Grundens Boundary Zip: rugged feel without the stiffness: My Take

"I’ll be straight, I didn’t expect to like these as much as I do."

I have tried enough waders over the years to know how this usually goes. You put on something new, you want to like it, and then a few trips later you are back in whatever you trusted before.
That was not my experience with the Grundens Boundary Gore-Tex Zip Wader.

What got me to try them in the first place was simple. Grundens already has a reputation for rugged gear in the commercial fishing world, and that matters to me. When a company earns its stripes in that arena, I pay attention. I wanted that same “built for work” confidence in a zip wader that I could wear for trout and steelhead.

From the first step into the Boundary zip wader, I felt confident. It was new and different, but it did not feel like a gamble. The fit and movement felt natural right away. They move with you instead of against you. They feel rugged, but not stiff. That combination is hard to describe until you have it on your body for a full day of walking, climbing banks, kneeling down, and doing all the awkward stuff that comes with actually fishing.

One thing that surprised me is how protective they feel. Not in a bulky way, more like the material and build give you a little extra peace of mind. I also found them feeling warmer in cold trout water. I am not claiming they are insulated, it just felt like a better barrier than what I am used to.

I will be honest, I was not an automatic fan of the brown color. In photos it did not grab me. In real life, it makes more sense. The more I use them, the more natural they look in the environments I fish. They look better than pictures can capture, and they have grown on me fast.

After several days out in them, I do not even consider going back to other zip waders in the same class. That is the part that surprised me most. I expected “these are good.” I did not expect “these are what I reach for now.”

Boundary Zips are now my "go to". The fit, the feel, and the confidence let me worry less about protecting my investment, and let me enjoy the reason I wear waders in the first place.

Takeaway: If you want rugged without feeling boxed in, these are worth a real try.


Q: Are the Grundens Boundary Zips stiff like some heavy-duty waders?
A: In my experience, no. They feel rugged, but they move naturally when you walk and fish.

Q: Did the brown color grow on you?
A: Yes. I did not love it at first, but it looks more natural on the water than in photos.

Q: Why did you switch from other zip waders in the same class?
A: The fit and “confidence” factor. I spend less time thinking about the waders and more time fishing.

What else would you like to learn about? Leave a comment.
Buyers Guide to Waders

Greg Darling 

Gorge Fly Shop Internet Sales Manager | Product Specialist

 

"The Gorge"

Gorge Fly Shop Team - 541.386.6977

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Columbia Gorge Fishing Report 7.27.2020

Trout 

Deschutes River: 

The lower Deschutes continues to fish well early and late in the day due to the hot weather we are seeing in the canyon. Best times to throw dries are early in the morning and the last few hours of daylight. Caddis are the main topic of discussion for the surface game. There are strong caddis hatches most everyday but this doesn’t mean that fish are feeding on them on top at all times during the hatch. Fishing a caddis pupa deep or swinging small caddis soft hackles during a caddis hatch can be lights out if they aren’t totally keyed on top. 

Contrary to my last fishing report, I brought the trout spey stick with me on my last outing, and the streamer bite was great. I got quite a few nice trout to eat the streamer on the swing which was awesome to see this time of year. Fishing back eddies in the evening is a great way to find some nicer trout sipping small caddis or mayflies like PMD’s right before dark. 

Lake Fishing:

Lake fishing around Mt Hood in the summer can sometimes be a struggle to find some open water away from the crowds of people on inner tubes or kayaks but the fishing remains strong up there. The Hex hatch is winding down, though there are still a few bugs around and fish that will still eat a Hex dry or cripple. Fishing sub surface will be your most productive method on the lakes now. Trolling or slow stripping small balanced leeches or wooly buggers with a small bead head nymph trailing 20 inches behind is one of my most productive lake methods in terms of numbers. 

Using a full intermediate lake line like the RIO Camolux fly line will help your flies sink down into the zone where the fish are. For stillwater nymphing, using a regular floating line works great, and running two nymphs separated by 20 inches of fluorocarbon tippet is a good way to go. Ice cream cone chironomids in red and black are highly effective patterns to use when fishing under a strike indicator. 

