Gear of the Year 2020 (and there’s 10% off everything at Veals Mail Order today, Black Friday)

I have been thinking about this annual Gear of the Year thing for a while now because you know how much lure fishing tackle obsesses me, and I enjoy collecting my tackle-addled thoughts like this towards the end of what has been a rather strange year to put it somewhat mildly. I am also aware that today is Black Friday because I got an email from those horrible temptresses at Veals Mail Order to tell me that they are offering 10% off everything today (use code BF10 at checkout in the coupon box, details here), and at precisely 4am this morning I woke up with a start and think why not combine the two? Gear of the Year plus Black Friday prices, and I offer my eternal thanks to those of you who kindly choose to buy some of your gear via my affiliate links. It really helps me to keep on getting hold of gear for testing out for this blog especially, but please, please note that all of the fishing gear I am putting in this Gear of the Year post today is obviously available elsewhere, indeed there is going to be some stuff I talk about below which isn’t in stock at Veals anyway. If I was more commercially minded I would only talk about fishing tackle today that is actually in stock, but that’s not my thing and I hope that by now you trust me enough to only talk about the gear I seriously like. Anyway, here we go, and my apologies if it ends up being a long one………….

Product of the Year 2020/Soft plastic of the Year 2020 - Savage Gear Gravity Sticks. Sorry, I know I am working with Savage Gear, but I am 100% into the three different Gravity Sticks and I haven’t picked up a DoLive Stick for months now. My biggest ever bass came on a Gravity Stick Paddletail a while back so you could have probably guessed the winner in this category back then, but even if that fish hadn’t come along I’d have chosen these soft plastics which I have been so involved in - and still I am stumbling onto or hearing about subtly different ways to fish with them.

Product of the Year 2020 - Nitecore NU25 rechargeable headlamp. Review here after 2.5+ years of use. Absolute perfection in a tiny little headlamp and for all my thinking about fishing I am struggling to see how this thing could be improved upon for the night fishing I do these days.

Product of the Year 2020 - HTO N70 Labrax Special 9’4’’ 7-42g. Not remotely cheap and I am not even sure if there are any currently available here in the UK at the moment, but I take my hat off to a UK fishing tackle company for being so ballsy in putting a rod like this onto the market. It kinda helps that it’s an incredible fishing rod. Review here.

Best £100 lure rod of the year 2020 - DAM Effzett Intenze Spin 9' 7-28g and DAM Effzett Intenze Spin 9' 14-42g. I remain amazed at how good these two rods are, and yes, with 10% off today I think that both rods move into the realms of it’s essentially not right how much rod you can get for the money. There is absolutely nothing remotely “budget” about how either of these two rods fish - these are proper lure fishing rods. Review here.

Best lure rod of the year 2020 - Shimano Dialuna S96M 9'6" 8-45g. Yes, I know the HTO N70 Labrax Special 9’4’’ 7-42g is my product of the year, but I keep coming back to how ridiculously good this particular Dialuna is, and it’s also a lot cheaper than the N70. It’s just bloody awesome, and Black Friday or no Black Friday, I don’t think I have ever come across a lure rod which I think offers more for the money. I absolutely love every single thing about this rod. Review here.

Best range of lure rods of the year 2020 - The Shimano Lunamis range, and specifically the Shimano Lunamis S90ML 9’ 6-25g (review here), Shimano Lunamis S96M 9’6’’ 7-35g (review here), and Shimano Lunamis S96MH 9’6’’ 10-45g (review here). I don’t think I have ever fished with and reviewed three lure rods from the same range in one year, but these Lunamis rods are all awesome in their own different ways, and with 10% off them today I feel happier again about their prices. I happen to think that each rod is easily worth their asking price mind you, and it seems that this Lunamis range is giving me lure rods which are essentially perfect for the way I go about my bass fishing. Every single thing about these stunning rods does it for me.

