I find April to be an untrustworthy month. There are signs of spring, promises of what might be that raise the hopes of winter-worn sportsmen. And then a surprise snowstorm, days of sleet and rain, or unpleasantly cold, windy weather that drags on for days at a time dash all hopes of outdoor adventures for another week. This month, however, Marvelous May simply overflows with the true harbingers of spring: ice-out trolling abounds, fresh mounds of fiddleheads flourish, wild turkey hunting thrives, black salmon anglers and spring black bear hunters prosper afloat and afield in Canada, and canoe and kayak enthusiasts revel in spring freshet conditions.

Mother Nature once again revives and rejuvenates the Pine Tree State as well as the spirit, morale, and desire of each and every outdoorsman. And with these fresh sporting opportunities and challenges comes the need for gear upgrades, equipment replacement, and frequently some brand-new gadgets and accessories with which to engage in a novel woods or waters adventure. What follows is an overview of several items that are guaranteed to make rookie and veteran nimrods alike more satisfied, safe, and successful on their next outing.

Comfy cushion

Over the years during various cast-and-blast outings, I’ve done a lot of sitting. Cold boat seats, wet tree stands, snow-covered stumps and plenty of times on hard ground with a protruding rock or tree root every other inch. Some comfort was gained by perching on boat flotation cushions, “Hot Seats” filled with tiny Styrofoam pellets, neoprene cushions, padded stools and short-legged, web-seated camp chairs. Regardless of how tough a sportsman is, when you’re nether regions get cold, wet, or numb from hours in a duck blind or deer stand, you’re going to squirm around trying to re-establish some feeling and comfort, and excessive motion and noise are never a plus in these situations.

Finally this spring, just in time for turkey season with its necessity for long, quiet waits on uneven and uncomfortable ground, I found the ultimate comfort cushion. Hunt Comfort Co. manufactures this 16-by-14-by-3-inch cushion named the Fatboy, claiming it’s “the best seat in the woods,” and so far from personal trials in a variety of weather and terrain conditions, it outshines any other field seat I’ve ever used. Fatboy is like having a portable easy chair along. Hunt Comfort technicians have designed Fatboy around what they call an I-core interior for superior support and comfort, yet the entire seat is constructed to assure long-term durability under the harshest conditions. A heavyweight, waterproof, breathable outer cover of mossy oak camouflage material treated with a quiet, long-lasting Teflon DWR finish assures the cushion fits into any hunting scenario. The real technology comprises the inside of this comfy cushion, with a foundation layer of anti-microbial medical grade foam, a middle layer of high resiliency foam, and the true heart of the seat – a 1-inch contact layer of a secret product called IntelliGel, which absorbs and distributes pressure, assuring relief from long hours of sitting.

For sportsmen seeking to carry a bit less weight into the woods, Hunt Comfort offers a new product this year called Fatboy Light, a full pound lighter than the 2-pound 14-ounce Fatboy but still packed with lots of features and comfort. Fatboy sells for $60 while the light version costs only 40 bucks. Check them out online at www.huntcomfort.com or call toll-free 1-888-757-3232 to order or get more information. Having used my Fatboy cushion for turkey hunting with such comfortable results, it will certainly be accompanying me to the duck blind, deer stand, and even in my boat and canoe. To help your lower back and rear end withstand long periods of immobility in harsh conditions, try Fatboy, “The best seat in the woods.”

What’s my line

During my annual tarpon fishing trip to Florida last June, my guide checked my fly line over, noted a bit of wear, and suggested it might be time for a new one. “Get a RIO camo-tip floating tarpon taper,” he recommended. Now growing up in Maine, there are two well-known brands of fly lines, and every sporting goods store carries a variety of weights and styles. I also do a fair bit of traveling to cast for fish from Canada to Costa Rica and from Massachusetts to Montana, but I’d never heard of RIO fly lines.

Austin Lowder, my longtime tarpon guide, spends six months fishing for tarpon, snook, and bonefish on saltwater and six months on Montana rivers and streams guiding for brown, rainbow, and cutthroat trout. Consequently, when he makes a suggestion, it’s based on experience and I listen. By July, not only had I learned a lot about this company located in the heartland of western trout fishing, Idaho Falls, but I was casting two of their specialty lines. One was for steelhead and Atlantic salmon and a Selective Trout Fly line especially for dry fly casting, and I’ve ordered two more, one for tarpon and a second for tossing about those big, bushy bass bugs. These lines slide through the rod guides like water through a hose, with minimal wrist and rod effort, and they float high and lift off the water surface with so little resistance, it’s difficult to comprehend until you actually cast a RIO line yourself.

Despite being the new kids in the fly line industry, they are growing by leaps and bounds and are currently the No. 1 leader and tippet material producer in the U.S. After years of research and development, experimenting with a wide array of exotic compounds, RIO technicians discovered an element six times more buoyant than any product used on their competitor’s lines. Named Agent X, this compound needed a special process, “Fusion Technology,” to bind the line layers together yielding a high float or density compensation for a fast, steady sink rate, depending on the style of line.

