23-24 Feb 2018
I am still a couple weeks out from being able to use the boat. Daughter has surgery next Friday, I’ll probably hang out at the house all weekend and pamper her a little bit, I am quite the compassionate feller. My son has been doing some welding and “stuff” and it shall be a chore to get the boat out of the garage, however, just a couple of weeks from now, I’m gonna give it a whirl. Still hoping that the dizzy spells don’t take hold too bad, I can see myself falling into the water, it’s a bit chilly for that to happen.
However, Friday after work, I stopped by the river to test my new rod and hopefully land a nice one. I took a 7’10” Mag Bass MHX blank and made it a spinning rod. I just like the feel of the MagBass bait casting rod, I mean I feel everything, so I thought it might be the ticket for Ned Rigging on the lake. They were pushing 2 or more generators and flowing around 6000 CFS. Now I really wasn’t expecting to catch anything, but getting out there is great and you always have that hope, plus the weather was fantastic. I did some casting, the rod performed great, even with my mediocre casting skills, I was able to launch that 5/8ths jig across the river.
I found the bottom a few times, this surprised me with the flow of the water. I reckon I needed to reel faster or not throw up river as far. I fished this for about an hour and I think I got one bite. I say think cause there is a chance it was the bottom, but I am sticking with thinking it was a bite, it makes me feel a bit better thinking like that. I decided to call it a day and a successful one at that. My objective was to go fishing, that mission was accomplished.
I headed over to Boonies at Davis Marina Saturday to do a little line wetting. The cold line was not in sight, probably nearing point 10. I fished from the bank for just a little bit until the rain decided to stop by. Yep, I left when the rain came, perhaps I need to toughen up, but I saw no need to hang out and fish that river water with what I had brought when I got other things to do. So I packed up and headed home, now what’s the plan.
I talked with the owners at Boonies, by the way, if you’ve not eaten there, you really should stop by, great food, great price, great folks. Anyway, in the future, I’ll post when, I am going to set up at the ramp and have some of the rods I’ve made on hand, let folks give them a whirl and see if you like them. I really want some feedback. Also, there is a show of sorts coming up in Abingdon. It is called Taste of the Outdoors in April. I am going to set up there as well, it is for the Lebanon Baptist Association. I also have ordered a few blanks I am wanting to try. They are from Hydra, a scrimless blank design. I felt them at a show and liked them a lot. They are a bit pricier than the others but I wanted to give them a shot and see if I could offer as good of a product as I could.
I hope everyone had a great week, spring is hopefully here to stay (that statement will probably bring the cold weather back) and everyone enjoys some fishin’. I plan on spoiling the girls for the next week or two, which should have them kicking me out of the house within 2 weeks, I have noticed that spending time with me really helps folks to appreciate me when I’m gone, and yes, I take that as a compliment. Have a great week and God bless.
First Weekend of February
This weekend I participated in my first fishing expo type event. I was a vendor at Watson’s Marine Open House, it was a blast. You may be thinking, ugh, I wanted to read about the fish biting, first, not sure I believe that if you have ever read this before, I tend to post in the journal more of what not to do rather than how to slay them things. Anyway, I’m gonna talk about the show and I hope you stick with this.
First, let me say that I finally got to meet 2/3 of my readership (not sure if that is a word, but you get what I mean). That was one of the highlights of the show for me. I won’t drop any names, typically folks don’t like for others to know that I know them, but it was great. We talk through email periodically and it is great to put a name to a face and personality. Thanks for stopping by. As for the other unidentified reader of my journal, sorry I missed you, or if I met you but you were a bit embarrassed to say you read the journal, I understand, but think how I feel, I write this thing.
I met Hank Parker and got a photo, he is a top shelf individual, thanks for the pic Hank. Also saw the other pros there and everyone of them were just hanging out and talking with people. Looked like folks were getting a whole lot of information from some real experts.
Also a lot of great vendors were in the house, around 12-15 I think. I got to talk to most of them and let me say, great folks. I would start naming them, but to be honest, I might forget or leave one out and I would hate to do that to any of them. You could really find some great custom baits at the show. Also, a lot of manufacturing reps (I think that’s what you call them) present. Make plans next year to drop in.
I did get to spend some time with a couple fine young men, one 10 and one 8 if I remember correctly. These youngens knew about fishing well advanced of me at that age and were great to have around. I brought some stuff and showed them how to weave a few letters, they did a great job and I had a ball with them there.
Also, a couple folks from worked dropped by, great conversation and hopefully they found something they could use. And I got to meet a gentleman from Project Healing Waters. And Sgt Major (ret) Sansbury stopped by, he is over this areas Project Healing Waters. He also served with my brother in the Marines and I had met him on a few occasions. He is as fine an individual as you will meet and if I can figure out some time, I may try to get involved in this great organization. If you know any disabled veterans, they teach fly fishing, fly tying, etc….. Let them know about Project Healing Waters.
I could say a bunch and I could tell you stories. I did a lot of cutting up, laughing, and even sold a rod. I’m getting ready to get a price together as requested for a custom rod, and I’ll tell you I had a blast. I realized that I am one of the worse salesmen in the world however, I have embraced my deficiencies. Time to do some work, so I hope you folks had as good of a weekend as I had. Also, look on the TFR Custom Rod tab, I added a few things on there you may want to read, I mean, you made it this far, no need in quitting now. Have a great day and God bless.
