Climbtrees » Gear Reviews

UPG Daytripper Fly Box Review: An Excellent Selection for Hiking and Backpacking

Dan Corbett — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:18:48 +0000

Today, after work, I wanted to go fly fishing in Boulder Creek. I had seen a massive brown a while back and wanted to try to find it again. Unfortunately the temperatures dropped below freezing, my breath was visible, and I just couldn’t do it. I know, I know, last December I stood in the Yampa in 7 degrees weather, I venture up to fish the Blue in February and March, and I regularly fish in Boulder all winter long but normally I have acclamated to the temperature drop; this has not happened yet. Alas.

So I did the next best thing and started organizing my fly fishing gear. I came across one of my favorite new pieces I added (err, one of my MBA classmates who works at Umpqua gave it to me) this year, the UPG Daytripper fly box. What is UPG? Umpqua Professional Guide. No worries, I had to look it up too.

UPG Daytripper - Dry Flies and Emergers

For a few years I had struggled when backpacking or hiking when fly fishing was not going to be the main reason (yes, occasionally I enjoy the outdoors without fishing or hunting) with how to compress my flies. As a general rule I carry four fly boxes (two with dry fly/emerger, one nymph, and one streamer) with maybe an extra box in the back of the vest; obviously this is too much to put into a daypack. The Daytripper solved the problem for me.

What I like about it.It is small, about the size of my nymph box, at 4″ wide by 6″ high by 1.5″ deep. The box can fit a ton of flies, giving you the variety without carrying a plethera of boxes. Sure I have more flies in my normal setup but, generally, the water I am headed to hiking requires smaller flies and a lot of the fish are less picky and I can make due with a reduced selection. Unlike most of my open plastic boxes I get to seperate tiny nymphs from drys, without the hooks getting all tangled. Additionally I can fit a few small to moderate sized streamers and hoopers in without crushing them.

UPG Daytripper - Nymphs

The box used thick plastic to give it solid construction. While I am not recommending testing by driving a Silverado over it the Daytripper is strong enough for me to throw into a pack and never worry about it, even when dropping to the pack onto a pile of rocks. Similarly strong, the foam grips flies enough stay in place after throwing the box in a bag and hiking for a couple of hours. I really like that I am not worried about breaking the box and pulling midge hooks out of my long underwear.

The Daytripper box has somthing called Zerust Corrosion Protection. I have no idea what exactly that is or how it differs from other materials, though I have never used a foam box before. All I know is that I have put wet flies away in it and have not seen any rusted hooks. Of course I live in Colorado and could probably dunk the box open in the river and have all the flies dry within an hour.

What I don’t likeThe box has two magnetic “compartments”. I end up dropping flies there to dry but it is not really neccessary. Perhaps the magnetic compartments are for the size 30 flies that I do not carry.The box is heavy. I am not saying it weights as much as all my other boxes combined, but it is heavy. As I am not a huge user of the magnetic backing I would imagine removing it would be a decent reduction in weight. While the box has some mass it is not enough to be an issue in my pack; perhaps after living with a spouse who works at Backpacker Magazine I just have weight on the brain for all gear.

I really like the Daytripper Box and, as the snow is falling deep enough to end most of my backpack fly fishing for the year, I got to smile happily at it one last time in 2011.

Before I forget there is one other benefit of the Daytripper: you get a UPG sticker inside the box – perfect to slap on your car and confuse all of the non fly-fishers. Oh, you do fly fish and haven’t heard of UPG? Well, at least now your are less confused and know to check out these boxes next time you are in the market.

Wisconsin Bicycling Weekend – Door County Century

Dan Corbett — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 22:30:10 +0000

Door County Century Rest Stop

Last Friday Katie and I packed the dogs up to the kennel, boarded a flight to Milwaukee, and finally drove up to Fish Creek, WI for our first century ride. Unfortunately we arrived quite late as our Frontier flight was delayed (again, not having much luck with departures on them and this time I got to sit next to a Frontier employee who must have smoke 2 packs before getting on the plane) and a missed turn in Milwaukee (thanks for closing all the on ramps by the airport) and missed the dinner festivities with our parents (both sides made the drive). The next morning we ate a quick breakfast and then drove to packet pickup in Sturgeon Bay for the Door County Century. During the morning, and all day for the matter, my father was still adamant that he was only going to do the 70 mile route. Right. We let him believe that as we took our rentals, a Trek Madone 5.2 and a 5.2 WSD, out for a quick ride to make friends with the bikes.

