Fly fishing gear is a big part of Casting Across. I’ve always enjoyed the aesthetics, the marketing, and, most importantly, the function of fly fishing gear. Consequently, I’ll review new products on the site from time to time. But appreciating fly fishing gear shouldn’t only be about  the latest model or newest technology. The things that you’ve fished with for years – for decades ought to be celebrated as well.

It is in that spirit that I put together this gear review. Although some products are old or even out of production, their value compounds with use, experience, and familiarity. We should enjoy what we use when we fly fish, especially if we’ve enjoyed it for a long time.

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I had been fly fishing two times. On the first outing, I broke the top section of my department store fly rod in half. On the second outing, I realized that it’s identical replacement was a little  long and cumbersome for the densely vegetated stream I was fishing. Like a seasoned angler, I set my sights on an upgrade.

Being a teenager at the time, it took some time to save. This meant I had time to shop. I flipped through Cabela’s, Bass Pro, and local fly shop catalogs every night. Price was my first criteria. Length and weight were second-tier issues. Out of youthful ignorance, I wasn’t concerned with the label on the blank one bit. The price was dictated by my patience. Impatience and saving $25 a week  put my budget around $200. Coming from a conventional tackle  mindset of  “lighter is better,” I zoned in on 3- and 4-weights. To address the canopied creeks in the area, I wanted something between 7′-8′.

The 7′, 3-weight St. Croix Avid was ordered over the phone and bought sight unseen. To this day, my first fly rod was the only purchase I’ve made in this manner. But I can confidently say that it worked out pretty well.

The 2-piece blank has a matte charcoal finished with black wraps. Below the reverse full wells grip, the black uplocking reel seat hardware sits on a carbon fiber insert. It looked sleek and modern.  Compared to the cheap and larger rods I had fished, the Avid felt practically weightless. And it could cast.

The Avid features a progressive, or medium to medium-fast, taper. This was a unrealized benefit to a new fly fisher. Whether I had on a tiny dry or a weighted streamer I could feel the line load. Even at a short 7′, I could quickly perceive when to begin my forward and backward casts. The Avid was the rod that I truly learned to cast on. Perhaps it’s size and strength limitations caused me to truly dial in and focus on proper form and technique. That flex profile also allowed me to use the 3-weight on bigger warmwater fish in my subdivision ponds. Tippets were protected during bottom-dredging runs and violent headshakes.

This casting and fish-fighting capability proved valuable as the Avid was my sole fly rod during a few years of intrepid fly fishing. Young, free, and excited, I drove all over the Mid Atlantic. The Avid led me into the Shenandoah for brook trout hiding under rhododendrons. It helped my land countless thick, feisty brown trout in Pennsylvania spring creeks. I learned to double haul with that 7′ 3-weight on still, deep ponds.

Twenty years later, I own lighter, shorter, more responsive, and much pricier small stream fly rods. But the Avid is still in rotation. Even though it is somewhat cumbersome as a two-piece rod, I find myself strapping it to the side of my pack. I’m confident using it if there are midges daintily floating on the surface, and I’m just as confident if I have to “make do” with a small bass popper. After all, my cast was developed on the St. Croix Avid.

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St. Croix no longer produces an Avid fly rod  series. In fact, the most recent Avid fly rods (olive green blanks) are slightly different than my model. As is the case with anything, second-hand rods are always lurking around online. Every example I saw  was less than $150. If my 7′ 3-weight ever breaks, I’ll be sure to head to an auction site.