Most useless/stupid fishing gear you have bought?

Josh

Josh

Dead in the water
Staff member
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What's the most useless piece of fishing gear you've ended up buying. Something you thought would be awesome and ended up just sitting in a drawer. I know that gear fishing has so much more of this than fly fishing, so if you want to post about your Popeil Pocket Fisherman, go right ahead.
 
For me: Loon Nip n Sip (the original version)

1656519460615.png
I ended up with two of these somehow. They SEEMED like a really clever idea. A handy bottle opener that you'd always have around married to a nice set of nippers. They even won an award from some angling trade show. MUST BE LEGIT, RIGHT

But the problem is that the jaws on the nippers never lined up very well and it simply wouldn't cut even tippet unless you had it in just the right spot. So I tossed it in a drawer and that's where it sits. I actually used it the other day because I couldn't find another set of nippers. Still sucks.

I generally really like Loon stuff and have a fair amount of it. But these weren't well designed. Someone else must have agreed because they were redesigned not too long after and the V2.0 version has a different jaw setup:

1656519657778.png
 
Some flappy thing to dry flies when I first started...I let the small dogs play with it now...
 
I liked the concept of these indicators:
www.umpqua.com

INSTA-SET INDICATOR

These amazing indicators do far more than simply suspend your fly and “indicate” strikes. The fluorescent tags alert you to the most subtle grabs, but even better, they are bright pointers showing the subsurface location of your fly, and whether the fly is dragging or floating drag free.
www.umpqua.com www.umpqua.com
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But they're too heavy, cast crappy, and don't float well at all. I tried giving them away and everyone I've tried that with agrees that they suck.
 
First generation Korker boots.
Nice concept but a really poor product that the soles kept coming off. Ended up round filing them. Supposedly improved now but I’ll never buy another pair.
SF
 
Josh said:
For me: Loon Nip n Sip (the original version)

View attachment 20503
I ended up with two of these somehow. They SEEMED like a really clever idea. A handy bottle opener that you'd always have around married to a nice set of nippers. They even won an award from some angling trade show. WOW

But the problem is that the jaws on the nippers never lined up very well and it simply wouldn't cut even tippet unless you had it in just the right spot. So I tossed it in a drawer and that's where it sits. I actually used it the other day because I couldn't find another set of nippers. Still sucks.

I generally really like Loon stuff and have a fair amount of it. But these weren't well designed. Someone else must have agreed because they were redesigned not too long after and the V2.0 version has a different jaw setup:

View attachment 20504
Click to expand...
Plus, is there a really good reason to take bottles and not cans to the river or lake anymore?
 
Amadou fly drier vest tool. Got it soaking wet and it dried hard and thin, never used it again. I tried beating it with the handle of a table knife to make it soft and fluffy again, didn't bring it back to life. If anyone has revived on of these I'd like to know how you did it.
 
Stonedfish said:
First generation Korker boots.
Nice concept but a really poor product that the soles kept coming off. Ended up round filing them. Supposedly improved now but I’ll never buy another pair.
SF
Click to expand...
Interesting! I've still got a set and use them as my backup/spare/non-studed boots from time to time. I never had the soles come off. Though their whole "sole system" was kinda useless in my book and you lost a lot of felt real-estate on the sole edges because of it.
 
Stonedfish said:
First generation Korker boots.
Nice concept but a really poor product that the soles kept coming off. Ended up round filing them. Supposedly improved now but I’ll never buy another pair.
SF
Click to expand...
I was a very big Korker's hater after my first experiences with those Gen1 products. Not just poor product, but could put someone in danger if they lost a sole at the wrong time.

They REALLY figured their stuff out though. My DarkHorse boots are bomb proof and I've put some serious miles on them.
 
I received one of those wooden tabletop fly-tying stations as gift that was more of a pain than it was worth. I don't know who designed it or what they tied, but they couldn't have had much in the way of tools, threads or materials and man was it cramped. It was like trying to tie Deceiver's in a shoe box.
 
Trout Trekker said:
I received one of those wooden tabletop fly-tying stations as gift that was more of a pain than it was worth. I don't know who designed it or what they tied, but they couldn't have had much in the way of tools, threads or materials and man was it cramped. It was like trying to tie Deceiver's in a shoe box.
Click to expand...

I've always wondered about those. They're pretty, but don't look functional.
Not that the shit show of my desk is functional either 🤷‍♂️
 
Trout Trekker said:
I received one of those wooden tabletop fly-tying stations as gift that was more of a pain than it was worth. I don't know who designed it or what they tied, but they couldn't have had much in the way of tools, threads or materials and man was it cramped. It was like trying to tie Deceiver's in a shoe box.
Click to expand...
I got one of these as a gift, too. Totally useless to me. I have a rolltop desk fly tying station, and it didn't even fit, nor would it have helped me in any way, if it did fit.
 
The Knot Needle...although I probably haven't given it a fair chance.
 
Josh said:
What's the most useless piece of fishing gear you've ended up buying. Something you thought would be awesome and ended up just sitting in a drawer. I know that gear fishing has so much more of this than fly fishing, so if you want to post about your Popeil Pocket Fisherman, go right ahead.
Click to expand...
I bought one of these years ago and the plastic coil stretched after several months It also took up more room on my vest than a good zinger.
80B8EBCB-AC65-45FE-9868-FA444C5AF652.jpeg80B8EBCB-AC65-45FE-9868-FA444C5AF652.jpeg
 
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