We made friends. The Madone’s rode great – the Ultegra drivetrain was a pretty fantastic upgrade then my Lemond’s old 105 and Katie’s old Tiagra. And the frames were fast!

Bar Tape Fail!

Unlike when I stand up and hammer on my Buenos Aires, the Madone’s frame put the power directly into the wheels – and the read wheel could never pull out (damn horizontal drops). That said, when going over rough road and gravel you could really tell how plush my existing steel frame is as you felt everything on the Madone. The one thing I would have liked to have tried was climbing as I think the total elevation gain in the ride was about 400 feet, rather small compared to Colorado. My only real complaint was that the bar tape was poorly applied. The ~2 inch difference was a bit troubling to align my hands on, though it would be an easy fix.

Of course the next morning, as we were again driving to Sturgeon Bay for the start, my father started saying that at the turnoff for the 70 mile route he would decide about doing the 100. Not that Katie or I ever doubted he would do the 100. When we hit the turnoff, he kept along with us. We started out with temperatures in the mid 60′s and a well shaded course. And, what many of the rides said was an evil hill. Thankfully a less than 100′ climb was not an issue after riding in Colorado. The first 35 miles flew past without much of a thought. We kept going smoothing until about halfway through the course, when my father began to feel the distance in his legs (with IT band tightness). The pace slowed drastically but we continued on. And on. With lots of dairy cow themed cycling kits on all sides. eally, who knew you could have more than a dozen jerseys all related to Wisconsin Holsteins? The course was very flat and almost windless, with only a long stretch of gravel road to even wake you up. Additionally the roads, at least the non-highways, were almost completely empty and those drivers who did pass were extremely courteous - score.

In due time we finished. Not fast but we finished. And my father did it at age 62.

Dana, Katie, and Dan on the shores of Lake Michigan during the Door County Century

Now That is a Set of Fenders

Dan Corbett — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 04:01:53 +0000

Admire the new fenders

Last winter the rear fender on Katie‘s commuter bike broke. It was a sad day; she came home with a stain up her back. For her birthday I ordered a set of replacement fenders from Woody’s Custom Bicycle Fenders. When the fenders showed up we were both awed by how amazing they looked. Unfortunately I did not realize that we needed custom sizing to fit Katie’s Specialized Langster Seattle (the bike came with crappy wood colored plastic fenders). Cody, from Woody’s Fenders, was extremely accommodating and exchanged them back for a set built just for the bike. When Katie and I go back from Oregon last night the fenders were sitting on the doorstep, absolutely begging to be installed. And finally, this evening, Katie’s bike has a set of beautiful wood fenders.

Fender Close-Up

Humility and a Deflated Strike Indicator; Fly Fishing in Wisconsin

Dan Corbett — Fri, 20 May 2011 13:15:45 +0000

Last weekend I went on holiday in Wisconsin to visit my parents. On an overcast afternoon my father and I ventured out to Castle Rock Creek, the place where he first taught me to cast a fly rod more than two decades ago. As we pulled on our waders I recalled the blurry memories; I could remember catching my line constantly on the banks, painfully massive knots, and being ridiculously out fished. While I did not find myself freeing my line from foliage on the bank as I had done twenty some years prior, little else had changed.

The temperatures were in the fifties with some gusting winds when we stepped into the creek. My initial setup was a San Juan worm with a bead head pheasant tail under a, having come down in altitude from Colorado, partially deflated strike indicator. I started fishing by the inlet of a small spring; as I was tying on my fourth different nymph my father had just landed his third trout of the afternoon.

Twenty minutes later, while looking in my fly box I heard him call for help landing a big rainbow. About two months ago I caught a 23” rainbow in Boulder Creek, what I consider a small stream. My father, fishing in a stream less than half the width of Boulder Creek, was tangled up with a beautiful 19” rainbow. I quickly netted the trout and looked at the fly in its mouth, a pink squirrel. Thinking I would soon catch up I tied one on my line. Sadly that was not the case as I continued to be skunked. Making matters worse, the 3wt Powell I was using decided to break. After a trip back to the truck to set up a 5-wt I went back down to the stream and continued to watch my father land fish after fish. He offered to switch rods; I hate it when my father does that because every time I continue my bad luck while he lands more fish on my setup. That day did not change my dislike for changing rods; I still could not get a bite. That said, casting my father’s fancy new Sage Z-Axis 4-wt with a Click Series reel was phenomenal and I cannot wait to borrow it again for fishing dry flies.

