Tangled Lines gift guide

Here is the annual gift guide for those of you with fly-fishers on the list. I have attempted to keep this simple and intelligible to the unafflicted.

The easy way out is the gift certificate. Most retailers offer them. I have been on the receiving end of an Orvis gift card many times.

So how much do you make it for? Hard to say, but know this: $100 just gets things started. If the goal is to get Fred a new set of waders so he stops complaining about the old leaky ones, better start at $300. Note also that they will still leak, eventually, but this is not your fault.

The old waders can probably be salvaged, too. Look for a wader repair kit with a small tube of stuff called Aquaseal and some patches that can be cut to size. Fred should have one of these kits anyway. Sometimes they come with the new waders.

Then you can get Fred a freestanding rack to hold all the spare waders that might or might not leak. (See photo.)

Rods: I am a big fan of Echo rods, especially the entry-level models. You can do a lot worse than getting a budding angler an Echo Lift kit, which is a rod, reel with pre-spooled line, and case for just under $200.

Anything else is going to require some subtlety on your part. Example: “Hi Fred. What sort of fly rod do you really want? And how’s Mom?”

Fred replies: “I have been eyeing the Spatzenjammer GBH 12-foot trout mini-spey for 250 grain Skagit heads.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” you say, keeping it subtle. “Have you seen a specialist?”

For extra subtlety, try asking Fred’s main fishing buddy what a good rod would be. This could be difficult, because Fred probably doesn’t know his buddy’s last name, home town, or anything that might identify him except a phone number. And even that will be in some kind of code. I have a contact in my phone that says “K fishing.” That’s it. I have no idea who or what this is, and when I tried calling I got a no longer in service message. Didn’t delete it from the phone, though. That would make too much sense.

You could throw yourself on the mercy of the fly shop. We have two actual fly shops in driving distance -- the Orvis store in Avon, and UpCountry in the Pleasant Valley section of Barkhamsted, with the West Branch of the Farmington River out back.

You’ll need to know some basic stuff. Where does Fred fish? What does he fish for? And Fred’s dimensions, plus a quick sketch of his condition, habits and general disposition.

Here’s an idea that could work: A bunch of flies and a nifty new box from a big online fly retailer such as Big Y Fly Company in Oregon or Fly Shack in New York.

I’ll save you the guesswork. If your intended recipient is a trout person, get a Fishpond/Tacky Double Haul fly box (about $35) and the following flies, six of each: Chubby Chernobyl size 12, Parachute Adams size 12, Light Cahill dun size 14, Elk Hair caddis size 14, Stimulator size 6, Pheasant Tail beadhead size 16, Hare’s Ear beadhead size 16, and Leadwing Coachman size 10.

The total for this should be about $100.

Don’t put the flies in the box because you’ll do it wrong. Let Fred do it. It will take forever and the family, busy with festive holiday activities, will be grateful not to have the glum snowbound angler getting in the way.