Temu makes Alibaba look like Nieman Marcus.
Eric Estrada bought a fly rod from Temu for $20, In this video, he unboxes this Chinese fly rod, gives you his first impressions, and then put it to the test against the ultimate warrior, the ditch tarpon.
Temu makes Alibaba look like Nieman Marcus.
Eric Estrada bought a fly rod from Temu for $20, In this video, he unboxes this Chinese fly rod, gives you his first impressions, and then put it to the test against the ultimate warrior, the ditch tarpon.
Some wise words at the end about beginners experiencing difficulty and being more likely to at least try flyfishing (and keep trying to get things right) with just about adequate gear that comes at an accessible price. No names, no packdrill (as the old World War 2 British Army saying goes), but – TELL NO ONE, please, I wouldn’t want to receive death threats from the Big Brand Mafia – I’ve fished with a simply gorgeous, beautifully designed, made and finished, all black, semi large arbor, $50 or $60 Chinese-made “5-7 ” fly reel (plus an extra spare spool that cost me another, say, $30 more) by a certain maker for the past three seasons, and with it and a WF 4 or 5F line on one of my – whisper the name in respect and awe – several classic era 4- or 5-weight SAGEs, well, let’s just say that it has made a number of my big name – big ticket reels take a permanent stay-at-home non-piscatorial bath. Which they don’t like one bit, I can tell, judging by the way I hear them badmouthing their inferior cheapo cousin when I return it to their commonly shared tackle cupboard.
Especially last Sunday when it caught my biggest ever British grayling, a fish so large that I actually put it in little nylon weighing-sling and hung it on a tiny, fits in a shirt pocket, electronic digital scale before returning it alive.
3 pounds 2 ounces.
How the Classy British, European, Scandinavian and American Reels hated that.