Drift Wading Sandals from Orvis

Looking for fishing sandals for the soon to begin season?

For $49.99, Orvis has an affordable solution for your warm weather wading needs. When accompanied by a pair of shorts or swimming trunks, these nice fishing sandals allow fishermen to get that much closer to hotspots without all of the hassles involved with wearing waders.

Likewise, these sandals have a couple of pluses that make them a better choice than an old pair of sneakers.

For starters, shoes are apt to get filled with small pebbles, and the only way to get rid of them is to remove the shoe every five minutes or so. Also, the sandals have a slip-resistant felt/lug sole.

The open foot/felt sole combination makes the Drift Wading Sandal a great choice for all wading conditions, whether it be slippery rocks, silt, or river gravel, and they were a welcomed addition to my gear last summer.



One particular hole on one of the local creeks is pretty wide, and there is a submerged boulder on the opposite side of the creek. I like to fish this spot with night crawlers and no weight, so many casts fell well short of my target. I can honestly say that wading into the stream allowed me to catch several nice-sized smallmouth bass, and I have the sandals to thank for my good luck!

AND after a day on the stream, they cleaned up nicely and were easily stored under the car seat.

The Orvis Drift Wading Sandal is available in men's full sizes 7-12 and are now on sale for 29.99 at www.orvis.com.

Overall I would rate this product as a keeper!

Berkley Reel Spooling Station Review

Berkley Portable Line Spooling Station

I love everything about fishing…almost. One of the few exceptions is replacing old line at the beginning of the season. It would be great to have a line winder like those at Dick’s or Cabela’s…

“Would you like us to put line on your new reel?”

“SURE!!!”

Naturally, you can’t buy a new reel every spring just for the fresh line, and expensive motorized devices aren’t for everybody. Thankfully, there is a moderately priced item that will allow you to fill several reels in a matter of minutes.

For $26.99 the "Berkley Portable Line Spooling Station" will get the fishing season off to a great start, and by-and-large I am very impressed with the product. Here are some pros and cons…

PROS

The line support shaft is equipped with tensioning cones that allow for moderate pressure on the spool. Thus, the line is evenly distributed on the reel and doesn’t twist.

The spooling station is both lightweight and easy to use. Once it was assembled, I was spooling fishing line on four reels in about ten minutes.

All parts are self-contained within the frame.

It comes with a battery operated tool that strips the old line off of all types of freshwater reels.

CONS

The reel seat is too large for use with the smallest of ultralight reels. For example, my Okuma Inspira IA-10 was too small for the seat. The Berkley line winder, while lightweight, isn’t of the most solid construction. I wouldn’t let it roam freely in the back of a pickup truck on the way to the fishing hole.

OVERALL, this is a very effective and helpful tool for most anglers and is well worth the price. Putting line on a fishing reel can be a difficult one man task, and the Berkley line winder is even better than having an extra pair of hands available.