recommended gear for Durango area?
 

My father is retiring soon and moving from Houston to Durango. He
doesn't fish right now but has expressed an interest in taking some
lessons up there after the move.

As a retirement gift, our family is considering getting him a custom
built fly rod. Unfortunately, we know very little about the area and the
tackle requirements.

What sort of specs should I have in mind for a good quality beginner's
rod for that area?

Thanks,

Mark

recommended gear for Durango area?
 

Mark E. Wallace wrote:
My father is retiring soon and moving from Houston to Durango. He
doesn't fish right now ...

Forget the fly rod, the last thing we need is another old
clueless geezer on our trout streams.

Golf clubs, that's the ticket. Get your Dad a set of Ping
irons and top them off with some Callaway metal woods.

--
Ken Fortenberry

recommended gear for Durango area?
 

On Mon, 06 Dec 2004 02:43:58 GMT, "Mark E. Wallace"
wrote:

My father is retiring soon and moving from Houston to Durango. He
doesn't fish right now but has expressed an interest in taking some
lessons up there after the move.

As a retirement gift, our family is considering getting him a custom
built fly rod. Unfortunately, we know very little about the area and the
tackle requirements.

What sort of specs should I have in mind for a good quality beginner's
rod for that area?

9 foot 5 weight 4pc Winston Boron-2x ought to work nicely...

/daytripper (Pricey, sure, but *nothing* is too good for Dad ;-)

recommended gear for Durango area?
 

daytripper wrote:

9 foot 5 weight 4pc Winston Boron-2x ought to work nicely...

/daytripper (Pricey, sure, but *nothing* is too good for Dad ;-)

;-) Indeed.

I get the wink. Is 9' 5wt the right general ballpark though?

Thanks again,

Mark

recommended gear for Durango area?
 

Ken Fortenberry wrote:

Golf clubs, that's the ticket. Get your Dad a set of Ping
irons and top them off with some Callaway metal woods.


Oh, he'll probably be doing that too. Someone else is gonna have to pay
for those though.

Mark

recommended gear for Durango area?
 

Mark E. Wallace wrote in message
...
daytripper wrote:

9 foot 5 weight 4pc Winston Boron-2x ought to work nicely...

/daytripper (Pricey, sure, but *nothing* is too good for Dad ;-)

I get the wink. Is 9' 5wt the right general ballpark though?

Yep. A 4-piece 9' 5wt is your best bet for an all-round Western trout
rod. (Though I'd opt for a Sage SLT rather than the Winston).

JR

recommended gear for Durango area?
 

On Mon, 06 Dec 2004 02:43:58 GMT, "Mark E. Wallace"
wrote:

My father is retiring soon and moving from Houston to Durango. He
doesn't fish right now but has expressed an interest in taking some
lessons up there after the move.

As a retirement gift, our family is considering getting him a custom
built fly rod. Unfortunately, we know very little about the area and the
tackle requirements.

What sort of specs should I have in mind for a good quality beginner's
rod for that area?

Thanks,

Mark

Let him take the lessons first. He might not like it, or he might really take a
shine to it, and in either case, there's a pretty good chance that whatever
y'all pick out, while special as a gift, won't be the rod he would have picked
for himself. If you really want to get him a FFing-related gift, get him some
_serious_ lessons with a shorenuf real instructor. If you feel a rod is a must,
too, might I suggest y'all get him something like a Temple Fork in 4 or 5 wt.
Just a decent rod, well under $200USD, with a great warranty to boot. That way,
no huge outlay for what might not be his thing.

HTH,
R

recommended gear for Durango area?
 

Gene Cottrell top posted:
What a useless, ignorant post!

Hmmm, perhaps you're right.

OK, instead of a full set of Ping irons buy just
the 4 through 9, nobody can hit the small irons
anyway, and replace them with the geezer's best
friend, the 7 wood and then fill out the bag with
specialty wedges.

--
Ken Fortenberry - Geezus, tough crowd tonight ;-)

recommended gear for Durango area?
 

Gene Cottrell top posted:
What a useless, ignorant post!

Hmmm, perhaps you're right.

OK, instead of a full set of Ping irons buy just
the 4 through 9, nobody can hit the small irons
anyway, and replace them with the geezer's best
friend, the 7 wood and then fill out the bag with
specialty wedges.

--
Ken Fortenberry - Geezus, tough crowd tonight ;-)

recommended gear for Durango area?
 

Mark E. Wallace wrote:
...
Do YOU have a recommendation for Durango fly gear, or did you just want
to flame Ken?

Nah, mostly I just flame.

One observation though. Buying one's own fly fishing gear is
damn near as much fun as using it.

--
Ken Fortenberry

recommended gear for Durango area?
 

