I suppose the best find, although there have been other flies and lures, was a simple red marabou fly I picked up off Sauk Bar on the Skagit River one spring. I put it in my box and later sharpened the hook. Next season I was fishing that fly when I hooked and landed a 26 pound steelhead, my largest ever. So it was either that fly, or the yellow Eagle Claw salmon trolling rod I fished out of the Deschutes River one day while canoeing it. I cleaned it up with a new handle, reel seat, and guides, and hooked 3 and landed 2 spring chinook on it the first time I fished for springers on the Columbia.

I have valid reasons for not being overly impressed by the most expensive gear.

Sg