Gear of the Year 2022
A part of me wanted to forget all about my annual Gear of the Year blog post because of the state of the world and how I sometimes feel when I talk about some items of fishing tackle which sometimes aren’t exactly cheap and which via my work I can often get to use for free. The other part of me wants to say screw the hate and the fear and the worry and as anglers we need to love what we do and obsess about it even more. On Wednesday evening we went down to our brilliant local sailing club for the Cadet’s Xmas Party. It has been the last season for my youngest girl as a cadet because she’s too old for it now, and my eldest girl is now a qualified dinghy sailing instructor so she helps out with teaching other young sailors. Anyway, for some reason it really struck me how good it felt to be able to walk into the bar area without having to put a mask on or use hand gel or fill out a form saying who you are for potential track and trace issues further down the line…………….
So in some respects we have got back to what we used to take for granted as normal, but of course in other respects our lives are in various stages of turmoil with the cost of living crisis and the war in Ukraine etc. But if you are reading this blog then I guess like me you have always got your fishing to help keep you thinking straight. Going fishing is our constant and I can’t visualise a life without it. Whether you live near your fishing and can go a lot, or whether you have to travel for it and you don’t get to go so much, it matters not. We go fishing because it’s in us. Here goes then:
Best value for money lure rod 2022 - Savage Gear SGS2 8’3’’ 20-60g. Ignore the rating, and as per my review here, treat this lure rod as a 10-40g rod for shore based lure fishing. I can see this rod covering so much bass and wrasse fishing for any angler who for whatever reason would like to spend less than £100 on a really rather impressive lure fishing rod.
Lure rod I can’t get enough of fishing with 2022 - Savage Gear SGS6 8’3’’ 12-42g. I cannot tell you how glad I am that I stumbled across this rod, and it’s purely because I am working with Savage Gear that I was able to get hold of one to try. As a lure rod to do so much of the sort of bass and indeed wrasse fishing I might do, I just love fishing with this wand-like, rapier-fast yet SO easy to use SGS6 8’3’’ 12-42g. As I said in my original review of this rod and then a rod comparison review here, this rod is so much more versatile than the 12-42g rating at “only” 8’3’’ long might suggest.
A quite brilliant item of fishing related gear 2022 - Fortis Vistas polarised sunglasses. I have been wearing the outstanding £75 Fortis Vistas polarised sunglasses with the Amber lenses for all my fishing and guiding this year, indeed they permanently live in my waterproof rucksack which always comes fishing with me. Quite brilliant, indeed the only very minor issue I could even think about raising about these outstanding sunnies is that the actual lens material is a bit harder to clean than the glass (and far more expensive) lenses on the Costa 580G sunnies. I have got a great big bonce and the Fortis Vistas polarised sunnies are the perfect design for me. A great find, with my eternal thanks to a few kind people on Facebook who suggested I look at them. As much as the Brown lenses are lovely on a big blue sky day, I have used the Amber lenses so much in all kinds of light conditions and I reckon they are the ideal all round lens colour for UK and Irish fishing. If it’s any help I use these retainers for my sunnies, I could not be without them.
The best lure rod(s) I have fished with 2022 - Penn Conflict Elite 902M 9’ 7-38g and Penn Conflict Elite 962MH 9’6’’ 8-45g. Due in shops this month I believe, reviews of both rods to come. Much earlier this year I was sent the Penn Conflict Elite 9’ 7-38g lure rod to have a look at, and to be perfectly honest it sat here unused for a while because it’s one of those rods that didn’t instantly grab me on the (slightly daft but we all do it) waggle “test”. But I did end up taking the rod out, and after a few sessions later I couldn’t put it down. Staggeringly good, and in due course I got hold of the equally good but more powerful 9’6’’ 8-45g version to play around with as well. There are more rods in the range, they will be in shops anytime now, and at just north of £300 I think they are incredible value for money with how good they are. The two Penn Conflict Elite rods I have fished with so far remind me so much of the staggeringly accomplished and far more expensive Shimano Exsence Infinity rods I have used - incredibly subtle fishing machines that take a bit of time to open up and which are SO incredibly efficient to fish with. I am now getting to do some work with the lad who designed these rods and there’s a slight case of professional jealousy going on from my side!
Wading boots of the Year 2022 - Bestard SAR Pro Water Rescue Boots. Same as last year and still outstanding. Most recent blog post about these incredible boots is here.
Lure reel(s) of the Year 2022 - Penn Authority 2500 or 3500. Not remotely cheap and also reassuringly solid which I know will put some anglers off who obsess about ultra-light spinning reels - I don’t. I seriously like lure fishing with these new Penn Authority reels. I love the Penn Slammer reels as well, and as much as you could argue I don’t actually need all that the far more expensive Authority reels can do for me and my UK and Irish based lure fishing, they are a noticeable step up over the already outstanding Slammers. I reckon I use the 2500 size Authority as much as I use the larger 3500. Awesome reels. Some initial thoughts here, full reviews to come.
Arguably the most perfect item of fishing tackle I have ever used 2022 - Nitecore NU25 headlamp. Can you improve upon perfection though, because there’s an updated version of this amazing little headlamp coming and I’ve been testing it for a while. Review to come.
Braid of the Year 2022 - Berkeley Sick X8. Nothing yet has changed my firm belief that the far more expensive Sufix 131 is still the best braid I have ever fished with, but for a sub-£20 8-strand braid which works perfectly for the sort of fishing so many of us do, I really like this newish Berkley Sick X8. It just works. Review here.