Mark E. Wallace wrote:
...
Do YOU have a recommendation for Durango fly gear, or did you just want
to flame Ken?

Nah, mostly I just flame.

One observation though. Buying one's own fly fishing gear is
damn near as much fun as using it.

--
Ken Fortenberry

recommended gear for Durango area?
 

Ken Fortenberry wrote:
Mark E. Wallace wrote:

... Do YOU have a recommendation for Durango fly gear, or did you just
want to flame Ken?


Nah, mostly I just flame.

Note that my message was to Gene in response to flaming you. Didn't take
your message as a flame at all.

One observation though. Buying one's own fly fishing gear is
damn near as much fun as using it.

True, true. But then that would take away the fun of buying a custom rod
for him.

Point taken though.

Cheers,

Mark

recommended gear for Durango area?
 

bruiser wrote:
Hey Mark. I fish up there a bit and I'd suggest a 9' five weight for the
Animas and a 7.5' 3 weight for the area's smaller streams.


Noted. Thanks for the response, Bruce!

Mark

recommended gear for Durango area?
 

recommended gear for Durango area?
 

On Mon, 06 Dec 2004 02:59:44 GMT, "Gene Cottrell"
wrote:

What a useless, ignorant post!

If you even admit it, then why in the **** did you hit "send?"

Gene Cottrell

recommended gear for Durango area?
 

Ken Fortenberry wrote:
OK, instead of a full set of Ping irons buy just
the 4 through 9, nobody can hit the small irons
anyway, and replace them with the geezer's best
friend, the 7 wood and then fill out the bag with
specialty wedges.


What would you think about doing 5 through 9 irons and adding a Big
Bertha mongo driver? He could then just overline the five iron when he
needs the extra distance.

I think this would make a poor combo for nymphing small streams though.

I'm also going to get him a Medicast training aid so he can tell when
he's breaking his wrist too much. I hear you can even cast real flies
with it. ;-)

Mark

recommended gear for Durango area?
 

Mark E. Wallace wrote:
My father is retiring soon and moving from Houston to Durango. He
doesn't fish right now but has expressed an interest in taking some
lessons up there after the move.

As a retirement gift, our family is considering getting him a custom
built fly rod. Unfortunately, we know very little about the area and
the
tackle requirements.

What sort of specs should I have in mind for a good quality
beginner's
rod for that area?

You've been given good and prudent advice on the fly rod whatever
direction you choose. I'm partial myself to Tripper's recomendation but
that's just me.

My reason for posting is on the custom part. If you want a really
unique product, Tom Hargrove, the owner of T. Hargrove Fly Shop in St.
Louis does really amazing custom work and would be worth a phone call
once you decide what you want. 314-968-4223 or www.thargrove.com.

recommended gear for Durango area?
 

"Mark E. Wallace"

Yeah, I know. I may try to find a way to hook him up with an instructor in
Durango

I'd recommend Mark Engler @

http://www.duranglers.com

Or Jerry Freeman @

http://www.sanjuantrout.com

Anyone at either place would probably be great - those are just two guys
that I know are excellent. Anasazi Anglers is in Durango although they
guide a bunch on the San Juan.

bruce h

recommended gear for Durango area?
 

bruiser wrote:
"Mark E. Wallace"

Yeah, I know. I may try to find a way to hook him up with an instructor in
Durango


I'd recommend Mark Engler @

http://www.duranglers.com

Actually already had Duranglers in mind, courtesy of a tip elsewhere.
Didn't have a name until now, so thanks for that! My dad was actually in
there last time that he visited Durango, so I'll probably start there.

Or Jerry Freeman @

http://www.sanjuantrout.com

And I'll make sure to keep them in mind.

Thanks again!

Mark

recommended gear for Durango area?
 

Wayne Knight wrote:
You've been given good and prudent advice on the fly rod whatever
direction you choose. I'm partial myself to Tripper's recomendation but
that's just me.

grin That may be a little steep for me, but that's just me. ;-)

My reason for posting is on the custom part. If you want a really
unique product, Tom Hargrove, the owner of T. Hargrove Fly Shop in St.
Louis does really amazing custom work and would be worth a phone call
once you decide what you want. 314-968-4223 or www.thargrove.com.

I'll check Tom's site out. I actually already have some experience with
Dan Craft, and though I'm very happy with the job that he did for
another recent gift, I'm certainly open to other ideas.

Thanks!

Mark

recommended gear for Durango area?
 

Gene Cottrell top posted:
I just quoted one of Ken's flames back to him. Those were his own words,
which by the way were sent in response to an on topic reply.

Do you mean to tell me that you deliberately plagiarized
my work ?!?

Why you lousy son of a bitch I hope someone empties all
your liquor bottles and craps on your living room carpet.

--
Ken Fortenberry