Our Goal
American Angling Gear Guide is completely independent and committed to honest and objective gear testing and reviews. Our goal is to serve our customers: consumers, manufacturers and retailers. We believe that our testing and reviews will help improve the design and functionality of angling products, and most importantly, increase consumer knowledge of products they are considering for purchase. Our service is intended to be interactive for the consumer and manufacturer. Our staff of experienced anglers will test products under actual angling conditions, in the field, and in some cases, a laboratory. As part of our testing strategy, we expect to have our charter clients use the equipment and incorporate their feedback into our reviews. The information we gather will be carefully summarized and presented in an easy to read review format. Our testing will consider the following attributes:
Our service is intended to be interactive for the consumer and manufacturer. Our staff of experienced anglers will test products under actual angling conditions, in the field, and in some cases, a laboratory. As part of our testing strategy, we expect to have our charter clients use the equipment and incorporate their feedback into our reviews.
The information we gather will be carefully summarized and presented in an easy to read review format. Our testing will consider the following attributes:
- Angling Performance
- Overall Product Quality
- Product Price Point
- And other product or service specific characteristics
Wherever possible and appropriate, a numerical ranking scale will be used to score each tested characteristic. We will assign a numerical value of 1-5, 5 being the highest and an average numerical quality value is assigned. A written testers review completes the evaluation. We will not directly compare products to each other, we leave that to the reader.
 |  Captain Skip Montello  , Co-founder and Director, Product Reviews and Operations for AAGG is a passionate fly and light tackle angling professional. His
angling resume spans a lifetime of fishing experiences from saltwater flyfishing for Stripers and Bluefish to the finese of dry flies for Cuts on the middle fork of the Salmon in Idaho. He has fished the Florida Keys for Tarpon, the Great Lakes tribs for Salmon and Steelies, Alaska, Newfoundland and British Columbia for Salmon and Trout.
He holds B.S. degrees in Science and Engineering and spent more than twenty years directing operations for two technology companies.
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 | Captain Dave Beshara , Co-founder and Director, Product Reviews and Business Development for AAGG has a long and renowned angling resume. Dave owned and operated American Angling Supplies for fourteen years. His angling resume includes angling destinations spanning the Bahamas, Costa Rica, Panama, Belize, Mexico, Russia and the USA coast to coast. He is well versed at fly fishing for anything with scales. He is an accomplished fly caster and teacher, having achieved a Fly Fishing Federation Master Casting Instructor Certification. He holds a B.S. and M.S. in Engineering and owned and operated a commercial construction company for twenty years. Dave is also the founder of the New England Salt Water Flyrodders and serves
as a director in that organization.
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 | Captain Al Montello , Co-founder and Director,Product Reviews and Testing for AAGG is an expert fly and light tackle angling professional.Al has operated Anglers Experience charter service for a number of years and has earned the respect of many a client.He has done a fishing video for a local PBS and is frequently
called upon to do fly fishing seminars at many anglers clubs. He is considered by many as the local authority on flyfishing tactics for American Shad.
Al is also well traveled in his angling adventures, having fished many of the famous western rivers and the Great Lakes tribs. Al is well known for his fly tying skills and creativity. Al enjoys a successful career as a chemical engineer. |
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 | Captain Mark Boname , Platte River Fly Shop,Sr Consultant, Fly Fishing Products. I grew up mainly the east coast both in the New England area and east coast of Florida spin fishing for strippers, blues, sea trout, and large mouth bass. This taste of fishing as young boy influenced my decision to obtain a degree in fisheries biology which I completed at the University Of Wyoming in 1983. After graduating, I worked in the range department for the U.S. Forest Service for seven years where I spent most of my time fighting wild fires until 1988.
I eventually migrated to Casper, Wyoming and started guiding on the North Platte River in my spare time. In 1994 Ron Dutton and I decided to open the Platte River Fly Shop. I bought Ron’s share of the shop in 1999 and have been the sole owner since. I’ve guided now for seventeen years and it has been interesting to watch the evolution of fly fishing, fly tying and fly fishing gear. I hope my years of experience and knowledge will contribute to the reviews on this website. This will enable you in your decisions about which gear to buy or have for any trips you may be planning.
 | Stu Apte, Sr. Consultant, was a fighter pilot in the Navy during the Korean conflict. He then spent the next 34 years flying for Pan Am, while pursuing his " Reel Passion of Fishing."
He began fly fishing in the mid 1940s and began guiding anglers in the mid 1950s, in the Florida Keys, while laid off from Pan Am. Through the years, Stu has held more than 44 saltwater light tackle and fly rod World Records, including the two longest standing saltwater fly rod records. A 58 pound dolphin caught in 1964 and a 136 pound Pacific Sailfish caught 1965, both on 12 pound tippet.