Best smaller spinning reel of the year 2020 - Shimano Stradic 2500HG-FL. Again. Yep, I know it’s the same reel as last year, but this thing is a peach - review here. The same size as the Shimano Stradic C3000HG-FL, but both seem to be difficult reels to find here in the UK with up and down stock levels. Worth holding out for in my opinion because this newer Stradic FL range of spinning reels are quite something, but the slightly more expensive and newer Shimano Vanford C3000HG spinning reel (info blog post about it here) is growing and growing on me the more I fish with it, and at today’s 10% off plus they are actually in stock, I think this becomes an even more interesting bit of kit. The Vanford feels like an incredible reel, but I need far more time with it before I can think about it for Gear of the Year. One day Shimano Europe in their mighty wisdom might actually get their collective heads around lure fishing for bass.

Best larger spinning reel of the year 2020 - Penn Slammer III 3500. Again. Yes, I know they are a heavier reel when compared to a Shimano 4000, but my Slammer just keeps on going and going and loving as much time as possible in and out of lots of saltwater. I can’t get enough of the Slammers and I am still holding out for my prayers to the fishing gods being answered and there being a smaller 2500 version of the Slammer one day. Can you imagine how good that reel could be if we ever saw it? And yes, I have had a few dreams where I am lure fishing with one!

Braid of the Year 2020 - Sufix 131. Again. Sorry, I wish this mainline was cheaper, and I wish that I wasn’t so obsessed with it, but Sufix 131 is without doubt the best braid I have ever fished with and I can’t get enough of it (review here). If it’s any help at all I am still fishing with the same spool of Sufix 131 on one of my spinning reels that I was sent to try way before this line ever hit the market. Sufix 131 is not at all cheap, but it goes and goes and goes, and it has never let me down in any way. The far cheaper Sufix X8 is pretty bloody close if you ask me, and still the toughest braid I know of is Sufix 832.

Leader material of the Year 2020 - Yuki Seaguar Neox fluorocarbon, if you can track it down. Not cheap, but there is something about this leader material that really floats my boat. If you can’t find it then in reality the Varivas Fluorocarbon Shock Leader is just as good, and the much cheaper Varivas Hard Top fluorocarbon comes a very close second.

Hard lure of the Year 2020 - IMA Hound 125F Glide. Nothing remotely new I know, but thanks to some good people this amazingly long-casting and grippy hard lure is once again properly available here in the UK, plus there are some lovely new colours as well. I cannot be without the Hound Glide and it’s my go-to hard lure in a bunch of different situations. There are plenty of far newer and flashier lures out there, but I keep on coming back to the Hound Glide because I trust it so much.

Alternative lure(s) of the year 2020 - Savage Gear Sandeel Pencil 90 or 125, or the Savage Gear Seekers or Surf Seekers. The same apology as above because of my working with this company, but before I did I was still starting to carry their Sandeel Pencil 125 and a 23g or 28g Seeker with me nearly all the time. Now we have the 30g, 35g, and 40g Surf Seekers I have a few more options on that front, and as much as I like the larger Sandeel Pencil 150, I have had some good bass fishing at night and during the day on the smaller Sandeel Pencil 90 and 125 this year. I just like the options that these deceptively simple lures give me for so many different bass fishing situations. The grownups at Savage Gear are far too busy to read my blog if that is any help, and I am working with this company because I like a lot of their stuff and I find it really exciting and motivating to be so heavily involved with good people in bringing bass fishing tackle to the market. We have some serious gear for release next year…………...

Waders of the Year 2020 - Vision Koski. Phew! The Vision Ikon breathable waders have been discontinued and these Koski ones are the replacement - and I am happy to report that they are easily as good and potentially a bit better as well with some stronger materials etc. I could not do without Vision waders and how they last a proper amount of time for my fishing. Review to come.

Waterproof jacket of the Year 2020 - Vision Pupa Wading Jacket. Not cheap, it’s the replacement for the Vision Kust jacket which has done me so proud for so long, and it’s bloody good. Vision waders and wading jackets are not the cheapest, but they are also not nearly the most expensive, and for me their gear offers a perfect blend of works bloody well in a saltwater environment with fair prices. Review to come.

