe extricate it from the last tying session's leftovers of krystal flash, marabou, peacock herl, spilled beer, rubber legs, cheetos dust and dubbing. 

The latest variation of the Fish Skull(TM) tying accessories is the Sculpin Helmet, and after some creative tying and testing we have to say they're pretty awesome.

The helmet offers a couple of distinct advantages over traditional methods of weighting a streamer pattern with eyes, lead wire, or a cone.

    First off, they're pretty darn heavy. Maybe not heavier than tungsten, but they drop. The small helmet we rate for five to six weight rods (rods with a 150-200 grain window).  Try them locally on our lakes, eastside trout and summertime on the Cedar river.  Throwing the larger helmets takes a two handed rod or single handed rods rated seven or eight weight (single hand grain window of 200-300 grains) .  The large helmet weighs a tenth of an ounce. Can anyone say Steelhead Sculpin?

    Secondly, not only do they jig up and down when stripped, but they zig-zag due to the shape of the helmet. This was an unexpected bonus when recently testing on a local lake. Any extra motion imparted in a streamer pattern is a plus, and putting a helmet on even a simple rabbit strip fly seemed to increase its motion.

Circle of tube-tied sculpin helmets

    And lastly, they can be tied on tubes. The small size works on 3/32" tubes, and the large on 1/8" tubes (we stock HMH, both available). On standard hooks we'd suggest using a (3X-4X) long streamer model, as the head takes up considerable space. Small helmets are fit for hooks size 6 through size 1, and the large helmets are best on hooks sized 2 through size 2/0.

And maybe it's inconsequential, but the added 3-D eyes really pop. It creates a profile much like a small, river-bound creature, with a look that just says, "Eat me!"

We've also got the standard Fish Skulls - great for Puget Sound!

The Avid Angler

call us to order

M-F 10 - 7 PST 

(206) 362 - 4030

Scientific Anglers Textured Fly Lines

It was May on Montana’s unusually “Mighty” Missouri river.  The manner in which we delivered our flies probably wasn’t going to be the most elegant thing in the world.   We knew that the task at hand remained relatively simple: get your fly down to where the fish are and hope they eat it. Easy, right?

We opted to string up the five weight rod with the Textured Nymph / Indicator line. Like the name “Textured” suggests, the outer portion of the line has a definitive feel to it that is similar, but not abrasive like the Sharkskin series.   The surface of the textured line is similar to that of dimples on a golf ball. These dimples reduce surface area when sailing through the guides of your favorite fly rod. 

The days on the river were cold, yet the line refused to retain memory. And when cast it laid out beautifully. The sound made by the line moving through the guides was not at all overbearing or distracting.    

With river conditions as they were, the rig of the day could be called anything but subtle.  To effectively present this mess you needed a decent roll-cast with a fly line that could turn all of this “junk" over.

Sporting a head length of forty nine feet, the taper of the line was specifically made for these types of scenarios. Also, the tip of the line is colored a bright Orange to help detect subtle takes.  Scientific Anglers seems to have blended the best features of their Sharkskin and their Mastery Series lines.  We highly recommend adding an Textured line to your arsenal.

Technique Spotlight: Stripping the Fly

Stripping the Fly for Sea Run Cutthroat, Trout or (even) Bonefish

Moving the fly actively has to be one of the most important techniques for our local fisheries, and for the traveling angler, the lessons learned on our local beaches have a surprising way of being relevant half-a-world away.

We love to fish with Seth’s Sand Eels, Rolled Muddlers, Shock-and-Awes, anything that looks like a scared baitfish to local sea-run cutts. Lucky for us, they’re not shy. Sea-run cutthroat, or SRC’s, attack with reckless abandon. The trick is getting their attention, and it’s not always done with a slow retrieve. Make that fly look scared, make it look like it’s out of its comfort zone. If our tiny fly the Seth’s Sand Eel doesn’t move really fast, it will perish! So make it move fast and erratically.

If you’ve never tried stripping flies, tuck the running line under a finger of the hand that holds the rod, typically the index or middle finger, and retrieve the line with your free hand. Use a fluid motion with the hand that retrieves the fly. Start slow, end fast. If you don’t have the magic formula, vary the amount of time between strips, letting the fly sink or jig. Vary the speed of the strip. For SRC’s, a fast strip that’s 6 inches to a foot or more typically puts your fly in the danger zone. Expect the take when the fly is still, and get your retrieve hand back to the rod hand and ready to strike!

Start playing with the retrieve, and you’ll find endless variation. Certain retrieves get the attention of SRCs focused on baitfish. Slower retrieves are often the trick for invertebrates like euphausids or copepods. Other retrieves can imitate a fleeing damsel fly in a lake, or draw the attention of a wary trout to a hopper imitation. And if you have the opportunity to chase species outside of Puget Sound, dialing in the retrieve can help you target the feeding behavior of striped bass, redfish, bonefish, tarpon or permit. It’s all in the wrist.