When my father walked up to remind me we had to leave, he found untangling a massive knot. My fly fishing ego reverted to that of years ago, deflated as the strike indicator I had been using. There will always be next time.

The Tenkara Rod – Minimalist Dream or Random Novelty

Dan Corbett — Wed, 18 May 2011 13:50:05 +0000

Tenkara Iwana

I took an 11′ Tenkara Iwana rod to the local trout infested irrigation ditch. With all the rain the water was a brilliant chocolate color and I spent more of my time playing with the rod than seriously trying to catch fish.

So what is the Tenkara?

According to Tenkara USA it “is the traditional Japanese method of fly-fishing, which uses only a rod, line and fly”. Think of it as similar to the homemade rod from your youth, the long stick with some line tied at the end. Of course that would be rude to the actual Tenkara rod as it behaves very much like a fly rod (abet one made of carbon fiber), not a random tree branch.

Why might Tenkara be appealing?

If you are a minimalist (such as a backpacker) you really cannot get a lighter, more compact, fly setup to take with you. The entire rod packs down into a tube barely wider than the handle and can be easily slipped in with your other gear. As the line ties directly onto the tip of the rod, you will not need the extra weight of a reel.

How it performed?

I am undecided; casting was more difficult than I had expected. The line, braided monofilament, was exceedingly light. Given that fly rods (Tenkara included) rely on the weight of the line to load and cast, this made casting troublesome. It was not impossible, but very frustrating to get the speed just right. The motion was very slow, stopping at 12 o’clock, but required a relatively hard finish (rod tip almost touching the water) to get the line to layout properly. Increasing the length of the tippet to 14-16 inches made it a bit better, but still not consistent. I did, unsurprisingly, have more success casting when using a weighted (or even just wet) nymph. However the #22 Adams I started with was an adventure and it did not get much better when I increased size to #16 PMD. Just remember that it will take some time to get the technique right.

After you figure out how to cast, you better hope you do not need to put the fly out more than 20 feet. Why 20 feet? Since there is no reel that is just about the max length you can get. The rod will work for small streams and pocket water so if you expect only to encounter this you are set. If you have any expectation of need for longer casting, you will be disappointed.

Will I use it again?

I am not going out of my way to recommend this rod to friends but I will lend it out if I hear someone going somewhere it could be useful. Personally I will use it again, taking it on light hikes in the mountains as a lightweight rod in my daypack when I am not expecting to run into a stream. Perhaps sometime I will be able to catch a fish with it. That said, if I have any expectation of fishing I will probably throw the March Brown Baden-Powell Special Edition in my pack.

2010 Fly Fishing Photo Review

Dan Corbett — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 18:55:59 +0000

Looking at the plethora of half-written posts from 2010, I am going to sum them up with a series of photo highlights for the year. Here is some of 2010 in fly fishing!

Winter Nymphing on Boulder Creek

Falling in Love with the Williams Fork River

Cold Weather Williams Fork River Rainbow Release

Little Winter Rainbows on the South Boulder Creek

My Father’s Epic Day on the Blue River

Backpacker.com 9-wt Testing in Boulder

Rock Mountain National Park with The Colorado Daily

The Colorado Daily’s Jenn Fields with a RMNP Greenback Cutthroat

Roaring Fork River Brown Trout

My Father Enjoying the Fishing and Scenery on the Frying Pan River

Brown Trout from the Frying Pan River

My Father Sampling the Rainbow Trout at the Q Creek Ranch in Wyoming

Q Creek Ranch Brown Trout

The Ideal City Bike

Dan Corbett — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 15:27:58 +0000

Origin8 Cykel 3

Recently I have been wanting to trade in my fixed gear (the knees are starting to hate it but if you want to buy it I’ll accept a reasonable offer) for a city bike. This, of course, leads to the discussion of what I want and need in a city bike. I say city bike, not a cruiser, because I do actually like to get places in a respectable amount of time.

Frame: Light and upright. Katie rides a Specialized Langster Seattle that she loves dearly; it is light, durable, and responsive. I would prefer a frame that is light, ideally lighter than the well painted Origin8 Cykel 3 (though this bike does have a nice upright position). I do love the comfort of steel but at the price I am willing to pay I suspect light, high end steel is out of my reach. Does it need to be carbon light as the Trek District Carbon? No, not at all. While titanium is a wonderful material, I am not likely to drop the $8,000 I would need for a Moots Comooter That does leave me with the likely frame material being aluminum. Additionally I like my frames to be traditional; bikes like the Ellsworth The Ride are a bit too much for me (something just a little off, like the Civia Loring I-Motion, would be acceptable.

