There are practice rods and there are indoor rods. They are both meant for fly fishers to practice their casting when they have nothing better to do. No kidding.
Redington upped the stakes and called theirs the “Flyfishing Game and Practice Rod”. Interesting, as you can now play games while you are at it.
I got hold of a set and what makes this immediately different from the ones I have seen before is that it uses actual fly lines as opposed to the typical yarn/rope type.
Toy or Fishing Rod?
Why on earth would you want to spend money on something that looks like a toy and won’t catch fish you ask? Fly casting is a bitch. Lay-off it for some time and you are screwed.
What that means is you need to keep fishing or the next time you go on that long planned and expensive trip, you will discover you can’t put the fly where you want to and where the fish are. The harder you try – the more screwed you are. So, those of us who can’t afford to be fishing all the time will find having a practice rod useful to keep those SLPs, tracking, accelerate to a stop and other mumbo jumbo in check. And hopefully catch a fish or two when we finally get to get out to do some real fishing.
Duck!
When my wife sees me whipping this rod inside the house she will be making some smart remarks. But hey, we have to stay focussed on that next big trip.
Check out this video, while I go have some fun with mine.
Update: After using the Redington practice rod for a bit, I found that it is not suitable for indoor use (unless you have a big-ass house) as compared to the yarn type. Perhaps that is why it was never called an indoor rod to start with. One plus point for the Redington practice rod over the yarn type is you can haul with it. Cool.
Redington’s Form Game Rod for Practicing Fly Casting from Sol Duc Buck on Vimeo.