Barry’s Take On Bajio Sunglasses
I have always considered myself to be a fish hunter. By that I mean I prefer to sight fish my quarry whenever water conditions permit. If you can see the fish, your odds of catching are greatly increased. Plus, I think it ups my game when I can see the fish in the water. As a fly fishing guide and trip host for Frontiers, I’ve spent my life on both fresh and salt water finding fish for clients. Finding and casting to a particular fish is my favorite part of the game. The hunt.
It hasn’t hurt that I have been blessed with good eye sight, almost 40 years of guiding and I still don’t need a prescription but, ok yes, I now rely on +2 reading glasses for smaller trout flies. In my line of work there are two questions that I frequently hear and they are how can I see that fish and are you sure that’s a fish? To be honest for some guides spotting fish might come natural, but most of us work hard to train our eyes to pick up and identify fish shapes, shadows, weeds, rocks or other structure. But one thing for sure, is every seasoned guide that I’ve ever met, anywhere in the world, relies on a good pair of polarized glasses. You simply don’t go to work without them and most of us rely on more than one shade to handle the different light situations that we encounter.
There are a number of companies making high-tech polarized sunglasses — names you will recognize. For most of my career I was a Smith fan, but then last season Peggy Epstein, a friend and client, showed up wearing a pair of Bajio sunglasses. Peggy raved about them and I made a note to check out the company. But like a lot of things that I plan to do, it got put on the back burner and forgotten. Then I got lucky and found the company again at the New Jersey Fly Fishing Show in January and Cathy and I found ourselves at the Bajio booth every chance we got.
From the moment I first put on a pair of Bajio’s I was sold on the amazing clarity, the fit and the coverage. The frames were high quality, but the most important thing for me was the lens tints available. The Bajio team at the booth answered my questions and I was soon convinced that they are a dedicated group who take fishing optics very seriously. By the end of the show I had purchased two pair. Four days later we unpacked our bags at Estancia Laguna Verde in Argentina, home to Lake Strobel better known as Jurassic Lake, famous for monster rainbow trout.
For the next fourteen days I wore my new Bajio sunglasses and was blown away. I will never forget watching as an 18 pound rainbow engulfed my olive superbugger. Jurassic was all too soon a memory and we then found ourselves on Argentina’s Malleo, Alumine and Corcorvado rivers. The more I wore the sunglasses the more sold I became. They are in my opinion the best polarized sunglasses I have ever owned.
Bajio offers dozens of frames styles and lens shades in glass and polycarbonate, but my favorite is the NATO. It’s made for a fisherman. I have two pair, one in violet mirror that I prefer for low to medium sunlight, and the silver mirror copper base for bright days. My NATOs have an ash Tortoise Matte frame which makes a cool camo look. We like the Bajio’s so much that we have become an authorized dealer. Cathy just received a pair of Nippers made to her prescription. I already know that it won’t be her only pair!
Tomorrow I am back on the water so my day will start with sunscreen, a ball cap with a dark under brim, and of course my Bajio’s. The hunt is on.
Bajio Sunglasses
The amount of optical acumen at Bajio is the stuff of legends. With well over 50 years of collective eyewear experience, the technical expertise runs deep. Every pair is designed for the demands of all day use on and off the water and is prototyped, tested, and retested until the best fit, comfort, lightest weight, clearest, cleanest and coolest standards are met.
- Radically Clear Lapis* Lenses
- Blocks 95% of the sun's blue light, critical to vision and health
- Improved clarity while reducing blur, glare and haze
- Enhances color while protecting your eyes from harmful rays.
- Result: See fish better in Bajios.
We can custom order any Bajio glasses for our customers, but we
have in stock the NATO and Nipper in our online store.
NATO $199
Barry's favorite. Full coverage, sightly curved, wide temples. Protection from unwanted light and glare for improved vision. Available in Ash Tortoise Matte frames. 3 polycarbonate lens tints: Rose Mirror Poly, Violet Mirror Poly, and Copper Base.
Rose Mirror: Medium light, high contrast. Great for fishing in both bright sun and lower light.
Violet Mirror: Bajio's lightest high contrast lens, see fish clearly in all conditions.
Copper Base: Great high contrast lens for spotting underwater structures and fish.
Refer to https://bajiosunglasses.com/products/nato?variant=39484848668868 for lens colors chart.
Nippers $199
Slightly smaller frame, same features as the NATO. Same lens tints and dark torte gloss frame.
Spring Fishing
Spring has sprung. We may still get some nasty weather, but it's April and Quill Gordons, Blue Quills and caddis are hatching. Our water is still very cold from cold nights and run off, so we're using a lot of dry droppers with small pheasant tails and hare's ear nymphs. The PT nymph is a great imitation for the blue quills. Along with that, mops, squirmies, and pink eggs are working well too. As the water warms up, the fishing will only get better. Hope you're planning to get out to fish. There's nothing like springtime.
We're reposting our two fly specials from last week and thank you for following our blog. See you next week.
Baker's Dozen +1
Be ready with this selection, includes four popular early season mayflies: Quill Gordon (#14), Blue Quill (#16), Hendrickson (#14) and Little Red Quills (#16), tied with a CDC wing in thorax style. 3 each pattern and 2 extras of one pattern, our choice.
14 (yes, 14!) beautifully tied dry flies in a pocket pack box and a RIO 9' 4X leader.
Season Opener Nymph Special
And don't forget about our Season Opener Nymph selection.
Two great selections for anytime of the season, but essential in the spring. Our bead head Hares Ear Selection and our bead head Pheasant Tail Selection. Two dozen flies, sizes 12, 14, 16, each boxed in a pocket pack with a RIO Powerflex 3X leader (A $50 value)
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