Summer Steelhead 

Deschutes River: 

The lower sections of the Deschutes continue to reward the anglers who are persistent and putting in the time and effort to find a steelhead. While steelhead are by no means easy to catch on a fly, they are a fish that will show themselves and reward the angler who puts in the time and hard work needed to hook one. 

Being up at the crack of dawn and standing in the run swinging your fly, bushwacking through miles and miles of river, switching up your shooting heads, tips and flies, etc etc, are all necessary steps to finding success on these early summer steelhead. The fish generally shoot up the Deschutes pretty fast from the mouth as the water temps are pretty warm down there and get cooler the higher up you go. Keep an eye on the temps and try to stop fishing when the water temps are closing in on 70 Fahrenheit. Playing a steelhead in this warm of water is often fatal to the fish. It may swim off and seem like it is fine, but will likely go belly up later on. Fishpond makes a cool little river thermometer that can quickly take an accurate reading of the temps or you can look online to see what they are. Looks like it’s going to be another hot week with temps hitting the 100’s. 

Hood River: 

The Hood River has been pretty colored up recently with this warm water making it tough to fish. The Hood comes right off Mt Hood so when it gets super hot, it gets very colored up making it unfishable at times. When color is off, fish bigger and darker flies, something the fish can see. There are quite a few steelhead in the whole Columbia system so there are likely some in the lower sections of the Hood. 

There is decent trout fishing in the Hood but most people aren’t targeting them in the mainstem. The east and west fork of the Hood offer some cool small stream trout fishing with pretty good access up by Parkdale. Fish aren’t too selective up there and can be caught on basic dry dropper rigs in the pools and pocket water. 

Smallmouth Bass/Carp 

Smallmouth fishing has continued to be consistent since the last report. Finding areas with some depth and rocky structure is important. Carp fishing is good as usual as long as the sun’s high to make spotting fish easier.

"The Gorge"

Gorge Fly Shop Team - 541.386.6977

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Small River/Stream Fishing Report

Down by the river...

This past week Travis and I hit up a few rivers and small streams in the Malheur National Forest. Our "hunt" for Redband trout made us eager for every bend in the river and each cast we made. It was a good reminder to how great exploring new waters can be. We also fished for rainbows and smallmouth bass (John Day). I use the word "hunt" but it was a week long adventure that brought new challenges and adventures each day. We came across coyotes, turkeys, deer and antelope, elk and even a big bull. We forded rivers and traveled roads that didn't look like they had been traveled in some time. Sections of river reminded us of Yellowstone and prairies in Montana. In short, it was a blast and recommend to anyone to get out, seize the day and try something new or simply perfect your game. 

Oregon Report:



In the hunt!
Small stream trout fishing is hot right now and success can be found all over the Northwest. On this trip we ventured our way up to rivers and streams around 5,000ft. Our arsenal included varying Sage rods in the 1 to 5wt (Single and Spey). We dry fly, nymphed and spey casted. Some of the most fun we had was found casting in a little stream with Redband and Rainbow trout.

In Summary
This was a trip I won't forget any time soon and it reminded ignited a passion to be ready and to organize my small stream and dry fly boxes. Several times we drove by sections of river and just decided to get out, already in waders to check out the river (with rod in hand). This weekend I'll be hitting up a few small streams in the coastal range.

Stay Frosty
Mike - The other Web Guy

"The Gorge"

Gorge Fly Shop Team - 541.386.6977

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Winston MicroSpey takes on the Mighty Missouri

As we drive up I-15 through Idaho on our way to Montana it's clear that fall has arrived in these parts of the country. Leaves are turning, the days are growing short and fall smell is in the air. We are on our way to conjoin the Missouri River equipped with the new Winston Boron BIII TH-MS (MicroSpey).