Accessory no.1 and Surprise of the Year 2020 - Savage Gear Waterproof Rollup Rucksack 40L. When I found this waterproof rucksack in the Savage Gear catalogue and asked to see one, I must admit that I didn’t hold out that much hope - but I have been proved so wrong. This rucksack is a bit bloody brilliant. I have been using it nearly all year and I fully expected it to fail around the bottom of the rucksack where all waterproof rucksacks have ended up failing for me in the past, but it hasn’t. I am sure it’ll go here in the end, but this Savage Gear Waterproof Rollup Rucksack 40L hasn’t missed a beat and I am really, really liking it. For sure if I get my own way there are a few changes I’d like to make to make an even better waterproof rucksack, but for the price I am seriously impressed. Review here.

Accessory of the Year 2020 no.2 - Breakaway Mini Link lure clip. Perfection? Gotta be close.

Accessory of the Year 2020 no.3 - Any of the auto-inflate lifejackets I have talked about on here before, with a review or two to come of some more I have been trying out. Please, please buy and use one. It breaks my bloody heart that another shore angler died recently after getting washed in off the north coast of Cornwall.

Accessory of the Year 2020 no.4 - McLean Short Handle Weigh net. An easy to carry little landing net which has a weight scale in the handle. Genius.

Image courtesy Grant Woodgate

Very excited to see how this particular lure might work for me 2020 - Samson Lures 30g Bomb. It’s ridiculous how far this surface lure casts, and with a striped bass style pencil popper sort of retrieve I can get this thing working really nicely on the surface at different speeds. I know of a lad over in Alderney who has been doing well on bass with this lure, and I know the guy who is responsible for the Bomb has had double figure bass on it in Portugal. This lure is going to get some proper water time next year especially although the water still feels fairly warm still around here so who knows about December and surface lures? I am itching to see how it might do for me. I’d love to be able to talk about a bunch of different stuff I have here on test, but I can’t. Yet.

My most memorable bass of the year - Nope, it’s not my largest ever bass that I was lucky enough to connect with - that would be far too easy, and as happy as I was to catch that particular fish, I don’t obsess about “big” bass. The one bass which stands out for me the most this year was only around 3lbs if I remember rightly, but there was so much about that one fish which made me so damn happy I am pretty sure I yelped for joy when it hit my lure. I have obviously been involved with these Savage Gear Gravity Stick lures from day one, and that includes the initial designs and then working through a few different changes until we arrived at what were the lures you can now buy and fish with if you are so inclined. I managed a short, sharp and blank session on the white Pulsetail at night before the winter weather really kicked in and killed any chance of fishing, then we got into the doldrum months down here, and then we went into the first lockdown. Over these few months I was thinking and thinking about how the finished version of the Pulsetail could work for me at night - I had caught on the various generations of samples and then on final samples which we didn’t change anymore - but of course I couldn’t get out fishing. I built up the idea of night fishing with a white Pulsetail rigged on one of our 6/0 weedless hooks in my head until I was fit to burst, and then when I finally got the chance to fish a mark I know well at night, holy cow if I didn’t basically run down the cliffs. From memory I caught a couple of bass on the little Sandeel Pencil 90, so now it was time to take that lure off and clip on a white Pulsetail which I had been staring at over and over again here at home. Out it goes, let it settle, a few turns of the reel, bang, bass on. My first cast with a finished lure that I had been involved with from day one, and which was due to go on sale in June but the pandemic changed that to mid-September, exactly where and how I had thought about using it for those few winter and lockdown months, and a bass around 3lbs went and smashed it. Joy, relief, satisfaction, you name it, I felt it all with that one bass, and that single bass is my most memorable fish of 2020. You all have a good weekend, I am staying away from talking about Cornwall and the various tiers from the middle of next week, please stay safe and well……………..

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