Trek Soho DLX

Drivetrain: One, three, or maybe an eight speed. Many manufacturers offer the same bike as a single speed or internal rear hub, such as Mongoose with the Sabrosa SS and Ocho Most important here is the lack of an external derailleur; this bike needs to be designed for bike rack parking and being hauled up/down stairs. An external derailleur is just another part that can break. In Boulder, for all intense purposes, a single speed is all that I would need. That said, when I lived on The Hill, I desperately wished for a few more gears when riding home. While a belt drive (as on the Trek Soho DLX) would be nice, as with a titanium frame it is probably an unnecessary expense.

Handlebars: Wide mustachio or or flat bars with a decent back sweep (like on the Globe Daily 3). I intend to ride this bike upright and want my handlebars to reflect this style.

Wheels: 700 or 29er. I need something that can run slicks most of the year and hand knobby CX tires in the winter (though this is more related to clearance with the frame). As for sizing, well, big rolls better.

Swobo Baxter

Brakes: Disc. I love the stopping power with disc brakes, no matter the weather conditions. Bikes like the Felt Verza City 2, and the Swobo Baxter, they know. Caliper brakes would be acceptable, but most of them do not have the clearance to run knobby CX tires. The easy alternative, cantilever brakes, just do not have the stopping power I would like for hills and erratic automobiles. While I can understand that some riders prefer the coaster brakes from their youth, but I hate them. Really really hate them. They take a beautiful bike, like the Gary Fisher Simple City 3, and ruin it for me.

Fenders: Simple. It does actually rain and snow in Boulder. Simple, but significant enough to keep the spray. While I would not complain if they covered as much as on the Raleigh Alley Way, they do not need to be that intense. The fenders on the Jamis Commuter 3 are more than sufficient.

Felt Cafe 3

Rack: I do not specifically need a rack, but it would be great to throw a 12 pack of beer on the bike. The included rack on the Specialized Globe Live series and the Trek Belleville (though I would only want one rack) look ideal for hauling small loads, such as beer.

Chainguard: No matter what you do, rolling your pant leg up, using a Velcro strap, or pulling your sock over your pants, you look silly. Just get rid of the need by adding a full chain guard like on the Gary Fisher Waubesa (named after one of my favorite lakes). Even a ring mounted guard, like on the Torker Graduate, would probably be sufficient. As with fenders, it does not need to be as intense as the guard on the Felt Cafe 3, it just needs to work.

All of these options – should I spend the cash and get a Globe Live 3, should I settle for a bargain Schwinn Coffee, get almost everything with the Raleigh Superbe Roadster or the Novara Transfer, or build something from scratch on a NYC CrossSpeed II frame?

Raleigh Superbe Roadster

Boredom Avoidance on Business Travel: Surfing and Fly Fishing in Daytona Beach

Dan Corbett — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 18:10:02 +0000

The Surfboard, AKA The Floating Couch

Recently I have started taking a rod with me whenever I travel (primarily the March Brown Badden-Powell I reviewed for Backpacker and mentioned previously on Climbtrees) as sitting in a hotel room is quite boring. However at this location, Daytona Beach, I had the additional attraction of ocean waves.

On Thursday when I returned to my hotel after finishing work for the day I observed surf out the window. Not big surf, but surf nonetheless. Enough to make a quick decision at least. I wandered down the beach to rent a surfboard. The shop guy asked me about my skill level; I said better than completely aweful and but below not quite good. We mutually agreed that I should grab a longboard, though perhaps it would be better described as a floating couch.

Immediately upon walking into the water I stepped on a fish; I doubt I have ever mounted a board as quickly as I did then. Next I experienced a riptide that quickly tore me down the beach and eventually tossed me out the deeper water. It was the first time I had really experienced a “strong” tide (I still have too few experiences with them to fully quantify) – and now I understand why surfers think they are a great way to get out fast. Unfortunately this one would dump me a bit beyond where almost all of the waves were actually breaking. The waves were small, with most under a 1.5 meters. Towards the end I caught one that might have gone almost 2 meters. Huge, I tell you..

