Last day of the trip on the Bundara, it was late afternoon, merging to dusk and Warwick and I were casting some big ugly flies on the water, hoping to tempt some evening risers. I chucked it in when I couldn’t see the fly in the shadows and started to pack up, but Warwick kept going.
Then I took off my dark heavy sunnies and realised why: there was light to spare if you had those light coloured sunnies like Warwick was wearing. All right for him, but I had to stop, as I didn’t fancy taking off my sunnies and risk coping a size 8 stimulator in the eye on the back cast or a clumsy strike. That’s when I decided to buy my fourth pair of sunglasses and I noticed the ad in FlyLife for B’Barz.
I saw from the ad and looking up the Barz Optics company web page that one style had a small built in clear magnifying lenses at the bottom of the main lens, which itself was light coloured and just what I was after.
I chased up local distributors on the web site and found one down the road in suburban Brisbane at a local marine shop and picked up a pair for about $70. I had seen the built in magnifying lens before on a set of sunnies worn by Frank Harwood a Turangi guide of many years’ experience, but had never been able to find them before.
Since I started to wear reading glasses, I’ve had to take a pair of cheap magnifying glasses worth $20 or so with me, whenever I’ve gone fishing and then I have to put up with taking off the sunnies and putting on the magnifiers every time I wanted to change a fly smaller than a size 12.
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve dropped them and then had to retrieve my sunnies or the magnifiers out of a cold and very fast running river from waist deep water. I don’t recommend it.
The Barz came in a nice padded foam and zippered case, which is practical for rough and tumble fishing. And they’re light and tight fitting, so they don’t fall off easily. The rubber foam backing strap provided however didn’t fit over the wings of the glasses, so I bought a cheap glass case from Coles and took out the little soft nylon cord with flexible loops and fitted that instead. So far so good.
Then I got on the water … the big light coloured polarising lens worked as well as the more expensive pair and with no glare … and fading light was no problem.
When it came to changing the first fly, I simply looked down and – like magic – I could see the damn thing, just as if I’d made the changeover and was wearing the usual magnifiers. I didn’t need the magnifiers again that day or for the rest of the trip. It was great. Buy this product. It works.
Picture by Jeanine McMullan.