Review: Fish Pond’s Rio Grande Wader Belt

Posted on March 5, 2017 by Ed Mitchell

Review: Fish Pond’s Rio Grande Wader Belt  

Fish Pond’s Rio Grande Wader Belt

Part One: Recently I was in the market for a wader belt. While searching cyber, I noticed that Fish Pond had a new product called their “Rio Grande Wader Belt”. Seemed nicely made, but the $49.95 price tag had me moving on. Ouch. After all, I knew I could get a wader belt for 1/2 that cost.

A day or two later, however, I went back and looked at the “Rio Grande Wader Belt” again.  That’s when it dawned on me this thing was both a wader belt and a utility belt. For example you might also use it to hike or canoe. Ummmm. Got me thinking, it did. Could I put all those “D” rings to good use? Maybe?

Certainly my Boga Grip could occupy one. A water bottle could hang off another. My pliers might too. Then something else came to mind. Most days I pole my “Adios” SUP-SOT down the flats, stake it and then wade off, sometimes 150 yards or more. Which means sooner or later I have to wade back. What if I attached a rope to the bow of the “Adios ” and clipped the other end to one of those “D” rings? Cool! The “Adios” would follow me silently along carrying my camera gear, food, water, and spare tackle. Digging it.

In my experience, Fish Pond products are excellent. I’ve owned some for over ten years – including a carry-on and a lumbar pack that I’m very fond off. Their gear is useful, rugged, well-designed, and shows attention to detail. With all that in mind I bought the belt.

Lets start this review with a basic description. And in the next post we’ll examine more about how to put this puppy to use. The belt is well padded, and comfortable. It weights 9.25 ounces, and is adjustable from 32″ to 55″  (That should cover most everyone.) At it’s widest point, it is 4.25″. Breathable fabric lines the interior side. I see no metal whatsoever, which means its “salt” safe. There are a total of 6 “D” rings. ( 3 per side, see red arrows in the photo) Fish Pond’s Jacquard accent webbing ( Found on many of their products) runs the length down the belt’s middle. The plastic buckle is large, easy to operate, and snaps closed with a loud audible click. And over-all construction seems very solid. Okay, time for the next post.

 

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The Wind has me Home

Posted on March 3, 2017 by Ed Mitchell

The Wind has me Home: For days now the wind has been cranking. It was calm at 6 AM, but an hour later it was blowing 20. Not good for a kayak, especially a “standup” paddleboard.  Damn, I’m sitting in a chair and my equipment is hanging on the wall.

Wind has me Home

The tide goes slack around noon today. And there is always a possibility that the wind will drop too. Why? The moon pulls on both the ocean and the atmosphere.  So a change in tide often means a change in wind. Got my fingers crossed.

 

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Yes, the Half & Half is a Great Fly

Posted on February 22, 2017 by Ed Mitchell

Yes, the Half & Half is a Great Fly: In November of last year I wrote a post on the Half & Half. Yes the Half & Half is a great fly. And why wouldn’t it be? It combines two of the most successful flies ever created – Lefty’s Deceiver, and Bob Clouser’s Deep Minnow.

Yes, the Half & Half is a Great Fly

In that post, I showed you a subdued Half & Half, tied in earth tones. See it above. I also mentioned that I like this fly in green-over-white, all black, and all chartreuse.

Yes, the Half & Half is a Great Fly

Well, today its raining on the Florida Gulf Coast, so I’m parked at the tying bench. While digging through my materials I came across a pink saddle I bought eons ago to use on Cape Cod for striped bass. Why pink? Back then spin anglers were nailing big bass on bubble gum “Sluggos”. I mean killing them. (Was it a squid imitation?) Naturally that got me tying up pink Deceivers, and they proved effective on stripers. But since moving to Florida that pink saddle has remained buried away. At least until now.  As you can see, I just made some pink Half & Halfs. Do snook like bubble gum ? We’ll find out.

