New Fly Fishing Invention

[night_flyguy]

Some of you have seen the videos I've posted here of the Rexfly Casting System catching fish at Strawberry or Powell. Well after several years of development we are finally ready to produce it!
Check out our Rexfly project on Kickstarter.com and preorder your own Rexfly for $20 off retail.
http://kck.st/WzBMs0
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[flygoddess]

It is in the way of my GoPro. I am not getting the "why" but good luck.
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[hiramb3]

[] What an awesome idea!! Reduces weight I'm sure, and I'd be willing to bet makes casting a heck of a lot easier. Two thumbs up here! Where can I try it??
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[flygoddess]

[quote hiramb3][] What an awesome idea!! Reduces weight I'm sure, and I'd be willing to bet makes casting a heck of a lot easier. Two thumbs up here! Where can I try it??[/quote]


You do realize that 99% of the rods made, require the weight of the reel to balance them out.
Even a Helios will feel top heavy especially with line feed, with out the weight of a reel.
But, that is just my opinion.
Plus I am a woman. This might not be a Unisex item and I don't like chest packs either.
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[RockyRaab]

Very good point, flygoddess.

I must admit that my reaction to the product was a shrug. After all, when I'm casting, 90% of the weight is -- my arm.
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[SatanLBZ801]

Hmmm.... Bringing Shark Tank to BTF, I like it. So I've thought about this one for awhile. The reason to create a new invention, is usually to fix a problem to make something easier. I don't see what the problem is with the reel on the rod, nor do I see this making anything easier. I see it actually making things 10X harder, more parts, more mechanical items to go wrong.

I honestly can't think of one reason why I'd want to use this. The fight? So you get a big fish on and need to use the fighting but at your hip... You're not going to have this detached and the reel sitting to your chest while the rod in on your hip lol. I see in your vid, you just attach it back on. If hooking into a fish is ANYTHING like the last time I was on the weber, you're not going to have time to do this. Just adding another variable for something to go wrong.

Float tubing on a lake maybe? That thing would always be right in your face while kicking around the lake.....

Even floating the green from a drift boat... I can't see what this invention would fix or why it would be needed.

Cosmetically.... I wouldn't want my reel strapped to my chest either... I don't mind chest packs but, this would just not look consumer appealing.

I just see this thing being a pain in the butt and creating a major tangled mess. Not to mention what flygoddess & Rocky mentioned.... Reels are needed to balance the rods. This rod and reel still weigh half of nothing, most of the weight is your actual arm.

Thinking on the physics of your invention, you mentioned you invented it because of your tendinitis in your elbow? By removing the reel from the rod, you now have a rod that's extremely tip heavy when lined. When you go to cast that rod, you're going to have to use your elbow MORE due to the weight at the tip. Throw the reel back on the rod, everything is balanced and you should be using your wrist to cast, very little of your elbow. The counter balance of the rod throws the line. Especially with today's improvements in rods. So I see this hurting more then helping.

Good luck, and I suggest you find something else to invest your time and money into... I know you've been working on this for a year or two now, and it just hasn't gone anywhere.

With that said... "I'M OUT!"
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[night_flyguy]

Hi Flygodess, as a moderator of this forum I want to send you a free Rexfly to try out and let me know what you think after you've had a chance to play with it. I've been struggling with how this might not work for many women and I have not come up with a good solution yet, maybe you can help me with that.

As to the rod balance issue, I actually asked the rod designers for Orivs, Sage, TFO and Redington at the IFTD show in Reno this past summer whether they take into account the weights of the reels when they are designing the latest rods. The unanimous response was "We make our rods as light as possible and let the reel manufacturers try and catch up." Hence you have reels being made out a titanium or with so much aluminum carved out of them they just don't last. One of them also told me they cast the rods with the reel sitting on the floor when they test them out to really get a feel for what the rod is capable of.

Rod balance was more an issue 20 years ago when rods weighed much more and felt much different from today's rods.
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[flygoddess]

In all fairness, I would try it so I could give an honest assessment.
But as far as matching light reels to light rods, this isn't the case at all. I do own a Helios and H2. They are extremely light rods, but they balance out (because of the line) very nicely with heavier reels. Example 4+ oz on a 5 wt. Look at Orvis catalog. They have it pair up with a Mirage that is over 4 oz.
I tried a CFO on my and it became tip heavy, I put an Allen on and it is balanced.
On other forums you read all the time were people buy these light weight rods and try to put the lightest reel they can get then find out the balance just isn't there.
I cast, I strip, I play...WITH the reel on the rod. Palming in many cases.
I think the desire for the ULTRA light reels is more for the Superfines, like the 000 and 1 weight rods.

