Gear of the Year 2021
So here we are in December 2021 and the world is still in a hell of a state, but at least we can go fishing and for a brief time forget about the fact that something like the joy and wonder of international travel feels like something to avoid rather than celebrate. In your wildest dreams (which were pretty far out for me the night of my booster jab the other day!) did you ever imagine that we could possibly be in the situation we are in right now? When we went into that first lockdown early last year did you think for one second that Xmas 2021 would be teetering on a knife edge? I am going to have a good guess here that going fishing is helping a lot of you here process and cope with the mess we are currently in - me very much included - but please read no further if the idea of me talking about my Gear of the Year 2021 seems like a bit of bad taste. I don’t remotely mean it to be because I refuse to give in and give up. I would argue that the simple act of going fishing has never been more important to those of us who love fishing, and wrapped up in the whole fishing thing is the fishing tackle we need to use to go fishing and help keep our heads in a fit state………….
Lure rod of the Year 2021 - The £160 Savage Gear SGS5 9’6’’ 9-35g. I fish a lot with the more expensive SGS8 9’2’’ 9-42g lure rod because it’s the lure rod I wanted to try and get made from the off with how it suits so much of my own bass fishing, but every single time I grab the SGS5 9’6’’ 9-35g rod off my rod rack and take it out fishing I am still amazed at how good we were able to make this thing, whatever the price. I know this rod is “only” £160, but I truly mean it when I say that this is the best regular casting weight 9’6’’ long lure rod I have fished with until I get up to around the £300 mark and the SGS8 9’6’’ 9-35g, the Shimano Lunamis S96M 9’6’’ 7-35g, or indeed the stunning Major Craft SeaBass Custom Limited Edition 9’6’’ 7-35g. Even then it’s still close in my opinion. Review here.
Lure rod of the Year 2021 if I wasn’t fishing with these Savage Gear rods - Major Craft SeaBass Custom Limited Edition 9’6’’ 7-35g. I don’t think you can still get hold of this rod because it’s a limited edition, but wow it’s something else. Easily the best Major Craft lure rod I have fished with which is saying something because I have seriously loved a number of their rods over the years. Big, big respect. Review here.
Lure rod of the Year that I want to fish with most of the time 2021 - The roughly £300 Savage Gear SGS8 9’2’’ 9-42g. Damn right it was the outstanding Shimano Exsence Genos “Wild Contact 90” S90MH/R 9' 8-48g lure rod which really got me thinking, but from the off with this SGS8 9’2’’ I wanted to help develop a lure rod which was easier to cast and fish with than the very exact and demanding Genos 9’ 8-48g, and for all that a 8-48g rod promises, I knew that it’s not really possible to make a lure rod which can genuinely fishes such a wide range of lure weights and types as effectively as each other. Hence the 9-42g rating of our rod, and also hence the fact that it’s not like the Genos at all. I still seriously like that Genos, but I will genuinely take our SGS8 9’2’’ 9-42g rod over it for my own bass lure fishing. I absolutely love this rod.
Take a proper hammering spinning reel of the Year 2021 - Penn Slammer IV 2500, but then you most likely guessed that already. For sure you can buy lighter and smoother spinning reels, but the moment I was told that Penn were going to make a smaller 2500 size Slammer I was itching to get my hands on one, and it didn’t disappoint. I think that overall the larger 3500 size Slammer III or IV reels are a touch smoother, plus you can fill them up a bit more with braid (don’t get greedy with the line level on the 2500), but the Slammer IV 2500 just sits so well on so many of the lure rods I might use. So does the larger 3500 I might add, but the “baby” 2500 is something else. Review here.
I could happily turn the handle all day spinning reel of the Year 2021 - Shimano Vanford, take your pick with the size. It’s hardly surprising how lovely to fish with these newish Vanford reels are - they are from Shimano, they are around the £200 mark, they are as light and smooth as you’d expect, you can fill them right up with braid and never have to worry about it, for sure I don’t want to go drowning them or getting them splashed with a lot of saltwater, but damn these Vanfords are stunning. I don’t know the more expensive and newer Vanquish, Twin Power or Stella reels these days, but with how light and lovely to fish with these Vanford reels are for our bass fishing? It amazes me how much we can get for our money these days, if you can find them in stock I might add. C3000HG and 4000XG review here. C5000XG review here.