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Foggy Morning Redfish

Posted on February 10, 2017 by Ed Mitchell

Foggy Morning Redfish  Awhile ago I did a post about foggy morning redfish. Couple a foggy morning with a strong low tide and you have a good shot at seeing “tailing” redfish. Of course you still need calm winds and no boat traffic. (I wrote a post on that as well.) And it never hurts to have an approaching cold front too. Regardless of the type of fishing you’re doing, a coming front often spurs up the bite.

Well, yesterday morning I had good conditions for “tailers”. A strong low tide at 7:30AM, fog, quiet boating conditions, and a front arriving in the afternoon. Great! I was pumped.

Foggy Morning Redfish

Was everything perfect? Not quite. At the ramp I felt a touch of wind from the southwest. Damn, it wasn’t dead calm. Ummmm, usually foggy morning are? And that’s an odd wind direction for this time of year, most likely the precursor to the nearing front. But would it ruin the fishing? Only one way to find out.

With high hopes, I set out in the Adios around 7AM. Once on the flats, I slipped off, staked out, and slowly waded around. An hour later, no “tails”, not a one. Zip, zero. zilch. Disappointed I was. Man. Back on the Adio, I began poling away to the north. That’s when I encountered reds. No they weren’t “tailing”. They were sitting in sand holes on the flat. Good fish too!

I got off the Adios again, staked out, and began blind casting into the sand holes. Bingo, three casts later came a jolting strike. Wow, a foggy morning redfish.  (See it in the photo above, a 7-pound red on my 6-weight.) Very cool. Apparently the conditions had brought reds onto the flats, but the wind had stopped them from “tailing”. Don’t believe me? That’s my opinion friends and I’m sticking to it.

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Diablo Deck Review: Part Four

Posted on February 5, 2017 by Ed Mitchell

Diablo Deck Review: Part Four    Finally made it to the water!  As we all know this is where the learning curve begins. And I already had questions in mind, believe me. How much would the “Deck” improve visibility? Would I be comfortable atop the “Rigid Pro Box” ? How hard was it climb up and down from the box? What was it like to paddle when seated so high off the water? Yeah there were questions that required answers.

Diablo Deck Review: Part Four

As far as visibility is concerned, standing on the “Rigid Pro Box” put me 15″ above the cockpit, giving me a significant improvement in spotting fish. Man you’re in the catbird seat!  I mean it. This “Diablo Deck”-“Rigid Pro Box” combo will improve my sight-fishing for sure. And as long as I kept my feet centered on the box, stability was reasonably good. (For traction, I temporarily put a nonskid shower mat with suction cups on the box. See photo. )  Poling from up there was not a problem either. I just extended the length of my DIY push pole to about 10′.  Easy to do.

So how was getting up on, and getting back down from the platform? Hairy, especially in a chop. Almost fell twice. This is no cakewalk amigo. Its a lot more difficult than it looks, honestly. Okay if you’re a 20 year old gymnasts, you’re laughing at me right now. But remember I’m a retired guy! Expecting this climbing business to be an issue, I brought along a small folding plastic step stool that I employ when tying the kayak on the roof of the car. (It’s made by SeaStow. See it in the photo.)  At 9″ high, it was a help, but not a total solution. You still have nothing to really to grab onto. (I’m glad I didn’t go with the Yeti cooler. It’s taller and would have made matters worse.)

Okay here’s a trick that worked for me. To steady my Adios, I placed it 90 degrees to the sandbar and put the rear quarter of the kayak on dry sand. This stopped any side-to-side hull movement while I climbed up on the box. Then with my push pole I shoved off the sandbar. Granted not a perfect solution, but at least it got me going. Hopefully in the days ahead I’ll come up with something better.

Onward. I paddled out of the marina seated on the box. Did alright, I guess. But, paddling from up there was more of a chore. Honestly I wouldn’t want to go more than a couple hundred yards seated so high up, especially on a windy day. An extremely long paddle would help. So would arms like an orangutan. LOL So I’ll have to work find a work-around for this issue too.

In the weeks ahead I’ll discover more about the “Diablo Deck” and have more to share with you, but if you have any comments or suggestions send them along!

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