Big Water, Big Sky

I booked this trip way back in January. Little did I know I would have a brand new Trout two hander in my possession. You see on this very river just a year ago I landed my first two hand caught trout swinging a pair of soft hackle flies. From that point forward only one thing was certain about my future of trout fishing. It would be with a Two Hand Rod!

The package arrived about a week before the trip. I didn't even get a chance to go hit water for some line tuning. I just went with my gut and gave myself a plan B if needed. The Winston MicroSpey comes in 3 sizes, 3106-4, 4110-4 and 5116-4. My new rod is the 4110-4. 

There is a way different vibe at Winston and I like it!

From my first cast I knew something was very different about this rod. A little slower than what I was use to so I had to take some casting time to make some adjustments in my stroke. Once I tuned in to the action a feeling of harmony came over me. 

On the Swing

The MicroSpey has a compact lightweight feel much more like a good single hand rod. I think the compact feel comes from the grip. The grip on this rod keeps your casting box in a tight formation. It's so lightweight in hand and balances beautifully. 

I believe that is a Golden Eagle Not sure...I know fish better than birds!

The Boron Responds

For the past year I have been fishing the Sage ONE 4116-4. The Rio Scandi Short has been a perfect marriage with this rod. The faster tip of the ONE really favors this line. I like this line because it gives me the versatility to make a variety of spey casts and also performs overhead and roll casts to perfection. I feel that these casts are an important element to the trout two hand angler for versatility.

For the purpose of comparison and fish-ability I lined the MicroSpey with this Rio line. While I knew the MicroSpey has a slower action what I didn't expect was how the Boron in the butt section would load and respond with such authority. Casts were effortless and as I fine tuned into a relaxed stroke I found myself overcasting my targets. I should also mention that when I say "tuning into the relaxed stoke", doing so took about half dozen casts. The MicroSpey (like its single hand and full size spey siblings) are remarkably intuitive!

So Sweeet!

Battle for lines

For lines I fished a Rio Scandi Short VersiTip in the 320 Grain. That grain weight is nearing the top end of the suggested grain weight window for this rod. I usually like to feel a rod load deep so being at the top end of the scale comes as no surprise to me. I fished this set up with a Lamson Litespeed #3, a Rio ConnectCore 0.026 Shooting line. For soft hackle fishing I used the intermediate and type 3 tips and for streamer fishing I used the type 3 or type 6 tips. If there was one thing I could change with the Rio Scandi Short is I would like to see it fully integrated into a shooting line. Often times I find myself stripping a streamer inside the head loop and this gets really annoying dragging the loop back and forth through the guides. This is not a problem when I'm flat out swinging flies but I want to refer back to versatility. Today's two hand rods are so versatile and the only holding them back is lines.

The race for great switch lines is on and great progress is being made. I want to be quite clear that there will never be one perfect line to do everything. Example; My Rio Scandi Short VersiTip does a lot of things really good but it has a limit to fly size and sink tip size. Bigger and deeper is better suited for a skagit type of line. Nymph/Indicator fisherman could be looking at the best new rod ever for these techniques but you will need to line it out with a indicator line that has a heavy head to casts the cargo and a long rear taper to make the mends

Winston Boron III MicroSpey Specifications -

Line	(Grain Window)	Length	Top Grip	Bottom Grip	Weight (oz)
3wt.	(190-270 grains)	10'6"	11"	3'6"	4
4wt.	(240-330 grains)	11'	11"	3'6"	4 5/8
5wt.	(300-390 grains)	11'6"	11"	3'6"	5

New lines are expected soon from Airflo. Winston Ambassador Tom Larimer worked closely with Airflo to produce lines specifically for the MicroSpey and should breath some new life into your existing switch rods. Airflo Switch Streamer and Airflo Switch Float. Both Airflo lines will feature fully integrated running lines and are designed to be used with polyleaders and T-Series sink tip material.

Bobo!

