Barry and Cathy Beck's Blog

Sage's GRACE Fly Rod Raises Over $14,000 for Casting for Recovery

 Fly fishing industry leader, Sage Manufacturing, partnered with the breast cancer non-profit Casting for Recovery (CfR) in 2013 to raise funds for the organization. Sage committed a portion from every sale of the GRACE rod to go directly to CfR to support its work. Sage is pleased to announce that $14,050 was raised for CfR through the 2013 GRACE program.

Casting for Recovery is dedicated to giving women powerful tools to overcome the mental and physical challenges of being diagnosed with breast cancer. The CfR quality of life program takes women on multi-day retreats and teaches them to fly fish at no cost. Donations allow CfR to offer its programming to more women in need of support.

"We're thrilled about the success of the GRACE rod, and so grateful for the generous contribution from Sage," says Whitney Milhoan, the executive director of CfR. "The GRACE rod is beautiful and performs with the same amazing quality Sage is known for, but what makes this partnership extra special is knowing that the team at Sage really believes in the mission of Casting for Recovery."

"The GRACE rod expresses Sage's enthusiasm to help breast cancer survivors the best way we know how—by building an elegant fly rod that's comfortable to cast," comments Sage marketing manager, Eric Gewiss. "We couldn't be happier about the success of the GRACE rod and our contribution to this great organization."   

Looking to buy your first fly rod? This was a question brought to us this week. For it and other recently asked questions, check out our Q&A pages

   I am buying my first fly rod as a trout fisherman, what should I buy? 
A 9' #5.  There are more 9' for 5 weight rods sold than any other rod.  That's because this rod will work best in most trout fishing situations.  You can take it almost anywhere in the world and have a suitable, if not perfect, trout rod.  It should be a medium-fast action so you can be comfortable fishing all fly types.  Price?  Buy the best you can afford.  Buy from a reputable company in case you need service later on, and make sure it has a lifetime guarantee, most rods do.

In our haste to get the urgent message out to you regarding Pennsylvania House Bill 1576, we inadvertantly posted the wrong link and it took you to Washington, DC instead of Harrisburg, PA. Our apologies. We have until Monday to get a message to our Pennsylvania legislators, so if you are a PA resident please urge your local representative to vote NO on this measure. The correct link for determining who your local house representative is

http://www.pahouse.com/search/

We just got word from a friend that Pennsylvania HB 1576 known as the Threatened and Endangered Species Act will be voted on by The House of Representatives on March 10th.  Those of us who enjoy fishing in the outdoors need to express our opposition to this bill.  The reasons are that this bill will place the determiniation of all wild trout water designations and the listing of all threatened and endangered species in PA in control of a group named IRRC, the Independent Regulatory Review Commission which is comprised of 5 political appointees who have no backgroup and no staff support in these areas.  Furthermore what it does is politicizes the listing of all threatened and endangered species and wild trout waters in PA.  Therefore we're asking that you communicate with your Pennsylvanian House Representative your opposition to HB 1576 prior to March 10th.  If you don't already know your Representatives email, you can click here to get their contact information.  Thanks for taking a stand with us on this important issue.  Please share this with anyone else you know who will help us save our streams.

A client asked this week about the relevancy of expiration dates on leaders and tippet spools.  We asked John Harder at RIO for his thoughts on this subject.  John is the Director of R&D, but his co-workers call him the Mono-Man.  He knows his stuff and has given us some valuable information.  Thank you John.

We've had a lot going on here this week and I wanted to share some interesting things that came across my desk.  Enjoy!

Mike & Marguerite Huesner own Belize River Lodge and have always been active in all kinds of conservation efforts in Belize. Congratulations Mike on being awarded the prestigious James A Waight Award.  You can read about Mike's efforts HERE. 

     Barry and Cathy are hosting a week at their lodge, April 26 -May 3, and there is one room left. Interested?

Here are the details. Let us know!

Time for a new pair of sunglasses? With fishing season right around the corner, it's time to look over our gear, check the waders, organize fly boxes, and maybe replace our sunglasses. Smith (formerly Action Optics) continues to be the leading force in eyewear for fishermen and outdoor enthusiasts. We personally have our favorites. Barry loves his Frontman ChromaPop and Cathy prefers the Maverick or Precept with her prescription. They both still prefer the polar chromic copper for normal fishing in both fresh and inshore saltwater and polarized brown for cloudy, overcast, low light days. Smith has the frames and lens shades to satisfy every need and enough models to really get confused, but if you start with the premium collection you'll be looking at the most popular frames and lenses for fishing. Then visit your local fly shop.

            With Polarization                                   Without Polarization

Cathy's comments on their recent trip to NZ 

"We recently returned from 3 weeks on the South Island of New Zealand where we enjoyed exceptional fishing, perfect water conditions, fine food and accommodations, and some of the best trout guides in the world. We invite you to browse through our collection of photographs and consider joining us in February, 2015, for another great Kiwi adventure."

To view the photos from their trip click here and then choose Destinations, and then New Zealand 2014.

If you aren't signed up for the Frontiers Blog, you may not have seen Cathy & Barry's blog from New Zealand the past 2 weeks.  Here it is in case you missed it.  We're glad to have them back home but it looks like it was an amazing trip.

We've just added a couple new additions to our saltwater flies in our website store. For skinny water we have the Sili Skinny bonefish fly and a Super Gotcha for the bigger bones on the west side of Andros. Take a Look.

With the cold weather we've been having here in the Northeast, I thought  you might enjoy a post about Cathy & Barry's latest trip to Christmas Island.  I have to admit, I didn't even know there was such a place, let alone where it is on a map.  However, after seeing their photos I'm convinced that I must go there someday... Here's what Cathy had to say about their trip.  

"We were in Christmas Island with a few friends earlier in January. It was nice to get out of the deep freeze for a while!  We spent a couple days in Honolulu and then went to Christmas Island. We love this place, not for the 5-star accommodations (you won't find any), but for the simple life one finds there and, of course, for the bonefish and trevally - of which we found many! The Captain Cook Hotel hasn't changed much over the years. The rooms are simple, clean, air-conditioned, and offer hot showers. The food is plentiful and good. The fishing is excellent and the people are over the top. Like I said - we love Christmas Island - just wish it were closer!"

To see more photos from their trip, visit the gallery on our website.  Choose Destinations, then Christmas Island.  Enjoy!

Barry and I met Tom Morgan in the early 1980's at the Winston Rod Factory. In those days he, Glen Bracket, and Jerry Siem were already designing and building the finest rods in the United States, perhaps the world. We were in an old VW bus, camped along the Madison, and that visit to the Winston Rod factory was the highlight of our trip. A lot of water has passed over the dam for all of us since then. Glen is still making beautiful rods at Sweetgrass Rod Co., Jerry moved on to be Rod Designer at Sage, and I'm not sure what we are doing. But this beautiful story will bring you up to date on Tom and Gerri Morgan. We found it in MidCurrent. Thanks to Wright Thompson and Ross Dettman (and ESPN magazine) for their wonderful work.  -Cathy

http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/page/fly-rods/fly-rod-makers-tom-morgan-gerri-carlson-create-unity-universe

The Fly Fishing Show in Somerset, NJ, was this past weekend. The report is that the attendance broke all records, of course the weather helped! There were lots of presentations, dealers, manufacturers, seminars, destinations, and personalities. If you missed it, you missed a lot of fun. Be sure to put it on your calendar for next year!

Click on the link below to see some of our favorite shots from the weekend.

FFShow.pdf