5 Great Flies for SRC's

Some favorite flies for Sea-Run Cutthroat

Sea-run cutthroat trout feed on a variety of food items in the Sound. Sand lance, herring, smelt, salmon smolt, sticklebacks, euphausids and copepods just to name a few. Luckily for Seattle-based anglers, Emerald-City SRCs don't tend to feed like they're in a spring creek - they're opportunistic and voracious. Here are a few patterns that consistently get grabs in the intertidal zone.

Seth's Marabou Sand Eel - Dark

This little puff of marabou with prominent eyes does more than its share on the beach. Perfect when you're looking for a small silhouette.

2. West's Imitator - Oil Slick

Chris West's pattern presents a larger profile that suggests a herring or smelt, and it consistently performs from springtime until the height of our beach fishing in the early fall. (Umpqua)

3. Foxy Shock and Awe - Brown and Olive

The Foxy Shock and Awe offers a jigging action that can often attract both SRC's, resident silvers, and some of the bigger salmon when they are present. It sinks readily and is a great choice when fishing a beach with a steep dropoff. Please note this is a tube fly and you'll need a hook to complete the pattern. (Solitude)

4. Rolled Muddler

Oh muddler minnow patterns, is there anything you can't do? Tie on a Steelhead muddler and get a grab on the Klickitat. Strip a standard muddler and Yakima trout go crazy. This particular species of muddler seems particularly well-suited to our local beaches. Give it a try.

5. Pinhead

The ol' Pinhead does a great imitation of a fleeing sand lance, and it slims down and has excellent motion in the water.

Want to learn more about fly fishing in Puget Sound? Check out our upcoming class.

Rods that make us want to fish!

Fly Rods @ The Avid Angler

We demo rods in the back of the shop or we take our, two-handed, spey rods across the street to the lake.  Come on down and test a new rod with one of our instructors, and you just might get a free casting tip!

We also offer casting lessons on an hourly basis here at the fly shop.  We recommend two hours to start with a second followup session.  If you are heading to the tropics then you might want to brush up on your double haul or casting with wind!

Just a few of the rods we like, and stock!  

CF Burkheimer

Burkeimer 7127-4
A summer-run stun gun!  Very lightweight two-handed rod with a quick-er action, but still has lots of feel.  Grain Window 420-550

Burheimer 590-4 DAL
Deep Action Load trout rods from Burkheimer are easy to approach fish with accurate casts that help you hooking ratio.  This rod is a true five weight, and can cast a double taper as well as a weight forward.  Come demo this rod and you will feel the Burkie mojo that you love in his two-handed rods.

R.L. Winston Rod

Boron BIIx 7133-4 
One of the best all around two-handed rods.  Most that own this rod, will never need another steelhead rod.  It handles winter run flies, lines and fish.  But this is a fishing tool that can cast a longer belly line with ease and has a truly "buttery" feel.  Grain Window 480-540

Never cast a two-handed rod?  Come to one of our monthly Spey clinics!

Boron BIIIx 696-4
Truly a do it all rod.  This rod has power for pushing flies into the wind off the beach, and has a moderate mid section to deliver roll casts till the cows come home.  Great rod for throwing chironomids setups, or high sticking your favorite trout stream.

Hardy

Zenith 8136-4
This rod with throw dirt!  If you can tie it, this rod will huck it.  The team at Hardy has created a rod that is extremely powerful and will handle our Skagit lines with ease.  This rod is definitely a departure from the traditional action two-handed rods.  Grain Window 600+

Zenith 590-4

The Hardy Zenith five weight trout rod, has consistently been rated as a top weapon of choice.  Top notch components, rod sock, tube, tube sock and ferrel plugs compliment this wicked fishing tool.

Echo

Echo3 5100-4
New for 2011, the Echo3 trout rods are quickly becoming the rod of choice for our local anglers.  At $349, this rod comes in below most of the other high end rods on the market.  The blank is a beautiful light green and the cork is high quality and "grippy."

Echo3 7130-4
Until now, the Echo TR 7130 was the go to seven weight spey rod from Echo.   That quickly changed in 2012 with the addition of switch and spey rods in the Echo3's.  This rod is a great summer run rod, but also has the ability to pick up sink tips.  Check out this video of a wild Skagit buck landed on an Echo3 7130.

We ship sameday on orders placed before 2pm!

Sage
Xi3 589-4
Added in 2011, Sage Rods produced this cutthroat rod for our local Puget Sound saltwater beach fishing.  This stick is super lightweight, and at 8'9" travels through the casting stroke quickly when chasing our sea-run quarry.


TCX 7126-4
Dubbed the "death star," this spey rod can truly be fished year-round.  We can't wait for more rods like this from Sage with the addition of the Sage One two-handers in 2012.   For now, come down and try out Sage's most sought after two-handed rod in years.

Give us a call, or email, with any questions.  Thanks!

206-362-4030 or info@avidangler.com

Wenatchee River steelhead on the 7127-4 Burkheimer.  What a sweetheart!