Gear: Oliso Pro -- Vacuum Sealing Made Simple

No, I don't intend to cook soft-plastic lures, and I'm not looking at vacuum sealing as the new key to compact lure storage. In truth, I was just eager to try out the Oliso Pro VS97A Vacuum Sealer to see for myself it was as elementary to use as it appears in the demonstration videos. If you're like me, you've watched a few demonstrations of things that appeared effortless in the hands of experts but that weren't quite so simple at home! I also had some little people around me who were pretty eager to see just what that thing did.

Turns out the Oliso Pro really is that easy. We followed a few simple steps, and the inaugural attempt resulted a perfect seal with zero added challenges encountered, and in reality there really doesn't appear to be much more to learn. Of course, if you're someone who likes to test something a few times to gain confidence that you have it down, there's nothing to loose with this system because each bag is good for as many as a dozen uses, and the dishwater-safe bag remains full sized and fully intact. The new seal just goes in a different place.

Stand-out features of the Oliso ProVS97A are its "moist" setting, which allows you to seal fresh fish or marinated meats with no risk of ruining the machine with moisture, and extreme portability. The machine itself is compact, and it comes with a 12V adaptor, with everything packaged in a water-resistant carrying case. It also has adaptor for sealing special upright pantry bags and can even be used for canning; however, I'm guessing that I'll mostly be sealing Louisiana redfish, Santee Cooper catfish and such that's getting ready to travel back to Georgia and various jerky or fresh meat that I want to keep marinated or protected from elements on a camping, rafting or fishing trip.

Actually, my first real-life uses are probably only a couple of weeks away, which is part of why I wanted to do a test run with the plastic worms. Nathaniel and I will be camping, wading and fishing from a raft in just a couple of weeks, which means we'll have plenty of reason to have fresh food nicely sealed. Now I can feel confident that the vacuum sealing part  of the trip preparation will be quick, simple and efficient. In fact I'll most likely stick the sealer case in the back of the truck, just in case we want to prepare some more stuff while we're traveling!

Gear: Boo Rigs Open Many Options

At a glance you might think, "Another umbrella rig." Take a closer look, though, and you'll see that the BOOYAH's new Boo Rig family of rigs offer something completely different. These rigging accessories, which were just revealed last week at ICAST, open a wealth of new options for fishermen, and they really are quite different from anything else I saw at the show or have seen in other places.

For starters, there's only one place for a lure. These are not multi-hook rigs, and they therefore should be legal in most places, if not everywhere. The blades or grubs (depending on the specific rig model) are only teasers to draw fish's attention and to create the look of a school of bait or of a chase taking place. As importantly, though, the back wire, which leads to the lure snap, is highly flexible. Because it's not stiff, you can rig it with a crankbait or jerkbait or virtually any other lure without concern about the wire hampering the action of the lure. These rigs also aren't big and bulky, which means you don't need a magnum outfit or a triathlon-competitor's endurance to fish one all day.

Beyond the attracting value of the blades or grubs, these rigs provide added weight, which allow you to fish crankbaits or jerkbaits deeper than they run on their own. Just count 'em down before you start retrieving. That added weight also allows you to use a small bait to mimic smaller forage without having to turn to ultralight gear. That's valuable when big bass or even larger gamefish such as stripers are eating small stuff.

The rigs come in four styles: The Boo Rig has four blades on stiff wires spread around with flexible wire; The Boo Teaser has four hookless grubs that spread similarly, the Boo Spin has spinnerbait blades in  couple of different configurations in front of the lure wire. The Boo Flex has no teasers. Each runs behind a weighted spinnerbait-style head and comes in 1/4-, 3/8- and 1/2-ounce sizes.

I've not gotten to fish these yet, but the word I've gotten is that they swim really well and have preformed exactly as was hoped (from a fish catching standpoint) during testing times and on photo trips. I'm eager to try 'em myself and to join in the fun of discovering applications.

Gear: Classic Meets Innovation in Ugly Stik GX2

Some things just can't wait.

The Shakespeare Ugly Stik changed the world of fishing when I was11 years old, and I got my first one soon after. So I've been fishing with Ugly Stiks (both my own and in other people's boats) from time to time for most of my fishing years. Therefore, when a new Ugly Stick GX2 arrived at my house yesterday, I knew I had to slip out to the beaver pond for at least one lap. I felt a need to cast the new Ugly Stik and hopefully feel it bent and wobbling. So I spooled the reel with Spiderwire Stealth Glo-Vis Braid (also new and very cool, but that's another story), tied on a Daiichi 2/O Catch and Release circle hook and grabbed a package of Berkley Havoc Subwoofers. Then Nathaniel and I headed out after dinner for a quick evening outing.

