and blew through a ton of money buying this and that. I can't build a
quality rod for the kind of money I can buy a quality rod for.

Lures? Found something interesting - Chesapeake Bay Lures with a red
head and holographic foil body - very intriguing. Bought some in the
blue back herring color scheme and read headed white translucent body.

They have a great selection of fly making materials too - very nicely
priced - extremely competitive with a lot of speciality shops and a
great selection. Also picked up a new vise - 360 degree rotation and
numerous head angles - very nice vise for traveling and as a spare for
my bench vise.

Frankly, I was impressed on this trip.