Braid of the Year 2021 - Sufix 131. Again. That’s a few years in a row now, but for the various different braids I have tried or am currently trying (really liking the 0.175mm Tasline Elite White X8 braid), when I come back to Sufix 131 I still prefer it over any other braid I have ever fished with. Bearing in mind that I have been fishing with Sufix 131 since well before it hit the market and that I have a number of different spinning reels loaded up with it, I have yet to change a single spool of this braid over for a newer one. It just lasts and lasts and lasts, to the point that even for the expensive price I am now of the opinion that this Sufix 131 braid is actually good value for money.
Fluorocarbon of the Year 2021 - Seaguar Ace Hard and Savage Gear Semi-Soft. Sorry, I know this is a bit of a cop out, but these two fluorocarbon leaders are a bit different but I seriously like them both. The Seaguar Ace Hard is talked about in reverential terms by a lot of lure anglers, and quite rightly so. To me it’s a relatively stiff and incredibly tough and brilliant to fish with fluorocarbon leader, whereas the Savage Gear Semi-Soft isn’t so stiff and arguably helps present soft plastics a touch better - I’m not sure I agree with that argument by the way - but it still stands up to our fishing really well. Some anglers prefer stiffer leaders and some don’t. Whatever the case, both leaders are outstanding and I trust them big time. When it comes to the spool design the clear winner to me though is the Savage Gear Semi-Soft with how they have “borrowed” the line-trapping system from those older and outstanding Sufix spools of leader material that I used to like so much.
Item of fishing tackle I can’t do without and which continues to surprise me 2021 - 40L Savage Gear Waterproof Rollup Rucksack. By rights this thing should have started leaking around the bottom of the rucksack area a fair while ago now, but it hasn’t, and as much as there are a few simple things I would like to and indeed hope to change about this waterproof rucksack, I really like it. For sure I can get one for nothing via my work with Savage Gear - I did! - but I could just as easily ask for a new one. I haven’t! But I don’t need to, not with how well this thing is lasting. It has to fail on me eventually, but for how long I have had it and for what I have put it through this 40L Savage Gear Waterproof Rollup Rucksack has gone way past what you might expect. Review here.
Wading boots of the Year 2021 - Bestard SAR Pro Water Rescue Boots. So unlike regular and heavy and clumpy wading boots, these things are an absolute joy to wear for a lot of my saltwater lure fishing. For how much they cost and with how much use I have got out of them combined with how hard I know I am on shoes and boots, if they fell apart tomorrow I would buy another pair straight away. That’s how much I like these Bestard SAR Pro Water Rescue Boots. Sort of a review here.
Waders of the Year 2021 - Vision Koski. Again. They just work for me. I still reckon that if I get a good year and hopefully a bit more - barbed wire aside - out of a pair of BCWs (breathable chest waders) then with what I put them through that’s pretty good. Review here.
Waterproof jacket of the Year 2021 - Vision Vene. Damn this thing is good, and that includes wearing it in some appalling weather. One thing I did find out with Vision jackets this year is that it’s fine to go with your regular sizing for their wading jackets - XL for me with say their Pupa jacket for example - but that with Vision’s more regular-cut waterproof jackets I need to go one size up to get really free movement around my shoulders when I’m casting. The Vision Vene jacket which I have in an XXL is a slightly heavier duty waterproof jacket which is also slightly longer than a wading jacket - and it just works. So comfortable and easy to wear, the right number of pockets to not annoy me with frigging zips and flaps all over the place, and this thing takes the weather with a bit of a giggle. Review to come.
Item of fishing tackle which is still perfect and which I still can’t work out how it can get any better 2021 - Nitecore NU25 headlamp. I think that’s close to four years now with this tiny little headlamp - I’ve actually got two, one for fishing and one for early morning dog walks - and it lives in my waterproof rucksack all the time. Perfection in my opinion, to the point where I still can’t really see how a headlamp for the night fishing I do these days can get any better. Review here.