Time was short and the fish weren't going wacky, but I'm happy to report that a couple of fish did choose to cooperate, allowing me to feel the new rod more fully in action.

As billed, the GX2 looks and feels mostly like a classic Ugly Stik, and while no situation tested this part, word is that the new rods feature every bit of the toughness that has always been the signature of an Ugly Stik. New features include far improved guides, which are insert-free, a new construction Shakepeare is calling Ugly Tech and a blank-through-reel-seat design. The result of the latter two changes is a little lighter feel and a better balanced combination.

Like Classic Ugly Stiks, the new ones are black with a clear tip section and with the traditional gold markings near the handle. However, and embossed logo on the foam grip and some red accents give them a slightly newer and more dressed up look.

I've only got to try out the new Ugly Stik for about 45 minutes so far, but you can trust it will get used to catch a lot of different kinds of fish.

Gear: Armachillo Collection

Duluth Trading Company had workers in hot climates primarily in mind when they created the Armachillo line of clothes, but you sure wouldn't know these shirts, pants and hats weren't designed specifically for fishermen. The sun-protective and lightweight fabric and the design make the button-down shirts as comfortable and nonrestrictive as any I've ever worn, and the cargo pants and shorts fit comfortably whether you're sitting or standing and have pockets in all the right places.

What's extra cool, though, (and I mean that both literally and figuratively) is that Duluth Trading Company embeds microscopic pieces of jade in the fabric, which somehow cools the whole garment and consequently your skin. I can't claim that I fully understand the technology, but I've tried it out and can tell you that it works and that I'll definitely be reaching for Armachillo clothes when I'm going to be fishing in the summer heat.

The Armachillo clothes collection, which apparently was field tested last summer in the oil fields of Texas, includes shirts in button-down, polo and tee-shirt styles, cargo pants and shorts and even sun-protective hats of a few different styles.

I'm no clothes junkies and don't normally give tremendous thought to what I wear. I realize, though, that fishing clothes are tools of sorts, and that dry rain gear, warm winter wear and cool summer clothes truly make fishing trips more fun and can even help you catch more fish because you are comfortable and better able to concentrate on fishing patterns and execution.

Gear: i-Kam Xtreme

Sunglasses or video camera? Yes & yes.

I've only taken one trip since the arrival of my Hunter Specialties I-kam Xtreme sunglasses, and I'm already thrilled with the results. The little hole in the middle, right between the glasses' lenses, contains the video camera lens, so these glasses pick up everything you're looking at as long as they are running.

Click below and see for yourself. Nathaniel shot this video of an Arkansas trout battle just by fishing with the "glasses on." The shot at the end of me taking a photo of him is with the glasses on a rock, pointed at us, while we were unhooking the fish, getting photos and letting it go. So the whole thing is documented, from cast to release. Very cool stuff. We also got footage running in a boat, casting for bass, floating in a canoe...

With a micro SD card inserted, the I-kam Xtreme holds about three hours of footage, so you can run the camera pretty liberally if you think something cool might happen. You also can change out the lenses to clear lenses -- I suppose mostly for indoor shooting -- but I don't see doing that very often. They actually served nicely as sunglasses, camera function aside.

You can bet I'll have the card cleared and be ready to do more filming next week when I leave for western Pennsylvania to fish three different lakes in three days! More i-Kam Xtreme videos to follow for sure!

Gear: Hodgman Hickory Swale Waders

 

My last few trout trips have provided fine opportunities to put my Hodgman Hickory Swale Waders to work. The Nantahala was still pretty chilly last week, and it was downright cold in January when we arrived at the river with air temps in the upper teens. The waders themselves are lightweight, so they'll remain comfortable when the days are warm, but they've performed beautifully, and with fleece wading pants beneath them and the built-in neoprene stocking feet on the waders, I've stayed completely dry and plenty warm.

Almost as important as keeping me dry, the lightweight material used for the Hickory Swale Waders allows for great mobility. My favorite Appalachian streams have steep beds, and getting to good spots calls more than a little rock climbing and rhododendron tunnel crawling. That's a tough task in bulky waders, and I've been thrilled by the mobility I've enjoyed in these. I'll still shed 'em as soon as I can stand to do so and will wade wet when water temperatures allow; however, for most trout tailwaters and for cool-season fishing days, waders are necessary, so I'm grateful for a good comfortable pair to wear.

These waders are also really well designed in terms of stuff like gravel guards, padding, reinforcements in high-wear area and strap adjustments, and the Hodgman folks obviously gave good thought to practicalities of fishing with a removable fly patch (which works nicely for spinning lures too, by the way), lined hand-warming pockets and a full length, fully waterproof front zipper. Those seem like little things until you spend a few days in a pair of waders. Having stuff well designed and in the right places allows you to be more comfortable and more efficient, which can result in more opportunities to catch fish!