I rented the board a bit before six and came out of the water around 8:30. Why did I come out? The surf hadn’t changed, the temperature had not really dropped (though 3 of my fingers were a lot more white than flesh colored). I had a porpoise or dolphin (I live in Colorado, do you really expect me to be able to tell the difference) come in to me. It was fairly dark so when I first saw it I only caught the dorsel fin coming directly towards me. Seeing as I doubted anyone on the beach would be able to see or hear me (not that it mattered, there was no one on the beach), I was quite releaved when I saw it come up again with a nice comforting marine mammal beak. In any case, it was time for me to finish up for the day. I tried getting up with dawn the next morning, but the waves were all but nonexistant. I suppose I could have tried however the prospect of riding the fins directly into the sand felt like a bad idea.

Late in the afternoon on Friday the waves were barely improved so I returned the board and broke out a fly rod. While less traveller friendly than the Badden-Powell, the Temple Fork Outfitters “The Clouser” in a 4-piece 9-weight still could be attached to my luggage with minimal difficulty (review forthcoming in the Backpacker blogs).

I wandered into waist deep water (with the surf occasionally knocking me around) and attempted casting almost 90 feet of line. The last time I threw so much line was in 2005 for salmon, when I still lived in Oregon. Making it even more difficult were the 10-12 miles per hour winds; I did successfully wack myself twice with a #2 Clouser minnow.

Early Morning Sunrise at Daytona Beach

After about an hour I felt something hit – hard. It quickly took me out into the backing. I reeled the fish back onto the flyline; we repeated this twice when suddenly the fish got a lot heavier and a lot faster – the line broke a few moments later. What happened exactly, I don’t know. Off hand I am saying my fish got eaten by a bigger fish. Maybe. At least it sounds good.

I got up Saturday morning at 3:45 to go try fishing the inland waters, from the shore and the docks. There was a fair amount of commotion in the water, but after almost 4 hours and probably a dozen flies I gave up and headed for the plane back to Colorado. While I would have thought my fishing adventures ended here, the TSA agent was concerned about how thick the fly line was and proceeded to dig at it with a knife; he said he might have nicked it. I thanked him for ruining my $70 line. Alas.

Gear Review: Patagonia Watermaster Waders

Dan Corbett — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 06:13:49 +0000

Patagonia Watermaster Waders

For my second review of Patagonia gear this week, I took out my Watermaster Waders to the water today. A few months ago I bought a the pair; this was the second time I took them into the water and decidedly less successful than the first. After finding most of the water in Eldorado Canyon State Park mostly iced over, minimal flows on South Boulder Creek east of the park, and then a New Zealand Mud Snail closure on Boulder Creek, I finally found some fishable water near the Backpacker office where I was rewarding with losing one small rainbow.

The Waders:

The Watermaster stockingfoot waders are extremely lightweight and fit well around my body; they allowed excellent movement without feeling too balky. Along with the breathable material, the unique suspension system makes these great for warm summer days as you can easily roll down and secure the waders at your hips. Patagonia makes a big deal about the material being puncture resistant; unintentionally to test this I slide about 10 feet down a hill after stepping on some ice. My fishing spot was next to a bike path and my blunder did not go unnoticed. While my dignity may have faltered, the waders did not and I stayed dry. Including again after I broke through some bank ice.

Boulder Creek

My one complaint with the waders was the integrated gravel guards. At first glance I was ecstatic to no longer worry about forgetting or losing my gravel guards. Now, particularly when the water is running cold, I found them annoying. It is extremely difficult to keep long underwear pants in place while putting on the waders. Even when on it was difficult, though not impossible, to force the long underwear (or whatever pants you are wearing) back under the tight elastic strap.

Overall I am extremely pleased with the Patagonia Watermaster Waders and would recommend them to anyone looking for a lightweight and durable wader.

Gear Review: Patagonia Boaris Limited Edition

Dan Corbett — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 20:05:53 +0000

Bloodied Patagonia Boaris Limited Edition Shoes

A few weeks back Katie asked me if I would review a pair of Patagonia Boaris Limited Edition shoes when I went hunting in Wisconsin over Thanksgiving. And then she gave me a plastic bag containing the previously tested shoes…

I did take them home, and I wanted to hunt in them, I really did. But I also wanted to avoid losing my toes to frostbite; I could only use them sparingly. They fit my heel snuggly and had a surprising amount of traction; however I must question Patagonia’s color selection.

Read the full review on Backpacker here.

Patagonia will be getting some more love this weekend when I review fly-fishing waders this weekend – be sure to check back!