I’m just back from the Fly Tackle Dealer (FTD)/ICAST show in Orlando, FL. This was an event that I didn’t want to leave Idaho for – not with all the great fishing going on near home.  But, it turns out I had a great trip and I got to play with some fantastic new products from the companies I endorse.

Let’s start with Winston Rods.  They have a several new products, the Micro Spey and the Nexus rods.  I didn’t get to toss the Spey rods however folks were raving about them.  I gave the Nexus 5- 6- and 8-weight rods a workout on the indoor casting pond.  The Nexus is not made of Boron but rather 100% graphite.  The unique black colored rods were a delight to cast and I best describe them by saying Winston combined their legendary action with a faster taper through the lower half.  They range from 3- to 12-weight and sell for an affordable $475.  I highly recommend you visit your nearest Winston dealer and give them a try yourself.  They should be in stores by December.

Winston is adding two T-shirts with my art on them, a brown trout and a rainbow trout.  These are not my usual watercolor fish but rather fish I did in pastel.  I wanted to do something different from what I sell on my own web store and I’m thrilled about how they turned out!

Next of interest is the new Ross Animas fly reel.  This is Ross’s first new product in several years and all I can say is that once again they’ve made another fine fly reel we’ve all come to expect.  This reel is light weight, large arbor, has an impregnated Teflon drag system and is completely anodized.  I don’t just mean the reel house and spool either, the Animas is the first Ross reel to have a fully-anodized machined aluminum handle with reverse taper for superb gripping.  The sizes start at 3-weight and go all the way to a 12-weight and retails are around $250.

Last but not least, due to the success of the Sharkwave GPX and Ultimate Trout fly lines, Scientific Anglers has already designed additional tapers to the Sharkwave line selection.  They now offer the Siege, Saltwater Titan for big flies (which I secretly fished in Bhutan) and an all around saltwater taper.  There are several other new fly lines as well.  To learn more about them visit Scientificanglers.com or better yet, pick up a copy of their stunning new catalog.  This year the catalog is a full on fly fishing magazine and I think you’ll enjoy my Bolivia article about golden dorado.

Further big news is that owner of Simms Fishing Products, KC Walsh, asked me to join the Simms team.  I already wear and use numerous Simms products so this was one of the easiest decisions I’ve made.  I am thrilled to announce I’m officially endorsing Simms!

That’s it for now.  Wednesday is ladies day on the water.  This year I’ll take Granny and Jessica Chittwood on the Renteria River.  I imagine the girls will give me a workout like they do every year – should be fun though!

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing