Do you purchase based off of performance or aesthetics?

[bigjohn358]

When it comes to apparel I buy what works but it can't look stupid. That Simms camo pattern drives me nuts! Rods I build my own to my own specification and color combos. Reels I feel are all built relatively the same and perform the same. Even the cheap Chinese reels are good quality for the most part. If the reel has the look/color combo I'm going after I'll spend the money.

 

[Bamboozle]

I prefer function over aesthetics. Not a fan of glitzy stuff. I don’t worry one bit about color coordination. And……I don’t put “stickers” all over my vehicles. 😎

You mean those stickers that scream out, "break into my car, you may find something made by Sage or Orvis..."

I'm looking for Zebco stickers for my car...

 

[tjsingle]

Performance is usually my first concern, aesthetics come after. I do find myself liking more traditional style ported reels like the Orvis Battenkill and rods with wooden burl reel seats though. Colors like olive, blue and orange are also appealing.

 

[Boulders]

I purchase based on performance.

 

[Bamboozle]

Backing color? Whatever I find on sale. Have white, olive, rainbow and blaze orange.

Fly lines I have range from a solid muted olive to a full blaze orange. Some of the more offensive ones: SA trout in solid / bright yellow, Airflo bass which is orange and baby blue, Airflo river and stream which is seafoam. Bam mentioned non two-toned lines but I believe that selection is pretty small nowadays. When casting at distance and having to guess where the fly is, bright colored line seems to help me ballpark the fly location a little better. Haven't really noticed any significant changes in success because of line color.

The fish on Clarks Creek always had a tendency to be extremely spooky. I gave up on worrying about clothing color after dressing in full camouflage and still having them spooked just because of the movement of the cast.

I'm just old school & stubborn... I started with white Micron backing and it just seems to be what I always buy...

It's also a "virginal" thing... I figure I'll never need to consummate my relationship with my backing while fishing so I assume it should be white.

In my perfect world all fly lines would be white or cream colored because I can see them and the fish never seem to mind. I own a few, but they are tough to find in the "true-to-weight" DT's I prefer few so I look for lighter colors like pale yellow and I like the "willow" color SciAnglers offers. I also fish real silk lines and even though I can get them dyed any color I want, I always buy the natural yellow color.

I also have and still use a few of the long discontinued Rio Lumilux lines that are a pearl white color and glow in the dark. They are still my hands down favorite plastic line and even in total darkness during a hatch, that "glowing" line doesn't bother the fish...

The two toned lines I don't like & won't buy are DT's. I do reverse my DT's and prefer they are the same on both ends and that includes the taper. I do use a WF Rio Smallmouth Line that is two toned and in this application I like the two colors.

In regards to clothing colors, for a LONG time I fished everywhere INCLUDING the Letort with a bright white hat, a light sage fishing shirt and a red bandanna around my neck, along with a white or yellow fly lines and never felt impaired. These days I have a different hat, but nothing else clothing-wise has changed.

I've also fished Clarks a few times with a blaze orange cap & bandanna around my neck after encountering some hunters by the stream. When hitting wild trout streams during different hunting seasons I'll add a a blaze orange vest to the mix and I never felt at a disadvantage so I never worry about clothing color anywhere.

 

[mt_flyfisher]

I like earth tones, with greens and browns being my favorites. Outside, these colors match the leaves, the grass and the trees. and are prevalent on trout, like brooks and browns.

In tackle, I love the custom colors that you can get from Abel, the classic Winston green, and the same on the Sage XP’s. I believe there is no need to give up one’s color preference in lieu of performance, as those rods and reels are equal to any, and exceed that of many.

If you look carefully, you’ll see that the line as well as the backing color coordinate with the reel, not specifically because I chose them to do so, but because the Winston rep recommended a specific line (by weight and brand) for the rod that I intended to use the reel with.

I sometimes even choose these colors when buying boats (I’ve had several of that green color), my car, or other tackle. Again, I don’t think I had to sacrifice performance when buying any of these items:

And sometimes it’s just nice to take the time to pick and smell the flowers.

 

[coyoterahn]

You mean those stickers that scream out, "break into my car, you may find something made by Sage or Orvis..."

I'm looking for Zebco stickers for my car...

More specifically the Zebco 202 Model reel in Fuchsia. Those stickers are hard to find.

 

[Bamboozle]

I like earth tones, with greens and browns being my favorites. Outside, these colors match the leaves, the grass and the trees. and are prevalent on trout, like brooks and browns.

In tackle, I love the custom colors that you can get from Abel, the classic Winston green, and the same on the Sage XP’s...

The ONLY thing I don't like about Winston Green is if you are STUPID enough to carry a BRAND NEW 4pc Winston rod UNSTRUNG from your vehicle down to a stream and unbeknownst to you the tip section pulls off...

...it will literally disappear into the similarly colored brush and you will never find it again despite looking fruitlessly for several hours..

...don't ask me how I know...

 

[Bamboozle]

More specifically the Zebco 202 Model reel in Fuchsia. Those stickers are hard to find.

That or an Ozark Trail sticker will work for me!!

 

[tomgamber]

Is this the eye candy you were referring to? 🤣. It is a little fugly

I believe that is for the "lost and found" crowd

 

[Silent Ocelot]

It's like "designer jeans." They aren't any better. But aesthetics are used to justify a higher price and higher profit.

They are selling the sizzle rather than the steak, as the old marketing saying goes.

I think that's a matter or perspective. Designer jeans with holes already in them to give them a worn out look offers no performance advantage over regular jeans. With higher end rods you are getting better, graphite, resins, and the tech that goes into those two things, plus better components and cork quality. All of these factors combined make for a better fishing tool. I'll take my modern light-as-feather graphite sticks any day.
I won't say there is any marketing BS in this sport, it's definitely there, probably more so than any other hobby, but modern high end rods are just objectively better performing rods.

 

[rancid waders]

My wife has a purple Blue Halo 7 wt, purple anodized Allen reel with purple backing even, Ascetics matter to some people.

 

[jeffroey]

Since a couple of you mentioned backing color, I have an easy-to-follow system I use when choosing backing color you're all welcome to adopt:

Blue Backing: All fly lines (unless modified as follows)

Green Backing: All sinking lines (unless modified as follows)

Yellow Backing: All floating lines manufactured worldwide above the equatorial reference plane (unless modified as follows)

FL Orange Backing: All fly lines without factory welded loops

White Backing: All fly lines that measure 1 or more line sizes heavy than their published line rating (unless modified as follows)

Purple Backing: All DT lines that have already been turned around (unless modified as follows)

LT Blue Backing: All fly lines that are backed by less than the recommended length of backing as defined by the spool manufacturer (unless modified as follows)

Chartreuse Backing: All floating lines manufactured worldwide BELOW the equatorial reference plane (unless modified as follows)

Pink Backing: All fly lines on spools that are interchangeable across two or more reels (unless modified as follows)

Yellow/Black Backing: All fly lines consisting of more than one coating color along its length (unless modified as follows)

White/Black Backing: All other fly lines


All joking aside, I was surprised how many threads across a whole bunch of forums a quick Google search for "fly line backing color" turned up. Do people really put a lot of time into thinking out what color backing they use? Maybe I'm doing something wrong in setup or practice, but I never get into my backing and the lightening hole config on my spools don't even make it obvious what's on a given reel.

 

[BrookieChaser]

I have a frost silver Tibor Everglades that, I think, is the ugliest reel I own. It performs just fine, but the automotive painter/metal worker in me, thinks it looks half-assed.

I've never chosen a fly rod model or reel model based on aesthetics. I have chosen the colors of certain reel models.

On backing, I want a contrasting color to the water and fly line. I want to see when my backing is back on the reel in a saltwater application. When I get a few turns of fly line back on the reel I can put max pressure on the fish.

 

[mt_flyfisher]

The ONLY thing I don't like about Winston Green is if you are STUPID enough to carry a BRAND NEW 4pc Winston rod UNSTRUNG from your vehicle down to a stream and unbeknownst to you the tip section pulls off...

...it will literally disappear into the similarly colored brush and you will never find it again despite looking fruitlessly for several hours..

...don't ask me how I know...

I have 4pc rods but I far prefer 2pc, one reason being that they are faster and easier to assemble. I also routinely leave rods and reels assembled for days at a time, and sometimes longer.

I think I might have tried a metal detector to help find a missing Winston rod section 🙁. I‘ve never lost a rod section (knock on wood) but I’ve had a few fall off in the water while fishing (who hasn’t?) but have been lucky enough to be able to retrieve them when the fly caught on the tip top, or a guide.

(I was fishing with a friend many years back who caught his fly in his nose while casting, and then dropped his entire rod and reel in the river, plus he fell in, all at the same time. Never fear! When he finally got his feet under him, he was able to retrieve his rod and reel by pulling the line in hand over hand since his line never broke and the fly remained stuck in his nose.)

 

[Bamboozle]

I have 4pc rods but I far prefer 2pc, one reason being that they are faster and easier to assemble. I also routinely leave rods and reels assembled for days at a time, and sometimes longer...

I prefer 3pc and 2pc is OK too, but in this case it was one of the Winston DL4 Series rods that IMHO are some of the best Winston ever made and all are 4pc.

Winston built me a new tip section for considerably less $$$ than I expected which in hindsight made all the time & effort expended searching a collosal waste of time.

My blunder came from decades of fishing nothing but bamboo rods with nickel siver ferrules that NEVER pull apart. However after this graphite experience I did learn my lesson about rods without metal ferrules...

 

[6xAdams(Jones)]

You mean those stickers that scream out, "break into my car, you may find something made by Sage or Orvis..."

I'm looking for Zebco stickers for my car...

I get all my fishin' stuff at "PoOrvis."

 

[6xAdams(Jones)]

(I was fishing with a friend many years back who caught his fly in his nose while casting, and then dropped his entire rod and reel in the river, plus he fell in, all at the same time. Never fear! When he finally got his feet under him, he was able to retrieve his rod and reel by pulling the line in hand over hand since his line never broke and the fly remained stuck in his nose.)

Haven't we seen this guy on PAFF?? Handle is "Lucky?"

 

[Bamboozle]

...(I was fishing with a friend many years back who caught his fly in his nose while casting, and then dropped his entire rod and reel in the river, plus he fell in, all at the same time. Never fear! When he finally got his feet under him, he was able to retrieve his rod and reel by pulling the line in hand over hand since his line never broke and the fly remained stuck in his nose.)

I guess that must be referred to as "snout" fishing... 👃

...as opposed to "trout" fishing.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

I have a frost silver Tibor Everglades that, I think, is the ugliest reel I own. It performs just fine, but the automotive painter/metal worker in me, thinks it looks half-assed.

That's interesting. I have a Sig in frosted silver (aqua blue accents) and I find it to be quite attractive in terms of machining and finish. I'd say it's on par with Abel. You are perhaps a better judge of reels due to your work history. I will say that the sound of a Tibor is pretty much unrivaled.