Again, up to you and I would give a fair evaluation of how "I" feel it performs.

Thank you for the offer.
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[night_flyguy]

I love your Shark Tank post! So in true Shark Tank fashion, let me respond to your questions by first referring to you as Kevin cause you don't sound like Mark, Lori, Rob, Daymond or Barbara.

So Kevin, I appreciate your insight but let me tell you a story about taking the first prototype fishing for steelhead coming out of Lake Erie in the Fall of 2011. When my guide Chris Kazulen (there's an article on him in last Fall's Field & Stream) picked me up he wanted me to use one of his rods. I told him about my invention and how I wanted to use my own rod. His exact words were "Dude, that's stupid. You do not want to mess around with these fish. They can go up to 20 pounds and fight harder than anything you've ever hooked before." After a few more minutes of telling me how dumb my idea was, I insisted on using it and he made clear there were no refunds.

After 15 minutes of fishing he was completely sold. We hooked and landed 8 fish from 5-12 pounds that truly did fight harder than anything I've ever caught before. Chris actually started stopping other fly fisherman that were walking by and having them check out the Rexfly. He's now wants to be my Midwest Rep. That's him on the last video on the kickstarter project.

Have you ever had your line wrap around your reel when you hook a big fish and it takes off? Far too many times when a fish takes out the slack the line wraps around the reel and the fish breaks off. Line wraps around the reel and hook keeper so much that TFO has taken the hook keeper off their saltwater rods to keep the line for hanging up on that but there's nothing they can do to keep the line from wrapping around the reel. With the line hanging straight down from your chest that doesn't happen anymore. Even when casting, how often does the line wrap around your reel or your forceps or something else hanging off your vest? Its the line hanging down from your reel that gets caught up on stuff when we cast. With it on your chest it just hangs straight down and doesn't get flung all around.

You bring up a good point about float tubing and the Rexfly isn't a great help if you are kicking around trolling your flies. I fish from a boat and am casting all day. Without the reel I generate greater line speed and cast much farther than I ever could before. I can now cast my entire fly line which I never came close to doing before. Think about your backcast, you are lifting the entire weight of the reel on every backcast. But your triceps is much stronger than your biceps and can more than handle the lack of weight of the reel on the forward cast.

I liken the Rexfly to when I started snowboarding in 1985. Fly fishing is very traditional and there will always be those who prefer bamboo over graphite just as there are plenty of skiers who think boarding is stupid, but there are also those who will try something new.

There's so much more I want to say but this post is already longer than anyone wants to read and in true Shark Tank fashion we need to keep it short for the commercial break.

So Kevin, I know you're out, but I also know you are an early adopter not a follower, and I'm offering you the chance to get in on the ground floor of something new and exciting. Tenkara is gaining in popularity and the Rexfly not only has all the advantages of that but truly shines with big fish and heaver weight lines.

So keep an open mind, and like I say to anyone, just go out to your park or in your front yard and put the reel in your pocket and see how easy it is to cast. If you're fishing with a rod made in the last 10 years you'll be amazed.
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[SatanLBZ801]

I'm going to try and keep this response short. I think it's awesome first off, that you have came up with something new. I pound my brain every second of the day looking for the million dollar idea/invention. Obviously I come up empty because I still live in Utah

Starting off, I think you and I have different casting techniques. My strokes are short, basically all in the wrist, until you start getting to that 60-80' cast (which happens about 1% of the time on a river, that number drops to .02% in the winter nymphing or using size 22-26 midges). So... If that said, I don't need to be casting my whole entire line. If I wanted to do that (on a boat in the middle of the lake) I'll be busting out the spey rod with shooting heads. Or, cast what I can, count down and kick backwards on a tube.

Line getting wrapped around the reel (or any other item hanging off my chest). I can honestly say, I don't really have this problem. Might be the casting tenchique/line control. Not to say I'm a pro either as I haven't been fly fishing that long at all compared to some others on this forum. I might have the line wrap around the reel once in a 4 hour session. So I'm going to cross that out to.