I get the most satisfaction from new discovery. Discovery comes in many different forms. This stretch of the Missouri river is heavily fished every day for about 9 months of the year. Most are dry fly, indicator or streamer fishing and much of that is done from drift boat. If feels very different to me when I’m swinging flies and wading in a stretch of water others have ignored. I feel like I am presenting something new. The fish respond and I am rewarded with good catches. There are many fishermen on the river but none are doing what I’m doing. While I certainly did not discover the latest greatest new fishery I have in fact still made a discovery.

My conclusion is simple. I'm taking the MicroSpey on tour this year. Rainbows, Browns, Bass, Walleye and anything that swims in front of my fly beware! I have a new tool and I can't remember when I have been this excited!

Catch the story of my first Trout on the Swing in - 
Rio Fishing Trip - Missouri River, Montana

Greg Darling 

Gorge Fly Shop Internet Sales Manager | Product Specialist

"Fly Fish the World with Us"

Trout Streamer Tactics: Slow and Low

One of the nicest brown trout I ever hooked on the Madison River in Montana came while I was trying to untangle my line from around my feet. We were drifting down a stretch of water that I had fished numerous times over the years upstream from the town of Ennis. I was casting out the back of the boat when I realized my line was coiled around my legs and somehow hooked on damn near everything else. It was a real birds nest back there so it took a long time to pull myself back together and bring my attention back to the sculpin that had been lazily trolling along behind the stern. Feeling a snag, I thought, Dang that figures, I hooked a rock. Serves me right.

We were still drifting downstream but the line seemed to be leaving the reel faster than the rate that we were moving. In fact, a lot faster. I’ll never forget that fish, but perhaps the reason for that is not the fish, but because I learned a monumental lesson that day. The irony is strong here, for as I was struggling to get back to fishing how I thought I should be fishing, the fly was fishing exactly how it should have been fishing. Looking back, I don’t think I could have found a brighter silver lining tangled up in that web of frustration.

When to Ditch the Strike Indicator While Nymph Fishing for Trout



Take em off

Fishing nymphs for trout with a strike indicator can be extremely effective. The length of leader below the float helps determine your depth, so that your flies stay elevated from the river bottom. They keep your patterns adrift while fishing slow water areas like slow seams and eddies. Indicators even allow you to fish extremely long presentations at great distances from your rod tip. But even more importantly, the indicator detects those subtle takes to your fly, which is especially important during slack line presentations. Depending on the water at hand, there is little doubt that indicators help your presentation and elevate your hook-up success.

But there are times when ditching the indicator is a great idea. Here are two such circumstances where indicators are best left in your vest.

Winter Fly Hatch: The Midge

Fishing for trout during the winter definitely has its challenges, but it can often be worth the effort. It might take a few more layers of clothing, a bit more trudging through snow, a little more ice chipping and a few more lost steps, but it all helps to craft the change of the seasons. The trout still live there and eat there.

Although most aquatic insects do tend to hatch from April – October, there are flies that hatch during winter months. Midges, otherwise known as Chironomids, hatch in coldwater temperatures. These flies can be extremely small which means that when trout get to feeding on them, they tend to eat a lot of them! There are many different types of midges, but most of them that are found in river habitats are quite small. Sizes 18-24 are pretty typical and yes, they can be hard to tie on as well as to see on the river. Fishing these small flies may necessitate using very small tippets, like 6X so as just to thread the eye of the hook. There are times however when these teeny flies hatch in mass and become clustered together on the surface of the river. A Griffith’s Nat mimics this sort of cluster and they are more manageable to fish in sizes, 16-18.

The Best Tippet for Swinging Steelhead Flies and Trout Streamers



Maxima Ultra Green Tippet

 It can be pretty daunting walking up to the wall in the fly shop wondering which tippet to choose. Well if I could throw in my 2 cents I would mention that there is one tippet brand I keep reaching for over and over, when restocking for my steelhead fishing:  Maxima Ultra Green. Maxima is the tried and trusted leader material for most serious steelhead anglers. Whether you are spey fishing or single hand casting, this should really be your number one choice for swinging flies. And it doesn’t cost that much either. Why is Maxima the number one choice for steelhead guides? Well, here are few proven facts about Maxima.