G . Loomis Fly Rod With the plethora of sea-run cutthroats that fin around the Puget Sound , it ’ s a good idea to get a good fly rod . And what better company than G . Loomis , based out of Woodland , Wash . Not only are they local , but they build great fly rods . Take the NRX series . G . Loomis first introduced its line of NRX graphite in 2010 and it turned heads in the fly industry . It continues to do so today . It is literally one of the lightest blanks used in modern-day rod design . Complemented with light , super-strong components , you get a great rod that is light , sensitive and powerful . This rod will not only handle silver salmon , but it ’ s an ideal rod for trout .
Built on unfinished graphite blanks and tied with marine blue thread wraps , it comes with recoil casting guides , Snake recoil stripping guides , a double ring locking graphite reel seat and a half wells grip cork handle with a composite cork fighting butt . Fast and accurate are the two best words to describe G . Loomis ’ s NRX 6 weight . Powerful is another word that is equally accurate . $ 745 gloomis . com
comes to salmon fishing with downriggers . Especially in the San Juan Islands . The more time your line is out of the water , the more opportunity of catching salmon is missed . Having a downrigger with a fast retrieval rate helps immensely when fishing time is at a premium . Which is all the more reason to check out Scotty ’ s new High Performance Electric Downrigger . With the fastest retrieval rate in the industry — it will retrieve a 20-pound downrigger ball at a rate of 260 feet per minute ( over 4 feet per second )— it will save you precious fishing time when it ’ s most needed . Scotty ’ s downrigger ( model 2116 ) also comes with an illuminated digital line counter , two Rocket Launcher rod holders and a telescoping stainless steel boom ( 36- to 60 inches ). Each downrigger also comes pre-spooled with 300 feet of 180-pound stainless downrigger wire . These are built solid , designed with serious salmon fishermen in mind , and tested and field tested amongst the best salmon fishermen in the Pacific Northwest . $ 699.00 scotty . com
Costa Del Mar Sunglasses No matter what water sport you pursue , kayaking , fishing , sailing or yachting , you ’ ll want a good pair of polarized sunglasses . We ’ re fans of Costa Del Mar and its long line of sunglasses . Recently we stumbled across Costa ’ s Cut , which are designed to fit a larger face and built with a heavy-duty nylon frame . The polarized lenses block 100 percent of ultra violet light and they deflect the reflective glare of the water , a must for anyone on the water . They come in four different lens colors : blue mirror , green mirror , gray and copper . The mirror lenses are best for open water activities , while the gray and copper lenses are best suited for inland , freshwater pursuits . $ 219 costadelmar . com
Hobie Kayak The Oasis kayak from Hobie Cat is a do-everything kayak . Designed for one or two people , it can be propelled with the foot paddles or by hand paddles . At 14-feet , 6-inches long and 33 inches wide , it is extremely stable in the water . Its weight of 127 pounds also allows for it to track nicely taking less effort to steer . It comes with three hatches , two molded-in rod holders , two mesh-covered stowage pockets , two paddles with on-hull storage , dual steering capability , a sail mount , and two MirageDrives with ST fins . In other words , it ’ s loaded and it has some get up and go when your paddling kicks in . $ 2,349 hobiecat . com
Yeti Cooler If you ’ re looking for a cooler that is built hell-stout , keeps your beverages cold for a long time , then you ’ ll love the Yeti Tundra 125 quart cooler . We recently put it through its paces and it passed with flying colors . We packed it on an extended trip where we kept the cooler packed with beer , water and soda . After the third day in the exposed sun the majority of the ice was still in tact . We drained the standing water , added more ice and it kept everything nice and cold for the remainder of our fishing trip . The cooler now doubles as an cooler and a fish box on our boat .
What separates a Yeti from other coolers is that it ’ s roto-molded , similar to how a kayak is built . It is built with 2 inches of pressure-injected polyurethane foam ensuring everything stays cold ( the lid is 3 inches thick ). Add to that freezer-quality gaskets and it seals tighter than a you know what . So yes , it really is built like a brick shithouse .
The price is high for a cooler , but you ’ re not going to find a cooler that is built better and keeps the contents colder . Which is to say you should seriously consider spending the money now as opposed to continually replacing your cooler every two or three years . You ’ re money ahead in the long run . Finally , a Yeti is reportedly grizzly proof but we can ’ t verify this claim , nor do we want to . But given what we know about it , we ’ re going to believe it . $ 549.95 yeticoolers . com kenmoreair . com
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