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I work as a consultant for the world famous Hardy Greys, known to all as a company that makes some of the best fishing gear out there. Sea, fly, coarse and carp, they do the lot, and they do it all to appeal to different anglers at different price points. I firmly believe that good fishing tackle does not always have to cost the earth and with Hardy Greys I reckon I am working with the best fishing tackle company there is; what more could somebody like me ask for ?
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Hardy (www.hardyfishing.com) is a name that needs no introduction to fisherman the world over. Some of the finest game fishing gear ever made has come from this company, and they are spending resources and time on modernising the whole brand and coming up to speed with the modern image of worldwide fly fishing. The world is an increasingly smaller place these days and as a result, many more species are being targeted and caught on the fly. Hardy is at the forefront of modern fly fishing right now.
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Greys (www.greysfishing.com) encompasses sea, game and coarse fishing under one roof and is generally regarded as offering some of the best designed, manufactured and thought-out fishing gear on the market today. Current shore rods such as the Platinum, Nitra, Impulse and Triad are at the cutting edge of UK beachcasting technology, whilst fly rods from the Platinum XD stable offer us mere mortals a taste of ultra modern fly rod design. Their clothing is simply outstanding. I am hugely proud to be associated with such people.
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New into the UK and exclusively distributed by Hardy Greys is the wonderfully modern and "out of the box" range of Fishpond fly fishing products (www.fishponduk.com). I am simply stunned at the level of thought that has gone into all these bits of gear. From a sea fishing point of view I reckon there are some products there that are of great use, especially for those of us who like to walk many miles in search of lonely, out of the way, light tackle sport.
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I have seen the light : Maui Jim sunglasses (www.mauijim.com). Unquestionably the finest polarised sunglasses on the market today and I wholeheartedly recommend them to anybody, fisherman or not. I have been wearing them all over the world for all kinds of fishing and I can safely say that mine are now virtually welded to my head. Whilst there are loads of different kinds of lenses and models available, for fishing I believe you would be hard pushed to better the extremely lightweight and comfortable MJ Sport range, with impact-resistant polycarbonate lenses. Lens colour is a matter of personal choice, but I do use the HCL Bronze ones more than any other. The new Maui Jim Shields are worth checking out as well, staggeringly good to wear for long periods of time, and just plain awesome for helping spot fish and protecting your eyes.
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All us fisherman know that choosing our actual lines to use is one of the most important decisions we take in fishing, and these days I find myself using virtually nothing else than the quite frankly awesome and staggeringly comprehensive range of Sufix lines (www.sufix.com). A brand name that I am sure needs no introduction to fishermen the world over, but for some reason I don't see enough UK sea anglers out there switching onto this line : guys, you are missing out !! The legendary Sufix Tritanium is going to land any fish we are likely to hook; consistent diameters, frightening strength and abrasion resistance, my personal favourites are the red and solid yellow colours for mainline use. I tend to alternate between the Sufix Surf and Sufix Superior for shockleaders, rig bodies and traces and I really like the size and ease of use of these spools. I have used Sufix Synergy a fair bit overseas as a mainline and it is horribly tough stuff that seems to "drag" less in a powerful surf than other comparative lines. The top of the range Sufix Xcelon mono is about as good as you could hope to get from a mainline, but in all honesty the Tritanium is in my mind more than sufficient. Sufix Zippy leader is out of this world line for shockleaders and some trace needs : ultra soft, very easy to tie in heavy breaking strains, low diameter and very tough. As regards braids, I like using the Sufix Performance and Matrix Pro ones for applications such as plugging for bass, certain kinds of mullet fishing and UK boat work, and a lot of heavy duty, foreign, big fish stuff. Great fluorocarbon as well in the Sufix Invisiline. Most of these Sufix lines are distributed by Gardner Tackle in the UK (www.gardnertackle.co.uk), and bear in mind that Sufix also do a stack of specialist coarse and carp lines that are fast gaining loyal followings in those demanding fields. |
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