Lets talk about winter time fishing... It's 12 degrees out there recently (last week, this week is much warmer) Had on, 2 pairs of socks, thermals, sweat pants, waders, boots, underarmor, t shirt, two hoodies, simms jacket over that. Most fly fishing wadding jackets have the pockets almost EXACTLY where your chest mount lands. That thing would cover up everything I use constantly when fishing. Point I'm getting at, I already spend WAY to much time putting all this crap on..... This is just one more thing to add to that list. That being said, this unit being by itself, I don't like it... If it was integrated into a jacket, waders, maybe a full chest pack/backpack, I'd be a little more interested in it. But having to cover up everything else I've already got on, don't like it.

Why the chest? Why not your waist? Why not a leg? I enjoy my personal space, I don't want to be looking at my reel the whole time fishing. You're basically having to work around this clunky thing on your chest. I notice in the video, you're having to reach over your rod unhooking a fish. Rather then setting the reel/rod in the water or on the land and it's completely out of the way. The mount itself is to high! I'm sitting here, with an imaginary Rexfly on my chest, rod in my hand, reel on the mount, I just hooked a fish, now I need to connect the reel back to the rod. I just feel awkward/unnatural. Having it lower might help that???

It just seems like way to much work, more then it's worth personally. As mentioned before. You're adding in another step, another variable, another part that could fail. I'm curious how often you have to tighten the screw at the front of the reel seat on the Rexfly. How does this thing work when it is 12 degrees. Possibly dip the reel in the water, whole contraption freezes up, renders it useless.

I'm going to leave it at that. I'm an honest person. You're looking for feedback on a product, I'm giving it. Not meaning to complete tear if apart. Like I said, I keep searching my brain for that one thing. I'll surely let ya know when I find it!

By the way, I'm still "OUT".
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[HFT]

[#ff0000]Why not the waist?[/#ff0000][#000000] LMAO!... Can you imagine walking up on a guy in the river,from behind, really working hard to reel a fish in!?![/#000000]
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[SatanLBZ801]

[quote HFT][#ff0000]Why not the waist?[/#ff0000][#000000] LMAO!... Can you imagine walking up on a guy in the river,from behind, really working hard to reel a fish in!?![/#000000][/quote]

Well then.... that being said. We'll add that to the cons list. [cool]
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[flygoddess]

I made the transition from a vest to a chest pack, but being a woman, that really wasn't comfortable.
I now and have for the past three years, use a sling. It "might" be possible to use this, but I am not seeing it. On my boat I do reel the fish in as apposed to stripping it in.
You are still holding the rod, and holding the line, and I can't see this improving on line in the water.
I do agree with Satan, "MORE" stuff to get hung up on. And forget trying to crawl up on spooky fish.
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[HFT]

I switched to a fanny pack years ago,love it. slide it behind my back while fishing and it feels like I don't have anything but a wading belt.
I haven't chimmed in on this thread because we already discussed it a few months ago. Good luck night flyguy,takes fortitude to continue on after your customer base disagrees with your premise.
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[flygoddess]

I tried the fanny pack, but found them NOT to be waterproof when wading waist high. Have two of those in the garage LOL. I do like my older Orvis backpack. Looks like a vest in the front with several pockets, two more on the sides and a Hydration pack in the back....plus it has elastic cups for two more rods. Because of the wide shoulder straps, it is very comfortable even with a camera, hand gun, coat, spare reels in the back.
That is an all day setup
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[HFT]

I was thinking about that after I wrote it,my waist is a lot higher than most. I only had to undo it one time to get through a deep spot.
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[flygoddess]

Well, I got 36" inseam, but I find them 37" holes...LOL
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[TroutBumDave]

If there is a peg in Sportsman's for a worm threader and a mini-turkey baster for inflating it, then there should be a peg for this "thing". That being said, your product would get the same response as the aforementioned products do, "Who thinks of this crap, and how amazing of a sales pitch must it have taken to get a distributor to actually put this in their catalog?"

All in all: Meh.
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[HFT]

Hey,Worm Threaders fricken ROCK!
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[TroutBumDave]

[quote HFT]Hey,Worm Threaders fricken ROCK![/quote]

Outstanding! Bwahaha!
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