Soft plastic lure of the Year 2021 - Savage Gear Sandeel V2 Weedless. Yes it was more than likely going to be a Savage Gear lure considering how I work with them and I am getting to help make THE lures I want to fish with, but wow I’m proud of this new Sandeel V2 Weedless. The pandemic and Brexit related issues tried to conspire against us with bringing these lures to market, so to stand next to my friend Mark and watch him hook and land a 10lb+ bass on the smaller size lemon back Sandeel V2 Weedless was some thrill. From the off I was insistent that the Weedless version of the Sandeel V2 had to offer us the ability to bump and bounce it along the bottom together with swimming it like we might the J-hook version. In my opinion we nailed it. These lures have caught me a good number of bass this year in a whole range of different situations, and we ain’t finished yet.
Hard lure of the Year 2021 - Xorus Patchinko II 140mm. Not remotely new and I would suggest this surface lure is well known by most UK and Irish bass anglers already, but from time to time again this year it’s been banged home to me just how much I trust the regular size Patchinko (140mm, is it 27g?) to catch me bass off the top in bouncier and windier conditions especially. If a surface lure for the sort of conditions many of us regularly fish can be perfect then I’d suggest the Patchinko is that lure.
Lure clip of the Year 2021 - HTO Lure Link. Yes it’s a direct copy of the Breakaway Mini Link lure clip which is still my favourite lure clip ever, but read this blog post here which details some of the quality control issues the Breakaway ones have been having recently and you will see why I wanted to see what else was out there.
Polarised sunglasses of the Year 2021 - The sub-£30 Leech Moonstone Orange and Yellow polarised sunnies. Don’t get me wrong, the more expensive Leech X2 Dusk sunnies have got better lenses, but they fog up for me that little bit too much to be my go-to sunnies for UK and Irish conditions especially (review here). I seriously like the Fortis Vistas but I’d like to see their other lens colours before I fall for them completely. The sub-£30 Leech Moonstone Orange and Yellow polarised sunnies are pretty damn amazing for the money then. Wonderfully subtle they might not be, but they work, they make the world look better, I just about prefer the Yellow lenses because they suit so many different light conditions, and whilst the rubber nose things fell off mine after a while, they still sit fine on my face and for the money I’m not going to complain. What I really like is that when I misplace or lose these Moonstone sunnies it’s not going to really hurt very much to buy another pair. I remain amazed at how good these things are for so little money. Plenty of info on all these sunnies here.
Accessory of the Year 2021 no.1 - Savage Gear Bottle and Net Clip. See this blog post here for why. THE way I can carry a landing net and not have it bug the hell out of me. I didn’t realise when I wrote the blog post that this particular item of fishing tackle was a “borrowed” design of something that already exists, but hey ho I’ll carry on using it because it just works.
Accessory of the Year 2021 no.2 - My newish under wader clothing. Somewhat cheaper than it used to be, but just as good. All details here.
Accessories of the Year 2021 nos. 3, 4 and 5 - Savage Gear Savage Gear Savage SGY 2X treble hooks, Savage Gear Inline Single Hooks, and Savage Gear Last Meter Stainless Split-rings. Yes I can get my hands on these vital bits of gear for nothing because of my work with Savage Gear, but do you really think I would compromise on things as important as hooks and split rings when I value my fishing as much as I so obviously do? Not a bloody chance. I know and trust these bits and pieces completely.
Thrill of the Year 2021 - Guiding again in Ireland. A part of me thought I might never get back to doing this work again, so I am sure you can imagine the thrill of driving off the ferry at Rosslare back in October and then making that long drive across Ireland to Kerry. Damn right I gave John and Lynn a great big hug when I saw them that first evening, and to wake up the next morning actually in Kerry, knowing that later on that day our first group of clients were arriving? My thrill of the year, no questions asked. When I need a lift I think back to this to pull me through. When did we ever think that normal was going to feel like such a privilege?
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