While at the International Sportsmen's Expo and at the Wasatch Fly Tying and Fly Fishing Expo this spring, I noticed a booth which had a RexFly Casting System. This is a
mechanism you strap on your chest like a vest which has an attachment for a
reel.
The idea is that while you are
fishing you can attach your reel to the RexFly rather than the rod you are
holding. This effectively removes the
weight from your casting arm so it doesn’t fatigue during a long day of
fishing. At the Fly Tying/Fishing expo I
was able to demo the outfit and could feel how nice it is to cast a line
without all the weight of a loaded reel.
I wish these were available when I took all those week-long trips casting
all day. I could have
gotten by with a lot less ibuprofen for sure.
I couldn’t wait to try this out on my next trip to the
river. It seemed to work well like I
expected. I had Ron take a few pictures
while in use. A few of the
characteristics I like are:
It feels wonderful to cast with such a light outfit.
It is easy to put the reel on and off the device.
It is easy to handle the line while the reel is on the
device.
The device doesn’t get in the way and the line doesn’t
tangle.
It does come with attachment pouches so you can do without a
vest.
One thing that could be improved upon is that a small Philips screwdriver is needed to attach the
device to the foot of the reel. I’m glad
I tried it out at home first and brought a screwdriver or this would have
prevented me from using it on the river the next day.
When I got back to the car and took off the RexFly outfit,
my shirt was wet underneath the reel. This
must happen from reeling the wet line onto the reel while being next to your
chest. I haven’t decided what to do
about this. In the warm weather it’s not
too bad because you’re hot anyway. If it
is cold and you have the device on over a waterproof jacket; that is still
probably OK. However, if it is cool out
and you are not wearing a waterproof jacket, this wouldn’t be comfortable. I will have to give this some thought.
All in all though, I find it is an ingenious design and will
certainly be well used.
You always find a way to make fishing more doable. I'm sure you will solve the wet shirt problem.
ReplyDeletethat's awesome! what have you decided to do now about the wet shirt problem?
ReplyDeleteVery uncomfortable being wet just on the outside. there is a solution !a spare shirt. would do it. or a waterproof vest over shirt
ReplyDeletesuck it princess ,I live north of the 49 th , gets cool up here . I like cheese with my wine
ReplyDelete