RIO has also developed a welded-loop tip on many of its fly lines, as well as a good selection of its leaders for quick attachment and easy changeover of lines, leaders, or backing, and some line loops are color- or bar-coded for simple identification of line type. A wide selection of floating, sink-tip, and full-sinking lines, along with dozens of weather-, water-, and fish-specific fly lines are available from RIO with prices ranging between $50 and $60. Check out the selection and learn more about AgentX line design at www.rioproducts.com or call 208-524-7760 for person-to-person information. Just feeling the coating on these lines piques an angler’s interest; cast one for a few minutes and you’re really hooked.

Rhino reel

As a youngster I used whatever fishing gear my dad had on hand because a clumsy kid just learning to fish is hard on equipment. Since my first spinning reel was an open-face model, that’s the style I’ve purchased and used ever since – until last summer. My cousin Mike Wallace and I have fished together for more than 20 years for everything from salmon to splake and trout to togue. I’ve gone through a dozen makes and models of spinning reels in that time, but he keeps climbing into the boat with the same two rod-and-reel combos that he has owned and used for more than 40 years and never seems to have a malfunction.

Late last summer I took the plunge and purchased my first spincast reel, a Rhino RSC3 manufactured by Zebco. It took a bit of getting used to since push-button spincast rigs have the rod inverted and the reel sits on top of the handle, just the opposite of a spinning rod and reel. By the second bass-casting trip, I was completely ignoring my spinning outfits for the smooth-casting Rhino. For the technical-minded, this reel offers four steel bearings, solid brass helical-cut worm drive gear, auto bait alert, a quad ramp rollerball drag system, dual ceramic pickup pins with a triple cam, and a flexible perma-sealed cast release. All these features are wrapped in a machine-forged aircraft aluminum body with a classy appearance, and the reel is pre-spooled with 12-pound, high-strength monofilament. That’s a lot of reel for only $25.

I enjoyed using my Zebco Rhino so much, I invested in a rod-and-reel combo for this spring’s high-water fishing. The rod is a 61/2-foot, medium-weight, graphite two-piece for 8- to 17-pound test line, and the accompanying reel is a ProStaff 2020 spincast spooled with 150 yards of 8-pound test mono. Rod and reel are made and matched by Zebco, casts worms, live minnows, lures, and plugs like a dream, and will satisfy any novice and even discerning spin-cast veterans. The whole outfit sells for an unbelievable $19.95 at most sporting goods stores. Look over these new products and many more at www.zebco.com or telephone 1-800-588-9030 to locate your nearest dealer or for more information.

Surefire LED

Any outdoorsman not familiar with Surefire flashlights is suffering a real disservice to his outdoor activities. Surefire states, “We didn’t reinvent the wheel, just the flashlight,” and they are right. Now the gold standard for law enforcement, FBI agents, U.S. Special forces, and many search-and-rescue teams across the nation, Surefire lights are smaller, brighter, and better, and they come with a lifetime guarantee. For five years I’ve carried the outdoorsman for setting out predawn goose and duck decoys, finding my way to the turkey and deer stands before sunrise, and from my bear stand after sunset. These compact, near indestructible, and widely versatile lights are amazing.

Now Surefire has made the leap from incandescent bulb to LED lights and the frosting on the cake is a model called Kroma. This 51/2-by-1-inch mighty light is packed with standard features that will make it indispensable once you try it. Kroma is a palm-size, selectable-output, multi-spectrum light for recreation, self-defense, tactical, or general use and its dual LEDs are virtually indestructible. Not only can a sportsman choose two output levels of light, but there are red and blue phases of illumination as well. Red light can’t be discerned by most animals, so it’s perfect for unobtrusively getting to the deer stand before dawn, and the blue light is a great asset for following a blood trail since even the smallest droplets stand out and glow in the blue phase.

Each of the red, blue, and clear lights have a high- and low-output level, with the white high beam giving a blinding brilliance of more than three times what a two D-cell beam would emit. A special Total Internal Reflection lens issues a perfectly focused beam with no dark holes, shadows, or hot spots. A rotating selector ring allows no-look control of all shades and levels of light. LEDs have no filament to burn out, or break if the light is dropped, and they last for thousands of hours.

Kroma’s body is aerospace, hard-anodized aluminum with a tempered Pyrex lens and O-ring sealed to prevent any water invasion. Along with a regular on-off switch, a soft push-button tail switch allows momentary pressure activation, and a switch lockout mechanism prevents accidental activation during travel or storage. Two lithium batteries (included) run this extraordinary light steadily for up to eight hours.

Surefire lights range in price from $40 to almost $500, and the Kroma is just under $300, shipping included. Not an inexpensive item but, as many sportsmen have learned the hard way, quality costs money and that’s a small price to pay for a product that could save your life. As with all Surefire lights, the Kroma is guaranteed for the life of the original purchaser for repair, replacement, or full refund. Take a look at www.surefire.com or call 1-800-828-8809 to order the light of a lifetime or to just ask questions.

Outdoor feature writer Bill Graves can be reached via e-mail at bgravesoutdoors@ainop.com

PHOTO BY BILL GRAVES

Spin-cast anglers may find Zebco’s Rhino reels simple to use and durable while fly casters who try one of the high-tech RIO fly lines may be the ones who get hooked.