The Stu Apte tarpon fly and Stu Apte Improved Blood Knot are standard items. The Stu Apte fly has also had the distinction of being featured on a United States postage stamp in 1991.
In 1971 Stu was inducted into the Fishing Hall of Fame. In 2003 Stu was the recipient of the prestigious Ted Williams Award and in 2004 for the fifth-year in a row, was the Pro Celebrity Grand Champion of the Backbone Tournament. Stu was inducted into the IGFA Hall of Fame on December 11, 2005.
As a natural extension of this passion for fly fishing he has written many articles for Outdoor Life, Field & Stream, and Sports Afield to name a few, as well as his book "Stu Apte's Fishing In The Florida Keys". And was also Angling Editor of Sea & Rudder, a national boating magazine. He is presently contributing editor to Fly Fishing in Salt Waters magazine doing the back page byline, “Down and Dirty” with Stu Apte.
In addition to writing, Stu appeared in ABC's Wide World of Sports, was field host on ABC's American Sportsman, CBS Sports Spectacular, Thrill-Maker Sports, ESPN's On The Fly, Walker Cay Chronicles , Sportsman's Adventures and the Teddy Award winning Sportsman's Journal with Andy Mill " THE LEGEND OF STU APTE", and ESPN's Out There. Most recently Stu is co-hosting The Outdoor World TV series on OLN.
He also produced the award-winning" Tarpon Country" film in 1976 and directed the award-winning video series "Saltwater Fly Fishing From A to Z." His latest video is "Quest For Giant Tarpon", which won a Teddy award for best fishing video 1993/94. He received a 2000 "Telly Award" for a striped bass TV show.
Stu has served as an officer and trustee of the Everglades Protection Association; is on the executive board of The Bonefish and Tarpon Unlimited conservation organization and is on the advisory board of the International Game Fish Association [I.G.F.A.].
He also had the good fortune of leading the USA/USSR Atlantic salmon exploratory expedition to Russia in 1989, and is the research and development adviser for Scout Boat Company and Yamaha Motors.
Whenever Stu is not traveling doing seminars and workshops, he resides in the Florida Keys with his wife Jeannine, where he writes, photographs and fishes.
 | Ed Jaworowski, Sr. Consultant, is an international fly fishing authority with 50 years of fly fishing and fly tying experience. He has authored The Cast, Troubleshooting the Cast, Pop Fleyes (all for Stackpole Books), and served as editorial consultant for The Complete Guide to Fly Fishing (Octopus, London). As a member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America, and the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association, his books and hundreds of articles in more than 20 different periodicals have been published in the US, England, Spain, Norway, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Italy, and Japan. His saltwater casting column appears in Saltwater Fly Fishing magazine, and he is a regular contributing writer for Mid Atlantic Fly Fishing Guide; his photographs have appeared in numerous books, magazines, and CD’s. However, Ed is best known for his demonstrations, lectures, and casting clinics. Lefty Kreh calls Ed “the best teacher of fly casting I have ever known”. His angling travels, in both fresh and salt waters, have taken him through much of the western hemisphere. Currently he works as a consultant to Temple Fork Outfitters (Springbrook Trading Ltd.), testing and designing rods and other products. He has recently retired from Villanova University, where he taught as a Classical Studies professor for 41 years.
 | Lou Tabory, Sr. Consultant, has been an outdoor writer for nearly forty years, with articles in many major sporting publications, including Field and Stream, Outdoor Life, Sports Afield, Salt Water Sportsman, Fly Fisherman, Salt Water Fly Fishing, Fly Fishing in Salt Water and American Angler. During that same period, I have given shows, talks, and fly casting demos that teach fly casting, fly fishing and knot tying. I authored Inshore Fly Fishing , Lou Tabory’s Guide to Saltwater Baits and Their Imitations, published by Lyons and Burford and Stripers On The Fly plus The Orvis Pocket Guide to Fly Fishing for Striped Bass and Bluefish published by The Lyons Press Publishers. I feature slide shows including topics on salt water fly fishing, fly casting, fly fishing Alaska, surf fishing, and knot tying, and ran the first salt water fly fishing school in the Northeast. I'm told it was the first in the country. I annually run, or participate in, over a dozen salt water fly fishing schools. I’m a member of the Outdoor Writers of America. I have salt water fly fished for nearly four decades, and I am considered one of the early pioneers in the Northeast, inventing a number of flies for marine fishing. I have fished all over New England and the Mid Atlantic states, with trips to fishing locations around the world. I worked as a tackle consultant for the Orvis Company for 10 years, then Redington, and now work with the Albright Tackle Company located in New York. I work full time in the outdoor field.
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Skip,Dave and Al operate North Coast Angler, a sport fishing charter service in Massachusetts.
Visit our web site : 
Mark owns and operates Platte River Fly Shop in Wyoming.
Visit his web site:
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Contact us @:American Angling Gear Guide
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