Another rather brilliant item of fishing related gear 2022 - Palm Blaze leggings. There are certain lure fishing situations where I don’t think it is particularly safe or clever to wear breathable chest waders (BCWs), and this is when I have found myself turning to the rather excellent Palm Blaze leggings. I still like BCWs for a lot of my fishing, but you could easily do most if not all of your fishing in something like the Palm Blaze leggings, some neoprene socks, and a suitable pair of boots if you were so inclined. What you wear on top with these leggings is going to depend on how you use them. I was really surprised by how much I like fishing in these Palm Blaze leggings, but you are going to have to accept that if you go and do the sort of fishing that we do and wear this sort of gear then you will end up with plenty of wet items of clothing.
Soft plastic lure of the year 2022 - Savage Gear Slender Scoop Shad. It could have easily been “my” smaller Gravity Sticks which were launched this year, but they are essentially a smaller version of a lure which I trust 100% already. The Slender Scoop Shad was something I stumbled across and then started to obsess about when I caught my first ever February bass on one earlier this year. I tend to carry two different paddletails with me for rigging on weedless hooks - the Gravity Stick Paddletail in the two sizes and the Slender Scoop Shad. They do subtly different things, and although the Savage Gear freshwater people brought the Slender Scoop Shad to market for freshwater fishing, it has turned out to be a seriously lethal bass lure. A few more thoughts on them here.
Another outstanding item of fishing tackle 2022 - Toit Fishing Split Ring Pliers. The sort of fishing tool you use and wonder why on earth it hasn’t been done before because it works so well. I use the Small size of these ingenious split ring pliers, with big respect to Warren du Toit, the guy behind Toit Fishing. There are a whole bunch of very well thought out products.
Hard lure of the year 2022 - Savage Gear Gravity Shallow, both sizes. Ever since I started fishing with the IMA Komomo SF-125 I have loved long-casting, shallow-diving hard lures, and these new SG Gravity Shallow lures which I have been fishing with for a good while now really float my boat. I reckon I use the smaller 10cm size more than the 11.5cm, but that is mainly because I do like smaller lure for bass fishing a lot of the time. These things absolutely fly, and they swim nice and shallow while you vary your retrieve speed. I really like these lures with a rod tip up, slowish retrieve if that is any help. Great range of lure colours as well (nice one Markos!).
Item of fishing tackle which I rarely see used in bass fishing but which I can’t do without 2022 - Savage Gear Pro Finezze Rubber Mesh Net Floating in the medium size, secured to my lure bag with the Savage Gear Bottle and Net Clip. I don’t use a landing net that much for bass fishing, but when I am actually standing in say knee-deep+ water to fish, then I very much do so - because it’s the most logical and efficient way to successfully land fish .
Item of fishing tackle I have given up on even trying to be without 2022 - Savage Gear Waterproof Rollup Rucksack 40L. I make no apologies for this being yet another Savage Gear product because the whole point of me starting to work with this company was to help design and make items of fishing tackle which I actively want to use myself. This long-lasting waterproof rucksack was around well before I started working with Savage Gear though, and it’s turned out to be THE best rolltop-style waterproof rucksack I have ever used. If you gave me carte blanche I’d love to change a few simple things on this rucksack, but as it stands right now it just works. Latest review after a hell of a lot of use here.
Replacement treble hooks and split rings 2022 - Savage Gear Savage Gear Savage SGY 2X treble hooks and Savage Gear Last Meter Stainless Split-rings. The same as last year, so that’s another year further down the line with using these items of fishing tackle so I know even more about how good they are. Any of the current Savage Gear surface and sub-surface hard lures I fish with now come rigged with these exact items as well, and what I have found is this - if I wash my lures down in freshwater after use (which I always do) then these vital components of any hard lure just don’t seem to ever go rusty. I could show you any number of different Savage Gear hard lures I have here - samples and current - which are refusing to show any signs of rust. As and when I get sample hard lures to test out I will go out and fish with them, and then further down the line I end up removing the trebles and split rings to use as replacements on other lures when the next generation of samples arrive - that is how much I like these components.
Another item of fishing tackle which I can’t be without 2022 - Simms Neoprene Wading Belt. Any lure bag which sits at my side (HPA Chest Pack etc.) has always sat on this belt, indeed I reckon I am on my third Simms Neoprene Wading Belt now so that’s about three or fours years out of each belt. My lure bag and pliers sit on this belt and I simply can’t do without it. Easy to tighten up that bit more for fishing in the surf, and easy to loosen again.
Waders of the Year 2022 - Vision Koski. Same as last year, check here.
Waterproof jacket of the Year 2022 - Vision Vene. Same as last year, check here.
Fluorocarbon of the Year 2021 - Seaguar Ace Hard, Savage Gear Semi-Soft and Savage Gear Super Hard Fluorocarbon. Nearly the same as last year - check here - but I have added in the SG Super Hard Fluorocarbon in the 0.45mm version because I like it so much in the surf and really bouncy conditions out on the rocks especially. You all have a good weekend and I will see you next week.
Disclosure - If you buy anything using links found around my website, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you anymore to buy via these affiliate links - and please feel entirely free not to do so of course - but it will help me to continue producing content. Thank you.