Hi
@JimEIV - I was wondering suggestions for my stepfather who is difficult to purchase gifts for. He does enjoy fly fishing and I wondered if you knew of anything that a fly fisherman might want but might not buy himself - something an occasional fly fisher might not have (but someone who tends to buy himself nicer things even if he only occasionally does it)
So many things...but first you have to know what type of fly fisherman he is...for instance, a great gift idea is a landing net. But if he is a saltwater fly fisherman a trout landing would be no use to him. So knowing his targeted species and what does most is important.
But staying generic there are various different packs, I'm partial to sling packs, technical clothing, tools like forceps and nippers... saltwater fisherman need pliers and you can spend a little or lot on a high end pair of saltwater pliers.
Fly assortments are an option if you know his target species. A good trout streamer assortment is a great gift that I have personally given a couple of times.
If he ties flies we can be here days going over useful tying materials.
But a good pair of nippers is always a nice item that someone might not buy for himself. Some people use cheap pairs and don't care to spend money on nice ones. Some people think it's ridiculous to spend $100+ dollars on what amount to fancy fingernail clippers to cut line.
But you can get a very nice pair of Dr. Slick Cyclone Nippers for $25. Abel and Hatch nippers are the highest end and pushing close $150. Simms makes a nice pair as well in the $100 range.
Every trout fisherman could use a nice net. I've been eyeing a Fishpond Nomad carbon net for a while... it would be a bit of a frivolous purchase as already have a perfectly fine net but those carbon nets are really nice and they run around $135.
